We got back from our trip this week and have had time to think through the trip we took. We are both two adults (29 & 38), it was my (29) 5th trip to DLP and my partners first. We took a 3 week trip to WDW and Uni in September 2022 and figured that, in waiting for Epic Universe to open, we would soak up some Disney in the meantime a bit closer to home.
My partner has some medical issues including arthritis in the back and hips, scoliosis and also suffers from Schuermann's disease, so struggles to walk long distances and also stand stationary for too long. Somewhat ironically, he also cannot remain seated for too long either otherwise his legs and hips seize up. So, we decided to apply for and make use of the priority pass whilst there.
We drove down from London to Dover, crossed on the DFDS ferry and drove to DLP from Calais. The ferry was incredibly rough going over. The drive itself was boring, but easy with plenty of rest stops on the way. We left our house at 3:30am and were checking in to Sequoia Lodge at roughly 1pm.
Check-in was easy enough, and as we had pre-applied via the DLP app for the priority card, we then went over to the Concierge desk to collect. We showed the proof of disability and had the card within a couple of minutes. Staff at the hotel (and generally speaking across the wider resort) were very friendly and accommodating. I stayed here as a kid way back in 2002, and altogether the reception area does not look any different to then - the theme is timeless and we thought it felt rustic and welcoming.
Our room was in the Yosemite block, and despite how dated some of it was plus the smell of stale cigarettes everywhere, it was homely and of a decent enough size. There were plenty of towels, soaps and shampoo/conditioner/bodywash. We had an issue in that the safe was not left open for us and the handle had been yanked off, but we used a pen to push in to the corner to pull open. Beds were very hard and sprung, however I think after all of the walking you do, anywhere you can lay your head feels amazing. The hairdryer by the sink was useless and overheated very quickly, so we didn't bother using it during our stay.
I'll summarise both mine and my partners thoughts below - interestingly, our opinions differed slightly on different parts of the resort.
Disney Village
My thoughts: I remember this area from when I was young and felt like it now felt very flat and didn't have anything really going for it at all. The appearance is now dated and feels almost industrial, but not in an aesthetically-pleasing purposeful type of way. It was busy-ish whilst we were walking through in the mornings and evenings, but the shops felt empty and the food places (minus McDonalds) also had no energy about them at all. I am not sure if this is due to us visiting during the hangover from Christmas and New Year, but it just felt dead. I also think losing Planet Hollywood has left a big visible scar in the middle, plus losing the Buffalo Bill's was also extremely unfortunate for evening entertainment. No bands/singers playing, the same playlist repeating the same 5/6 songs, etc. It was also incredibly irritating to have people begging for money, asking to use your phone to call their husband (scam) and asking to take your park ticket (scam) - it just really took away from the general experience for me and made it feel like a C-town high street rather than a Disney operated shopping area. It's really unfortunate that you have to walk through this and cannot bypass altogether without getting a coach.
My partner: Shocked that the same company that created Disney Springs also has this in the repertoire. He said it felt like if Disney village was built in Harlow, this is what you would get. He absolutely hated the village and said the whole place looked like it needed a good lick of paint and a jetwash. He didn't understand what the design was meant to say or portray, unlike Disney Springs, and generally thought it was very poor. He did however say that the Starbucks he had was definitely one of the best.
Walt Disney Studios
My thoughts: The expansion isn't going to do what it promises it will for this park, because the main problem still persists - nothing makes any sense. It is all small little glimmers of experiences mashed together. Avengers Campus was definitely an improvement on the previous backlot area, though. Flight Force is a whole lot of nothing after the launch. Spiderman was fun and chaotic and is doing its best to hold down the area, but it simply isn't good enough to anchor Avengers Campus, same as Flight Force. It needs a solid E-ticket, perhaps where the Moteurs show area used to be. Tower of Terror is snappier and more intense than WDW, but the placement is terrible and reminds me of 1960s town planners ethos of 'slap a block of flats in the middle of the development'. The rest of the park, barring Ratatouille and somewhat Toy Story Playland, is an absolute thematic disaster.
