Hotel Cheyenne - January 2012

Rafael · January 14, 2012, 07:34:29 PM

This is my first trip report ever!

First of all I would like to thank everybody from this forum, because reading your posts helped a lot during my planning and I´m sure made our trip much better. Many thanks!

My parter Helio and I traveled from Brazil to France for the firt time and we got to spend 4 days and 3 nights at Disneyland and 5 more days in Paris. For the Disney part of our trip, we stayed from the 2nd to the 5th of January at Hotel Cheyenne. I had already visited the Disney parks in the USA and Helio had never been to a Disney park before. I was quite worried he wouldn´t like it, but he ended up loving it and we are already planning a visit to Orlando next year (I hope to visit Tokyo someday!)

We both loved staying at Hotel Cheyenne. The theming is great and it had a nice atmosphere. We thought the cast members were very friendly, especially at the reception. Check-in was fast and easy, even though there was a line when we got there. I think it was about 10a.m (January 2nd) and the room was already available. I guess we were lucky.

Let´s start with some pictures I took at Hotel Cheyenne. You will see some pictures of Helio walking. He was always walking ahead while I was behind taking pictures of everything.
I hope you like them! I will try to write about day 1 later.

Epcot_Boy · January 14, 2012, 08:15:38 PM

Thanks for sharing your pics with us, all the way from Brazil :thumbs:

But a question

Where is everyone :?: :lol:

Rafael · January 14, 2012, 08:22:59 PM

Hi Epcot_Boy!

During our stay, it was very quiet at the hotel. We only saw people during breakfast lol. The rest of the time, it was a ghost town. I think in a way, it helped set the mood for the theming lol

Rafael · January 14, 2012, 08:32:32 PM

For the first 2 days of our trip, we walked to the parks and back to Cheyenne. Walking along Rio Grande was really nice. However, we ended up giving up walking on days 3 and 4 and decided to take the shuttle to the parks.

Here are some pictures I took during these walks:

ed-uk · January 14, 2012, 08:37:52 PM

Great pictures, sure looks quiet though.

Rafael · January 14, 2012, 08:52:14 PM

Thanks!

It sure was quiet, even at the parks. I was good for rides, we didn´t even need to use fast-pass. We used only once but I guess we shouldn´t even had bothered because lines weren´t a problem. The only ride with more than 20 minutes was Crush´s coaster.

princessemily · January 14, 2012, 09:43:36 PM

Great to get an insight into the Cheyenne. We are staying there in March. We have stayed there back in December 2007 but can't remember it much. Looking forward to the rest of the report.

Rafael · January 14, 2012, 11:01:21 PM

Hi Princess Emily,

I think you won´t regret staying there. The room was comfortable and clean. I don´t know whether it has been refurbished lately, but everything looked like new. For breakfast, I was informed it´s better to go early, between 7 and 7.30, because after that it gets very busy. We had breakfast at 7.30 everyday and I think it was a good decision. It was very calm, with plenty of tables available.

Rafael · January 15, 2012, 12:14:36 AM

Almost getting there...
Fantasia Gardens!

After we passed security check, my heart started beating so fast. I couldn´t believe we were so close to the park. However, instead of hurrying up to get to the gate as fast as we could, we decided to calm down and appreciate that moment and the beauty of Fantasia Gardens. After so much planning and antecipation, I just couldn´t believe we were there, staring at Disneyland Hotel.It was a great feeling. It was very nice just to sit there and watch the people go by. I think only at Disney you can see so many smiling and happy people at the same place, at the same time. It is pure magic. The energy is so great. It feels good just being there, doing nothing, just being there. I can´t put down on words how happy I was. Do you know what I mean? Do you feel the same when you get there?

Rafael · January 15, 2012, 12:31:06 AM

Here we go!

Going under the tunnel before seeing the castle. The moment I had been looking forward to had arrived.

Rafael · January 15, 2012, 12:44:47 AM

Well, only now I realized that I haven´t posted a single picture of myself so you can see who I am, so here you go, me, very happy, already in the castle.

norhel · January 15, 2012, 08:01:11 AM

Nice report and pics :-)

Rafael · January 15, 2012, 11:19:26 AM

Thank you Norhel

Rafael · January 15, 2012, 12:16:17 PM

During our stay, I didn´t get tired of taking pictures of the castle. I just couldn´t get enough of it! I took the second day of EMH just to take pictures of it. Therefore, I would like to share with you some of the castle pictures I have taken

Rafael · January 15, 2012, 12:58:06 PM

Frontierland, Tram tour, Fish and Chips and Pirates!

On our first day, after visiting the castle, we decided to head to Frontierland to ride Phanton Manor and Big thunder. Phanton Manor was a walk-on and we enjoyed it. I thought it should be a little spookier though. The queue for Big thunder wasn´t that big, but we decided to get fast-pass anyway (the only time during the entire trip). While waiting, we strolled through Frontierland Land and I took some pictures. The theme is amazing and the land is very well design. There are so many details to look at that I think you could spend the day just strolling around, without going on any ride. When we returned to Big Thunder to ride it, bad news! We were next, ready to board, almost inside the train, when there was a voice on the spearker saying something in French that I couldn´t understand. The ride simply stopped and a cast-member approached saying that it would have to be evacuated, cause the ride would have to be restarted. I still don´t know what happened, but that´s fine. We wouldn´t let something like this spoil our fun.
As the Tram Tour at the Studios was going to close for refurbishment the next day (January 3rd), we decided to head to the studios to ride it ( I will talk more about the studios in another post). It was a walk-on and an experience that I´m not sure I enjoyed a lot. It think it could be much better. It seems they haven´t put enough effort (or money) into it. The canyon part is fun, but there isn´t much else going on. Besides, the props they show aren´t exaclty that exciting to see. It looks more like the backyard os the studios where they throw away things they don´t need anymore.
After that we left the studios and went back to Disneyland Park. As we wanted to get something to eat and Helio loves fish and chips (he spent one year and England some years ago and he realy misses it), we went to Toad Hall.
The place has a great architecture and looks nice, but oh my God!!!! I couldn´t believe how dirty it was. I mean, people leave all their leftovers on the table and not only that, it´s unbelievable all the napkins that litter the foor (not only napkins!!!!). The problem was that Helio really, really liked the fish and chips (I had the chicken burger, which was okay) and we went back there again twice. It was fine for me but I´m not sure I would have returned there if I were by myself. Thankfully (lol) the restaurant closed the last two days and we could try something else. I really hope what I saw is not what normally happens there, but if it is always like that, it´s a pity, because the place is nice indeed.
After eating, we went to Pirates of the Caribean and we had to wait for 10 minutes only, which is not a problem since the queue is amazing. We both simply loved the ride. How great is that? We got the chance to ride it one more time, but I think we could have ridden it dozens of times and I wouldn´t get tired of it.