Review of Disney’s Newport Bay Club

Quick Overview

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Booking Disney’s Newport Bay Club Over the Official Annual Pass Hotline

The last time I stayed at Newport Bay Club was so long ago that I couldn’t remember much of anything. My husband had never been and we were really in the mood to try out another hotel at Disneyland Paris. I always enjoy checking out “new” spaces or areas of the resort that I haven’t seen in a really long time. Plus I’m a huge sucker for anything maritime.

This was also the first time I used the Infinity Annual Pass hotel discount by calling the service center over the phone. Plan some time in to make that call. I waited around 30 minutes on hold and was then transferred to a friendly cast member. Who was very polite and helpful. However since this was my first time booking, we had to set up a whole new account with an email and I had to read that long long looong number on the annual pass to her.

Also it’s kind of a hassle to compare discounted room prices for the various resorts over the phone. Since every-time you switch the hotel or even room category from within the same hotel, the cast member has to read off this long spiel before finally naming the price at the end. It goes something like:

“So for Disneys Newport Bayclub, for two people for a three night stay from January 23rd to January 25th, in a standard room with a garden view two double beds. The hotel has a pool and the featured character is captain Mickey. With the wellness tax and without a breakfast, this is the lowest price I could find with the infinity annual pass discount, the price is 485 EUR. How does that sound?”

This spiel is for every price you request by the way. Like we mentioned in our Patreon exclusive annual pass episode. It’s time for a dedicated online booking platform. This is such a hassle on both ends. It’s basically impossible to check prices on various dates for various hotels.

Also you have to pay 10 percent over the phone and the other half online later which makes zero sense. I asked if the cast member could just deduct the whole amount, saving me a trip to the website and they cant.

So whats the point of me booking over the phone then? Not only do you have to be physically able to make a phone call (which sucks for the hearing impaired) but you also have to have internet access and a computer (which sucks for the digitally challenged).

By the way, the cast member mentioned that the payment process only works properly on Google Chrome and if you use any other browser you might encounter serious issues.

Just to be clear here the cast member was super helpful and friendly. Not blaming them at all, but the process is a pain in the behind and needs to be completely re-worked.

Either bring it all online, to the website and let us book the darn thing, with the AP discount ourselves, or if you must do it over the phone at least let it be one session without having to log on to the website at a later date to pay the rest.

Booking is a whole thing.

Checking In

Check in was, mercifully, quick and efficient. We arrived at the hotel around 6 P.M.. We drove by e-car and I’m sorry to say the Newport only has one very old charging station that features the European standard 3 kWh Schuko plug (so basically a home outlet) and there are only 2 charging spots available.

The charging station as well as the two reserved parking spots are sealed of with a barrier that has to be unlocked by key, by a cast-member from the luggage team. Those cast members are located on the right hand side, when facing the Newport facade from the parking lot entrance. It took a while to figure out who to ask since the cast members at the reception were unsure. 

The check in itself went smooth as butter, there was no queue and our keycards were handed to us, along with a hotel map in an envelope. The cast member just had to see our Annual Passes and we were good to go. 

The Room 

Our room was located in the so called east wing on the 3rd floor. The reception is located on the second floor by the way.

Those Newport hallways make for a long walk. It look a good 3 minutes of walking at a leisurely pace from the elevator to get to the room (although it felt longer) and we weren’t even close to the end of that hallway. 

The room itself is quite lovely if not a bit dated. Faux white wood walls with a graphic strip running along the top of the room underline the maritime feels of the room. The strip features graphic port holes with Goofy, Mickey, Donald and (I think) the whale from Pinnochio on them. Other than that theres no piece of art mounted to the walls like at most other Disneyland Paris hotels. There are however, several fun details like the maritime lighting fixtures mounted next to the beds that feature illustrated ship anchors on them. As well as the wooden, Mickey ear shaped headboard. 

The carped features a dark blue pattern, made of ropes that form several Mickey heads. In addition, the TV as well as the vanity furniture itself is made of dark mahogany style wood. Which appear to have several drawers, when in fact most are just mock drawers. Theres nothing behind them and you cant open them.

