If you’ve been looking for the next big thing to be built by the Walt Disney Company, you’ll want to point your satellite to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There on the island of Oahu in the resort area of Ko Olina you’ll find the next Disney resort.

I haven’t been so lucky to make the trip, but Disney Dean did and he’s put up a photobucket account (see gallery below) with some great photos as well as a blog post. Let me know if you see Imagineering’s Joe Rhode in any of those pictures, he’s supposed to be there somewhere; temporarily reassigned from overseeing Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

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Photos from Construction of Disney’s Hawaii Resort
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Among those interested in the network are NBC Universal, Scripps Network and News Corp., according to news reports.

It could get interesting for Disney if NBC Universal gets it.  Right now, the channel, untied to a theme park company, features programming on the various major theme parks.  But if NBC Universal gets it, will we see less of the Disney properties?

NBC probably sees the Travel Channel as a good complement to the Weather Channel and even MSNBC.

Scripps is interested in the Travel Channel because it would dovetail with its other lifestyle networks, including the Food Network (in which Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co. has a stake), Fine Living and Home & Garden.

Disney is not mentioned in the article, but I hope The Walt Disney Company is taking a look at it.  It would be a great outlet to feature more programming on Disney parks and resorts, the Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, and Adventures by Disney.  If nothing else, Disney has an interest in keeping competitors like NBC Universal from minimizing Disney’s presence on the channel while playing up their own properties.

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Travel Channel Up For Sale
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Bay Lake Tower, the newest Disney Vacation Club property at Walt Disney World, has been rising next to the Contemporary Resort for months now. Nearly every time I ride the monorail from the Ticket and Transportation Center to the Magic Kingdom, the tower is a hot topic of conversation, with Disney guests exclaiming, “That wasn’t there last time!”

Now the site is almost ready to go, ahead of schedule according to the cast member who gave me and some other Florida mom bloggers a tour last week. The first guests will check in on Aug. 4. Before that, though, Disney Vacation Club is offering sales tours at the resort beginning July 10.

Imagineers say the designed Bay Lake Tower to complement the Contemporary’s modern architecture and interior design. It is connected to the Contemporary by a covered walkway, and check-in will be done in the Contemporary’s lobby.

This is a look inside Bay Lake Tower’s lobby. I was surprised to see the many bright colors used in the decor inside, and I love the way the curved trunks of the palm trees inside contrast with the straight lines of the outdoor landscaping beyond them.

This is a monorail resort, and guests are reminded of that with the view outside the elevators on every floor.

There are 295 units at Bay Lake Tower, ranging from studios to three-bedroom grand villas, all with a view of Bay Lake or the Magic Kingdom. Of course, Disney gave us a tour of one of the most expensive units in the building, a three-bedroom grand villa with a Magic Kingdom view. Those windows in the living room cause a collective gasp when you walk through the door. They rise from the living room floor to the ceiling of the unit – two stories.

Stylized “Mickey modern art,” like this piece above the bed, hangs throughout the resort. I am in love with the colors of this one. You can also see one of the many balconies with seating outside the window here. Can you imagine having your morning coffee out there, just looking out over the Magic Kingdom?

Dark woods and granite are used in the kitchen and bathrooms of the unit.

This is the new Bay Cove pool area, complete with a waterslide. There is a pool bar on the right. This view also shows what you might see if you were staying in a Bay Lake view unit.

And this is the real feather in the cap for Bay Lake Tower owners. The new Top of the World lounge, on the top floor of Bay Lake Tower. Disney officials told us that the lounge will be reserved exclusively for owners at Bay Lake Tower, those who pay rack rate or trade or rent points to stay here will not be allowed in the rooftop lounge. The Top of the World lounge will serve an appetizer menu, and you can bet there will be plenty of people “Wishing on a Star” up here every night during the Magic Kingdom’s fireworks.

When not enjoying central Florida’s attractions you can find Leigh Caldwell at her blog Theme Park Mom or on twitter @ThemeParkMom.

