We stayed in dream castle 23/24/25 of December. For about 400 more we could’ve stopped in the sante fe Disney hotel which looked worse and didn’t include breakfast. So 100pp to get in parks an hour early? Rather have breakfast and a 5 minute uber in. But then again the wife fancies Disney hotels.
We were next door in dream castle. Would stay again but for ease we are thinking an onsite hotel next time.
Santa Fe is a bit out of the way. The rest are pretty close. I've stayed there and it's ok but it's not the sort of place you can nip back to on the afternoon for a bit.
I did that Columbus club too. Probably about the same time actually. We did similar with the food. There was a free light meal on the afternoon too. We spent next to nowt on food. The odd maccies for her kids and 5 guys for usNewport bay. Stayed there myself, in fact only today it popped up on my FB as a memory that exactly 9 years ago, that's where I was. Was in Columbus Club so complimentary all you can eat breakfast each morning. Ate f***ing loads so I didn't have to buy food around the park during the day. The staff hated it like, kept snatching my plates away as soon as I'd taken my last gobfull. Didn't stop me going back for a fresh plate though each time
That's not bad, location wise.
Out if those 3 I didn't notice any real quality difference, and Sequoia is cheaper so I'd pick that one.
Santa Fe can be a bit of a hike with younger kids. Nice walk though if you don't mind a bit walk.
Efteling has made me reconsider how much a short walk is a problem. The onsite hotel & lodges are about a 10min walk (admittedly through a rather nice bit of forest) to the entrance. Its fine.
There is a bike park though, so the kids took their scooters to the entrance, which was canny for them.
I was right over near the canteen bit when I was there. Handy for the food, but not the best.
Never been to that one, but looking on google maps there is a path along the river that runs between Cheyenne and Sante Fe, and comes out on the lake where the Marvel Hotel is, then you can use the village entrance. Looks to be about a kilometer's walk to the village, slightly longer than the direct walk towards the train station & front entrance.
I do recall seeing people magically appear on the paths, so yeah that'll be it
We only stayed there one night. We arrived that day at about 4pm, so didn't want to waste a park ticket for that. So we just walked from that room to go for tea at the Rainforest Cafe and look in the shops. The next morning we chucked everything in the car then walked to go to the park for Magic hours, I don't think the queue outside the Marvel Hotel was too bad. But the rest of the hotel we moved to Newport Bay. From my previous posts on this thread I think it's quite clear I would have preferred to stay in Cheyenne for the whole time. The walk from that was just as far, the queue to get through security into Disney Village was HUGE. We could see the one over the lake near Marvel go down much faster, I *think* the one near Marvel has more scanners. Looking on google maps and the number of small green tents where they do it, that would back that up.I do recall seeing people magically appear on the paths, so yeah that'll be it
It will at least be a nice walk, along the riveside vs along the main road. And I think there can be big ticket checks at the main entrance, right? Plus easier to use EMH if that's even still a thing?
Oh, I've never had any issue getting through those security checkpoints. Most people just walk right though, we've always had a pushchair or something similar, so always a pain for us - but not because of the queue.
Coming from the hotel walking to the park, you just walk up and out at the other side of the lake opposite McDonalds, before you get to New York Hotel etc.
We were always really early. That emh is the best time of the day.