I’ll refer back to what Niels mentioned during his last stay. There is a severe lack of electrical outlets. Three are located by the vanity mirror including a UK style plug. One is located by the bed closest to the wall and 2 are located below the TV. No plugs by the nightstand. You know the place where you really want to charge your phone overnight. 

The bathroom features a shower bathtub combo with a glass divider instead of a curtain, which I appreciated. The water pressure on the other hand was pretty weak, you almost had to coax it out of the shower head. We don’t really know what is going on with the hotel plumbing because either the water was scolding hot or ice cold. It was really difficult to find a bearable temperature. It feels like the shower fitting were calibrated to 80,5 percent hot water, 19 percent cold, the remaining half percent was that bearable middle. That could really be improved upon, as well as the rough toilet paper… more like sandpaper.

On the upside the restrooms featured cute dark blue wall tiles. You also get both the little Mickey ear shampoo bottles + conditioner as well as the wall mounted shampoo/shower gel combo. Noteworthy was that on the first day we got the Disney Resorts branded H2O+ bottles and on the second day we were given Disneyland Paris branded shampoo bottles. Perhaps we are witnessing a transition to H2O+ at Disneyland Paris.

The bed with the cute Mickey headboard was comfortable if not a bit on the harder side. Firm mattresses seem to be pretty common in french hotels. The New York and (back when it was open) Disneyland Hotel definitely hold the crown when it comes to the most comfortable Disneyland Paris mattresses. We did enjoy the large selection of pillows that was provided. Each bed had 4 pillows (plus the decorative pillow, don’t use that) that varied in girth and density. It’s great to have options and overall we slept well. 

The room also features one large window, that you can tilt… and only tilt but that was great. However our view was less than magical. We didn’t book a lake view room, so I was curious as to what we would look at. Turns out you might end up looking at the hotels storage and backstage areas.

Which is honestly less than ideal and not all quiet. Around 6 in the morning you start hearing industrial noise form the outside (If you had the windows open that is, we do sleep with open windows). Beeping from vehicles backing up and the hustle and bustle of cast member moving supplies back and forth. Disney did try to separate hotel guests a bit by planting some evergreen trees, and they do green up the view a bit. But, you can still pretty much see and hear everything.

A Grand Pool

Newports pool is a grand indoor/outdoor event and is located on the ground floor in its own little building. However, no worries you don’t need to go outside to get they’re its all connected by heated hotel hallways. Whats really nice is that the pools building features large windows overlooking the lake and hotel entrance. As well as massive skylights that let in plenty of light during the daylight hours. Similar to the other resorts, the indoor/outdoor pool is connected by a water canal. So you can swim from the inside to the outside. Furthermore the water was heated to a pleasant temperature. Cast members do seal off the outdoor section in the evenings.

A small hot tub is also available, however you have to make a reservation with the on duty life guard to enjoy it. The hot tub is split down the middle by a divider, one family per side. Folks bathing in the hot tubs really seemed to be enjoying them. There is also a small kiddie pool as well as a massive faux ship. The ship is not only wonderful to look at, but can also be utilised as a panoramic platform.  

While I was floating around in the water I noticed another guests relative on the ship. Which was the only reason I realized that you can get up there. The relatIve was fully clothed and wearing a mask. So if you want to watch your family swim around in the pool but don’t want to go in yourself the ship is the place for you. We did some exploring after swimming around for a bit and discovered that you can access it by heading past the pool entrance around the bend and to the left. If you head all the way down the hallway you pass by a coffee machine, and at the end are stairs that lead up to the ship. 

