Four Seasons will not be open until 2014

[TP2000]

I`ve heard it may be longer. A lot longer.

In addition to any insider buzz you may have heard personally, the continuing delays, lack of construction start, and terse "we're pleased" statements from Disney already has project-cancellation written all over it.

And not having the Four Seasons spells doom for Golden Oak, and Disney knows it. Golden Oak was/is marketed with the Four Seasons adjacent to not only provide core Resort amenities and services for Golden Oak residents, but to also add cachet and needed branding to the entire concept.

Without the Four Seasons sitting next door providing the luxury service and operational logistics needed to offer the Golden Oak amenities homeowners paid for, the entire project is sunk.

And only 11 homesites sold in the first 80 site Phase One out of 450+ sites available?

At this creeping pace, Golden Oak is going to make Hyperion Wharf look like a boom town in comparison. :lol:

 

[OurDailyGruel]

The weather and the bug situations are such a deterrent to owning in that location. I would love to be more comfortable in my accommodations at WDW but if I had that kind of money, I'd need deep basement levels dug to house independent generators and water supplies. What if a storm knocked out the AC?

They could make more money if they had after dark hours like ALL NIGHT when it is cooler. It could be adults only but possibly there would be a lot of murders and assaults if everyone got drunk.

My ideal park experience would be those months in Scandinavia and Alaska when it is dark and chilly all the time. It could be a VAMPIRE theme park only without the murdering of children.

 

[mergatroid]

I seem to remember reading years ago that Disney World would never have residents? Something about it being like it's own municipality under the authority of Reedy Creek District and that any 'residents' could then try to block planning permission for new parks etc :shrug:

 

[COProgressFan]

In addition to any insider buzz you may have heard personally, the continuing delays, lack of construction start, and terse "we're pleased" statements from Disney already has project-cancellation written all over it.

And not having the Four Seasons spells doom for Golden Oak, and Disney knows it. Golden Oak was/is marketed with the Four Seasons adjacent to not only provide core Resort amenities and services for Golden Oak residents, but to also add cachet and needed branding to the entire concept.

Without the Four Seasons sitting next door providing the luxury service and operational logistics needed to offer the Golden Oak amenities homeowners paid for, the entire project is sunk.

And only 11 homesites sold in the first 80 site Phase One out of 450+ sites available?

At this creeping pace, Golden Oak is going to make Hyperion Wharf look like a boom town in comparison. :lol:

Just as aside, I regularly see "Disney's New Golden Oak Community!" line ads at the top of my gmail window. To me, if you are selling multi million dollar ultra-luxury homes on Disney property, doing it so via text banner ads doesn't seem like a very classy way to reach your target audience. It might be more appropriate for "Condos in Windermere starting at $149k!" or something like that. It reeks of desperation.

I thought Golden Oak and Four Seasons was a bad idea upfront, especially the selling of WDW property for this project. Even in better economic conditions, I'm not sure there was really enough demand/market to warrant it.

All that said, I hope it fails miserably.

 

[COProgressFan]

I seem to remember reading years ago that Disney World would never have residents? Something about it being like it's own municipality under the authority of Reedy Creek District and that any 'residents' could then try to block planning permission for new parks etc :shrug:

The land for Golden Oak and the Four Seasons project land was sold and de-annexed from Reedy Creek.

 

[MickeyPeace]

The land for Golden Oak and the Four Seasons project land was sold and de-annexed from Reedy Creek.

What municipality does it fall under now?

 

[aladdin2007]

What scares me is more land around golden oak being sold off for more outside things over time, fast food, walmart, etc etc. I never thought that a neighborhood would happen back there, but it means that someday other unwanted outside things could land on prime disney property as well. And I agree with one of the other posts, was this not what Celebration was for??
(I know using walmart is an extreme of an example right now, but just saying.)

 

[disneyrcks]

That may be true - but standand and cost of living play a great deal into that comparision. Not to mention, no matter how hard they try, Disney can not compete with the affluence of a place like Long Island...

what...you mean the offerings in downtown Orlando are not on par with the likes of Manhattan????

I live in the "other suburbs" of NYC and our property taxes range between 13-17,000 for homes that are out of date but do have a decent amount of land. It is nice being close to NYC but to work there you are paying a seperate NYC tax in addition to state and federal. Add the ever rising cost of Metro Cards and commuter bus or train tix and it is a nightmare. If you have the right credentials and can get a successful job in Orlando, your money will go farther there.

