Hotels near theme parks do more than offer a convenient respite from the lines and crowds. Largely aimed at families, the most elaborate of them operate as park extensions, with immersive design and enough amenities to ensure that you can retire to your room after a busy day and won’t have to leave it again until morning. The following new and improved resorts champion proximity and entertainment, and many come with perks such as free shuttles to the theme park, on-site ticket sales, early park admission and line-jumping status.
— Legoland Hotel, Carlsbad, California
For extra immersion into the world of brick-built characters, the Legoland Hotel at Legoland California Resort has introduced rooms themed after the Lego Friends collection of cartoon character girls from fictional Heartlake City. The 12 rooms, which sleep up to five, include an adult bed and either a pull-out trundle or bunk beds, a beach-house-themed bathroom and Lego bricks, of course. The 250-room hotel also offers rooms themed after its Pirate, Adventure and Kingdom, or Medieval, collections of toys. Guests get early access to the nearby park, free breakfast and nightly children's entertainment. Friends-themed rooms from $325, others from $175; legoland.com.
— Great Wolf Lodge Southern California, Garden Grove, California
Less than 2 miles south of Disneyland, the new Great Wolf Lodge Southern California offers a sprawling 105,000-square-foot indoor water park to retreat to after a day with Mickey and friends. The entertainment at this 600-room resort gives the bigger park a run for the money: It has a nine-hole miniature golf course, a laser-lit maze and kiddie bowling along with aquatic attractions that include a six-story water slide, surf simulators, a wave pool and a lazy river. In addition to standard rooms, the resort offers themed suites with cabin décor and bunk beds. Dining choices range from wood-fired steaks to poolside hot dogs. Although it's an attraction in its own right, the resort offers a Disneyland shuttle and sells tickets to the park on site. Rooms from $249; greatwolf.com/southern-california.
— Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, Orlando, Florida
Modeled on the waterfalls and lagoons of the Caribbean, the new Loews Sapphire Falls Resort is to open in July at Universal Studios Florida. Water and the tropical outdoors are central themes of the 1,000-room resort, which will include a pool with a water slide, sand beach, fire pit and children's play area in the central courtyard. Food leans exotic here, too, including a ceviche bar and rum tastings in the lobby lounge and a pool bar and grill with a seafood menu. A stay at the resort includes early access to Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure, with transport via land or water taxi. Rooms from $179; loewshotels.com/sapphire-falls-resort.
— Dollywood DreamMore Resort, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Decorated with musical instruments and the album covers of its owner, Dolly Parton, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort opened last summer at her Great
Smoky Mountains theme park, Dollywood. Drawing on the family and musical traditions of the South, the 300-room hotel resides on 20 acres and has children's play areas, indoor and outdoor pools, a restaurant specializing in family-style dinners, nightly storytelling sessions and rocker-lined porches on which to while away balmy evenings. Perks include free shuttles to the nearby park, passes to reserve spots in line at its attractions and early entry each Saturday. Rooms from $170; dollywoodsdreammoreresort.dollywood.com.
— Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and Toy Story Hotel, Shanghai
The new Shanghai Disney Resort offers two hotels next to the park and to Disney Town, an entertainment district. On Wishing Star Lake, Shanghai Disneyland Hotel offers views of the park's castle from many of its 420 rooms. Disney characters are everywhere, from bronze statues of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the three-story lobby to headboards that light up to evoke Tinker Bell. Amenities include indoor and outdoor pools, a hedge maze and dining options ranging from buffet meals with costumed characters to refined Asian cuisine with views from the top floor of the hotel. Rooms from 1,650 renminbi (about $250); shanghaidisneyresort.com.
Nearby, the 800-room, figure-eight-shaped Toy Story Hotel is filled with references to the Disney-Pixar movies with statues of Woody and Buzz Lightyear, a splash park modeled on an alien battle and a play room with character-themed slides and toys. A cafe serves dim sum and noodles. Rooms from 850 renminbi (about $130); shanghaidisneyresort.com.
— Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel and Suites, Williamsburg, Virginia
A feeder for the thrill-park Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the living-history attraction Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel and Suites has expanded its appeal to families with a new splash park, featuring water cannons and slides near the outdoor pool. For adults, its new Huzzah's Eatery restaurant serves 18th-century-style beers brewed locally by Frank Clark, Colonial Williamsburg's master of historic foodways. Lodging includes breakfast, access to the Fun Zone with activities like mini-golf, volleyball and storytelling, and free shuttles to both parks. Rooms from $129; colonialwilliamsburg.com.
— Wilderness Hotel and Golf Resort, Wisconsin Dells
Known as the "water park capital of the world," the Wisconsin Dells combines sprawling resorts with lavish water parks. One of these, the 600-acre Wilderness Hotel and Golf Resort, has a variety of accommodations themed after the north woods, including log cabins, each with three to five bedrooms, fireplace, deck and gas grill. Next year it is to add 13 treehouses, each with a slide to connect its two levels. Access to the resorts' water parks — five indoors, five outdoors — is included for all registered guests. A new attraction known as a slideboard combines a tunnel water slide and an interactive video game, allowing riders to earn points by pressing buttons corresponding to lights as they whiz past. Rooms from about $225, cabins from about $500; wildernessresort.com.
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