Towels are provided by the pools reception. The cast member is always present to explain how the locker works and to hand you towels. So you don’t need to bring the ones from you room (which I did see a couple of people do anyway). The locker room itself is quite small. It’s a mixed sex locker room with individual changing cubicles. Furthermore, the cubicles use this odd system that used to be very popular in Europe. They basically act as a barrier. You enter your dressing cubicle one way and exit the other, almost like a portal. Personally I’m not a huge fan of the system since it does mean theres no easy way to access the lockers if you already came in your bathing suit (which is what most people did). In addition, once you are read to leave, you have to wait for one of the cubicles to become available to get out of the pool area.

The lockers use a simple 4 symbol numerical lock, they are included and you don’t have to pay anything to use them. Just be sure to remember your locker number so you can get your stuff back. Oh and street shoes are not allowed in the pool area, you also don’t have to wear a mask which made me slightly uncomfortable. I would have preferred everyone keep them on until they get into the water. Several pool lounge chairs surround the giant pool and make for a great place to relax. During the warmer months there are even more available outside.  

Dining at Cape Cod in the Newport Bayclub

We did have dinner at Cape Cod, and you can find out all about that on our patreon exclusive show.

All I’m going to say here is that it was good with a few surprises.

Shopping in Disney’s Newport Bayclub

Now the hotels shop “Bay Boutique” is nice, if not a bit small, like most Disneyland Paris Hotel shops. It’s rocking the maritime look with a gorgeous statue of Mickey in a sailor outfit in the center of the room. The shop sells a selection of merch, Disney character statues and a few pieces of art. They also sell snacks, like chips and drinks, and you can pick up your in park shopping here as well.

By the way the good ol’ days of having everything you buy in the parks delivered to your hotel are over. There is now a 50 EUR shopping minimum in place, if you want to use the Shopping Service. Major bummer. I wonder if this policy is not counter productive, as in lowering sales because folks don’t want to carry merch around all day in the parks.

Trying to Get the Complimentary Hot Beverage

Yeah, so I tried getting my free hot beverage at one of the Machines located on my floor. For those of you who don’t know you get one hot drink per day when staying at a Disneyland Paris hotel. Niels was kind enough to mention this neat little hack on our Patreon exclusive Disneyland Paris Hacks episode. The machines dispense various types of coffee, hot chocolate and even green tea.

Let me take you through this step by step, because I had a bit of difficulty getting the machine to work at first. You have to place your magic pass (hotel room key card) in the NFC card holder. Wait until the little LED turns from green to orange and then make your selection. If all goes well the machine should start making your drink and you can remove your magic pass.

Anyway, I ordered the hot chocolate and the surprise was that the machine must not have been refilled. So instead I got a small cup of hot yellowy water that looked… not great. 

Honestly I just left the cup in the machine to warn other guests not to use it. If you pay for it with your own money, that would have been 4 Euros down the drain. I did try to inform the reception, but no one answered the phone. The story has a happy ending though. A cast member must have seen it and refilled the machine, it was running normally the next day.

Another fun surprise was that the western bridge leading to the Newport was reopened. On our first day we had to walk all the way around the lake, which was a bit of a hassle. Thankfully, on our second day, we were surprised to see the bridge and walkway back open. It saves you at least 10 minutes of walking time. So that is very convenient.

Last Takeaways

Yeah overall, I really enjoy the Newport Bay Club. Is it my favourite Dinseyland Paris hotel? No. However, the theme is charming and if you want to live your maritime fantasy without boarding a ship this is one of the best ways to do it. The character meet and greet in the lobby was also a real highlight. During our stay we saw both Daisy, Donald, and Captain Mickey without any wait.

The trick is to go later in the evening, when most folks are having dinner or relaxing in their rooms. The characters had nothing to do and where trying to grab folks attention left and right. I saw daisy waving to people across the room and folks walking by. People were either too tired or didn’t see her which made a little sad. However it was also the perfect time to interact with her for a bit and take some cute photos. We had a similar experience over in the Sequoia Lodge with Goofy.

Overall the Newport Bay Club is great Disney Hotel. It has more to offer than the Cheyenne with its large pool and shorter walk to the parks. The Sequoia Lodge would be tough competition were it not for a closed pool (closed until this summer due to the refurbishment work). We would stay there again in the future.

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