Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel

A resort to fulfill the hotel fantasy of any comic book fan.

So if you’re not a big aficionado of comic books, this dispatch may be rather boring. Feel free to delete and wait for the next entry.

OK, all the haters gone? Good. THIS HOTEL IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, though, Disney has a real winner with this place. It’s a hotel with a comic book theme, but never feels cartoonish or childish. When I first heard about the concept for this makeover of the existing New York City themed hotel, I pictured something very kid friendly, like the value resorts at Walt Disney World in Florida. Bright primary colors, massive statues of characters, lots of hard surfaces that easily clean up after a long day of sweaty, grimy families having fun in the tropical heat. I pictured Spider Man beds with webs hanging as curtains, which I would have no problem with whatsoever. But instead, Disneyland Paris kept the deluxe accommodations and added comic themed elements, making it elegant with base tones of black, gray and red with pops of color provided by various pieces of Marvel art throughout. There are a couple of those giant character statues outside that serve mostly as selfie stops, accessible by both people staying at the hotel and passers by, making great advertising to spark the travel dreams of future guests.

The Art of Marvel

I had a ground floor room, which meant a Spider Man theme (if there were a Thor themed floor, I would have been on that one, of course). There was a terrace with a couple of chairs, which I might have used in warmer weather but the temperature never got above freezing for the 3 days I was there. No matter, I enjoyed the cozy warmth of my room, especially the TV screensaver (hidden in the desk mirror) with shifting comic art images and a soundtrack of MCU themes redone as smooth jazz. Fair warning, you can find this mix on Spotify and I’ll be playing it as background music for any cocktail parties I have in the future.

There are 2 restaurants open for breakfast and dinner only. I unfortunately missed the cut off time for breakfast at the Manhattan restaurant, but I was able to duck in quickly to grab a photo of the Asgard themed chandelier before heading to the Downtown restaurant for their breakfast buffet. Pretty typical offerings, but instead of Mickey waffles, they had Captain Marvel waffles and Mickey sweet bread.

Strangely, the hotel doesn’t have a dining location for lunch, but they do have 24 hour room service. They’re also a short walk away from the Disney Village area, where there are about a dozen restaurants with everything from fast food to American style diner offerings to a traditional French brasserie. The hotel does have a wonderful indoor/outdoor pool (indoor only on this freezing January visit) as well as the fantastic Skyline Bar, similar to the bar found on some of the Disney Cruise Line ships, but instead of having different cities displayed on video screens, it’s the New York City of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Stark Tower featuring prominently and the occasional superhero passing (or swinging) by. I ended my resort experience with a very happy hour sitting at the bar, relaxing with a Skyline Mule after my long day exploring the parks (which I’ll detail in my next dispatch). Excelsior!