It’s been said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Well, in the Walt Disney Company’s case, imitation is also often a great way to start a lucrative new business line.
Take, for example, that Tote a Tail line of plush that the Mouse introduced at the parks 8 months back. Which — obviously drawing its inspiration from both Paris Hilton’s pets as well as the Build-a-Bear franchise — allows theme park guests to first purchase a miniature version of their favorite Disney animal (ex: Marie from “The Arisocats,” Lady from “Lady and the Tramp,” Pegasus from “Hercules”) for $13.00. They can then buy a $6.00 purse to place their new plush pal in as well as a $2.00 crown, visor or bandana to dress this “Tail” in. And — Presto ! — through the magic of accessorizing, a $13.00 purchase quickly becomes a $25 purchase.
Or, better yet, that new Disney Dreams organizer that just appeared on property a few weeks back. Which — what with its collection of plastic sleeves & zipper pockets to hold your theme tickets, maps, brochures and even pressed pennies — is going to look awfully familiar to you fans of the PassPorter line of books.
And then there’s that Disney-themed Starbucks knock-off that’s expected to open at WDW’s Downtown Disney in the coming year. Which the Mouse then hopes to use as the prototype for a series of coffee bars that will open at Disney parks & resorts worldwide over the next five years.
But when it comes to Mickey playing copycat to put a few more coins in the corporate coffers, the company’s most ambitious imitation may lie just over the horizon. Word is now coming out of Walt Disney World that the Mouse is looking to take on the Rat. As in: The biggest rodent in themed dining — Chuck E. Cheese.
That’s the word that came out of a meeting that Chairman of Disney Parks & Resorts Jay Rasulo recently had with WDW managers. As part of the Walt Disney Company’s new Regional Entertainment initiative, the Mouse is seriously considering building a chain of restaurants that would feature character dining. Where patrons would pay a premium price for the privilege of dining in a highly themed environment with their favorite Disney characters.
As one unnamed exec who’s familiar with this now-in-development project told me over this past weekend:
“Character dining has always been very popular at our theme parks. Not to mention being incredibly profitable. So as we began exploring the idea of building a series of stand-alone Disney’s Grand Resort hotels around the U.S., character dining was always a key component of that plan. Something we could offer that the other resorts in this same tourism center couldn’t.
But then — as we began looking at what it would actually cost to build one of these Grand Resorts — we began wondering: Would it be cheaper / more profitable in the long run if we just pulled the character dining experience straight out of these proposed hotels and then just did that as a stand-alone? See how the public would react to a highly themed restaurant that was well away from Disneyland or Walt Disney World that still gave them the chance to dine with Mickey Mouse, Jack Sparrow or their favorite Disney Princess.”
According to what the managers who actually attended this meeting with Jay are saying, Rasulo would like to roll out the prototype of this Disney Regional Entertainment concept sooner rather than later. More importantly, that there have already reportedly been some rather serious discusions about where the proof-of-concept version of this well-away-from-a-Disney-theme-park character dining experience should be built. With the Chairman of Disney Parks & Resorts supposedly mentioning Chicago as the city where the first of what will eventually be a national chain of restaurants would be built.
Which to some within the company seems like an odd choice. Given that the Windy City version of DisneyQuest flamed out in the Fall of 2001 after only being open for two years.
“Why would Mickey now be willing to take another chance in Chi-town?,” you ask. I’m told it’s because of the large number of Chicago Land residents who regularly vacation at WDW. Which is what makes Mouse House executives think that a highly themed restaurant that features Disney character dining might do really well in this part of Illinois.
But what do you folks think? Would character dining really be something that you’d enjoy well away from a Disney theme park? Or would a restaurant like this — no matter how highly themed its interior & exterior may be — just seem less special out there in the real world?
Your thoughts?