Day 1: Arrival
I was flying into Paris from Barcelona and landed at Orly. I had read online about getting the Disney bus (VEA Shuttles http://vea-shuttle.co.uk/) so I had pre-purchased a one-way ticket. The buses run pretty frequently and one pulled up right as I walked out of the terminal. It turned out to be just "dropping off" but the bus driver let me get aboard as he went around to the other airport stops and finally we were on our way. An hour and a half later (it was rush hour) and we were out in the beautiful rolling fields of Marne-La-Vallee.
Entering the Disney property in France is a bit surreal. It feels a bit like Florida in that there is some control over construction within the perimeter. Everything within the resort is much more compact, though.
I booked two nights at the Hotel Cheyenne based largely upon price (least expensive Disney hotel). I was given a room in Soaring Eagle, bldg 22, which is facing the river but a bit on the far side for walking to the parks. Check-in was friendly and fast, although I am not sure why I had to hand write my registration card in the 21st century.
Room was clean, except for some cleaning rags left behind the TV. They were removed the second day.
Internet access required putting down a deposit and then they enabled the access. Cable was disconnected. I had to move the dresser and figure out how the Internet and TV shared a router in order to hook it up right. Internet kept dropping and I paid for the premium. I hear they are putting WIFI in all the hotel lobbies which will help. Did I mention it's the 21st century?
The bed was firm, almost hard, but comfortable. It was March and freezing outside. The room heater is located under the bathroom counter so you have to be careful not to put any liquids/gels that can melt on that side of the counter. No climate control but there was a ceiling fan. Shower pressure was great and water was always hot enough.
Breakfast was typical and a good assortment. Although they gave me a "reservation" card I found that, traveling alone, I could just walk in any time and help myself.
The hotel layout is straightforward. I thought it was a bit strange that you have to walk around the main building to get to the rooms, rather than through the lobby to a back door. But the back doors are attached to the restaurant and bar so you can cut through there. Also lots of cement instead of more period-realistic dirt for obvious reasons, but the amount of concrete kind of detracted from the Western feel.
As it was evening when I arrived, I took a walk over to the Disney Village but took a little detour to see my neighboring hotel, The Santa Fe. Actually, I got a bit turned around and walked over to the Santa Fe thinking I had to go that way to get to the Village, but it worked out as I wanted to see it anyway.
The Santa Fe is very much themed as the name implies, a Southwestern U.S. collection of buildings of architecture common to New Mexico and Arizona. The main building is set up out front like you are at an old-fashioned drive-in theater. A fake movie screen on top of the building faces the lobby parking lot which is arranged so the cars fan out and face the screen as if they were parked in a real drive-in. Even the little lamp posts are reminiscent of drive-in speakers. Cute.
From the Santa Fe (which looked fine as a place to stay, I might add) I made my way along the patch to the Disney Village. The walk took about 15 minutes. The Village is similar to the Downtown Disneys in the States. It's small, with just one short straight path of mostly restaurants. I ate at the "Steakhouse" which was themed to early-20th Century Chicago.
France is big on combining food items into a "menu" or packaged price. I had a salad and chicken dinner which cost about 30 Euros. A note about soft drinks - Cokes are really expensive. We are talking 4-5 Euros as not uncommon. I think in the parks they were around 3 Euros, which with the exchange rate is a killer. Bottled water isn't any better. Anyway, while the food prices seemed good throughout, keep in mind the drink factor. Anyway, back to dinner - I had a glass of wine (7 Euros) and the meal was quite nice. The waiter was fast and attentive. The food was good, and the two couples on either side of me seemed to enjoy their meals as well. They seemed to sit me in a kid-free zone which might have just been coincidence but it was nice anyway.
After dinner I took a slow walk back to the hotel, checking out the other hotels along the way. Attached to the Village is a large rectangular body of water (Lac Disney) with three hotels facing its shores. The lake is fed by the river that runs between the Cheyenne and Santa Fe, making all five hotels feel connected. I am not counting the sixth, Disneyland Hotel, as it is way over at the park entrance.
You can tell when Disneyland Paris was built because they borrowed heavily from the look and feel of WDW in the design of the three main hotels. The Newport Bay Club hotel is a yellow, seven-story version of the Yacht and Beach Club. Here are some pics:
You could almost swear you were back in Florida.
Similar too, Disney's Sequoia Lodge looked like a cross between the Wilderness Lodge and the Grand Californian, especially with its craftsman architecture of straight lines mixed with stone. Very cozy inside with a large fireplace in the bar area.
The third hotel on the lake is the Hotel New York, which looks like the Swan and Dolphin. Makes sense because I think it was the same architect. The New York hotel had a big ice rink out front in their Rockefeller Square area but I saw people on roller blades instead of ice skates. It was very cold there, however, with some small clumps of snow all around the resort.
I headed back to my room and enjoyed a good night's sleep, which was good considering the big day in the parks I had in store for me! More next time.
The one thing that was missing from the overall feel was the lack of water transport or any other activity on the lake and river.
That is nice that you got to wander around and take some photos. I suppose DLP could have used some straw colored pavement to help with the authenticity of the streets of your hotel. And maybe some imprints of straw!
and enjoyed my little Mickey Mouse shaped cheese pizza, frozen yogurt bar and coke 
I don't remember the beverage prices either, but that doesn't surprise me. I think I probably stuck with tap water unless I was ordering a meal that came with a beverage. I do remember that in Africa the price of a bottle of Coke was very similar to a bottle of water, so I usually splurged and had a Coke with dinner.
