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Florida: Four Seasons, welcome to Orlando and Mickey’s world

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High-end luxury meets the Florida theme park crowd at a new Four Seasons Resort Orlando that recently opened within the Walt Disney World Resort. The hotel on five acres is set on a lake and has 443 rooms that include 68 suites, one with nine bedrooms.

The resort officially opened Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and Mickey Mouse on hand though there’s no overt Disney World design here. It’s within the bigger Disney empire in the community of Golden Oak. Some of the highlights include:

--Fireworks. Guests can request rooms with terraces that face Magic Kingdom Park for views of the nightly fireworks.

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--Explorer Island. Here’s one for the little people: an island with a big pool, beach volleyball, lazy river and a Splash Zone with water slides, climbing opps and water jets. There’s a video game center here too and just about anything else a kid would want (outside of Disney World, that is). (There’s an adults-only pool with cabana and cocktails in another area of the resort.)

--Golf. Yes, while the kids are splashing around, parents can take advantage of tee time. The resort set to open next month will feature a refurbished Tom Fazio-designed course that features 18 holes set among the resort’s hills.

--Royal Suite. The crazy-big suite with nine rooms also features two living rooms and enough space for good-sized party people to watch the fireworks from an outdoor terrace outfitted with a couch, table and chairs.

--Spa. The resort’s 18 treatment rooms include a couples’ bungalow and “Magical Moment makeovers” and other treatments for kids too.

Room prices range from $545 to $2,500 for guest rooms, with the Royal Suite topping out at about $12,000. Info: Four Seasons Resort Orlando, (800) 276-3046

The Four Seasons isn’t the only new luxe hotel in town. Cabana Bay Beach Resort co-owned and managed by Loews Hotels & Resorts at Universal Orlando opened in March. It has 1,800 rooms (half are family suites, half are standard rooms), a 10-lane bowling alley, 10,000-square-foot pool and lazy river. Prices start as low as $93 for guest rooms and $134 for suites.

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Info: Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, (888) 464-3617.

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