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Bay Lake Tower DVC Resort Preview
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We’re getting our first look at the new African dining experience that is part of the Kidani Village expansion of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Two new photos and the official logo for the new restaurant reflect the African heritage of the lodge while providing a family dining experience, and we get to see the official logo.

Pronounced “Sah-NAH,” the restaurant boasts interiors inspired by African art and remarkable views to a savannah of free-roaming animals. Kidani Village, a Disney Vacation Club property, is the newest resort addition to Walt Disney World Resort.

Looks a little like Boma crossed with with Peter Pan if you ask me. But I like it.

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First Look at Sanaa Interior and Logo
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The full press release from March is below the cut:

Another Grand Disney First at the Happiest Place on Earth

The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
is scheduled to be the 10th resort hotel for Disney Vacation Club

The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, part of Disney Vacation Club, have begun general sales. To officially launch sales of what is scheduled to be its tenth hotel, Disney Vacation Club hosted a Grand Disney Firsts event weekend from March 26 through March 29.

Highlighting Disney Vacation Club’s flexibility, affordability and overall value, the event sessions will also mix in a dose of Disney magic that promises to be fun for the whole family. The weekend sessions incorporate both special appearances and fun Disney surprises to commemorate Disney Vacation Club’s first venture on the West Coast, as well as introduce the public to vacation ownership with Disney Vacation Club.

“We are excited to bring Disney Vacation Club to the West Coast,” said Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club. “The Grand Disney Firsts event connects Disney Vacation Club to the original Disney vacation destination and allows our current and future Members to be part of the Disneyland magic for the first time.”

Responding to a growing demand for guest accommodations in Anaheim, the expansion of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa will increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and will include the first Disney Vacation Club villas in California.

Scheduled to open in late fall, the 2.5-acre expansion on the hotel’s south side will add more than 200 new hotel rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent Disney Vacation Club villas. All of those vacation villas, many of which will include kitchens, living rooms and dining areas, will bring Disney Vacation Club’s signature home-like amenities to a whole new section of the country.

“Our member community has more than doubled since 2003, which illustrates families’ deep desires to enjoy quality vacations for years to come,” Lewis said. “Expanding our resorts to where the magic began is a big milestone for Disney Vacation Club.”

Other elements planned for the project include a new swimming pool and about 300 underground parking spaces. The expansion will reflect the same California Arts & Crafts architecture of the existing hotel, which immerses guests in a turn-of-the-20th-century California experience.“This expansion underscores our commitment to growing and investing in both the Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim Resort Area,” said Ed Grier, president of the Disneyland Resort. “These new hotel rooms and villas will give more people the opportunity to enjoy the immersive vacation experience Disney is known for. We know that our guests value being able to stay in the middle of the magic with our world-class theme parks, shopping and dining just steps away.”

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa currently features 745 guest rooms, including 44 suites. Upon completion of the expansion project, the hotel will feature 945 guest rooms, including 44 guest suites, and 50 two-bedroom equivalent Disney Vacation Club villas.

Disney Vacation Club

Disney Vacation Club is a vacation-ownership program that helps families enjoy flexibility and savings on vacations for decades to come. By purchasing a real estate interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort, families enjoy flexible vacations at Disney destinations worldwide as well as more than 500 other popular Member Getaways vacation locations around the globe. Since its inception in 1991, Disney Vacation Club has grown to serve more than 400,000 individual members from approximately 100 countries and all 50 states.

The expansion project is part the latest growth for Disney Vacation Club, which is also scheduled to open phase one of Kidani Village, the second phase of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida on May 1. In addition this year, Disney Vacation Club plans to open the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, the fourth phase of that resort, as well as Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which is planned to feature views of the Magic Kingdom Park. All totaled, by the end of this year Disney Vacation Club will feature nine resort hotels on the East Coast and one resort hotel on the West Coast. On the horizon, Disney Vacation Club has begun construction on its first mixed-use resort hotel in Hawai‘i, which is scheduled to open in 2011.

