[Ready2Go]

From: Two new projects announced by Disney - Orlando Sentinel : Business Newsletter


Staff Reports |
Posted March 1, 2007, 10:47 AM EST

Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton this morning announced two new projects at the resort: a luxury resort and golf course community in Bonnet Creek and a mixed-use commercial center for "value-conscious" guests just outside the western edge of its property.

Disney is partnering with the Four Seasons hotels and resorts on a 900-acre site that will include a luxury hotel, 18-hole championship golf course and single-family and fractional ownership homes.

The hotel is expected to open in 2010, and the current Osprey Ridge golf course will be renovated and rebranded as a Four Seasons property.

The mixed-use development, with 4,000 to 5,000 units of low- and mid-priced lodging, will take advantage of the recently opened Western Beltway to bring visitors coming from Interstate 75. The development will be built just outside the Disney gateway at the western edge of its property.

That development will feature a pedestrian-friendly retail center with dining, shopping and small-scale entertainment venues.

[iluvwdw]

Hmmm...I wonder since it's technically OFF SITE, will people staying at this new hotel and Bonnett Creek get the benefits that a WDW resort guest gets? Or will it be like staying at the Swan, Dolphin or DTD hotel?

Thanks for the info, R2G!

[WishUponAStar]

Did someone say Four Seasons? Ahhh, nice.

That sounds like a HECK of a lot of new accomodations for WDW, I think there is going to be a new park coming to spread the population some more.

[Peppertink]

Four Seasons?????!!!!! Oh my...I think I just found my new favorite!

[Grumpy]

Finally a discussion that deals with the year I finally get to go back 2010!!! I wonder if they will every start back on POP with the other side.

[gatour]

Actually not all of the DTD hotels are equal, the the Hilton is treated like the Swan and Dolphin, i.e. they can go to the Extra Magic Hours while the rest of the DTD hotels guest can't.

My guess is that the Four Season will be treated as the same as Swan/Dolphin/Hilton. Things should get interesting here as the current third party Bonnett Creek is getting a a highend hotel along with a very large Hilton (I imagine the existing Hilton will get rebranded, maybe a Crown Plaza since a Holiday Inn is next door)

I imagine the 192/Kissimimee hoteliers will not be pleased by the western boundry "value" development.

[Soundgod]

Originally Posted by iluvwdw

Hmmm...I wonder since it's technically OFF SITE, will people staying at this new hotel and Bonnett Creek get the benefits that a WDW resort guest gets? Or will it be like staying at the Swan, Dolphin or DTD hotel?

Thanks for the info, R2G!

Swan and Dolphin get pretty much everything Disney owned resorts get including bus service, with the exception of the dining plan and MYW vacation packages and not having your hotel key available to charge in the parks.
The fact that Disney sounds like they are entering into a joint venture with Hilton at Bonnett Creek is curious.
Hilton is the parent company and owner of the Bonnett Creek property.

[iluvwdw]

Originally Posted by Soundgod

Swan and Dolphin get pretty much everything Disney owned resorts get including bus service, with the exception of the dining plan and MYW vacation packages and not having your hotel key available to charge in the parks.

Right. I know that each "onsite" non Disney resort get different perks.

[diisneygeek]

Very cool!!!

Thanks for sharing the info!

[gatour]

Soundgod, The Hilton/Bonnett Creek that you are referring to is different than the Four Seasons/Bonnett Creek that is referred to in the announcement today.

Several years ago Disney announced that they were exploring a Disney Vacation Club being built along side the Eagle Pines/Osprey Ridge the resort would be called Bonett Creek. For whatever reason Disney put it on the backburner.

In the meantime the spit of property located near the Caribbean Beach that was not owned by Disney was sold by its owner and is being developed as Bonnett Creek. This piece of property currently has Wyndam timeshare units. Sometime last year they announced they will also be building a 1000+ room Hilton along with a Waldorf Astoria

Disney's announcement is a revisit of their ideas for the Eagle Pines/Osprey Ridge DVC. It sounds like they have expanded on this idea by adding an high-end hotel.

