To those who grew up in the reassuring world of Walt Disney, were nurtured on The Little Mermaid and The Lion King and couldn't get over it, Disney offers not to change anything. The media, entertainment and tourism group lifted the veil on Wednesday, February 16, on its "Storyliving by Disney" concept.
The group plans to build residences just for Disney fans. Called "Cotino", a first residential area of 1,900 housing units - individual houses and apartments -, imagined by the Walt Disney Imagineering team, which designed all of the Disney theme parks, should open its doors in Rancho Mirage, in the Coachella Valley (California). It was in this town in Riverside County, about 180 kilometers from Los Angeles, that Walt Disney (1901-1966) owned a vacation home.
“There is incredible demand for anything Disney. Our fans continue to seek new ways to interact with us, to make Disney a part of their lives,” Josh D'Amaro, President of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, told USA Today. With a place like Cotino, "you can be part of Disney all the time," he adds.
Most importantly, he says, "residents will be active participants in the stories." This is the very principle of "storyliving". Unlike "storytelling", which consists of telling stories to better sell, whether it is an object or a project, storyliving consists of living this story, allowing participants to be actively involved, offering them an unforgettable experience.
The price of the houses has not yet been announced
Here, no animation, merry-go-round or characters with big ears. However, residents will be able to sign up for activities supervised by talents – they are called Cast Members, at Disney – and have access to facilities such as a clubhouse on the edge of an artificial lagoon with a private beach… for a fee. additional charges. Cotino is also expected to house a hotel, business and dining centers and visitors will be able to purchase a day pass to access them.
Although the start date of the works and the price of the houses have not yet been announced, this new residential area will notably offer an area reserved for the over 55s. "Baby boomers are retiring and moving into retirement communities," said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate brokerage firm, as quoted by USA Today. Why not in a community in the Disney universe? “Looking at the images posted online by the group, we eat, we drink, we do yoga, we live, we breathe Disney, in a light version, without ears of Mickey.
What does it matter if, for this project, Disney does not directly get involved. The group is joining forces with DMB Development for the occasion. This company of real estate developers has built a number of luxury residential neighborhoods, such as Silverleaf, Arizona ("a private haven of rare grace and sophistication"), and Kukui'ula in Hawaii ("a place to discerning families who seek a balance between relaxed luxury and the awe-inspiring beauty of the island").
However, this is not the first time that Disney has ventured into real estate. With Cotino, the group will be able to try to concretize EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow or experimental prototype of a community of the future), its city project imagined by Walt Disney in the last years of his life, of which there is a watered down version integrated at Disney World, Florida.
In the 1990s, Disney also founded Celebration, a supposedly ideal new town, mixing communities, located in Osceola County, Florida, near Disney World. But the project did not achieve its objectives of integration, of diversity, as noted by the New York Times in 2001. Then in 2010, the city experienced two violent deaths. In 2020, a father killed his wife and three children there.
Advantages and disadvantages for residents
In 2016, the Wall Street Journal was also interested in the poor workmanship and the poor quality of the materials chosen for the construction of this ideal city: it must be said that the association of co-owners sought to take charge of the rehabilitation work by the company that took over management of Celebration in 2004. "We bought cabins on the Titanic," one of Celebration's residents told the WSJ, then, disillusioned. "There's not as much involvement or cohesion in the neighborhood anymore," said Celebration resident Jim Siegal, quoted by the New York Post: "If I can put it bluntly, the town is overrun with tourists…and by locals looking for something to do.”
In 2010, Disney also created Golden Oak, a smaller, upscale residential community project, again located in Disney World. To access it, you have to be one of Scrooge's nephews: the average price there is around 2 million dollars (about 1.8 million euros).
Will things be better in Cotino? Ted Weill, the mayor of Rancho Mirage, the city where the project is to be born, explains to the Desert Sun, the daily newspaper of the Palm Springs region and the Coachella Valley, that he expects some recriminations (concerning in particular traffic, noise, crime, use of water, etc. on the part of its constituents. Nevertheless, he believes that a good number of them were taken into account and resolved in the environmental impact report in 2019.
In addition, Daryl Fairweather explains to USA Today that Disney is likely to have tight control over its new town. This could have both advantages and disadvantages for residents. "No rowdy bar around the corner or obnoxious music from neighbors," she says. But that would be at the expense of your personal freedom. This won't be for everyone, but some die-hard Disney fans who appreciate the company's brand and values might welcome the establishment of a well-organized community.