My partner: It was much easier to get around compared to Disneyland Park, especially in the bitter cold. The design makes the entire land outside of Studio 1 a chilling wind tunnel. He really liked the entrance up until Studio 1 and said it felt really warm, and then lost all of the goodwill once entering Studio 1. Commented that it was super confusing how there is a Cars ride opposite Crush, then another one in another section of the park - "did they not think any of this through?" And "This is really disappointing for a Disney theme park" were regular comments made. He felt that Crush and Flight Force were just rides that started off well in the station and then quickly realised they were just a "shove a ride in to a dark box and dot some little bits around and call it a day" experience. He really liked the Ratatouille area, and loved TOT. We did take a look at the expansion plans on the construction wall as well, and his comment was "So... they're making it like Epcot, but with nothing to do around the lake? Why is it only opening with Frozen right on the opposite side of the lake?!". I guess that says everything, from someone who is not a big theme park fan/nerd.
Disneyland Park
My thoughts: In my eyes, this is the most flawless castle park ever. Beautiful, charming and so well-planned. Phantom Manor was on top form, as was BTM, Pirates (we rode this back-to-back 6 times on our last night to take it all in). Space Mountain is a shadow of what it used to be, no working external effects (smoke, cannon recoil, etc) and the lighting on the building is mostly not working. Still, she manages to look gorgeous stood there anchoring Discoveryland. Autopia was OK, Buzz was OK and Star Tours was also OK but definitely ruins the overall theme of the land. The resort desperately needs to remove Star Wars from Space Mountain. Fantasyland was beautiful and has a fantastic way of feeling incredibly spacious and open compared to MK, although it is also (in my opinion) crying out for an expansion with SDMT, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. It's also always sad to see what remains of the old ferris wheel as there is no movement in this area whatsoever.
My partner: Loved this park. Firm favourites were BTM and Pirates. Thought the arcades along main street were a fantastic idea as the wind was freezing. Surprisingly, he didn't particularly enjoy Phantom Manor and said "it doesn't feel like much is going on in here". Thought the small little dark rides in Fantasy land were charming, even if they do need some TLC. He also said Discoveryland is miles better than Tomorrowland at MK, but hated the Star Wars overlay on SM. He watched the defunctland video on YouTube the same night when we got back to the hotel room, which made his thoughts even stronger, "why would they do that? It looked so good before". He did say SM was one of the most intense coasters he had done, which surprises me as he manages rides like Nemesis absolutely fine. He also did not understand the ride story of Indiana Jones, "there was nothing really Indiana Jones about the entire thing? What was it about?". He absolutely loved the walk-throughs of the tree house, caves and Nautilus. He also said "I wish we could transplant this version of the park to where Magic Kingdom is".
Priority Card
The resort was not particularly busy for our trip, so we only used this on a handful of occasions where he felt he wouldn't be able to wait the regular queue out. Generally, anything less than 30 minutes wait, we waited in the standby. We used the card for Crush, TOT, and Spiderman. The system works well from what we experienced and staff were very accommodating and happy to help.
Cast Members
The cast members, speaking generally, were very polite and courteous despite what UK-based Facebook groups would lead you to think. Even though all of the cast members spoke English, we learned a small bit of French before going and would always start a conversation in French before transitioning to English. "Bonjour, parlez-vous Anglais s'il vous plaît?" Went a long way, and would get a couple of smiles and laughs from my terrible pronunciation. The only negative we found was enforcing the parks no-smoking rule, with cast members walking past people smoking in the crowd for the night-time shows and in the walkway areas and not bothering to engage. I do, however, think the parks work better with designated smoking areas compared to Orlando, where we have had to walk through large groups of people smoking outside of the park entrances.
Shows
We saw Lion King, Dreams and the Electrical Sky Parade whilst there. The ESP absolutely eclipses all other shows the resort is currently running - it is much better than Dreams. What a fantastic addition to the park! I desperately hope they keep this show and give it a proper run for the foreseeable future.
Lion King was wonderful as always too. I found Dreams to be the weakest that we saw this trip.
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Overall, a decent trip but we won't be rushing back. Also feel like the lake and Frozen land isn't enough to entice us back when it opens. For the price we paid, we would rather put that towards another European resort we haven't done yet (Phantasialand, Europa Park, Portaventura) or to our next Orlando trip (hopefully late 2025). The general feeling was that whilst the resort has wonderful moments and areas, there is a lot of glaring issues that seem to be going completely ignored by Disney, with no feeling of haste to actually sort things out.