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First Timeshares go on sale at Disneyland Today
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MouseExtra found some additional concept art for the resort in the most recently DVC newsletter. It certainly looks lush and beautiful. There are definite hints of the Polynesian Resort at WDW, for obvious reasons, but I also see  some echos of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. What do you think?

Fast Fasts:

• 21-acre oceanfront site
• Opening scheduled for 2011
• 350 traditional hotel rooms
• 480 timeshare vacation villas
• will feature a themed pool and water play area
• an 18,000 square-foot spa
• a wedding lawn,
• an 8,000 square-foot convention center
• a child care club.

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Disney starts work on Ko Olina, Hawaii Resort
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If you like to stay around weekends, you’ll find your points stretching just a big further, but if you prefer those mid-week stays, then you might find it just a bit more expensive. All part of an effort by Disney to maximize the value of their DVC Resorts for weeklong visits.

Not sure how if this will change the DVC point rental market. Right now you tend to pay the same amount for a point no matter what day or how long you’re staying. Could you ask for a discount if it’s a weekend stay now?

(via the Orlando Sentinel)

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Disney Vacation Club Shifts Points Around
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In the late 1980s, The Walt Disney Company purchased the company that owned the attraction, which at the time, included the plane built and flown by Howard Hughes that came to be known as the Spruce Goose.  More importantly, that company also owned the Disneyland Hotel and the rights to use the Disney name on hotels in the area.  Buying that company helped pave the way to expanding the original Disney theme park into the Disneyland Resort.

Disney also proposed building a theme park and related projects at the Queen Mary attraction, with a concept that later morphed into what was built as DisneySea in Japan.  Some say the Long Beach proposal was only a way to persuade Anaheim to back Disney’s expansion there, but I like to think that if things had been different, we would have seen new theme parks in both Anaheim and Long Beach.  Building large projects along the coast in California is especially difficult – there is even an agency called the California Coastal Commission that property owners must deal with in addition to other local, state, and federal agencies.

Disney ran the operation in Long Beach for a while, transfering some managers there and imposing things like Disney’s appearance guidelines, more strict back then they are now.  Disneyland visitors were handed promotional fliers touting what they was to see in Long Beach. 

It seems like the operation in Long Beach has continually stuggled since Disney sold it off.

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Former Disney Property Continues to Struggle
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Walt Disney Parks and Resorts broke ground for its first family destination resort in Hawai’i today with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony on its 21-acre oceanfront property, located at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina development on the western side of O’ahu. Scheduled to open in 2011, the new family friendly destination will overlook breathtaking crystal blue lagoons and white sand beaches and is planned to include 350 hotel rooms and 480 Disney Vacation Club timeshare villas.

“This Disney destination resort will provide a unique way for families to experience Hawai’i,” said Jay Rasulo, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “By blending Disney’s high standard of guest service and creative storytelling, we’ll create a place where all family members can discover the wonder of these special islands.”

Rasulo noted that Disney chose to build a resort on O’ahu due to the international popularity of Hawai’i as a family vacation destination. Hawai’i is among the top vacation choices of Disney Vacation Club members following Disney’s theme park destinations.

Several of Hawai’i’s elected officials and community leaders welcomed Disney to O’ahu at the ground blessing ceremony, including Lieutenant Governor James R. “Duke” Aiona, Jr.

“We’re excited for this project to begin, knowing the family appeal of both Hawai’i and Disney,” Aiona said. “We’re confident this resort will attract guests from the mainland and Asia because of the natural beauty of Hawai’i and Disney’s reputation for delivering unparalleled family experiences.”

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa also attended the ground blessing and said, “From the moment Disney announced that it was purchasing property on O’ahu, they have shown an interest in our community and have demonstrated they understand the spirit of aloha that we hold dear in our state. I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Disney to Hawai’i as a new neighbor and employer.”

Planned Resort Features
Rasulo noted that plans call for the resort to be built to engage every member of the family, from parents to children, teens and grandparents.

“This resort will be a place where families can escape to reconnect and create lifelong memories,” Rasulo said. “We have kept this vision in mind throughout the design.”

