Movenpick Dream Castle review

[alexandra uk]

I've copied and pasted the review I wrote for Trip Advisor.

If anyone has any other questions about our stay feel free to fire away


We stayed at The Movenpick for 5 nights in June this year with our two sons aged 3 and 18 months.
The hotel itself is beautiful. The food in the restaurants was lovely as was the room service.
The pool and jaccuzzi were nice for a cool down after a long hot day in the parks.
We felt the rooms were a little on the small side, and our fridge didn't work for the first three nights of our stay. Only after complaining four times did they replace it.This was a big problem for us because of the little one's milk.
The T.V. only has one English channel which is BBC World. I think they should at least have a Disney channel for the children, after all Disneyland is why the majority of their guests are there.
The biggest problem with this hotel was the buses. They really were a pain and too much hassle.
When they pick you up from the parks to return to the hotel, they don't just wait until the bus is full, they wait until its packed to capacity like a tin of sardines. In 32 c heat it was just unbearable.
The Movenpick is the last drop off too. It goes to 3 hotels beforehand.
We were getting off at The Explorers(1st drop) and walking.
Although it says its only a 10 minute shuttle ride from the parks, we were finding it took over half an hour. By the time we waited for the bus, then sat waiting for the bus to fill up, drove to the hotels, and finally got to ours (whether we walked from the Explorers or sat it out while it went to all 3 of the other hotels before) it is definatly alot more than 10 minutes.
Another thing is we found was that there was no atmosphere or Disney magic. It felt more like a conference hotel. Having stayed in The Sequoia on our last visit we really noticed the difference.
Even popping back to The Disney Village in the evenings was just too much hassle.
We would never consider staying offsite again. Next year we are going to try The Hotel New York.

 

[nicola]

Alex,

Thanks for that review, very detailed and informative. We have stayed at HNY twice now and I can heartily recommend it. In my opinion, the theming is fantastic, right down to the thirties music in the lifts. The rooms are really spacious and nice and the restaurants are lovely-you don't have to book a time for breakfast. We ordered room service on a number of occasions, which was great. The characters also visit often (more so than at NPB anyway). I don't agree with what some people say about it being 'sterile'. Quite the opposite in my opinion!! We have also stayed at NPB and thought it was fine but we much prefer HNY. We have stayed in HI and kyriad for a few nights. What we usually do is book one of the 'further from the magic hotels' for a night or two at the beginning of the holiday in order to maximise time in the park. We have stayed at Kyriad which we found too small and HI which we thought was ok but just for a night or two, considering the rate of 65 euros, not too bad!! I have to agree with you though we would never consider staying in any of these hotels for the entire stay. Did you get a good rate for the Movenpic, if not I am interested in why you chose to stay there? We have decided to save our pennies to stay at DLH during Christmas season. Never been there before and there was an enormous difference in price between it and the HNY but we figured we would want to try DLH at least once and due to cold weather in Dec we decided that this would be the best time. It will have to be really fantastic though to live up to HNY. Did you enjoy your holiday anyway? My advice-stay at the HNY and you will not be disappointed .

 

[Bexx]

Thanks for the review. Sorry it wasn't the best place to stay for your visit - did you have a good time otherwise?

My advice-stay at the HNY and you will not be disappointed .

I totally agree!!

 

[nicola]

Becky,

Its great to see there's another HNY fan out there. I think we are few and far between. Which of the other hotels have you stayed at and how did they compare? Ever stayed at DLH?

 

[Bexx]

I've stayed at Sequoia Lodge 3 times and Newport Bay once. I just found the rooms at HNY seemed more plush somehow, and being that bit more spacious was a plus with more than two people in the room. I also like knowing that room service is available, now we have young children who might get too tired and cranky to sit through a "meal out".

Haven't stayed at DLH, but would love to try it one day. I'm sure that's a whole different ball game!!!

 

[Renate_do]

We are also great fans of the HNY but go quite often to the HI cause of the price.
We stayed at all Hotels except DLH and Explorers and our ranking is

1. HNY
2. Holiday Inn
3. NPBC
4. DCR
5. Mövenpick
6. SL
7. Kyriad
8. Cheyenne
9. SF
10. Pierre & Vacances

Greets Renate

 

[nicola]

Thanks Renate, Very interesting list. WIll keep it in mind for future trips. We have only been three times but our list is as follows:

1. HNY
2. NPBC
3. HI
4. Kyriad (only because haven't stayed anywhere else)

I am looking forward to adding DLH to that list in Nov

 

[Miffy2003]

Thank you for the review Alex

I must admit for me one of the huge advantages of DLP over WDW is the walkability factor and for that reason I would always prefer to stay onsite

 

[feralgeorge]

Thanks for the review - we've chosen to stay at the Movenpick in late July so it's good to get some tips before going. We may end up driving to the park if the buses are packed like that.

The last time we went to DLP we stayed at Hotel L'Elysee in Val d'Europe which wak okay but didn't have any facilities and the rooms were squishy. I'm assuming that the Movenpick has bigger rooms. We can't stay at a Disney property because dh is claiming it as a work expense (he will go into Paris from Marne for work).

 

[bonhoga]

Dear Renate,

What a good idea, I wonder if everyone would list/rate the hotels they have stayed in? It would really help those of us who have only stayed in a couple of places to decide where to go next!

Really really helpful!

 

[missj171]

Lol, in my case the ranking would be:

1. DLH
2. motel in central paris that smelt like warm milk (only for one night, luckily!)

Lets hope sante Fe impresses me more than #2 eh!?