Disney World Converting Rooms to Princess-Themed Suites

Orlando Sentinel: Walt Disney World is converting some of its 25,000 hotel rooms into moderately priced, princess-themed rooms and high-end, "health-and-wellness" suites, in a bid to carve out new niches from within its existing hotels.

The overhauls are part of a directive across the Walt Disney Co.'s theme-park division to develop more specialty hotel rooms that appeal to targeted demographics. The initiative includes the company's first new hotel in Orlando in nearly a decade: Disney's Art of Animation Resort, in which more than half of the roughly 2,000 hotel rooms will be basic suites aimed at budget-conscious families.

"We are really putting significant focus and intensity and resources into driving that strategy," said Mark Rucker, vice president of lodging for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.