Plans call for an expansive pool and water play area, an 18,000 square-foot spa, a wedding lawn, an 8,000 square-foot convention center, a children’s club and spectacular dining at two restaurants — one of which will provide a stunning view of the ocean.

The design also calls for activities and amenities that aim to engage every member of the family. At the resort’s signature water way, for example, family friendly tubes and body slides will weave through volcanic rockwork and engage an iconic caldera volcano, while a nearby wading pool gives parents with toddlers a welcoming alternative to the sprawling zero-entry fun pool. In addition, more adventurous family members will find vibrant fish species in a saltwater snorkel lagoon.

Beyond activities for the whole family, the resort is being designed to respect and connect with the local culture of the Hawaiian islands. During the past year, the Walt Disney Imagineering team has been researching Hawai’i and working with local architects and cultural experts as part of the resort’s creative design process. The resulting design is a village celebrating the Hawaiian customs and traditions that lead to a life filled with joy and in harmony with the natural world. To further incorporate Hawaiian traditions, cultural programming in the areas of environmental education, music, dance, history, and arts and crafts; a story-driven, technology-enabled adventure game; and other surprises come together to create a Hawaiian destination that’s uniquely Disney.

Additionally, Hawai’i’s aloha spirit will influence the many intricate details for which Disney resorts are famous, with stories woven into the architecture, interiors, art, graphics and three planned signature gardens all brought to life through carefully selected colors, patterns, materials and forms. Wood, thatch, lava stone and coral will be among the materials represented in the resort’s two 15-story guestroom towers, each oriented perpendicular to the ocean to maximize ocean views from the strategically angled guest rooms. Façade murals will add to the distinctive look of each tower and will begin to portray some of the stories and legends of the islands.

At the heart of the resort, an open-air lobby building — dubbed Hale Aloha — will draw its design inspiration from a traditional Hawaiian canoe house, visually connecting families to the sea and beyond. Window designs, wall graphics and other details will welcome families with tales of adventure, myth, legend and more, while twin streams flow through the building before uniting as a single cascade into the center garden below.

In October, Disney shared design plans for the new resort with Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who is looking forward to the opening of the project in 2011.

“From my first meeting with Disney executives in California, to subsequent sessions in Honolulu, I continue to be impressed with the effort and the time Disney has put into researching Hawai’i,” Mayor Hannemann said. “Disney leaders have met with Hawaiian cultural experts to gain an understanding and appreciation of our host culture. The end result will be a resort that local residents will be proud to have on our island, and it will be a family attraction that our residents and visitors will find enjoyable and meaningful.”

Disney Vacation Club
Part of the Disney resort hotel in Ko Olina will be dedicated to Disney Vacation Club, a timeshare program that helps families enjoy flexibility and savings on vacations for decades to come. By becoming a member of Disney Vacation Club, families can enjoy vacations at Disney destinations worldwide as well as more than 500 other popular Member Getaways vacation locations around the globe.

Disney Vacation Club accommodations blend Disney’s famed attention to storytelling detail with all the comforts of home. From well-appointed studios equipped with convenient kitchenettes to sprawling, one-, two- and three-bedroom villas complete with full-size kitchens, washers and dryers, luxury tubs and other homelike amenities, Disney Vacation Club Resorts create flexible options to meet the needs of thousands of families from around the world.

Since its inception in 1991, Disney Vacation Club has grown to serve more than 350,000 individual members from approximately 100 countries and all 50 states.

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Disney’s Hawaii DVC Resort Ground “Blessing”
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Disney shares plans for Hawaii resort

For fans of Disney’s theme parks the choice often comes down to a trip to Hawaii or another trip to a Disney theme park. Usually the Disney theme park wins out. Well, starting in 2011 those fans will have to think harder about putting off Hawaii as Disney will have opened its new Oahu island resort.

Disney unveiled a detailed scale model of the resort. It will have two towers, a convention center, a spa, restaurants, and a luxurious garden area with many water features.

