Walt Disney World is once again building Lakeshore Lodge on the shores of Bay Lake between Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness, which will add the first brand-new hotel to the Magic Kingdom resort area in decades. It follows hot on the heels of Island Tower at the Polynesian and other DVC expansion projects.
This comes as there are also early rumblings of another hotel near Grand Floridian, following land clearing west of Magic Kingdom for an expansion and rerouting of Floridian Way as part of a multi-year infrastructure project. Then there’s our totally uninformed speculation that Walt Disney World might want to add another in-park hotel north of Magic Kingdom as part of the upcoming Villains Land.
Over at Walt Disney World’s second gate, Rumors of an in-park hotel at EPCOT have floated around for the last decade, with possible locations outside the front entrance adjacent to the monorail station or backstage between the Living Seas and Land pavilions. There haven’t been any credible rumors about that for a while, but it’s one of those things that just won’t die. Kind of like the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster, and we now know how that ended up. This post is not about those rumors, even if they do lay the foundation for my blue sky daydream: Disney’s Hollywood Studios Hotel.
To be abundantly clear from the outset, this is NOT a rumor (credible or otherwise) nor is it based on semi or even poorly-informed speculation. It’s armchair Imagineering, wishful thinking, etc. Something that could be cool–I have heard absolutely nothing whatsoever about a hotel at Disney’s Hollywood Studios or even one themed to Hollywood elsewhere at Walt Disney World.
About the closest to a ‘recent rumor’ on this topic that I have heard was back in Summer 2016, when a DVC tower was supposedly on the table for Caribbean Beach Resort. This was one of three topics covered in ‘Crazy Rumor Roundup for Walt Disney World,’ with the others being the Muppets coming to Liberty Square and Guardians of the Galaxy coming to Future World. For being crazy, all three of those things did happen.
As you’re likely aware, Disney’s Riviera Resort ended up being the DVC resort “at” Caribbean Beach, but this rumor was actually for another parcel. That tower was supposedly going to be built on empty land that’s across from Spyglass Grill, between the Skyliner station (which did not exist at the time) and the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation. Honestly, I don’t know what happened. It’s possible that rumor was flat-out wrong on the location, Disney wanted more space for Riviera, etc.
What I do find interesting is that there’s a lot of chatter about Skyliner expansion so that the fan-favorite gondola system can service more resorts. This is purely speculative; nothing is credibly rumored for new Skyliner routes, either.
But if you asked me to predict the most likely way for Walt Disney World to ‘expand’ the Skyliner, the obvious answer to me wouldn’t be building new routes, it would be building more hotels along the existing ones.
I do not think this will happen anytime soon, just to be clear. But if it were to occur, the most logical locations would be on that side of Caribbean Beach–either on the empty parcel or replacing all of the buildings in Trinidad with a tower–or are on the far sides of Yacht Club or BoardWalk Inn.
And just to underscore that this isn’t even a long-term prediction so much as blue sky daydreaming, I don’t think any of that would happen for two reasons. The first is that buildout near Magic Kingdom strikes me as much more logical and lucrative.
The second is that Disney Vacation Club has a ticking time bomb (except in a positive way), with its properties that start expiring in 2042. Those will need to be dealt with, somehow, and whatever the solution ends up being will essentially represent a big chunk of the ‘new’ resort capacity coming online in the 2040s.
Like I said, this is blue sky daydreaming for a type of hotel that would be cool to see at Walt Disney World in a style that’s represented elsewhere around the world, but somehow not among the two-dozen resorts in Florida. To that point, the ‘blueprint’ for Disney’s Hollywood Studios Hotel is Disney’s Hollywood Hotel at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Disney’s Hollywood Hotel is a resort at Hong Kong Disneyland with Art Deco design and Los Angeles theming, meant to evoke the golden age of Tinseltown. We’ve stayed at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel a few times now, and the resort has become one of our favorites thanks to its value for money and elegant themed design.
This is actually one of a handful of Art Deco hotels that Disney has done internationally, with the best exemplar of the style being Disney Ambassador Hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort, which we recently reviewed (and is pictured above). I’m not suggesting that as the template for a few reasons. For one, it’s OLC-owned as opposed to Disney. For another, it’s older and nicer, but also overdue for a room refresh.
By contrast, Disney’s Hollywood Hotel is newer and it’s partially owned by Disney and it just had its rooms redone and it’s basically a Moderate or Deluxe-Lite Resort. These last two points are really the key, as Disney’s Hollywood Hotel reminds me of Gran Destino Tower, and this seems like the type of resort Walt Disney World is most likely to build. And even if not, hey at least we got a look at some new rooms!
Speaking of which, let’s take a look at the redone Mickey & Friends guest rooms at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel:
Although the ‘angle’ of this post is Walt Disney World, I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer some quick comments and criticism for the rooms at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. These rooms look fine if you have no frame of reference, but they actually ditch some of the timeless Art Deco details of their predecessors that were clever and reinforced the theme.
