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

Virtual Toad

Well-Known Member
This is the most absurd, ridiculous, money-grubbing move Disney has made in a very long time. Oops, I mean in the past week or so.

Good gravy.

Throwing around stale and meaningless buzz words like “legendary Disney service” and “storytelling” is an absolute joke.

They are doing nothing more than slapping their brand onto someone else’s product and expecting suckers to line up and throw their money away.

Standard operating procedure.

It’s like watching infomercials for some crappy product that carries the name of Bell & Howell or some other practically defunct brand that does nothing but license its name to others.

And this is coming from someone who was about as big a Disney fan as you could possibly get.

Today, when I hear the name Disney, the adjectives that now come to mind are Cheap. Greedy. Shoddy. Shabby. Money grubbing. Short sighted. And Arrogant.

Would I buy into something like this? Not from a company that tells its loyal customers to **** off because they’re not part of an “optimal guest mix.”

I would run away from this as fast as possible *precisely* because the “Disney” name is on it.

To **** with Chapek and everything he touches. The hubris on display is completely unbelievable. He is strip mining a beloved brand and destroying the company in the name of greed and profit. He may be financially minded, but he is totally bankrupt when it comes to creativity and customer service.

The Disney we grew up with is a dead carcass being hollowed out for hedge fund managers to feast on and nothing more.

I was an Disney AP holder for a quarter century. My family just got Universal passes.

We had a great day at their parks over the weekend and saw everything we wanted without a single upcharge. And I didn’t need to make reservations or wake up at 7am to participate in an absurd attraction planning lottery.

I also did not need to use my cell phone. Not one single time.

What’s more, in the past four days we’ve received more emails and been given more opportunities to provide truly constructive feeedback from Universal than we ever did in a quarter century of our time as WDW passholders.

In fact, the last direct communication I got from Disney was a bill for resort parking fees— with threatening language on it— because they lacked the basic competency required to properly bill me during my stay.

Is this the sort of company I would want making decisions about my home and neighborhood? Not right now. Nope. No thanks. Not in a million years.
 

CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
Is there a game to make this claim more ridiculous?
I literally was reading up on Celebration a few weeks back.

Seems they sold it to a person who isn't repairing the homes and is letting the place rot, while homeowners don't have the rights to do repairs on any exteriors.

 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
Holy cow it's like the company never learns.

Wasn't Celebration Florida a failed experiment that they ditched and sold to a con artist?

Does no one in Disney remember the company's own history? They've tried this before.
Celebration wasn’t a failure, it was always meant to be slowly let go from company control.
 

Virtual Toad

Well-Known Member
A collection/legal threat?
Thinly veiled but basically yes. They had a valid CC number on hand which they used for the resort balance but for some reason did not bill me for parking during the stay. Which frankly I wasn’t even aware of until I received the threatening notice two months later.

ETA: I could also mention the resort stay was for our 25th wedding anniversary, staying at the same place we spent our honeymoon. And I got the threatening billing notice the week of Christmas. But perhaps that would be piling on.
 
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Vegas Disney Fan

Well-Known Member
I literally was reading up on Celebration a few weeks back.

Seems they sold it to a person who isn't repairing the homes and is letting the place rot, while homeowners don't have the rights to do repairs on any exteriors.

That’s the condos, and unfortunately not an uncommon problem. With condos the association is responsible for all external repairs, whether at Celebration or anywhere else.

This is also true of a lot of townhome communities, when buildings are shared the external work is usually covered by dues paid to a board or association rather than directly by the homeowner.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
Celebration wasn’t a failure, it was always meant to be slowly let go from company control.
Not to mention the dozens of examples of successful master planned communities with resort type atmospheres, shopping, dining, etc. across the US. But apparently, it’s impossible for disney to do something similar but with their own flare? 🤷‍♂️
 

CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
The homes are owned by the homeowners.
Appologies, this was in reference to condos.

