Where are the 12 Disney parks located? If you have ever seen someone mention “12 Disney parks” and wondered where they all actually are, you are not alone. Disney’s theme parks are spread across three continents, and knowing which park belongs to which resort makes trip planning a lot less confusing, especially if you are trying to figure out which one is actually closest to you.
Quick Answer
Disney operates 12 theme parks split across 6 resort destinations worldwide. Two resorts are in the United States (Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California), three are in Asia (Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai), and one is in Europe (Disneyland Paris, France). Walt Disney World has the most parks by far, with four on one property, while most of the other resorts have one or two. None of the 12 parks are in South America, Africa, or Australia, even though Disney movies and merchandise are everywhere in those places.
Disney Park vs. Disney Resort: What’s the Difference?
A Disney park is one individual gate, like Magic Kingdom or Tokyo DisneySea, that you walk into with its own ticket. A Disney resort is the larger destination that can include multiple parks, plus hotels, shopping, and entertainment districts, all on one property.
Walt Disney World Resort is the best example of why this distinction matters. It is not one park, it is an entire destination in Florida that happens to contain four separate theme parks. So when someone asks how many Disney parks there are, the honest answer depends on whether they mean individual parks (12) or resort destinations (6).
Walt Disney World Resort, Florida
Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida is the largest of the six by far, with four separate theme parks on one property: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. No other Disney resort in the world comes close to that number. The property itself covers about 25,000 acres, which people often compare to the size of San Francisco, so the four parks are really just one small part of a much bigger piece of land that also includes dozens of hotels, two water parks, and an entertainment district.
Magic Kingdom is the classic, castle-and-fireworks park most people picture when they hear “Disney World.” EPCOT is split between big idea attractions and World Showcase, 11 countries built around a lake. Disney’s Hollywood Studios leans into movies and pop culture, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom centers on Kilimanjaro Safaris and the land of Pandora. I break down what each park is best for in a lot more detail if you are deciding where to start.
If you are counting the two water parks too, Walt Disney World actually has six Disney parks in Orlando, not just four. And if you want to know what to actually do once you get to the least crowded of the bunch, my guide to what to do in Animal Kingdom covers it in detail.
Disneyland Resort, California
Disneyland Resort sits in Anaheim, California, about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and it is where it all started. This is Walt Disney’s original park, and the resort now includes two theme parks located right next to each other, close enough that you can walk between them in a few minutes: Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Disneyland Park is the one Walt Disney himself helped design, while Disney California Adventure, which opened decades later in 2001, is built around California landmarks, Pixar, and Marvel.
Unlike Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort is fairly compact and sits inside the city of Anaheim rather than on its own separate stretch of land. There is no monorail system connecting a dozen hotels the way there is in Florida, since most of the resort is within walking distance of itself.
Tokyo Disney Resort, Japan
Tokyo Disney Resort is located in Urayasu, Japan, about 3.7 miles east of downtown Tokyo, and it was the first Disney resort ever built outside the United States. It has two parks: Tokyo Disneyland, styled closely after the original Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea, a nautical and exploration themed park that does not exist anywhere else in the Disney world. Tokyo Disney Resort is also the only one of the six not owned by The Walt Disney Company itself, it is owned and operated under license by the Oriental Land Company. Despite that, it is consistently one of the most visited Disney resorts on earth, and Tokyo DisneySea in particular has a reputation among Disney fans as one of the most beautifully designed parks anywhere.
Disneyland Paris, France
Disneyland Paris sits in Marne-la-Vallée, France, about 20 miles outside the city, and it is the only Disney resort in Europe. It has two parks: Disneyland Park, which opened in 1992 under the original name Euro Disney Resort, and Disney Adventure World. That second park spent its first 24 years as Walt Disney Studios Park before Disney rebranded and reimagined it as Disney Adventure World in spring 2026, adding new lands like World of Frozen along the way. Disneyland Paris also happens to be one of the most visited tourist attractions in all of Europe, not just among Disney parks.
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is located on Lantau Island, close to Hong Kong International Airport and connected to the rest of the city by its own dedicated metro line, and it has just one theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland. That makes it the smallest of the six resorts, both in the number of parks and in overall size. It opened in 2005 and was Disney’s first theme park in China.
Shanghai Disney Resort, China
Shanghai Disney Resort is in the Pudong district of Shanghai, roughly 20 miles from the city center, and also has just one theme park, Shanghai Disneyland. It is the newest resort of the six, having opened in 2016, and it is also Disney’s largest resort by land size outside of Walt Disney World itself.
Which Resort Has the Most Parks?
Walt Disney World Resort has the most parks of any Disney destination, with four theme parks on one property. No other resort comes close. Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Disneyland Paris each have two parks, while Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Shanghai Disney Resort each have just one.
Which Disney Parks Are Outside the United States?
Exactly half of the 12 Disney parks, six of them, are outside the United States. That includes both parks at Tokyo Disney Resort, both parks at Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland. The other six, the four Walt Disney World parks plus Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in California, are all on U.S. soil.
Broken down by continent, North America has 6 parks (4 in Florida, 2 in California), Asia has 4 parks (2 in Japan, 1 in Hong Kong, 1 in Shanghai), and Europe has 2 parks (both in France). There are no Disney theme parks in South America, Africa, or Australia, so travelers in those regions have the farthest to go for the real thing.
Which Park Is the Oldest? Which Is the Newest?
The oldest Disney park in the world is Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, which opened on July 17, 1955. It is the only park Walt Disney himself helped design and watched open in person. Tokyo Disneyland holds its own milestone too, since it opened in 1983 and was the first Disney park built outside the United States, more than a decade before Disneyland Paris arrived in 1992.
The newest park built completely from the ground up is Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2016. If you count major reinventions instead of brand new construction, Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris is the newest name and concept on the list, having relaunched in spring 2026 after 24 years as Walt Disney Studios Park.
FAQ
How many Disney parks are there in total?
There are 12 Disney theme parks in total, spread across 6 resort destinations around the world.
What are the 6 Disney resorts?
Walt Disney World Resort (Florida), Disneyland Resort (California), Tokyo Disney Resort (Japan), Disneyland Paris (France), Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Shanghai Disney Resort (China).
Is Disneyland and Walt Disney World the same thing?
No. Disneyland Resort is in Anaheim, California and has two parks. Walt Disney World Resort is in Orlando, Florida and has four parks. They are separate resorts on opposite coasts of the United States, built about a decade apart.
Which Disney parks are in Asia?
Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland are all in Asia. That is 4 of the 12 total Disney parks.
Is there a Disney park in Europe?
Yes. Disneyland Paris in France is the only Disney resort in Europe, and it has two parks: Disneyland Park and Disney Adventure World.
Which Disney resort is the smallest?
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is the smallest of the six, both because it only has one theme park and because its overall footprint is smaller than the other resorts.