News Disney to develop residential communities with new 'Storyliving by Disney' business

[Sir_Cliff]

I guess the question is going to be, how much Disney stuff is actually a part of it? Is it in your face Disney or is it just the Walt Disney Company doing something entirely different without shoving Mickey in your face.

This is where the "storyliving" branding is weird to me. This emphasis on storytelling and Disney theme parks in the promo video gives the impression people are buying into a fake town with a made-up history. Maybe that's not the case, but they lean into giving that impression and I have to say it's a real turn off for me. Makes it seem like you would buy into it so you could live in a constant state of make believe.

The initial pitch for Celebration was far more compelling in terms of using urban design and architecture to design a living and breathing community free of many of the issues that plague modern cities. Here, the opening pitch is that Disney is better than anyone at telling stories...?

 

[flynnibus]

That is what they are doing. Disney is not building or selling the houses.

But the pitch here is more than 'Disney Designed' - maybe that's what it ends up being.. but the pitch is more than that.

 

[Disneyson]

Yeah it might just be too early for that, and their primary focus is explaining the new product at the highest level.

I would imagine, from what I have seen so far, that each community is going to tell a different story. That the themes and environments would be different per location, and it makes sense they wouldn't want to spend a lot of time promoting this desert living lifestyle as being the sole face of their project.

Agreed. But I also think this is what will either attract people to buy in or brush this off.

 

[flynnibus]

If Disney is the one that needs to get the zoning, needs to do the lobbying, is the one that needs to woo the contruction power brokers.. it's more than just selling Disney Designs. Disney is trying to be the Developer, even if not the home seller.

Most major comunities already bring in other builders for the homes... but the developer is still the king on the throne and the one bankrolling the efforts to secure, develop, and maintain the community for many years until homeowner turnover happens... if it happens.

 

[FettFan]

Very smart long term move by the TWDC! Real estate offerings with the Disney flair!

They tried it before with Celebration Florida.

It failed

 

[Polkadotdress]

RAAAA
Diiiick
Ulous!

This is so unimaginative that it scares me. They did it once. It is called Celebration. It didn't work. Why try again.

Cut costs to focus on building houses around the country while Imagination still sits stagnant. Bob C is just plane crazy!
His customers are not his first concern, his investors are, clearly

As a Celebration resident, I would disagree with the statement that “it didn’t work”. The Disney Co set us up for success as a community.

Also, Celebration was not touted as a “Disney story” community.

 

[Polkadotdress]

They tried it before with Celebration Florida.

It failed

Celebration has not failed.

 

[castlecake2.0]

As a Celebration resident, I would disagree with the statement that “it didn’t work”. The Disney Co set us up for success as a community.

Also, Celebration was not touted as a “Disney story” community.

Have to agree with that. Celebration does what it set out to do. It wasn’t meant to be what this new development seems to be proposing.

 

[FettFan]

Celebration has not failed.

Just because it’s not a slum full of drugs and violent crime doesn’t mean it wasn’t a failure. That’s not the consensus.

Celebration, Florida: The Utopian Town That America Just Couldn't Trust

It's been exactly two decades since Celebration, Florida, broke ground in 1994, a major anniversary for a community that enjoyed a massive amount of media attention when it emerged. Yet we don't hear much about Disney's foray into real estate lately, apart from the odd fire.

gizmodo.com

The creepy history of Disney’s perfect town

It was designed as the diehard Disney fans’ ultimate dream town.

www.news.com.au

How the Disney dream died in Celebration | US news | The Guardian

<p>Disney invented Celebration as an ideal American small town. But recession, a brutal murder and a suicide have killed the magic, reports<strong> Ed Pilkington</strong></p>

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Just because it’s not a slum full of drugs and violent crime doesn’t mean it wasn’t a failure.

Celebration, Florida: The Utopian Town That America Just Couldn't Trust

It's been exactly two decades since Celebration, Florida, broke ground in 1994, a major anniversary for a community that enjoyed a massive amount of media attention when it emerged. Yet we don't hear much about Disney's foray into real estate lately, apart from the odd fire.

gizmodo.com

The creepy history of Disney’s perfect town

It was designed as the diehard Disney fans’ ultimate dream town.

www.news.com.au

How the Disney dream died in Celebration | US news | The Guardian

<p>Disney invented Celebration as an ideal American small town. But recession, a brutal murder and a suicide have killed the magic, reports<strong> Ed Pilkington</strong></p>

amp.theguardian.com

I don't know enough to comment on how the town has developed in terms of urban design to comment on its success or otherwise.

The fact people have died, murdered, and committed crimes there, though, just means it's populated by human beings.