My partner has some medical issues including arthritis in the back and hips, scoliosis and also suffers from Schuermann's disease, so struggles to walk long distances and also stand stationary for too long. Somewhat ironically, he also cannot remain seated for too long either otherwise his legs and hips seize up. So, we decided to apply for and make use of the priority pass whilst there.
We drove down from London to Dover, crossed on the DFDS ferry and drove to DLP from Calais. The ferry was incredibly rough going over. The drive itself was boring, but easy with plenty of rest stops on the way. We left our house at 3:30am and were checking in to Sequoia Lodge at roughly 1pm.
Check-in was easy enough, and as we had pre-applied via the DLP app for the priority card, we then went over to the Concierge desk to collect. We showed the proof of disability and had the card within a couple of minutes. Staff at the hotel (and generally speaking across the wider resort) were very friendly and accommodating. I stayed here as a kid way back in 2002, and altogether the reception area does not look any different to then - the theme is timeless and we thought it felt rustic and welcoming.
Our room was in the Yosemite block, and despite how dated some of it was plus the smell of stale cigarettes everywhere, it was homely and of a decent enough size. There were plenty of towels, soaps and shampoo/conditioner/bodywash. We had an issue in that the safe was not left open for us and the handle had been yanked off, but we used a pen to push in to the corner to pull open. Beds were very hard and sprung, however I think after all of the walking you do, anywhere you can lay your head feels amazing. The hairdryer by the sink was useless and overheated very quickly, so we didn't bother using it during our stay.
I'll summarise both mine and my partners thoughts below - interestingly, our opinions differed slightly on different parts of the resort.
Disney Village
My thoughts: I remember this area from when I was young and felt like it now felt very flat and didn't have anything really going for it at all. The appearance is now dated and feels almost industrial, but not in an aesthetically-pleasing purposeful type of way. It was busy-ish whilst we were walking through in the mornings and evenings, but the shops felt empty and the food places (minus McDonalds) also had no energy about them at all. I am not sure if this is due to us visiting during the hangover from Christmas and New Year, but it just felt dead. I also think losing Planet Hollywood has left a big visible scar in the middle, plus losing the Buffalo Bill's was also extremely unfortunate for evening entertainment. No bands/singers playing, the same playlist repeating the same 5/6 songs, etc. It was also incredibly irritating to have people begging for money, asking to use your phone to call their husband (scam) and asking to take your park ticket (scam) - it just really took away from the general experience for me and made it feel like a C-town high street rather than a Disney operated shopping area. It's really unfortunate that you have to walk through this and cannot bypass altogether without getting a coach.
My partner: Shocked that the same company that created Disney Springs also has this in the repertoire. He said it felt like if Disney village was built in Harlow, this is what you would get. He absolutely hated the village and said the whole place looked like it needed a good lick of paint and a jetwash. He didn't understand what the design was meant to say or portray, unlike Disney Springs, and generally thought it was very poor. He did however say that the Starbucks he had was definitely one of the best.
Walt Disney Studios
My thoughts: The expansion isn't going to do what it promises it will for this park, because the main problem still persists - nothing makes any sense. It is all small little glimmers of experiences mashed together. Avengers Campus was definitely an improvement on the previous backlot area, though. Flight Force is a whole lot of nothing after the launch. Spiderman was fun and chaotic and is doing its best to hold down the area, but it simply isn't good enough to anchor Avengers Campus, same as Flight Force. It needs a solid E-ticket, perhaps where the Moteurs show area used to be. Tower of Terror is snappier and more intense than WDW, but the placement is terrible and reminds me of 1960s town planners ethos of 'slap a block of flats in the middle of the development'. The rest of the park, barring Ratatouille and somewhat Toy Story Playland, is an absolute thematic disaster.
