And you thought your homeowner’s association was weird. Disney is working to build multiple planned communities inspired by its team of theme park designers, which are intended to permanently immerse its most dedicated fans.
“Storyliving by Disney” is a master-planned residential community that is “designed to be the perfect setting for Disney fans to write the next exciting chapter in their lives,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney’s Parks, Experiences, and Products division.
Angling to combine the “warmth and charm of a small town” with the “beauty of a resort,” the first of these towns will be named Cotino and located in Rancho Mirage, California, just outside Palm Springs, where Walt Disney himself once lived. Cotino is expected to be home to 1,900 housing units, including single-family houses, condos, and larger estates.
Cotino is expected to host a hotel, a range of business and dining locations, and an entire oasis powered by Crystal Lagoons, a company that builds large “public access lagoons” in urban regions.
Residents will be able to attend Disney-themed activities and programming throughout the year, in addition to special club memberships for an extra fee. Public visitors will be able to purchase a day pass to access the community and its various shops.
“Every single element of these communities will be steeped in a story,” D’Amaro told USA Today. The residents, he says, will be active participants in the stories. It’s not entirely clear what D’Amaro means, though. Will residents be incorporated into theme park-style events, or encouraged to exhibit certain habits? Considering the public will be able to enter the community for the price of a day pass, will residents be afforded some sort of special privilege?
Notably, Disney is not developing Cotino, merely marketing it. Disney is partnering with independently owned housing developers to take on the responsibility of developing and selling houses. For Cotino, Disney is partnering with DMB, a luxury community developer responsible for locations in Hawaii and Arizona.
This isn’t the first time Disney has attempted to convert its theme park extravagance to real-world communities. Celebration, Florida was established in 1996 as a master-planned community near the Disney World parks, with home prices starting at $1.6 million. Walt Disney himself famously wanted to make Epcot the “experimental prototype community of the future.”
Cotino and other planned communities will be serviced by Disney cast members, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be members of the community itself or a commuter class. It’s also evocative of the concept of “company towns,” the infamous communities wherein all property is owned and operated by a single company that also employs all residents. Though employment with Disney isn’t a requirement for Cotino, having one of the world’s biggest media companies owning a stake in your living situation seems like it will come with some unexpected caveats.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/renter for IGN.
