Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort: The grown-up way to do Disney

Younger guests receive a warm welcome with their own room key cards, gift and rucksack adorned with the resort's mascot, Gary the Gator.

Mild season: rooms are given a restrained Floridian style

Love or loathe Disney's most durable creation, there comes a point in many parents' lives when the magic of the mouse is hard to avoid. But the prospect of checking into the Four Seasons Resort Orlando might persuade even the most Mickey-averse to pack their bags. Four Seasons' founding father, Isadore Sharp, long aspired to add Walt Disney World to the hotel group's portfolio. After 15 years of planning, his dreams became a reality last August. The place has found favour among celebrities on the run: during my stay, I spied Sir Paul McCartney beside the large family pool.

The Walt Disney World Resort is almost twice the size of Manhattan. The Four Seasons is within this hallowed turf – the only non-Disney hotel afforded the privilege.

It's suitably vast, with 443 rooms filling a 17-storey Spanish Revival-style building. Entering the reception area you are greeted by a sweeping staircase presided over by a huge chandelier designed to resemble The Magic Kingdom's nightly fireworks display. Younger guests receive a warm welcome with their own room key cards, gift and rucksack adorned with the resort's mascot, Gary the Gator.

The resort's Adventure Island is the stuff of most childhood fantasies – a splash zone with spouting geysers, two water slides and a lazy river. There's plenty of shade from the skin-toasting sun with cocoon-like day beds and cute tepees fringing the water. There is also an outdoor cinema, a video games room, a playground and kids' club. But there are also shady gardens, an over-21s pool, a gym with free yoga and a spa for anyone seeking a more grown-up ambience. This being the Sunshine State, there is also the obligatory 18-hole golf course.

Mild season: rooms are given a restrained Floridian style

Most guests will probably stay put for dinner and there are enough options to mix things up a bit, during the average six-night stay. The rooftop Spanish Capa restaurant has tapas-inspired dishes and steaks. The Ravello restaurant serves pizzas and other Italian fare for lunch and dinner, succumbing to chaos twice a week when Mickey, Minnie and Pluto make their rounds during the official Character Breakfast. There's also the Ravello lounge, the poolside PB+G serving salads and barbecue grills during the day and the Cuban-inspired Plancha restaurant at the Golf Club. One welcome innovation is the Lickety Split café, which serves bagels, sandwiches, salads, coffee and homemade ice cream until late afternoon.

If you were anywhere else you might just stay put, but the theme parks beckon. One revelation for the Disney rookie is the organisation involved to get the most out of a visit. Help comes at the Official Disney Planning Centre in the hotel's main reception area – invaluable for anyone who has come unprepared.

Following a sticky day at The Magic Kingdom, I longed for the tranquillity and uncrowded spaces of the hotel. If your budget can stretch to it, the Four Seasons is the luxurious way to experience Walt Disney World. You'll often pay five-star prices at Disney hotels without the level of sophistication and service that the Four Seasons offers, so having somewhere of this standard to retreat to is worth the investment.

Location

The Four Seasons is set in a tranquil enclave of villas called Golden Oaks. The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios are a 20- to 30-minute drive from the hotel. There is a regular shuttle service to the parks, but if you miss this and don't have a car you need to rely on taxis. It's about 30 minutes' drive from Orlando's main airport.

Comfort

There are 375 rooms and 68 suites decorated in a restrained Floridian style, with geometric prints, browns, taupes and splashes of lime, coral and turquoise. Most rooms have an extra sofa bed for families and bathrooms are wall-to-wall marble. If you request a Park View room higher up the building, you will have a good vantage point for the nightly fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom. There are bedside iPads as well as free wi-fi and a TV with all the Disney Channels to prolong the Mickeymania.

Travel essentials

Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort, 10100 Dream Tree Boulevard, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US (001 407 313 7777; fourseasons.com).

Rooms ****

Value ***

Service *****

Doubles from $645 (£410) per night, room only.