My partner: It was much easier to get around compared to Disneyland Park, especially in the bitter cold. The design makes the entire land outside of Studio 1 a chilling wind tunnel. He really liked the entrance up until Studio 1 and said it felt really warm, and then lost all of the goodwill once entering Studio 1. Commented that it was super confusing how there is a Cars ride opposite Crush, then another one in another section of the park - "did they not think any of this through?" And "This is really disappointing for a Disney theme park" were regular comments made. He felt that Crush and Flight Force were just rides that started off well in the station and then quickly realised they were just a "shove a ride in to a dark box and dot some little bits around and call it a day" experience. He really liked the Ratatouille area, and loved TOT. We did take a look at the expansion plans on the construction wall as well, and his comment was "So... they're making it like Epcot, but with nothing to do around the lake? Why is it only opening with Frozen right on the opposite side of the lake?!". I guess that says everything, from someone who is not a big theme park fan/nerd.
Disneyland Park
My thoughts: In my eyes, this is the most flawless castle park ever. Beautiful, charming and so well-planned. Phantom Manor was on top form, as was BTM, Pirates (we rode this back-to-back 6 times on our last night to take it all in). Space Mountain is a shadow of what it used to be, no working external effects (smoke, cannon recoil, etc) and the lighting on the building is mostly not working. Still, she manages to look gorgeous stood there anchoring Discoveryland. Autopia was OK, Buzz was OK and Star Tours was also OK but definitely ruins the overall theme of the land. The resort desperately needs to remove Star Wars from Space Mountain. Fantasyland was beautiful and has a fantastic way of feeling incredibly spacious and open compared to MK, although it is also (in my opinion) crying out for an expansion with SDMT, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. It's also always sad to see what remains of the old ferris wheel as there is no movement in this area whatsoever.
My partner: Loved this park. Firm favourites were BTM and Pirates. Thought the arcades along main street were a fantastic idea as the wind was freezing. Surprisingly, he didn't particularly enjoy Phantom Manor and said "it doesn't feel like much is going on in here". Thought the small little dark rides in Fantasy land were charming, even if they do need some TLC. He also said Discoveryland is miles better than Tomorrowland at MK, but hated the Star Wars overlay on SM. He watched the defunctland video on YouTube the same night when we got back to the hotel room, which made his thoughts even stronger, "why would they do that? It looked so good before". He did say SM was one of the most intense coasters he had done, which surprises me as he manages rides like Nemesis absolutely fine. He also did not understand the ride story of Indiana Jones, "there was nothing really Indiana Jones about the entire thing? What was it about?". He absolutely loved the walk-throughs of the tree house, caves and Nautilus. He also said "I wish we could transplant this version of the park to where Magic Kingdom is".
Priority Card
The resort was not particularly busy for our trip, so we only used this on a handful of occasions where he felt he wouldn't be able to wait the regular queue out. Generally, anything less than 30 minutes wait, we waited in the standby. We used the card for Crush, TOT, and Spiderman. The system works well from what we experienced and staff were very accommodating and happy to help.
Cast Members
The cast members, speaking generally, were very polite and courteous despite what UK-based Facebook groups would lead you to think. Even though all of the cast members spoke English, we learned a small bit of French before going and would always start a conversation in French before transitioning to English. "Bonjour, parlez-vous Anglais s'il vous plaît?" Went a long way, and would get a couple of smiles and laughs from my terrible pronunciation. The only negative we found was enforcing the parks no-smoking rule, with cast members walking past people smoking in the crowd for the night-time shows and in the walkway areas and not bothering to engage. I do, however, think the parks work better with designated smoking areas compared to Orlando, where we have had to walk through large groups of people smoking outside of the park entrances.
Shows
We saw Lion King, Dreams and the Electrical Sky Parade whilst there. The ESP absolutely eclipses all other shows the resort is currently running - it is much better than Dreams. What a fantastic addition to the park! I desperately hope they keep this show and give it a proper run for the foreseeable future.
Lion King was wonderful as always too. I found Dreams to be the weakest that we saw this trip.
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Overall, a decent trip but we won't be rushing back. Also feel like the lake and Frozen land isn't enough to entice us back when it opens. For the price we paid, we would rather put that towards another European resort we haven't done yet (Phantasialand, Europa Park, Portaventura) or to our next Orlando trip (hopefully late 2025). The general feeling was that whilst the resort has wonderful moments and areas, there is a lot of glaring issues that seem to be going completely ignored by Disney, with no feeling of haste to actually sort things out.
. Considering you are using Disney transport, I wish there was something they could do even if it was just to clear from that path and being as close to the Disney fence.