Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Have you ever wished you could recreate the imaginative, impeccable interiors you see at Walt Disney World? Maybe you’ve been inspired by a Disney Resort Hotel or attraction and wished a room in your own home could be themed the same way. Today, we show you how to create your own themed room based on inspiration from these popular Disney restaurants.
T-REX Café
What budding paleontologist wouldn’t adore a bedroom-themed like T-REX Café in Disney Springs? We love the total immersion of this restaurant’s primeval jungle, meteor showers, animatronic dinosaurs, and other prehistoric creatures. And there’s no reason Guests can’t take inspiration from T-REX and create their own dino-themed rooms at home!
Unless you’re Tony Stark, you might need to skip the dino animatronics, of course. But you can use a wall-to-wall dinosaur mural that recreates the same Mesozoic environment to set the scene, or just paint the walls in greens and browns.
Bring in a few house plants (ferns, yuccas, and dragon plants are inexpensive, easy to care for, and impart a distinct Jurassic Park vibe, for example), and keep furnishings rustic. Add some dino bedding, a few dino-footprint decals on the floor, a soundtrack of jungle sounds, and some dinosaur toys and stuffies, and your paleontological retreat is history!
Enchanted Rose
When it comes to opulent style, it’s tough to beat Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. So it’s not surprising that the Resort’s Enchanted Rose lounge excels at distilling all the gorgeous imagery of Beauty and the Beast into one stunning, but accessible, space.
The lounge’s voluminous gold chandelier is meant to depict Belle’s iconic gown, wall paneling, and classic furniture profiles bring to mind a French palace, and there’s even a library. To create your own Beauty and the Beast lounge, start with a palette of moody blue and gold. Detail is key: think velvet, tufting, rounded arms, carved animal paws, and other ornate features.
If you have the space, devote one wall to shelving (built-ins are great, but you can also use inexpensive bookshelves side by side, painted to match your walls, to create the same look) for the library area of your lounge. Window treatments should be formal and heavy – bonus points if they pool on the floor! Don’t forget the Disney nods – a well-placed “enchanted” rose will help tie your room together.
The BOATHOUSE
Not all of us are lucky enough to live on the water, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring the water to you! If you dream of a seaside retreat but it’s not in the budget just yet, why not create one in a room in your home?
The BOATHOUSE at Disney Springs is the perfect mix of waterfront nautical ambiance and class, with a vintage vibe thrown in for fun. Create this look by creating an airy space with plenty of wood tones, and then layer on the nautical nods. Don’t have a kayak or canoe to hang on your wall? No problem! A pair of old paddles will do the trick!
Display a collection of old nautical equipment (sextant, vintage boat parts, a compass) as part of a gallery wall to add interest. You can buy or print out retro prints of dreamboats and frame them to add even more layers to your seaside retreat.
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
It’s one of the best-themed restaurants on Walt Disney World property, and all Guests should experience it at least once. The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park recreates a drive-in theater from the 1950s, complete with vintage car booths, a starry sky overhead, and classic sci-fi flick clips on the big screen. We think it would make a perfect starting point for a home movie theater!
Start with some comfortable loungers for seating (unless you happen to have classic cars lying around that you can convert into seating, of course!), facing a pull-down projector screen so you can show your own favorite sci-fi films. You’ll want to find some black-out curtains for any windows in the room, and then paint the walls and ceiling black or navy.
For the starry sky effect, you can use a projector to create the image, buy a fiber-optic lighting kit, or simply stick glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Finally, bring in a popcorn machine for that iconic movie theatre smell and taste, and then sit back, and enjoy!
Tiffins
You might come for the food, but you’ll stay for the fascinating décor! Tiffins at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park is known for its adventurous global dishes (to maximize your adventure here, order the Whole-fried Sustainable Fish!). But it’s also known for its gallery of artwork taken from worldwide travel, which inspired Imagineers as they created Animal Kingdom Park.
Guests can create their own travel-inspired rooms for an eclectic Tiffins-esque look, and it’s easier than you think! The most important thing is to realize that anything can be art. A prayer flag, an architectural remnant, a fan, even a boarding pass – they’re all fair game, and they’ll bring a sense of interest to your room that tells your unique story.
Display your favorite items from your travels, and frame travel photos and artwork. Think about using different textures and colors to add rich layers to your room (jewel-toned silk scarves or pillows, woven floor rugs, leather or rattan ottomans) – the sky’s the limit!
Bottom Line
Disney Imagineers, we tip our hats to you for all the WDW magic you’ve brought us. Happily, in today’s DIY era, even if you’re not an Imagineer (yet?), you can still be inspired by the beautiful interiors of Disney restaurants, and create your own corner of Disney magic in your home.