I lost my point lol but I do think resort style living in a decent part of Orlando in what I am sure would be a gated community could be worth the 10k per year. It depends on what they actually look like and offer. After all the bigger you home/property is the more $ you pay in prop taxes.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Golden Oaks was aimed at high dollars. Multimillion dollar people. But in reality, its middle income people who would love to live there. I think Disney overshot the money range. If it was a $200,000 range, it would have sold out by now. It's not about WDW getting money, but owning a piece of property on WDW grounds. Is that not what DVC is supposed to be? I would love to own a $250,000 house there and rent it out, or even retire there, but at its current minimum, many are shunned. Great idea gone in the wrong direction.

 

[COProgressFan]

What municipality does it fall under now?

I believe it went back to being a part of Orange county (not a speicfic town).

 

[xdan0920]

Every time I see anything about Golden Oaks my stomach turns. This is one of Disney's worst ideas ever, and that includes whatever is going on at PI, and Flamingo Crossings.

They have made a decision to take away real estate that could be used to expand resort offerings, but instead, they have backed themselves into a corner where they have to find a way to at least get these 1st 80 plots sold and built. No matter how big of a failure this is shaping up to be, and no matter how long it takes, they need to get these things sold and built. They will not be able to just build 11 and say, oops, guess this isn't working. They will have to lower prices and just get it sold and built. The whole things reeks of short-sightedness, and greediness.

 

[Victoria]

Golden Oaks was aimed at high dollars. Multimillion dollar people. But in reality, its middle income people who would love to live there. I think Disney overshot the money range. If it was a $200,000 range, it would have sold out by now. It's not about WDW getting money, but owning a piece of property on WDW grounds. Is that not what DVC is supposed to be? I would love to own a $250,000 house there and rent it out, or even retire there, but at its current minimum, many are shunned. Great idea gone in the wrong direction.

I tend to agree. If these houses were in the 200k to 300k range I would have been pounding a for sale sign into my lawn the day after Golden Oak was announced. I know that they are trying to cater to the luxury life style but I'm just not convinced there are that many millionaires dying to live in WDW. I hope the find more than the 11 families though. I would love for it to be a success. Im just afraid it won't be.

 

[COProgressFan]

Every time I see anything about Golden Oaks my stomach turns. This is one of Disney's worst ideas ever, and that includes whatever is going on at PI, and Flamingo Crossings.

They have made a decision to take away real estate that could be used to expand resort offerings, but instead, they have backed themselves into a corner where they have to find a way to at least get these 1st 80 plots sold and built. No matter how big of a failure this is shaping up to be, and no matter how long it takes, they need to get these things sold and built. They will not be able to just build 11 and say, oops, guess this isn't working. They will have to lower prices and just get it sold and built. The whole things reeks of short-sightedness, and greediness.

I agree with this. They are not going to to throw in the towel here, no matter how bad the idea was in the beginning. If they can only sell 11 homes with the prospect of the Four Seasons coming, if Four Seasons doesn't actually get built (as some are suggesting) sales are going to be even lower. That means hundreds of acres of WDW property will be sold and gone forever, in a quick money making scheme that backfired (badly, I might add...). It's the same thing as Flamingo Crossings and PI. Yet, of course, the excuse will be that its the economy's fault, not that these were bad ideas in the first place.

At that point, I could see the land being sold to another developer, but as others have mentioned, no developer is going to jump on this because real estate sales in Florida are terrible right now. So what are we left with then?

I don't see how SO MANY bad financial decisions keep being made by leadership in P&R and yet there doesn't appear to be too much shakeup in the way things are run.

 

[devoy1701]

I agree with this. They are not going to to throw in the towel here, no matter how bad the idea was in the beginning. If they can only sell 11 homes with the prospect of the Four Seasons coming, if Four Seasons doesn't actually get built (as some are suggesting) sales are going to be even lower. That means hundreds of acres of WDW property will be sold and gone forever, in a quick money making scheme that backfired (badly, I might add...). It's the same thing as Flamingo Crossings and PI. Yet, of course, the excuse will be that its the economy's fault, not that these were bad ideas in the first place.

At that point, I could see the land being sold to another developer, but as others have mentioned, no developer is going to jump on this because real estate sales in Florida are terrible right now. So what are we left with then?

I don't see how SO MANY bad financial decisions keep being made by leadership in P&R and yet there doesn't appear to be too much shakeup in the way things are run.

Have you read about the whole mainland China debacle too with the new Resort? Add that to the list of possibly horrible decisions P&R (and TWDC as a whole) have been making.

 

[AEfx]

I tend to agree. If these houses were in the 200k to 300k range I would have been pounding a for sale sign into my lawn the day after Golden Oak was announced. I know that they are trying to cater to the luxury life style but I'm just not convinced there are that many millionaires dying to live in WDW. I hope the find more than the 11 families though. I would love for it to be a success. Im just afraid it won't be.

The people that can afford to live there wouldn't want to live there.

