- A lovely Cheap (but not that cheap) 'n' Cheerful Cars-themed resort
- Some of the best service and friendly cast members we encountered
- Exceeded my expectations overall
- It's quite a walk from the parks, but there is a shuttle bus
Disney Santa Fe is the farthest Disney hotel from the parks - even though it's right next to Disney Hotel Cheyenne. It's about a 20-minute walk (maybe a bit longer after a long Disney day) to Disney Village but there is a regular shuttle bus.
The Hotel
Disney Santa Fe pays colourful homage to Route 66, the American Southwest, and Cars. It offers Cars-themed rooms, a shop, an Indoor Play Area, character meet and greets, luggage storage service, Starbucks, a restaurant, and a bar. The outside of the hotel has a massive Cars billboard which you can see when entering the resort.
The reception area is a boxy feeling room and not particularly inspiring, but there are some nice touches. The cast members we bumped into though were some of the nicest we encountered on this trip. We arrived around 10am, and like magic our room was ready early so we headed straight there.
There aren't many pathways through the car park when heading to your room, which was a little concerning as we had to mostly walk on the roads through the car park. The buildings themselves are a little boxy, but I think there are enough design elements which work well. Sadly, photos don't do the buildings justice. For example, the trees and signs across the top of the buildings look like tacky stickers, but they're actually metal props which you don't notice unless you look at them side-on.
There are some very cool props around the resort though. We found a giant enclosed cactus and also the world's smallest volcano!
I also enjoyed the paths that had painted road markings on them. Entering the buildings you'll be presented with a blue and orange hallway. I actually quite like the hallway design, they're fun and clean.
The Room
We stayed in the river view room as these rooms are at the backend of the resort - closest to the walkway to the parks. The rooms are pretty basic as you'd expect, but not that much more basic than Disney Sequoia Lodge or Disney Hotel Cheyenne. While I didn't get my measuring tapes out, the Disney Santa Fe rooms feel a tiny bit smaller than those two hotels. One of our beds was a little squeaky, but luckily there was a spare. The beds were comfortable enough. If you or your little ones love Cars, you're going to love these rooms. I'm not a Cars fan myself but I appreciate the theming and can easily see how Cars fans will love this place. My only real nitpick at the rooms is the cones on the wall are cheap tacky plastic, but I suppose you don't touch them. In contrast, the lamp is super nice and really solid. The room was clean and mostly in good condition. Housekeeping came during the day so we always came back to a nice and clean room. One issue for modern families is the lack of plug sockets. I only counted three in the whole room and no dedicated USB sockets. One of the sockets was in the middle of the wall with no table below it so it's largely unusable. Make sure you pack an extension cable.
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The bathroom is fun and clean as well. It has plenty of Cars touches and themed amenities.
We had a river side view room which indeed meant we had a view of the river.
The elephant in the room with this hotel is that there is no air-conditioning. There is a ceiling fan - which is very nice - but I can't confirm the effectiveness of this in the summer months. We stayed in April and while it was a little warm, an open window and ceiling fan did the trick. Just something to keep in mind during any heatwaves. You can go to the reception and ask for extra fans, but there are only so many. Disney Sequoia Lodge and Disney Hotel Cheyenne do have air-conditioned rooms, but you also might need to request them to let you have the temperature lower because by default it doesn't go that low for energy saving reasons.
Summary
I had low expectations going into our stay at Disney Santa Fe, but it was a clean and pleasant stay and much better than I thought it was going to be. Yes, there are parts of the resort that needs a touch-up of paint here and there, but it's largely in good condition. It's a small step below Disney Sequoia Lodge and Disney Hotel Cheyenne for sure, but if you or your little ones love the Car movies, I think this will be a hit. I would rather stay at Disney Sequoia Lodge or Disney Hotel Cheyenne, but if the price is a good amount cheaper, I'd have no issue staying at Disney Santa Fe again.
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