Some Disneyana fans are still scratching their heads over last week’s news. When the Walt Disney Company revealed that it would soon be partnering with the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts to convert WDW’s Eagle Pines & Osprey Ridge golf courses into a luxury resort & golf community as well as working with several yet-to-be-named third parties to add 4,000 – 5,000 value-priced hotel rooms to the Western Way section of Disney World property.
Given that this is the first time since construction of the Swan & Dolphin were completed back in 1990 that the Mouse has actually allowed an outsider to come on property and build a resort … Well, a lot of people are wondering what the real significance of this announcement is. The actual reason that Disney just did what they did.
To be honest, one of the main reasons that Mickey got in bed with the Four Seasons people was for the name recognition. By that I mean: There’s a certain type of traveler who insists on a specific level of luxury that the Walt Disney World Resort has yet to be able to provide.
Oh, sure. The Grand Flo — with its 90 suites & spa — is considered to be the flagship of WDW’s resorts. The very best resort on property. But were you to go over to Fodors.com, you’d be able to read entry after entry where Disney World visitors say that this 900-room hotel may be ” … the best at Disney World but it’s not the Four Seasons.”
So by making this deal, Disney finally deals with that issue. In effect creating a high-end on-property resort that could then cater to the Four Seasons crowd. You know? Those deep-pocketed types who aren’t in the habit of vacationing at Walt Disney World. Not yet, anyway. But who might start dropping by the Magic Kingdom if there were a luxury hotel to their liking in the Lake Buena Vista area.
Copyright Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Now — in regards to the Western Way development — this project is actually aimed at the opposite end of the economic food chain. As in: Those folks who would dearly love to stay on property as part of their Disney World vacation but just can’t afford the $100-a-night that the Mouse is now charging for a room at its lowest-price resort, the Pop Century.
By getting those yet-unnamed-third-parties to build 4,000 – 5,000 additional hotel rooms along Western Way … Well, that would effectively allow Disney to then start going after the tourists who usually stay out in those low-priced resorts & motels along 192.
Of course, in the case of both the Four Seasons resort as well as the Western Way development, the Mouse will obviously be well compensated for allowing these two projects to be built on property. Though whether it’s through an annual fee or just a straight cut of the proceeds remains to been seen.
Best of all, Disney won’t have to spend much of its own money to fund the construction of this dual-purpose expansion project. Which — by 2010 — will be funneling thousands of additional guests daily into the four WDW theme parks. Which — to Disney management’s way of thinking — is a very good thing. Especially when you’re dealing with an increasingly mature resort like Walt Disney World.
I have to tell you, folks, that that is the word that’s currently being used in-house to describe the Disney World Resort. Mature. As in: “These days, We’re not looking to put all that much cash back into our Central Florida properties. Right now, it’s all about getting the money out. Finding new ways to milk the WDW cash cow.”
And some of the ideas that Disney execs have come up with over the past five years have been highly successful. The Disney’s Magical Express program (Which effectively strands vacationers at Disney World. Leaving them with no cost-effective way to get off-property to visit Universal Studios or Sea World) has supposedly had a significant impact on the company’s coffers. Likewise Disney’s PhotoPass, which allows the Mouse to continue selling souvenir pictures to tourists long after they’ve returned home from their WDW vacations.
Mind you, not everything that Disney has tried to generate new revenue streams for the WDW Resort has succeeded. Take — for example — the Pirate and Princess Party, a hard ticket event that’s being held after-hours on select evenings in the Magic Kingdom now through March 8th. Though the Mouse had high hopes that this new event might turn out to be WDW’s next Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and/or Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, given how poorly attended the Pirate & Princess Party has been … Well, it’s now quite doubtful that this particular hard ticket will return in 2008.
Still, for every special event that doesn’t quite make it, there are those that just take right off and surprise everyone. Magical Beginnings is a perfect example of that. Previously, the Mouse has had trouble convincing parents who have kids under six to come vacation at the WDW resort. Given that there’s a belief out there that children in that age group won’t appreciate and/or even remember a Disney World vacation.
Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
But by creating a vacation program that specifically catered to the preschool crowd, with age-appropriate special entertainment for the under-six set, Mickey made a lot of moola last year. Which is why Magical Beginnings will be back this September, bigger and better than ever.
Of course, then there are those moments where it seems like the Mouse has just gone too far with its attempt to squeeze every possible dollar out of people who are visiting Walt Disney World. I recall one recent phone call that I had with a friend who was furious with the staff at Casey’s Corner (You know? That hotdog place at the end of Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom?).
So why was my pal so upset? Because the counter crew at Casey’s had charged him a dollar extra for some cheese sauce to dip his hot pretzel in. Which (up until just recently) had been an item that Disney used to throw in for free whenever you ordered a hot pretzel at this particular Magic Kingdom eatery.
If I’m remembering correctly, my friend’s rant went something like this:
“It’s not that I don’t enjoy going to the parks anymore. It’s just that this relentless nickel-and-dime-ing is starting to wear me down. With the company continually raising admission prices, tacking another dollar onto the parking fee every year, it’s become increasingly obvious these days that Disney is less concerned about delivering a quality product and more concerned about turning a profit.
I’d almost prefer it if, as I entered the park, they just picked me up by my ankles and shook me until all of the money fell out of my wallet. That way, they’d at least be honest about what their ultimate goal was. But all of this raising prices slightly here, tacking on an additional fee there, that just makes Disney seem disingenuous and greedy.”
To be fair, I guess I should remind JHM readers that the Walt Disney Company is a business. Which means that this publicly held, multi-national corporation is expected to turn a profit. Which the Mouse is really going to need if it’s going to proceed with its ambitious plans for China, India and Russia.
Don’t get me wrong, folks. It’s not as though Mickey will actually be cutting back on the number of new rides, shows & attractions that it will be building at Walt Disney World. After all, they really need to give those tourists a reason to return to this Central Florida resort every three or four years. Which is why there’s already a program in place to regularly freshen up WDW’s theme parks.
Though — that said — you should probably be aware that this program calls for far fewer new stand-alone attractions (I.E. “Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain,” a brand-new thrill ride that was built from the ground up) and far more rethemings & retoolings (EX: Adding that Johnny Depp AA figure to “Pirates of the Caribbean” in an effort to make this 25-year-old attraction seem more exciting to WDW visitors).
Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
And then when you take into consideration some of the other ideas that Mouse House executives are reportedly toying with in order to create additional revenue streams for the Central Florida resort (EX: Renting out the Cinderella Suite to high rollers after the “Year of a Million Dreams” promotion is over as well as making an unlimited FASTPASS a perk that you can purchase as part of your WDW vacation package) … Well, there’s that whole greedy & disingenuous thing again.
Mind you, this “Take as much money as possible out of the resort while putting as little as possible back in” attitude doesn’t extend to the Disneyland Resort. Of course, that may have something to do with its radically different fan base (I.E. 70% of all visitors to Walt Disney World come from out of state, while — out in Anaheim — 60% of all Disneyland guests travel less than 100 miles in order to visit that theme park) as well as DCA‘s continuing problems.
But what do you folks think? Is it fair that the Mouse now uses the 5M method to manage its Central Florida properties (I.E. “Since Disney World is now Mature, it’s crucial that we Maximize the amount of Money that the company can take out of this resort while still doing just enough to Maintain our Market share”) in order to fund the Disney corporation’s ambitious overseas expansion plans? Or should more of the money that’s made in Orlando actually stay in the Orlando area, funding projects there?
Your thoughts?