While for some of us it sounds neigh-close to eternally orgasmic, if you have millions to dump on a second, third, fourth, etc. home, you probably aren't going to do it essentially on the property of such a low-brow neighborhood as a theme park (even WDW).

Those types of people stay at luxury resorts (real ones usually, not the Disney-fied versions), and probably aren't spending weeks a year at something as "crass" as the world's #1 tourist destination, even if they do regularly visit.

Like I said, though - most of us would cut off an appendage (would depend on which one...) to live there, but apparently only 11 multimillionaires are of the type of Disney fans we are. (And I'd guess that some of those are corporately owned, for retreats and such.)

 

[CaptainWinter]

The people that can afford to live there wouldn't want to live there.

I think that's right. If I were super-rich, I'd just book big beautiful suites in various resorts and leave it at that. No house needed or wanted.

----------

From the article:

"We're very pleased" with interest levels in Golden Oak, Disney spokeswoman Marilyn Waters said. The Four Seasons delay, she added, "won't impact our timetable."

That cannot be true. The fact that the Four Seasons suffers delay after delay must be very discouraging to potential buyers.

 

[Victoria]

The people that can afford to live there wouldn't want to live there.

While for some of us it sounds neigh-close to eternally orgasmic, if you have millions to dump on a second, third, fourth, etc. home, you probably aren't going to do it essentially on the property of such a low-brow neighborhood as a theme park (even WDW).

Those types of people stay at luxury resorts (real ones usually, not the Disney-fied versions), and probably aren't spending weeks a year at something as "crass" as the world's #1 tourist destination, even if they do regularly visit.

Like I said, though - most of us would cut off an appendage (would depend on which one...) to live there, but apparently only 11 multimillionaires are of the type of Disney fans we are. (And I'd guess that some of those are corporately owned, for retreats and such.)

I think that is the main issue. Disney isn't exactly the lap of luxury. It attracts people from all walks of life. It is crowded, loud, smelly, and causes all kinds of traffic issues. Those are not generally attributes common to an area where $5+ million dollar homes can be found. :shrug: Disney World is a place those kinds of people probably visit for a week or two (and hire a VIP tour guide to cater to their every request) and then they go back to their normal vacation destinations like exotic islands, Europe, or exclusive ski resorts on some mountain us peons have never heard of. :lol:

 

[Rosso11]

The people that can afford to live there wouldn't want to live there.

While for some of us it sounds neigh-close to eternally orgasmic, if you have millions to dump on a second, third, fourth, etc. home, you probably aren't going to do it essentially on the property of such a low-brow neighborhood as a theme park (even WDW).

Those types of people stay at luxury resorts (real ones usually, not the Disney-fied versions), and probably aren't spending weeks a year at something as "crass" as the world's #1 tourist destination, even if they do regularly visit.

Like I said, though - most of us would cut off an appendage (would depend on which one...) to live there, but apparently only 11 multimillionaires are of the type of Disney fans we are. (And I'd guess that some of those are corporately owned, for retreats and such.)

I really don't know why so many people on these boards think "rich people" do not love Disney also. I grew up in one of the highest income communities in NY and plenty of people I grew up with could buy one of these houses without a second thought and most of them love Disney World and visit often. I think a lot of people are hesitant right now because of the Four Seasons being delayed. That is a huge selling point for this community. It’s not only the location but the Four Seasons amenities that come along with these houses. Someone on these boards said the yearly fees are $10,000. If that is true that is extremely cheap for comparable communities connected to world class resorts. As you stated above I am sure you are correct that many business will be purchasing these houses as well. Think of it similar to luxury boxes at stadiums that companies buy as perks for their executives and customers. I see many companies buying these houses for the same reason. As soon as construction starts on the Four Seasons I really think sales will pick up very quickly

 

[Frau Farbissina]

I really don't care what some Disney spokeswoman said, I do not think that Golden Oak is the booming success that Disney thought it would be...

A friend works construction there and they've been told to slow everything down.

 

[Frau Farbissina]

The people that can afford to live there wouldn't want to live there.

While for some of us it sounds neigh-close to eternally orgasmic, if you have millions to dump on a second, third, fourth, etc. home, you probably aren't going to do it essentially on the property of such a low-brow neighborhood as a theme park (even WDW).

Those types of people stay at luxury resorts (real ones usually, not the Disney-fied versions), and probably aren't spending weeks a year at something as "crass" as the world's #1 tourist destination, even if they do regularly visit.

Like I said, though - most of us would cut off an appendage (would depend on which one...) to live there, but apparently only 11 multimillionaires are of the type of Disney fans we are. (And I'd guess that some of those are corporately owned, for retreats and such.)

Okay, this whole post made me snort from laughing. I totally agree.