As soon as they moved in, the condo’s roof began to leak. No big deal for Rousseau. Relieved to have left New York, she set about to get it fixed. She contacted the condo manager. The manager told her to talk to the Town Center Foundation. When she reached out to the Foundation, they didn’t respond. Rousseau was confused. How did you get things fixed around here? She couldn’t fix it herself, because of the peculiarities of Celebration condominium law. The residents own only the interiors of their units. Anything inside, they can change. Anything else, anything structural—like say, a roof—they can’t touch without owner approval. “Think of it like the Titanic,” Rousseau said. “We are on a ship going out of control. But all we own is our little box in it and the air rights to get to our unit. That is it. Nothing else.”homeowners.
 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
What was the purpose then? To make money selling it off to someone that wouldn't maintain it?
The main reason, other than “fulfilling Walt’s dream” was that Osceola County was getting more aggressive with all of Disney’s vacant land on their side of the border. This option was decided on as it allowed Disney to maintain control of the surrounding area for water usage and environmental reasons while ensuring long term that the town wouldn’t be used as competition to the resort area. Basically it helps maintain the buffer around WDW while giving Osceola tax revenues and gave Disney something to do other than leave it as swamp and cow pastures. From the very beginning the residential and business areas were removed from RCID. It was always the plan for Disney to hand over the operation of the town while ensuring it follows their plan and style guides. The downtown has had maintenance issues but the last several months have seen lots of refurbishments happening so hopefully that continues.
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
I literally was reading up on Celebration a few weeks back.

Seems they sold it to a person who isn't repairing the homes and is letting the place rot, while homeowners don't have the rights to do repairs on any exteriors.

Celebration condos are far from rot. If you want rot which resulted in 97 condo owners dying while they slept look what happened in Surfside, FL when one part of the condo building collapsed one evening.
 
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CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
The main reason, other than “fulfilling Walt’s dream” was that Osceola County was getting more aggressive with all of Disney’s vacant land on their side of the border. This option was decided on as it allowed Disney to maintain control of the surrounding area for water usage and environmental reasons while ensuring long term that the town wouldn’t be used as competition to the resort area. Basically it helps maintain the buffer around WDW while giving Osceola tax revenues and gave Disney something to do other than leave it as swamp and cow pastures. From the very beginning the residential and business areas were removed from RCID. It was always the plan for Disney to hand over the operation of the town while ensuring it follows their plan and style guides. The downtown has had maintenance issues but the last several months have seen lots of refurbishments happening so hopefully that continues.
I did not know their motive. Thanks for
the explanation!
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
That’s the condos, and unfortunately not an uncommon problem. With condos the association is responsible for all external repairs, whether at Celebration or anywhere else.

This is also true of a lot of townhome communities, when buildings are shared the external work is usually covered by dues paid to a board or association rather than directly by the homeowner.
Condo assoc is responsible for repairs but when assoc mgt inform condo owners monthly fees must be increased to pay for repairs and improvements for the condo complex, look at some condo owners freak out in hearing they have to pay more to get work done for repairs and improvements.
 

Polkadotdress

Well-Known Member
It failed for the Disney company. It succeeded outside of Disney’s hands.
Simply not true.

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

Again, not true. It began as a local community, and continues as a local community.


It was also set up as a New Urbanist, pedestrian oriented community and in that regard it absolutely has failed.


It’s not really all that outside of Disney’s hands. If anything the biggest vacancy in the Town Center, the theater, is because it left Disney’s hands.
Also not true. It continues to be pedestrian-oriented.
I literally was reading up on Celebration a few weeks back.

Seems they sold it to a person who isn't repairing the homes and is letting the place rot, while homeowners don't have the rights to do repairs on any exteriors.

An incorrect statement. I own a home, and responsible for the entirety of it, including the land, and must follow the design covenants that were created by Disney.

The downtown condos, which struggle with exterior maintenance issues, cannot be repaired by the owner, as the exterior is not “owned” by the owner. There have recently been legal challenges by the residents in regards to this, in conjunction with the exterior issues not being mitigated.
 

CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
Simply not true.

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

Again, not true. It began as a local community, and continues as a local community.



Also not true. It continues to be pedestrian-oriented.

An incorrect statement. I own a home, and responsible for the entirety of it, including the land, and must follow the design covenants that were created by Disney.

The downtown condos, which struggle with exterior maintenance issues, cannot be repaired by the owner, as the exterior is not “owned” by the owner. There have recently been legal challenges by the residents in regards to this, in conjunction with the exterior issues not being mitigated.
Thanks for the information, good to have people who live there chime in. I live on the other side of the country so I don't know too much on the topic.
 

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