The resort will feature 830 rooms, 350 for the hotel and 480 for Disney Vacation Club members and sits on one of Ko Olina’s four man-made lagoons. When it opens it is expected to employ about 1,000 people.

Close up on Pool Detail

Among the many water park type features will be the volcanic caldera which acts as a center piece to the area. A tube slide will take swimmers down an adventurous water course with rapids, a bubbling pool, some special effects and a plenty of surprising elements. Children will enjoy an aquatic play structure.

For the more adventurous a saltwater snorkeling lagoon will feature native fish and some other elements of Disney magic.

Most of the news reports question Disney going ahead with this plan despite the softening economy, but I think that by the time they open in 2011, the economy should be on the road to recovery and Disney will be positioned to take advantage of that with the latest resort to open on the Islands.

What do you think? Is this a good move for the mouse? I have to say that I’m going to start a second penny jar just to save money for a trip.

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Disney’s Hawaiian Resort Model and Details Released
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“What we’re trying to do, particularly with the resorts that we build on site [at Walt Disney World], is really provide something that’s unique, something that you can’t get any other place in Central Florida — and, really, in the world,” said Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club. “With these two resorts, we believe we’ve done that.”

Of course, Disney will also command a premium for the two locations that are sure to be in high demand once made available.

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Disney Announces upcoming DVC Options
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Sure, it’s not even officially announced yet, but that hasn’t stopped Disney from building it. And where there is construction, there are construction permits. DVCNews scoops up those filings and posts some revealing details of just what a future DVC owner might get when buying into this Magic Kingdom adjacent vacation club property. Ladies and gentlemen, get your checkbooks ready.

I like the fact that there will be Bocce Ball and Shuffle Board courts. I think Bay Lake Towers might be taking that ‘retirement home’ theming just a bit too far.

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Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Villas; details revealed
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Stateside Disney fans have long been jealous of the money that is lavished on the Disney theme parks and properties owned by the Oriental Land Company. Of late, we’ve also been made jealous by the enormous expenditure on architecture, urban planning, and theme parks in Dubai, a whole crafted city in the United Arab Emirates.

Why is there no such development like this in the Orlando area so we may compete just a bit with overseas competition for tourist dollars? TDL gets that amazing hotel and we get Sarasota Springs. There just is no comparison.

There are plenty of differences between the way Oriental Land Company runs their Disney parks and resorts. Some of them probably wouldn’t fly here in the US. For instance, cast members don’t get free admission to the theme parks. You probably wouldn’t be able to hire or keep any part-timers without those perks.

There are also, admittedly, a difference in the amount of money guests are willing to spend one their Disney vacation. It’s higher by a significant amount in Japan and the demand is nearly as high as ever. But the cost of oil is adding a new element to the tourism equation.

That makes me wonder again about Disney’s USA based parks. Disney fans and Annual Passholders don’t hang me for suggesting this, but perhaps the US based Disney Parks could do better by tremendously elevating the quality of service, resort destinations, and themepark attractions to match and even surpass what OLC has been planning (WDI created the attractions and resorts for OLC, so they have the plans handy). Then raise the prices for resorts and parks to match. Keep raising prices until attendance levels out at a pleasantly crowded level, but not so much you have to wait in super long lines for anything.

Disney World would have to demolish and start again with almost all of the hotels. The Grand Floridian and Animal Kingdom Lodge (perhaps Wilderness Lodge as well) could be kept, but the rest would have to receive serious upgrades. Don’t want to get rid of the moderate hotels? convert them into DVC. DVC would become even more valuable, but without cheap annual passes, admission costs would affect how often DVC members could attend.

Disneyland could keep the Grand Californian Hotel and they need to replace the other two shortly anyway. I would expand Downtown Disney into where the Disneyland Hotel is now and build a brand new Disneyland Hotel of the quality seen in Tokyo Disneyland on the other side of the Esplanade between Disneyland and California Adventure with private entrances to both parks. Paradise Pier hotel could be recreated in the Lion King parking lot with it’s own beach and water feature and a seaside look and feel.

