Whenever we decide to travel anywhere we have to do our research. We have to make sure that the accommodation we choose will be able to cater for Ethan’s needs. This makes our stay as enjoyable as possible. As whenever we take Ethan away from home his autistic traits come into play even more. We need to make his time
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We love sharing our Disneyland Paris adventures on our blog. Make sure you visit our Disneyland Paris Trips and Experiences post to read all about them.
What is a Golden Forest Room?
The Sequoia Lodge is one of the official Disneyland Paris Hotels*. It is a three
1. The American Buffet Breakfast
In Disneyland Paris they don’t serve the milk we are used to for breakfast. It is UHT milk. During our visit in 2013, we discovered that this stopped Ethan from eating cereal. Refusing breakfast is not the way we want him to start his day. We needed to find pancakes or waffles, as this is an alternative food he will eat. We discovered that pancakes are served as part of the buffet breakfast when staying in a Golden Forest Room. I really should try to make Ethan some Mickey
2. Access to the Golden Forest lounge
Staying in a Golden Forest room gives you access to a private lounge, the Golden Forest lounge. This is situated on the same floor as the reception, just past the shop and a quiet area of the hotel. The lounge is where breakfast is served from 7 am to 11 am. You can also have hot and cold drinks served from 7 am to 10.30 pm. If you want to take a hot drink to your room they can arrange this for you, hot chocolate was a must for us after our days in the parks. There is also afternoon tea, which offers sweet and savoury snacks. This is served from 4 pm to 5.30 pm.
The main restaurants in the hotel can be very big and noisy. The queues for breakfast can also be very long. All of this can be very overwhelming for Ethan. Having access to the private lounge makes breakfast an easy experience for Ethan and us. For him, it is a quieter environment with fewer people. If you also haven’t got any Disneyland Paris Meal Plans* included in your stay the food offered in the lounge can help reduce your food and drink costs too.
3. Private Reception Desk for Checking In and Out
Guests staying in Golden Forest Rooms have a dedicated reception area for check-in. This area contains two desks with chairs and lots of Disney chocolate coins. This is fantastic after a long travel day. We have never had to wait to be served and have never had to queue. The normal reception can have long queues on check
4. Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea is offered in the Golden Forest lounge from 4 pm to 5.30 pm. There are sweet and savoury snacks available. On our recent visit to Disneyland Paris, we only had afternoon tea on our arrival day. We were so busy in the parks on the other days and our breakfast kept us full right up until dinnertime. During our stay in February 2018, we indulged in afternoon tea more often. This was because of the colder weather and Little E being younger. We would go back to the hotel for a break and to warm up. Afternoon tea was very welcome. I do feel the food they had on offer during our recent trip had improved.
5. The Golden Forest Rooms Location
The Golden Forest Rooms are located in the main building on the top three floors. There is an extra cost for a Lake View room but we have never felt the need to pay for this extra. Staying in the main building means that you are closer to all of the hotel’s amenities. We also discovered that if you take the North Wing lift directly to the ground floor you can easily walk to the side exit of the hotel. This means that you miss the stairs going out of the entrance near the lake, or waiting for an extra lift if you need it. We found this perfect when we had the buggy and another way of missing any crowds of people.
6. Extra Room Amenities
The Golden Forest Rooms have extra amenities from the standard rooms. They have tea and coffee-making facilities that also include a Nespresso Machine. The tea and coffee are topped up daily but the staff in the Golden Forest lounge were happy to give us extra items if we needed them topped up.
There are also mini-fridges in the room. We often find we use a fridge to keep snacks and drinks cool.
7. Disney Hotel Fastpass
In 2021 Disney removed the option of free Fastpasses in their parks. This means they are no longer given to you if you stay in a Golden Forest Room. You can now purchase Disney Premier Access*. You can add this to your tickets for the whole day or just for one ride at a time. We have not yet tried this service on any of our trips. But the removal of the free fastpasses would not stop us from choosing to stay in a Golden Forest Room at Disney’s Sequoia Lodge
You can discover all of the amenities this hotel has to offer by clicking on this Sequoia Lodge* link.
Extra Disneyland Paris Hotel Perks
Not only do the Golden Forest Rooms offer you all of the above but also there are extra perks when staying in a Disneyland Paris hotel.
Extra Magic Time
When you stay in a Disney hotel you can enter the parks one hour before it is open to the public. This is known as Extra Magic Time. If you want a photo at an empty Main Street USA this is the perfect time for that photo opportunity.
Disney Character Meet and Greets
A Disney character will visit the hotel lobby daily, normally in the morning. This is the perfect time for a photo or to collect an autograph. The characters do change so you may spot a few of your friends during your stay.
Disney Express
If you book your hotel and Eurostar directly with Disney you have the option of adding the Disney Express service to your booking. This means you will receive your hotel check-in documents and park tickets on the train. Your luggage is also transferred to your hotel on arrival and to the station on departure. This means you can head straight to the Disney Parks as soon as you arrive.
Please note that some of these services will not be available at the Disney Davy Crockett Ranch* and Villages Nature Paris.
Our Personal Perks Of Staying At A Disneyland Paris Hotel
As we book our travel and hotel packages separately ourselves, we have always found this the cheaper option, we can’t benefit from the Disney Express service. This doesn’t bother us on arrival, as we like to go to the hotel to freshen up. Disney actually offers the luggage service to all of its hotel guests on your checkout day. For €20 they transferred our entire luggage over to the station for us. I think this actually works out cheaper than booking the Disney Express service.
You are now able to collect a Disneyland Paris Priority Card (green pass) at the Disney hotels concierge desk. They still need to see all of the required documentation but this saves you a trip to Guest Relations as soon as you enter the park. Reducing our queuing times to pick up this card too.
We love sharing our Disneyland Paris adventures on our blog. Make sure you visit our Disneyland Paris Trips and Experiences post to read all about them.
DISCLOSURE – This is a collaborative post.
This is where our relatives stayed last summer and they had a great stay. They listed many of the reasons that you have for choosing to stay there, it would definitely be our choice if we make the trip.
It really has turned into our go-to hotel. If Ethan’s needs are met we are happy :0)
Hello – thanks for this brilliant review. I was wondering what it was like there weather-wise in February? We are thinking of going in March, so we wondered how enjoyable it was in winter?
Thanks!
We visited in February, March, November and December and really enjoyed both times. We actually said on our last trip we want to come back during a colder season. It had snowed before our February tip. We just layer up, putting leggings under our jeans etc. The days are shorter making it easier for younger kids. The weather is more manageable rather than being really hot. February half-term was busier than May half-term as the UK only really has the May half-term holiday. I think anytime you go will be great. Just be aware that some attractions close for maintenance during the off-season months and some shows are not on x