Explorers Hotel FAQ & Information Thread

[Ware Bears]

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Thomas Cook's Explorers Hotel​

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*3 stars* *Mid-Range*​

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A Selected Hotel situated Near The Magic in Val de France

~*8 minutes free shuttle ride to the parks and Disney Village*~​

The Explorers Hotel was opened by the MyTravel Group in March 2003. It is the French Manor house home of legendary explorer Sir Archibald de Bacle who has hung up his travelling cloak and invites families and their children to become part of his fearless crew. The hotel is fully themed throughout on the golden age of exploration, from the galleon shaped check-in desk to the Tropical Atrium where you will find the wreck of the Seven Seas pirate ship beached on one end of the Secret Lagoon swimming pool. There is a small merry-go-round (charge payable) and a child-sized TV in the lobby to amuse little ones while you check in.

[size=+2]Bedrooms[/size]

Crew rooms (standard bedrooms) have a double and 2 single beds and sleep up to 4 people. Adjacent to some of the crew rooms is a bunk cabin with bunk beds for 2 older children (under 16 years) and an additional TV. By using rooms with connecting doors, it is possible to book accommodation for up to 6 people (1 standard crew room + 1 bunk cabin) or even up to 10 people (2 standard crew rooms + 1 bunk cabin).

The facilities in the crew rooms include:

Bathroom with bath and shower
Separate WC
Interactive TV with satellite channels, video games, internet access and pay-per-view programmes and films
Telephone
Hairdryer
Heating and ceiling fans
In-room Safe (for all your treasure)
Tea and coffee facilities (a welcome pack is provided for the first night, refill packs are available from reception for a small charge)

(10 person crew rooms include 2 bathrooms with bath and shower and two separate toilets)

There are 7 Captain's Quarters sleeping 6 which consist of a bedchamber with a double bed, a second bedchamber with bunk beds and a day cabin with a double sofa bed. They all have a second bathroom with bath, shower and WC, air conditioning and a view of the lake.

Finally, if you fancy indulging yourself, there are 3 themed suites:
The Planet Hollywood Suite themed from the world of movies and space
The Jungle Suite themed in jungle style
The Sweet Suite comes with a free supply of sweets
Each suite has a bedroom with a double bed, a children's room with bunk beds and a living room.


[size=+2]Restaurants[/size]

There are three restaurants at the Explorers:
The Plantation Restaurant is a market style emporium offering food from around the world. A continental buffet breakfast is usually included in your package and a hot English cooked breakfast is available for a supplement. Dinner is also a self-service buffet.
Marco's Pizza Parlour serves pizzas, salads and Italian specialities from noon onwards, you can also order a takeaway pizza from here.
The Captain's Library is a table-service dinner restaurant which also offers children's meals and has a small play area.


[size=+2]Leisure facilities[/size]

There are two bars, Smugglers Tavern with a large-screen TV for sporting events and Traders Cafe Bar where you can relax while you watch your children explore the play area.

The Explorers is an ideal hotel for families. For children there is an indoor soft-play area Scally Wagg's Jungle Adventures, the Seven Seas Raider and a video arcade Harry's Action Zone.

The Secret Lagoon swimming pool is a heated indoor pool with a separate toddler area, a great aquaplay facility and three slides, one is a 150 foot dragon! Pool towels are available to hire for a small charge.


[size=+2]Other Information[/size]

There is a small Disney Store in the hotel selling a varied range of merchandise and a concierge, currency exchange and information desk in reception.

Parking at the hotel is free and you will also receive an Explorers Identity card which allows you free parking at the parks and Disney Village.

Access to the parks and Disney Village is via the frequent free shuttle (pink no.54) buses and takes approximately 8 minutes or is a pleasant walk of about 25 minutes.

The Explorers is a non-smoking hotel with the exception of the Smugglers Tavern.

Check-in is at 3pm although if you arrive earlier than this you may arrange with reception to leave your bags in the luggage room. On the day of departure check-out time is 11am. Again, you can use the luggage room to store your baggage until it is time for you to return home.


Further information and bookings can be made through these sites, Disneyland Resort Paris, Thomas Cook's Explorers Hotel, Benotel, Expedia.
There is a virtual tour of the hotel on Expedia along with a video tour on the Explorers site.

 

[Cyrano]

Great addition to the hotel FAQ

 

[Ware Bears]

I will take some photos in the summer to add to it.

 

[disneyangel]

Nice work Elaine

 

[jillrobinson]

Lovely guide Elaine, Jamie would love to stay at this one on our next trip and I'm sorely tempted as their prices are so good compared to Disney.

 

[disneylandkids]

In my surfing around the DLP section of DISboards, I am seeing that quite a few people stay at the Explorers hotel. I have to say that it looks nice and the price seems quite good, especially for our family of five.

I'm wondering how frequent/reliable/crowded is the bus service to the parks?

I'm also pondering whether we should spring for a couple nights at the DLH since my oldest daughter is so enchanted with it, while we're going to be visiting the parks, and then move to Explorers (or somewhere else--any suggestions??) to visit Paris.

 

[Ware Bears]

We always stay at the Explorers because we are a family of five too. It has always been very comfortable and clean and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

The bus service runs every 20 minutes although sometimes you do seem to wait for ages then two come at once!
The Explorers is first pick-up and first drop-off. The buses are fine during the day but can be rather manic late at night. We often chose to walk home and frequently beat the bus ~ it is a pleasant 25 minute walk through Disney village and past the Disney hotels.

 

[Ware Bears]

I have finally got around to adding those photos!

