WDW just announced two huge projects to open in the next few years, including a hotel/shopping/dining village with 'normal' national-brand stores... 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.