If Disney wanted to throw a bone the locals, they could keep California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios as the ‘locals’ parks with lower costs annual passes available to residents in nearby zip codes. But trips to the Magic Kingdoms, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom would become special with DAK having more and more elements of a boutique park where guests could pay more for animal and adventure experiences.

Here’s what I think caps this idea as the best plan for Disney. The price of oil will eventually, sooner rather than later most likely, surpass the $160 a barrel mark where supposedly Disney’s own studies show it makes sense to sell the parks (I’m not sure I follow or agree with that logic). If a company like OLC, perhaps even OLC, buys the parks & resort operations, they will very likely follow a plan just as I’ve outlined above.

Disney’s plan up to now appears to be to build a Disney property (either a theme park or location based resort (think Hawaii hotel) near every major population density in the world. If they continue that path, look for a new Disney theme park in Dubai. But there are other ways to compete in the world market other than spreading yourself thin.

OLC realizes that in order to compete in the new world market of tourism, where you can attract those who can afford to travel, you have to really dazzle them with Disney magic. Will Disney get that today? Disney could use this downturn in visitor volume to retool the parks and resorts and come out the other side with a product that is competitive on what is now a world market for tourism travel. Dubai is following the “if you build it they will come” model; Disney has used it in the past during economic slow times, but will they do so again with the new regime in charge?

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Best. Disney. Hotel. Ever.
The Disney Blog - Disney News and Information -- by fans, for fans

We’re switching servers for The Disney Blog. Posts should resume later tonight. Thank you for your patience.

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Resolved: Technical Difficulties
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If you ask me, “Bay Lake Towers” sounds something a little like one of those retirement communities Florida is so well known for. Why not call it “Contemporary DVC” since that what everyone else will call it? After all you have the Wilderness Lodge Villas, Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, why the change here?

(Via Orlando Sentinel)

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Name Change for future Contemporary DVC Resort
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Disneyland will be built in Krasnoyarsk by 2012. It was announced by Krasnoyarsk deputy mayor Anatoly Grigorenko at the news conference on October 30. Grigorenko said it was planned to build the children park in the area of Northern Highway, which held much promise for construction.

The investor of the project is a Moscow company, Grigorenko reported. "It will be a big children entertainment center with side-shows and merry-go-rounds under one roof," Anatoly Grigorenko noted.

Construction of Disneyland is expected to start next year and last for three years.

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Siberia Disneyland?
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If you are unlucky enough to be visiting Central Florida when a powerful storm arrives, be prepared to hunkerdown. Send someone out a day or two in advance to get some supplies as you might be stuck in your hotel room for 24-48 hours. A gallon of water per person, some glow sticks, and meals you can eat without cooking or refrigeration are good. Books and games to play would be good too. During the storm stay away from windows and don’t go outside. It may look safe, but its not.

Don’t fret too much about losing days in the parks. Over the past few years, the parks have been empty the day before and after the storm hits, so while you may lose a day, you get two days with the parks practically to yourself. Also, if you absolutely have to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom on your trip, make sure to visit before the storm hits. Due to the large amount of foilage and the extra care required for the animals, DAK is the slowest of the parks to reopen after a storm. Remember the cast members all endured the hurricane too. Some have come into work and left their families to deal with any clean up because a paycheck and health insurance is more important to them then repairing their home immediately. So enjoy the odd comradery that brings.

Disney World suffered a pretty much direct hit from a hurricane a few years ago and came out fine. Some of the hotels nearby, however, did not fare as well. So your mileage may vary depending on where you’re staying and where the storm hits.

If a named storm is on the way and you’ve scheduled your vacation for the exact same time should you reschedule? That’s a personal decision, but I think that as long as you’re prepared and stay safe indoors during the storm you don’t have much to worry about.

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Disney World and Hurricanes, How-to Be Prepared This Season
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For those unfamiliar with Disney Vacation Club, DVC is The Walt Disney Company’s take on vacation timeshares. You buy into a DVC resort, which becomes your home resort, for a one-time fee based on the number of points you want. Disney will help you finance that fee (although you might check with your credit union for a comparison loan). You then pay only yearly maintenance fees on your purchase. Your points go to making reservations at any of the Disney World properties (although obviously, it costs fewer points in the off season and if you stay at a DVC resort).

