Disney Considered Building Hotels Inside Magic Kingdom, Court Records Reveal

A new investigation by Gabrielle Russon at Florida Politics reveals Disney was actively considering building one or two hotels inside Magic Kingdom as recently as early 2024 – a plan that appears to have been quietly dropped before the company’s major expansion announcement later that year.

Florida Politics obtained the records through a public records request, with the key details emerging from a deposition given by Todd Rimmer, a master-planning executive with Disney Imagineering, during legal proceedings between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in February 2024.

According to Florida Politics, when asked about the Magic Kingdom expansion during the deposition, Rimmer described the project as “still under development” and said it “included new attractions and redevelopment of existing attractions and potentially new hotels.”

When pressed on specifics, Rimmer told lawyers Disney was looking at “one or two hotel locations” that would be “new” and located “generally within the same area” as the planned expansion, per the deposition obtained by Florida Politics.

Disney has since walked back the idea. When Florida Politics asked the company to comment, Disney said: “There are no plans for new hotels as part of the Magic Kingdom expansion. We’re focused on bringing to life all we’ve already announced.”

No Hotel Announced at D23 2024

Disney officially announced the Magic Kingdom expansion in August 2024 at the D23 fan expo, revealing plans for Villains Land and two new Cars attractions. No hotels were mentioned at the time.

Based on the timeline laid out in Florida Politics’ reporting, Disney appears to have dropped the hotel concept sometime between Rimmer’s February 2024 deposition and the D23 announcement.

Competing With Universal

Florida Politics notes the deposition suggests Disney may have been considering a Magic Kingdom hotel partly in response to Universal’s Helios Grand Hotel, which opened inside Epic Universe.

Currently, the closest hotel options to Magic Kingdom are the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary, accessible by foot or Monorail – but neither sits inside the park itself.

Where Could a Magic Kingdom Hotel Go?

Rimmer described the potential hotel locations as “generally within the same area” as the expansion – but didn’t get more specific.

Looking at the expansion footprint and Magic Kingdom’s surrounding land, in our view, two areas stand out as the most plausible sites.

The most likely location is along Floridian Way, behind the upcoming Villains Land. This area sits on undeveloped land within Disney’s property, has road access, and would place a hotel in close proximity to the new expansion – a natural fit for a Villains-themed property.

A second possible site is behind Tomorrowland, in the area behind Tron Lightcycle / Run and Space Mountain. This section of the park backs onto existing infrastructure but has long been discussed among Disney watchers as a potential development zone.

Both are observations based on map analysis and knowledge of Disney’s land holdings – Disney did not indicate any specific locations.

What a Magic Kingdom Hotel Would Require

Disney is no stranger to deeply integrating hotels with its theme parks. At Disneyland Paris, the Disneyland Hotel sits directly at the park entrance, with guests walking through the hotel lobby to reach Main Street, U.S.A. Disney California Adventure has a similar setup with the Grand Californian Hotel, which features a private entrance directly into the park. More recently, the Fantasy Springs Hotel at Tokyo DisneySea offers guests direct access to the park’s newest land.

A Magic Kingdom equivalent has long been discussed but never built – and Walt Disney World’s own EPCOT came close to getting its own in-park hotel. We covered the possibility back in March 2021, when construction documents surfaced referencing an “EPCOT Future World Hotel” project, valued at $50-$75 million and described as being in the planning schematics stage. That project never moved forward, but it showed Disney had an appetite for the concept closer to home.

The appeal is obvious. Staying inside a theme park puts guests in a completely different relationship with the experience – windows opening onto the park itself rather than a parking structure or resort pool. For Magic Kingdom specifically, a hotel with views of Cinderella Castle or the new Villains Land would be unlike anything currently on offer at Walt Disney World.

The challenge is execution. Location, theming, and price all have to align, and at Magic Kingdom the stakes are higher than anywhere else in the resort. Getting any one of those wrong at the most visited theme park on Earth is a significant risk. That calculation may be exactly why, despite the idea surfacing repeatedly, Disney has never pulled the trigger.

Disney’s $60 Billion Commitment

Disney announced in 2023 it planned to spend roughly $60 billion across its parks and cruise line over 10 years. With that level of investment on the table, a Magic Kingdom hotel isn’t necessarily off the table permanently – the 2024 deposition shows it was a live conversation not long ago.

For now, Disney’s focus is on delivering Villains Land and the Cars attractions already announced for Magic Kingdom’s historic expansion.

Florida Politics first requested Rimmer’s deposition in October 2024. The full report, by Gabrielle Russon, is available at floridapolitics.com.

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