I was particularly keen on the carpeting in the old rooms, which screamed Art Deco to me. Another highlight was the mirrors, both the Minnie & Mickey in front of Grauman’s mirror and the stylized mirror above the table and chairs across from the beds. The new rooms are more about Mickey & Friends in the movies, which is fine. Just not as classy as what they replaced.
Two things I do appreciate are the addition of water filter (pictured above–that is not a coffee maker) and the addition of closest space. Previously, these rooms didn’t have closets, so that’s an addition…even if it lacks a door. These are the cheapest rooms at Hong Kong Disneyland, but they’re also the most cramped. If you’re traveling with enough luggage for a multi-week Asia trip, you might want to rethink staying here. Explorers Lodge and Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel both have larger rooms.
Disney’s Hollywood Hotel also has a great example of what Art Deco dining could look like.
Ink & Plate (previously known as Chef Mickey) is a quasi-character breakfast, has fantastic food and a gorgeous interior. In fact, this post could just as easily be titled: “Here’s How Walt Disney World Should Reimagine Chef Mickey’s.”
Here’s a quick look around Ink & Plate at HKDL:
An Art Deco restaurant wouldn’t really make sense in Disney’s Contemporary Resort, but it sure seems like the “unifying” visual motif of the Grand Canyon Concourse is “visual hodgepodge layered over the decades.” So perhaps it would.
Since we’re sort of treating this post as a two-fer with a new-look Disney’s Hollywood Hotel review, I’d also add that the East-meets-West fusion at Ink & Plate is really impressive. Even for breakfast, the buffet spread had a ton of range.
I’d go as far as to say that this is the best breakfast buffet we’ve had at a Disney-branded hotel in Asia in years, easily edging out another dark horse candidate in Toy Story Hotel, and surpassing the flagship hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort. Some of the dim sum was addictively good, on par with Din Tai Fung or Tim Ho Wan (not even kidding).
Disney’s Hollywood Hotel also has a lobby-level lounge, The Archivist.
The Archivist is a stylish Art Deco lounge infused with artifacts from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a Hollywood-style film archive-themed establishment with movie reels, catalog tables, plus countless Marvel-ous details–such as books, paintings, and artifacts. The Archivist serves up Spanish tapas, salads and western cuisine such as pasta, a grill for healthy meat and desserts.
Disney’s Hollywood Hotel used to have a counter service restaurant, but it’s been closed since 2020. It’s still back there, but is now walled-off and all references to it have been scrubbed from the internet. It seems there’s no intention of reopening that, as guests are now directed to Explorers Lodge for quick service cuisine. Not sure how walking over there is quick, but whatever.
Wrapping up the Disney’s Hollywood Hotel portion of this review, the biggest selling point of staying here is the price. Whenever we price out rooms, this is always the cheapest resort.
One negative about Disney’s Hollywood Hotel that was a bit surprising was the walk. When we stayed at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, I far preferred walking to the park over taking the bus. It’s a pleasant, leisurely walk and I always skew towards walking if I can. Unfortunately, Hollywood Hotel is about a 10 minute longer walk, which can make that a non-starter (especially for us, with a toddler).
We like Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. Obviously, given that we’ve stayed here more than anywhere else at HKDL and are using it as the template for a Disney’s Hollywood Studios Hotel. But we don’t actively recommend it to first-timers visiting Hong Kong Disneyland. Albeit a bit dated, the flagship Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is a better option (like a time capsule of the Grand Floridian, in ways good and bad) and the newer Explorers Lodge is the best option and one of our favorite Disney hotels in the world.
With that said, fans of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the whole ‘Hollywood that never was and will always be’ atmosphere will definitely enjoy Hollywood Hotel. Moreover, the resort offers solid value for the money and is nicely done given the typical price-point. So long as you don’t mind a slightly smaller room or a longer walk to the park, Disney’s Hollywood Hotel as an excellent mid-range option. If you’re on a tighter budget and will only splurge here or at Tokyo Disney Resort, splurge there.
Ultimately, we’d really like to see a new Moderate Resort at Walt Disney World in the Art Deco style that uses Disney’s Hollywood Hotel as a blueprint. Having a lovely lobby and efficient rooms, plus a character buffet, lounge, and compact quick-service restaurant would be a win–and all could be accomplished in a fairly small footprint that could, in theory, fit on a plot of land along the existing Skyliner route near Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This wouldn’t be my dream Walt Disney World resort expansion, but if we’re armchair Imagineering more realistic possibilities that could be built after Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, this strikes me as one. It’d be more on par with a new tower at an existing resort as opposed to a new standalone hotel, but that’s probably more plausible as an addition that could come online by the early 2030s.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Would you like to see an Art Deco hotel at Walt Disney World? If not, what’s your preferred theme that hasn’t already been done by WDW? Have you stayed at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel or any of the other hotels at Hong Kong Disneyland? What did you think of your hotel stay? Does this hotel interest you? If you have any questions or thoughts to share, please post them in the comments. We love hearing from readers!