Often, the difference between staying in a good hotel versus a luxurious hotel can make or break a great vacation. This is no different when one is visiting their favorite theme parks. We’ve pulled together a list of some of the most luxurious theme park hotels – hotels either directly connected to or just outside theme park berms – from around the world.
These luxury theme park hotels exemplify the best-of-the best in terms of the level of themeing, their high standard of customer service they imbibe, or their unique location that offers Guest experiences and amenities that are only available due to their proximity to world-class theme parks.
Pack your bags and start making reservations, and consider staying in one of these unique properties during your next theme park travel adventure!
Best Luxury Theme Park Resorts and Hotels
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World
Located in the secluded and luxurious community of Golden Oak and located less than 5 miles from the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World is quite arguably the premier resort in Central Florida. Its seclusion mixed with the premier 5-star level of service you expect from any Four Seasons property, places this unique location second to none.
The Four Seasons Orlando is located within the gated Golden Oak community with a list of amenities including direct access to the Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club, a premier spa, and two pool areas – one with an incredible kids play area, the other a more quiet, adult-only retreat. Other resort features include grass tennis courts, fine dining such as the premier Capa and Ravello restaurants, and an attached convention center for larger functions.
The Four Seasons Orlando rooms are elegant with marble clad bathrooms, spacious accommodations, and a balcony that offers a commanding view of the resort and adjacent Golden Oak community where 15-plus million dollar homes abound. We suggest having dinner at the rooftop, contemporary Spanish steakhouse, Capa, that offers views to all four Walt Disney World theme parks and nightly firework shows.
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
The Waldorf Astoria Orlando is located in the Bonnet Creek area at the edge of Walt Disney World. Situated on a piece of land never owned by Disney, but completed surrounded by WDW property, the Waldorf Astoria Orlando offers discerning theme park guests another 5-star accommodations option when visiting Central Florida’s vast array of attractions.
Unlike the original Waldorf Astoria in New York City, the Orlando iteration is an elegant, contemporary resort with a nod to Art Deco decor with a southern and Florida flair one would expect while visiting the sub-tropics. The rooms have the simple elegance approach to their design being both luxurious but understated, with the bathrooms being spacious and finely appointed.
The resort itself boasts one of our favorite, upscale restaurants in Central Florida – the Bull & Bear, a large fitness room and spa, a sizable pool area with private cabanas all overlooking the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club. The Waldorf Astoria Orlando offers a calming getaway after long days in some of the world’s most popular theme parks.
✅ Check out our list of Theme Park Inspired Gift Ideas!
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Located on the Seven Seas Lagoon in ear-shot from the most popular theme park in the world, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa is a Victorian themed luxury hotel created by Walt Disney Imagineering. The Grand Floridian offers approximately 867 rooms and 25 suites, spread throughout six buildings, multiple fine-dining locations, multiple pools, a separate spa facility, direct access to the theme parks via a WDW Monorail station.
The Grand Floridian is Walt Disney World’s only – Disney owned – hotel that will get you as close to a 5-star hotel rating as possible. This resort has hosted famous individuals and even some royalty throughout its history, including Princess Diana. The hotel is directly adjacent to Disney’s Wedding Pavilion where you can book out our six-plus figure Disney dream wedding, the new Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa – part of the Disney timeshare collection, or attend a conference at the hotel’s convention center.
The Victorian style hotel harkens back to the by-gone era of early Florida during the days when tycoons such as Henry Flagler and Henry Plant were expanding their railroad empires throughout the state of Florida. The hotel’s architecture is based on the Hotel del Coronado, in California, and the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel in Belleair, Florida. If seafood is your thing, we highly suggest reserving a dinner reservation at the Grand Floridian’s waterfront Narcoossee’s Restaurant. The view, service, and food is all premier.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
Designed and considered the most immersive hotel experience available for visitors searching for an exclusive visit to Walt Disney World, the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel is located adjacent to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The hotel offers guests a 2-night live action and role playing adventure themed to be aboard a simulated cruise within the Star Wars galaxy.
Unlike traditional hotels and resorts, you won’t be lounging by the swimming pool to enhance your tan. This one-of-a-kind of experience entails one full day of hotel guest immersion into a host of storylines aboard your simulated Starcruiser complete with interactive technology and a cast of characters roaming the ‘hotel’ that support and enhance the storyline of your choosing.
Guests can dine aboard the Starcruiser, have a themed cocktail in the lounge with other ‘alien’ characters, and stay in themed Star Wars themed rooms that accommodate up to four people. The second day of your adventure you are transported via a themed ‘shuttle’ to the outer planet of Batuu – the new Star Wars themed land in the adjacent Hollywood Studios theme park.
Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando
Though the Universal Orlando Resort does not have a 5-star hotel on property, the Loews Royal Pacific Resort has the feel of luxurious getaway situated in the heart of the Universal Orlando Resort. This Polynesian, South Seas themed resort located on a blue lagoon pool surrounded by lush tropical plants and flowers, truly makes you feel as if you’ve been transported to the South Pacific.
This resort’s story begins immediately once you’ve stepped through the front door as you enter a bamboo filled lobby centered around a water filled courtyard that feels like you’ve been transported to luxurious resort in Polynesia. Though the resort gives you the feeling of seclusion, you are directly connected to Universal Orlando’s main attractions via the resort’s water taxi system.
Though a refined resort, the hotel is family friendly and is a great destination unto itself during those hot, Florida summer afternoons when the heat and humidity rise. The resort offers a variety of dining options, but our favorite is the Orchid Court Lounge and Sushi Bar located just off the hotel’s main lobby.
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
Heading to the west coast and the birthplace of theme parks? If you’re planning a trip to the Southern California theme parks, we highly suggest a stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Directly connected to Downtown Disney and Disney’s California Adventure theme park – both a short walk from the famed Disneyland theme park – this Arts and Crafts themed resort, designed by famed architect Peter Dominick, has the feel of a historic National Park lodge.
The central lobby has the feel and design of a Craftsman-style home with a large stone fireplace, lofty but cozy ceilings with some early Roycroft items on display. The hotel is like walking through a resort that Greene and Greene could’ve designed on their own, with nods to Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie MacKintosh.
This hotel is large with over 940 rooms, 44 suites, and 71 villas with the added benefit of being directly connected to a side entry to the California Adventure theme park. The hotel offers all the amenities you would expect from a Disney resort, but if you’re looking for fine dining we suggest a reservation at the hotel’s Napa Rose restaurant or enjoy some cocktails at our favorite Disneyland Resort bar, the Craftsman Bar & Grill.
Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa
Situated in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains and only a 3 minute jaunt from the main entry to Dollywood, the DreamMore Resort and Spa is oasis amidst the hubbub of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. With a family friendly atmosphere and casual elegance, the resort feels like you’re walking into a comfortable living room rather than a bustling 4-star hotel.
With a host of dining options, such as the Song & Hearth: A Southern Eatery – a family style table service restaurant – to great food fast options, to the indoor pool, the kid’s activities, and the full-service spa; this resort is fully prepared to give you and your family the full treatment and an abundance of Southern hospitality after a full day of thrill rides and world-class entertainment in the adjacent Dollywood theme park.
Disneyland Hotel Paris
A design exercise in filigree and ornamentation by Disney’s Imagineers only begins to describe the Disneyland Hotel at the Disneyland Paris Resort, is a magical gateway to the Disneyland Paris theme park. Quite literally these 5-star accommodations hover above the main ticket gate to the theme park. One can stay, if in the properly selected room, looking down Disney’s Main Street, U.S.A.
The Disneyland Hotel Paris embodies the themeing and detailing one would expect in a European setting. Nearly everything about this hotel is perfect, from its architectural design, to its scale and relationship with Disneyland, to its finely appointed rooms it is truly the epitome of luxury theme park hotel design.
The Disneyland Hotel Paris is being reimagined into even more of a fairytale setting with its new themed rooms based on the classic films such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.
Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
Similar to its counterpart hotel in Florida, the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel has a Victorian-era architectural style, though rooted and influenced more by the European Victorian styling, unlike the Grand Floridian’s Florida-Victorian theming. Similar to its counterpart in Paris, the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is sited at the entry to Tokyo Disneyland and offers over 700 rooms, with host of dining options, shops, and is in walking distance or a short monorail ride from Tokyo Disneyland’s two theme parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Disney’s Sea.
The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel offers Alice in Wonderland themed rooms that offer a bit of whimsy and quirkiness based on the classic Disney film. The balance of the rooms at this 5-star resort offer the level of finish one would see in a luxury European resort. Many of the rooms, like in Paris, offer a commanding view into the theme parks.
From the minute you arrive under the hotel’s porte cache, the feeling of themed elegance abounds as you walk through this resort’s voluminous lobby and marble clad grand staircase. The attention to detail from the large chandelier to the balustrades is impeccable. A visit to Tokyo Disneyland is a must for true theme park fans. A night’s stay in the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is mandatory for those looking for luxury accommodations while visiting this world premiere themed resort.