 

[BRobson]

Lovely report Elaine. We love the Explorers. The kids are always well entertained in the evening which is great when it is cold outside

 

[mickey4kids]

FAAAANNNTASTICCC

This information is brilliant. Oh I cannot wait now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be there in less than 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cyrano]

Nice work Elaine

 

[disneylandkids]

Based on this FAQ, we booked three nights at the Explorers Hotel out of our five-night trip to France. In retrospect, I truly regret not booking all our nights at the Explorers! It was absolutely our favorite place.

We had a cabin room that slept six (the bunkbeds were in a separate attached room), and although it was not spacious, it was smartly designed to have places so you could stow your gear and get it out of the way.

All the kids liked having their own bed and not having to share or be the unlucky one to sleep on a sofabed. The beds were comfortable, as were the pillows and duvets.

The breakfast was fine and a good selection; we were always able to find a table easily.

Bus service worked smoothly and was not a problem.

The pool and play areas were the highlight for our children. The two water slides were terrific, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the play area. We even rearranged some of our schedule to allow for more pool time because the kids liked it so very much.

The price was extremely reasonable (three nights at the Explorers cost a third of what it cost to stay at the Newport for two nights!), and we were very happy. We'd go back to this hotel in a heartbeat. We felt it was a perfect place for families.

 

[mickeymousepal]

wow i wish i had seen a review like this pror to staying there in 2005.....it would have been so useful as it is so accurate we loved staying there buses to the park did not seem to be too bad as it seemed to be one of the first stops phew..and if i can also add we arrived pretty early and we checked in prior to midday with no problems bargain for the price with young kids we did use the play area but no energy for the pool, food was good and they did have some non-disney characters in the breakfast room which was more than satisfactory the food that is...... to set you up for a disney day

 

[JnbTravels]

We stayed at the Explorer on our recent trip, April 1-6, 2007.
http://www.explorershotels.com/us/home.php
We used their website to book the room, and they were offering a special promotion for arrivals on Sunday. So we took advantage of that, and ended up getting more time for the amount of money we were planning on spending for accomodation.
We got park tickets from the hotel when we checked in, but later in the week they ran out and guests had to get tickets at the park. We arrived on April 1st, which is when the new tickets prices started, but the hotel still had a supply of tickets at the old prices so we were able to get tickets at the lower price.
We chose an 8am breakfast slot and I would recommend choosing an early time. It gets much more crowded even by 8:30am and it's difficult to find seating. Check the silverware - we found some that had not been cleaned properly.
Breakfast consisted of breads, butter and jelly, fruit, cereal, yogurt, and for 6 euros you can get an "english breakfast". We never got the hot breakfast - the croissants, rolls, cereal and fruit were good enough for us.
To drink they offer juices, water, milk, coffee, tea and hot chocolate.
The play areas and pool are really nice for the kids. It's definitely a kid friendly hotel.
The take out pizza place on the 1st floor that is open in the evenings is a good choice for a tasty, inexpensive meal if you are at the hotel in the evening.
The shuttle bus worked out fine. It's often pretty crowded but it's just a short ride.
In the room, there's a safe and an electric kettle. No hand towels or wash rags were provided, just bath towels. No bar soap or shampoo was provided, just a liquid soap dispenser at the sink and in the shower.
The walls were a little thin - it got a little noisy at times, but it wasn't too bad. We were usually so exhausted at night that whatever noise there was didn't bother us too much.

Hope this is helpful. We had a good stay and would stay there again.

 

[Cyrano]

Great additions to the FAQ guys

 

[Ware Bears]

Great additions to the FAQ guys

Thank you all!!

 

[Cyrano]

There is a virtual tour of the hotel on Expedia along with a video tour on the Explorer site.

Just added a video tour of the hotel

 

[dlprees]

We've just got back from a 4 night stay at Explorers, it was fantastic!
The room was fine, basic but had everything we needed, the fan on the ceiling was a bonus, it stayed on all night because the window opened inwards with no bars and a huge drop the other side, so we had to shut it. (we have a 9 year old sleep walker!!) The towels were changed every day, plenty of soap in the dispenser for hand washing. There was a kettle and one pack of tea/coffee but we didn't use it.
The noise levels were a little high for me but I'm a light sleeper, the other 3 in the party slept through it.
Word of advice, remove all the clean towels and clothing from the bathroom before using the shower or they'll be soaked - absolutely no ventilation whatsoever!!

The play areas are great, we could sit in the cafe and let them get on with it and as we were two families the children had company and so did we. The pizza is lovely if a litle expensive at 10 euros and chips 4 euros, but not small portions, two can share easily.
Breakfast was nice, continental and plenty of it. No problem with tables, we ate around 8-8.30.

The buses were ok, I hated them but I'm fussy!! The last day with the suitcases was a nightmare but that was due to a man being selfish and not considering others, (his wife soon told him though!!)

I wouldn't choose another hotel next time

 

[Grunner]

Well done Ware Bears,We are going to the Explorers next year and this has been a help.

 

[dgutte]

We popped into Explorers at the weekend to have a look around and there have been a couple of changes.

1. There is a new play zone in the pool, where the childrens shallow end is/was. Quite an impressive structure with stairs etc.... for exploring and also one of those big buckets at the top that fills up slowly before tipping the water all over. It wasn't open yet but I think its only just been installed. I took a photo but it was through glass and hasn't come out properly.

2. The small childrens arcade has moved down slightly to a room nearer the pool entrance, and is much larger now. The old games room is now a "gym" but it looks like a gym for kids - its hard to describe.

There was the usual nice atmosphere in there, and we wish we had stayed there but budget didn't allow us to.