Disney Sequoia Lodge — Hotel in Torcy

My family has stayed at Sequoia Lodge twice this year (2023): once in February and once in November. Before detailing why our experiences were less than magical, we do want to point out the positives:

The front desk staff was courteous, professional, and helpful during both stays. The pool facility is fantastic, especially for kids. Sometime between February and November, the hot drink machines in the common areas were removed and each room now has a capsule coffee machine, coffee capsules and cream, mint tea, Earl Grey tea, individually wrapped disposable cups, a water boiler, and two bottles of water. The lobby area and outside landscaping is very inviting and really gives guests the feeling of being at a lodge in the American West.

Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh the positives and really take away from the Disney magic.

Compared to the other European theme park hotels (Parc Asterix La Cité Suspendue, Efteling Hotel, LEGOLAND Windsor Castle Hotel) that my family has stayed at in the past year, the rooms at Sequoia Lodge are NOT as family friendly. For families, the only option at Sequoia Lodge is a room with two double beds, which is not very comfortable for the parents and not fun for the kids either. The other theme park hotels we have stayed at offered rooms with bunk beds for the kids and included a larger bed for the parents. Disney really should consider installing bunk beds in select rooms when they next renovate Sequoia Lodge as well as beds larger than a double. (Note: To our knowledge, Hotel Santa Fe is the only DLP hotel that still offers bunk beds, but it is a 2-star resort without air conditioning. We have stayed there as well and found it to be somewhat rundown. We should also mention that the other theme parks previously mentioned had at least two hotels offering bunk bed rooms.). The room cleanliness was subpar. During our November stay, there were cobwebs hanging from the ceiling above the sink as well as above the dresser and table. We found a (thankfully unused) diaper left by another guest in the dresser. The carpet below the headboards was a different color from the rest of the carpet due to the accumulated dust and dirt. The surfaces (bathroom counter, dresser, and table) as well as the carpet did not seem to have been thoroughly cleaned and still had visible dirt and debris (it appeared that it had been cleaned, just not very well). It was very dingy. (Note: our room during our February stay was cleaner.) The rooms are outdated. They have old, really firm mattresses that my entire family found uncomfortable. One of the mattresses in the room we stayed at in November actually had a button missing from the side, which left a big hole in the mattress. During both of our stays, the bathtub tile surround was not in good condition with orange and black stains in places, as well as small areas with missing grout and caulk. The rooms really need to be renovated. During our November trip, we did not receive our room assignment until almost 19:15, even though the room was supposed to be available from 15:00.

Our family still enjoyed our time at DLP and we will definitely be back in the future. But next time, we will likely choose to spend the extra money and stay at the newly renovated Hotel New York. And we will keep our fingers crossed that Sequoia Lodge will undergo a major renovation soon because it really has the potential to be something...

I'm very mixed about our stay at the Sequoia Lodge.

Firstly, our room had no electricity to the sockets, including the bathroom hairdryer or wall mounted TV. We reported this to reception and was offered an alternative room or to wait for maintenance. I'd noticed the room was dirty anyway so was happy to move rooms. When we went to collect our luggage, the maintenance person had arrived. We saw him flipping fuses in the hall as we walked behind him to our room. He accused me of blowing the fuse with my straighteners. I didn't even use them as no socket was working. He tried the hairdryer, it worked and now there was a red standby light on the TV - which hadn't been there before. We returned to reception and we were shown another room which we said was fine. It was 2187 and an accessible room so had a huge bathroom. This room was much cleaner. The next day we spent the whole day in the park and returned to our room late. I'd left my book on the nightstand and when we got in I noticed a green damp cloth on it. The cleaner had left the cloth there and it had soaked through my brand new book. Plus it stunk. I tried to dry out my book with the hairdryer but when I went into the bathroom used plastic cleaning gloves had been left on the sink. Sadly my book could not be saved. I took my book and the cloth to reception the next morning. The receptionist was very helpful and apologetic. I waited to speak to the housekeeping supervisor who gave me a €20 gift card as an apology. Which was very nice, but I'd rather my book hadn't been ruined and I wouldn't have had to come back to reception to complain.

Other than the room drama, the hotel is quite dated. Lots of the hallways need a refresh and the decor is old and worn.

We sat in the bar one evening to have drinks and play bananagrams. Sadly the fire wasn't burning, but should have been as it's meant to be on all winter.

Breakfast was great. We tried both the Hunters Grill and Beavor Creek. They're buffet and American style. Lots of food on offer and tasty. The only issue I had was that the hot food wasn't hot in either restaurant, luke warm only.

We also tried out the Quarry Pool. It's good for little ones. There's also a hot tub which we walked straight into but after a while noticed the life guard ask people if they had bookings. No one had told us we needed a booking so we had to get out. The pool was much cooler and has a slide and lots of sunbeds around the edge. There are towels and free lockers in the changing rooms so you just need your magic pass.

The extra hour in the parks and access to the other hotels was all worth the trip for us. Whilst I wouldn't stay at the Sequoia Lodge again, I would definitely stay in one of the other Disney hotels. I'm disappointed as this was my first time at a Disney hotel and I had Hugh expectations. The shabby furnishings and issues around cleaning really...

At the time of our stay the French Taxi drivers went on strike. This meant police stopped us driving to the Hotel car park on our arrival day. Incredibly inconvenient. This is not the hotel’s fault and ‘Disney’ did send an email 2 days before our arrival to warn us, but the communication ended there. On arrival, we parked our car at the main Disney car park rather than the hotel car park. We did not know when we could move our car from the Disney car park to the hotel car park. We could not phone the hotel to ask - their helpline is useless. We eventually took a chance and drove from the Disney car park to the hotel car park between the protests and got away with it.

When preparing to leave the hotel we asked the concierge (3 of them in fact) if it is safe to drive toward Paris. The answer was ‘I do not know’. That was all. There was no ‘you can take this alternative route’ or ‘others have been able to travel ok’ or anything else helpful- just ‘I don’t know’. In other words - you are on your own and we have been told not to give advice. This was very disappointing and we will never stay here again because of this lack of customer service. Advice for the staff/owners: it’s your job to ‘know’ and there are ways to be helpful without worrying about liability. Google that. Again, the strike was not the hotel’s fault, but they did not try to help make the situation easier for visitors to their country in a time of civil unrest. When leaving, we were stopped at the security gate and told the road is blocked. The helpful security guard directed us to a service exit in the corner of the car park. This helped us bypass the protests. If only the concierge team were as helpful as this security guard. He is the reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1.

Apart from that… The rooms feel like they haven’t been decorated since the 1970s - very dull - but apparently they’re going for a log cabin feel from the old-school Disney movies of the 1950s. 2 or 3 plug sockets on the wrong areas of the room means bringing a very long extension lead to charge devices near the bedside table, but thanks to other reviews I had an 20ft extension lead. Perhaps keeping with the 1950s, low tech feel. The safety deposit box is good but there is no fridge. We brought a car fridge with a 240v adaptor, which I would recommend. The TV doesn’t have Smart capabilities and you cannot get to the HDMI ports to fit a Firestick or similar. The shower is hot and powerful but it’s in a bath with an old school curtain which makes it awkward if you are in any way large. Overall, this hotel was fine. It’s in a good location for the Disney Parks. Just don’t expect the customer service to match the price tag or your...