Disneyland Paris never learns from its mistakes

I left the Disneyland Hotel on 14 March 2020 (thank you COVID). It was a sad farewell to an establishment where I regularly stayed.

So you can imagine how excited I was to be one of the first guests present on the day it reopened.

NB: We would like to make it clear that this opinion is given as a customer who paid for the services like anyone else and not as a guest of Disneyland Paris.

A holiday booked from the other side of the world

Let’s go back a few months, to the day when bookings opened for 25 January 2024. It was an obstacle course to get the precious sesame. Between the waiting list which, when you got within a few minutes of the goal, suddenly sent you back an hour and when you arrived on the site. After a very, very long wait it was impossible to get a proper connection, the site was saturated. Well, it was no better for more than 48 hours. For the anecdote, I got my booking thanks to a friend who was at Walt Disney World and who had easier access to the site – yes, I swear, a real gag.

Almost there

So here I am, approaching the DLH on the morning of Thursday 25 January, and my brain rekindles a memory. My somewhat chaotic stay at the reopening of the New York – The Art of Marvel….No, this is the Disneyland Hotel, everything’s going to be perfect, it’s the flagship of the DLP hotel fleet, no stress.

9.50am, that’s it, I arrive, I get out of the taxi, the luggage handler is there straight away, I go through baggage control and I enter the Lobby and …. OK, the chandelier is magnificent, the new painting on the monumental fireplace is rather pretty, the new furniture is nice, but I don’t get the wow effect I was dreaming of … no, no, don’t start moaning, I’ll explain. In fact, everything’s exactly in the same place, just themed decoration, pretty yes, but perhaps I had other expectations. Well, at least I haven’t lost my bearings. That said, I’m still delighted to be able to find something new here.

So the Deluxe reception, ah yes reservation of a Deluxe room (for lack of having managed to get the Castle Club in time) is instead of the counters formerly called “Departures/Check-out”, I find Cast Members there from the Newport Bay Club. Check-in was smooth and pleasant.

Discovering the “common areas”, once again nothing has changed, everything is in the same place, at best small extensions such as the shop, or rearrangements such as the bar, which in my opinion is a bit of a “failure”, nice decoration, but very dark and at night it’s even worse with subdued lighting, I don’t feel the warmth of Café Fantasia.

Let It Go …

We discovered the Deluxe Family Room, themed Frozen, and here…well, we’re in the Frozen theme, it’s cold, neutral colours, neutral furniture, it’s impersonal …. I know that the Victorian style wasn’t to your taste, but it was a bit more cocooning. And now things are getting worse.

In the afternoon, I discover that it’s impossible to turn off the lights, that the electrical sockets don’t work and the thermostat has gone “crazy” – the bedroom is freezing (Frozen, we’re connected), the bathroom is in sauna mode. First service call. Back in the room a little later and again the same problem, another visit from maintenance, who are looking, fiddling, fumbling, poor guys, they’ve really tried everything. And there I was, back in New York in June 2021, calling reception, “Madam, we’re going to give you a new room”. My brain: you see I was right, you shouldn’t have got carried away, you’re a real “black cat” my poor girl …LOL.

Welcome to the Bayou

I close my luggage, fortunately not unpacked, and after dinner, a new magic pass and a new room, this time themed The Princess and the Frog, and it’s a pleasant surprise, a room that I find much nicer, warmer, I go out onto the terrace and I understand that once again Disneyland Paris has opened a hotel whose renovation is not really finished. The gardens by the pool (and not just those) have not been landscaped, the electric cables for future lighting are in “waiting” sheaths, and there is a large electric cable hanging sadly from the balcony on the floor above the room, which seems to be wondering where it will end up. In the bathroom, the shower head hasn’t been screwed on properly, and one of the two washbasins is already damaged (partly broken) and trowelled over; there are already black marks above the ventilation grilles.

Another remark, at the New York – The Art of Marvel, on the day of the reopening, guests received a lithograph and small goodies as a gift, and to mark this ‘historic’ day, there was a mini opening ceremony. La Rien et Rien et Rien …. not even chocolates on the bed (this is a joke, don’t start shouting, I’m just making a point, I’m not asking for anything).

Time to take stock

Apart from the great pleasure of returning to the Disneyland Hotel, the professionalism of the Cast Members, all perfect from the reception, to the waiters, the Royal Greeter, the baggage handlers, the sales assistants and I’m forgetting. As for the rest, I’m convinced that, once again, the guests who have paid full price for the service have only been used to “wipe the slate clean” for subsequent adjustments, and that it’s the VIPs and other influencers who will be arriving in a week’s time as “guests” who will be spoilt for choice, with gifts, shows, etc…. Even if it was the company’s choice to privatise the hotel for these VIPs, because thanks to their communities DLP will have an impact on visitor numbers, it’s still a shame not to have made this reopening a little more exceptional for ordinary guests. I can assure you that I’ll be going back in a while, once the finishing touches have been completed.