 

[Polkadotdress]

Just because it’s not a slum full of drugs and violent crime doesn’t mean it wasn’t a failure.

Celebration, Florida: The Utopian Town That America Just Couldn't Trust

It's been exactly two decades since Celebration, Florida, broke ground in 1994, a major anniversary for a community that enjoyed a massive amount of media attention when it emerged. Yet we don't hear much about Disney's foray into real estate lately, apart from the odd fire.

gizmodo.com

The creepy history of Disney’s perfect town

It was designed as the diehard Disney fans’ ultimate dream town.

www.news.com.au

How the Disney dream died in Celebration | US news | The Guardian

<p>Disney invented Celebration as an ideal American small town. But recession, a brutal murder and a suicide have killed the magic, reports<strong> Ed Pilkington</strong></p>

amp.theguardian.com

Myself, and thousands of others who live there, disagree with you and whatever sensational news stories you post.
It was set up as a resident-based community, and still thrives as such.

And I can count myself as an expert as I’ve been there since the groundbreaking.

 

[HauntedPirate]

And THAT is where this declining by degrees hurts them long-term. Does anybody really think of Disney as "world-class" service anymore? I certainly don't. When I hear "Disney service", that is a negative.

I don't view it as a negative, but it doesn't hold a candle to what it once did. It's arguably average now, at best. Or, "good enough", since that's been the acceptable level for everything since Bob 1.0 took over. The ardent defenders of the faith point to a CM wearing a Mickey hand and waving as the "Disney difference" and proof of Disney's superior customer service. I'd say most here need a little more than that.

 

[seascape]

The home prices in Celebration are very high. There is lots of demand, so how can anyone say its a failure? Its not!

 

[WondersOfLife]

Myself, and thousands of others who live there, disagree with you and whatever sensational news stories you post.
It was set up as a resident-based community, and still thrives as such.

And I can count myself as an expert as I’ve been there since the groundbreaking.

It failed for the Disney company. It succeeded outside of Disney’s hands.

 

[lifeguard1020]

I think it's still too early to tell, but there is something telling about Disney offering "Guest Service" in this community that might set it significantly apart from Celebration. Celebration wasn't really meant to be overtly Disney, and I have a feeling that this project is.

My thinking is that this will be more akin to a DVC Property (like Aulani specifically), but with homes instead of timeshares. They have the ability to offer amenities and programs that are comparable to current offerings at their resort hotels (fitness programs, institute workshops, movie nights, character events or even full entertainment productions) to a smaller audience of community members, or to a wider audience (open to the public) without it necessarily having to be in California or Florida.

Pricing may be key to this, but if they can offer a somewhat comparable price to other HOA/Community amenities while being able to offer Disney specific products, it could definitely have big demand. With some communities, you might be buying into a club house, a pool or a boat dock, but with Disney, you might be able to get a Disney caliber show.





This seems shortsighted. If the economy was headed for trouble, that seems like a good indication that park investment should also be considerably slowed down. Diversification seems smart, and definitely does seem like an Eisner era move.

In my brain, I kind of see the Disney Institute reimagined with homes instead of hotel rooms.

 

[el_super]

It failed for the Disney company. It succeeded outside of Disney’s hands.

Failed at what exactly?

I have a feeling that those claiming it failed, are setting some unrealistically high expectation for what it was supposed to be/achieve.

It wasn't supposed to be EPCOT.

 

[flynnibus]

As a Celebration resident, I would disagree with the statement that “it didn’t work”. The Disney Co set us up for success as a community.

Also, Celebration was not touted as a “Disney story” community.

It was touted as trying to reestablish and reimagine the local community concept... and many other things. It failed to achieve those things.

 

[flynnibus]

Failed at what exactly?

I have a feeling that those claiming it failed, are setting some unrealistically high expectation for what it was supposed to be/achieve.

It wasn't supposed to be EPCOT.

Let's timewarp and see what they were pitching!

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We are the ones that disney would like to sell to: The right age, retired, etc.
But, I wouldn't want to live in a disney based or immersed community! We were disney fans and loved our yearly trips to Make Believe where we could escape from the daily world for a couple of weeks. Would we want to live in a "storytelling" disney community full time? A big no from us. It's great (or was great) for an escape from reality for a while, but not full time living.
I really don't know who the buyer is that disney is trying to get to buy into this community? Is it aging disney fanatics, or rich people who want to live the fantasy? I really don't understand it, except that disney is using it's name to build houses.

 

[flynnibus]

The home prices in Celebration are very high. There is lots of demand, so how can anyone say its a failure? Its not!

Its different from other local communities how exactly?