A few Walt Disney World hotels are located close to theme parks, but none of them are physically inside the parks. Disney may have been looking to change that with recently canceled plans.
During early development for a theme park expansion currently under construction at Disney World, Imagineers originally considered an in-park hotel as part of the project. Keep reading to learn how this hotel may have fit within the expansion plans and what’s still coming. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including a big summer discount on Disney World tickets and Disney cracking down on Disney Vacation Club point-renting.
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Hotel Inside Magic Kingdom?
In September 2022, Josh D’Amaro, at the time Chairman of Disney Experiences, nearly four years before he would become Disney’s CEO, announced at D23 Expo 2022 that Walt Disney Imagineering was working on an expansion for Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
This expansion, D’Amaro explained, would be located “beyond Big Thunder Mountain,” enlarging the park’s footprint near Frontierland. Straying from Disney’s usual protocols for big announcements, D’Amaro shared some of the potential concepts Imagineering was considering for this space, rather than formally revealing specific attractions that were already approved.
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These potential concepts included areas themed to Pixar’s Coco, Disney Animation’s Encanto, and the Disney Villains. The photo above from D23 Expo 2022 shows concept art behind Disney executives for these possibilities.
Fast-forward to February 2024, and Todd Rimmer, Master Planning Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, appeared in a Florida court deposition, according to court records obtained in March 2026 by Florida Politics.
The deposition took place in the aftermath of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis changing the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a Disney-controlled governing body for Walt Disney World’s property, into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, with more state-appointed leadership.
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As part of the deposition, lawyer Nicole Moss represented the district and asked Rimmer about Disney’s plans to expand Magic Kingdom.
In response to Moss’s questions, Rimmer said the expansion was “still under development” and included “potentially new hotels,” specifically “one or two hotel locations” that would be located “generally, within the same area” of Magic Kingdom’s expansion. “There are no specific locations decided yet,” Rimmer said.
Here in 2026, this mention of hotels being part of Magic Kingdom’s expansion is new information. As Disney continued to build out the project and eventually shared its solidified plans, hotels were never publicly announced. We’ll explore what these hotels could have been like later in this article.
The ongoing legal battle between Disney and the district lasted over a year and eventually concluded with Disney and the district reaching a settlement.
In August 2024, at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the renamed D23 Expo weekend, D’Amaro again took to the stage, this time with real announcements rather than just possibilities. He revealed Imagineers would build two new areas at Magic Kingdom: Piston Peak National Park, with rides themed to Pixar’s Cars, and Villains Land, a realm for classic Disney antagonists, concept art for which is pictured above.
Anecdotally, Disney eventually committed to building an Encanto ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and a Coco ride located across the country at Disney California Adventure.
Upon the discovery of the February 2024 deposition comments in March 2026, Florida Politics reached out to Disney for comment. Disney replied, “There are no plans for new hotels as part of the Magic Kingdom expansion.”
What Disney May Have Had Planned for Magic Kingdom Hotels
Given how vague Disney was, and still is, to some degree, about the Magic Kingdom expansion, it’s hard to say for sure what any proposed hotel(s) may have been like, but it’s fun to imagine.
Was the hotel a possibility while Coco and Encanto were still being considered for Magic Kingdom? If so, would guests be able to stay overnight in settings inspired by either of those films? Would Disney possibly adapt a version of the Disney Treasure cruise ship’s Coco dinner show restaurant, pictured above, for a potential Coco hotel?
Was the hotel attached to Villains Land? If so, would different rooms be themed to different bad guys?
Was a hotel in connection with Piston Peak National Park ever on the table? If so, how would it differ from the Cars section at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort?
Disney World Has No Hotels in Theme Parks, But Other Disney Destinations Do
Regardless of the theme, a hotel inside Magic Kingdom would have marked a first not only for the park, but for Walt Disney World. No hotel exists inside any Disney World theme park.
A few come close, particularly Disney’s Contemporary Resort within walking distance of Magic Kingdom, as well as Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, all practically at the doorstep of EPCOT‘s back entrance. None of them, though, is inside the theme park proper.
Except for the lucky few who have won overnight stays inside the Cinderella Castle Dream Suite, no guests have slept overnight in Magic Kingdom.
The closest Disney World ever came to an in-park hotel was Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the short-lived, overnight experience set in a galaxy far, far away, but actually located next to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with direct transportation into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The glorified hotel closed in 2023 and is now being converted into offices for Imagineering.
Other Disney destinations globally do have hotels located physically inside theme parks. Such properties include Fantasy Springs Hotel and Hotel Mira Costa, both located in Tokyo DisneySea, and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in Disney California Adventure. The latter’s view of the park is pictured above.
These hotels provide their guests with dedicated entrances into their respective theme parks, which differ from the main entrance most guests use. Had the hotel inside Magic Kingdom been built, it’s wild to imagine entering Magic Kingdom without walking down Main Street, U.S.A.!
Looking ahead, there’s a lot more to come from Magic Kingdom’s ongoing expansion. Construction is underway for Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land, and we look forward to bringing you all the latest updates here at Mickey Visit.
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