[bosoxx65]

Always love to hear about new expansion...Especially with WDW.

After a few years and 5 trips to Vegas, it's time to concentrate my efforts on the House of Mouse for awhile.

[Ready2Go]

More Info:


From: Disney seeks upscale appeal with new Four Seasons resort - Orlando Sentinel :

Disney seeks upscale appeal with new Four Seasons resort

Christopher Boyd Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 2, 2007

Walt Disney World plans to break ground on a luxurious Four Seasons resort this year, bringing one of the world's most prestigious hotel brands to a theme park long considered the ultimate middle-income vacation destination.

Disney offered few details about the hotel, which would rise near an 18-hole golf course in the northeast sector of the resort. The Four Seasons would be the centerpiece of an as yet unnamed 900-acre development that would also include an assortment of luxury vacation homes.

In what seemed a counterpoint to Thursday's announcement, Disney said it is planning a second development on the western side of its property that would appeal to less-affluent travelers. That one, which is also unnamed, would include thousands of "value-priced" hotel rooms, as well as assorted restaurants, shops and small entertainment businesses.

Disney World President Meg Crofton said the projects would be "first of a kind." But the Four Seasons was the attention grabber.

The hotel, which hasn't been designed, would face the Osprey Ridge Golf Course, which would be improved. A second golf course, Eagle Pines, and other land would be developed with single- and multifamily vacation homes.

Four Seasons is one of the world's elite hotel brands, catering to affluent travelers with opulent decor and impeccable service. Abe Pizam, dean of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, said it will bring Disney's lodging portfolio to a new level.

"The fact is that Disney doesn't have anything like this," Pizam said. "This is the sort of hotel that attracts the richest of the rich. It's the creme de la creme. If there were six-star hotels, these would be it."

The hotel will add to the region's growing portfolio of high-end resorts. JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, which form the Grande Lakes Orlando resort near John Young Parkway, fit the category. And recently announced plans for a Waldorf-Astoria hotel and an Intercontinental hotel near Disney World are also in the league.

Pizam said no one knows how deep the market for luxury rooms is, but their arrival in Central Florida speaks to hotel developers' perception of the market.

The west-side project would have a decidedly different feel. It would include 4,000 to 5,000 hotel rooms in low- and mid-rise buildings, and would include as much as 500,000 square feet of commercial space for restaurants, shopping and small-scale entertainment businesses.

The 450-acre project would rise just outside Disney World near the intersection of State Road 429 and Western Way, and would take eight to 10 years to build.

Disney, which typically doesn't announce development plans until they are fully formed, made an exception with the two projects. Even in its vague form, the Four Seasons plan speaks to Disney's effort to attract ever-more-affluent travelers.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts earlier had acquired land from Disney to build a hotel in Celebration, south of the theme parks. Both Disney and Four Seasons said that site would now be used for something else.

"I don't believe we will own the Celebration land anymore," Four Seasons spokeswoman Elizabeth Pizzinato said. "But this whole thing is very new. There hasn't even been a decision on the number of [room] keys the hotel will have."

Though the Four Seasons is best known for its hotels, last month it gained notice for its sale to two of the world's richest men. Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and the Four Seasons chief executive officer agreed to buy the Canadian company for $3.4 billion.

The chain operates 74 hotels in 31 countries, including Florida properties in Miami and Palm Beach. The company, which has 25 properties under development worldwide, expects to open the Disney World hotel in 2010.

Disney will oversee development of the project, and Four Seasons will manage the hotel once it opens.

[Peppertink]

*sigh*.....Yep...I'm a Four Seasons kind of girl!

[daisyd]

I want to know about the single family homes and the land that Four Seasons owns that is south of WDW -- I wonder what will go on it in the future?

I don't believe we will own the Celebration land anymore," Four Seasons spokeswoman Elizabeth Pizzinato said. "But this whole thing is very new. There hasn't even been a decision on the number of [room] keys the hotel will have."

[JEANY031]

thanks for the info Ready2go.