Unlike some timeshares your DVC membership will eventually expire. But there are also other benefits you don’t get with a regular timeshare, and the points are portable to other locations (including some Disney owned properties). If you’re a regular visitor to Walt Disney World and usually stay for 7 nights or longer at least three out of every four years at a moderate or deluxe resort then DVC membership might be for you.

If this interests you then I suggest you check out these DVC tips over on MouseSavers.

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Disney’s Doorway to Dreams DVC Preview Store Opens in Chicago
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Initial speculation was that LBE would take the form of a downtown hotel, shopping, and entertainment complex. The announcement led to a half-dozen or so mid-size cities exploding in rumors that ‘Disney is coming to town’ every time a new downtown development was announced. Turns out that Rasulo was thinking of something not quite so grand:

What if it were a hotel, an indoor water park, a shopping area, and an E-Ticket ride all bundled together and themed into one seamless region? Imagine Fort Wilderness, an indoor River Country, and a Splash Mountain all plopped down together and forming a contiguous themed environment. Or Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kali River Rapids and an Africa-themed indoor water park, again, of modest size and scope, but highly themed.

This may have you thinking of the Nickelodeon Family Suites hotel brand that sits just off Disney property on the 535. That hotel has already been the inspiration for the appearance of family suites at Disney’s value hotels (Pop Century The Legend Years is rumored to be getting a large number of them). It certainly appears to be similar to what Disney is working on.

But I think earlier inspiration can be found if you look out west. Remember when Las Vegas went through the ‘family friendly’ phase? (never more than a thin veneer, btw.) Well that expansion brought us Circus Circus Adventurepark, Treasure Island, New York-New York, and even Buffalo Bills. For all four hotels the primary attraction was the casino, but the dining and amusement attraction could be the make or break on the decision to stay at that hotel if you’re a family.

So how will Disney make this work without a casino? By locating the LBE complex near other existing destinations. Planning a trip to SeaWorld San Diego? Tack it on to your Disneyland Trip and stay with in Disney’s magical envelope at the Animal Kingdom themed hotel and water attraction. Galveston Texas? Enjoy Disney’s Rocky Mountain Adventure. Conventioneer? Stay with Disney and bring your family along. Come to think of it, there was just a rumor that a Las Vegas strip hotel would soon be built with no casino… Disney?

There is a larger challenge when you head north and encounter harsher winters. The water park and attraction will likely have to be climate controlled. But that’s not outside the range of technology today (as Kevin points out with an interesting example). Imagine a Jacksonville, CO Wilderness Lodge resort with an indoor waterpark and hot springs.

Speaking of Jacksonville, these LBEs will also be natural tie-ins to the new "Adventures by Disney" brand. The perfect home base for all sorts of adventure type operations.

By locating a different attraction at each hotel, by making sure each location features a unique theme, Disney could create a quest for the brand’s rabid fans (like me!). Who has stayed at every hotel, experienced every ride? Disney’s Passport to Adventure club. The quality and attention to detail that Walt Disney’s Imagineers are so famous for will drive a whole new level of resort and theme entertainment.

One worry is that this would siphon off visitors from Disney’s theme parks and resorts. Why spend money on airfare or gas when you can go to the local Disney branded LBE. Of course, they were worried about this with DisneyQuest and DisneyClub. Two of Disney’s previous attempts at LBE.

I prefer to think that the market for Disney’s brand is so large that people who visit their local LBE for a short vacation or convention will continue to visit Walt Disney World or Disneyland for the families extended holiday. I’m sure that’s what Disney is hoping too.

Blue Sky Disney has a few thoughts and insights about Kevin’s column tool.

(Read)

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Is Disney Themed Resort coming to a city near you?
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It makes me all tingly inside.

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Toy Story Mania: Construction is Moving Along Swimmingly
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