Castaway Cay Theme Park

[budwmn]

perfectascats:

Holland America is adding a Kid's Aqua Park to it's private island, Half Moon Cay. You may want to call them and find out the details/pricing. I believe Royal Caribbean or Princess may have special kid's water parks as well. Check out their websites for more information. If so, you can find out how much they charge under "excursions".

Hope this helps and good luck with your project!

PS- Don't let the negative responses get you down. If offered, people would go. Also, Castaway Cay has a lot of undeveloped areas away from their main beaches. A water park wouldn't have to effect the peaceful areas visitors enjoy.

 

[ivanova]

I would have to vote NO as well.

The addition of a pool with a water slide would be nice, but not a theme park (mini or not).

 

[BethA]

I think a water park with lazy river and slides would be great and a pool--not everyone likes ocean water and for families with small children it would be nice.
Look at Atlantis--they are on the beach, but have slides, etc--
An adult area with swim up bar would work. If you look at the price to use a chair etc at some of the beaches I don't think 15 is too much. I'm not sure what % would use this if it really existed--just people like me who aren't crazy about sand.
Beth

 

[jgalecpa]

I agree with BethA that a "lazy river" would be great. What better way to get around the island than floating!

No fee, though.

Jim

 

[budwmn]

I would LOVE to have something like this at CC:


SeaTrek Arawak Aqua Park

Approximate Duration: 50 Minutes
Adult: 15.00 (USD) | Child: 15.00 (USD)

Come climb the only icebergs at the largest Aqua Park in the Caribbean. Enjoy bouncing on the giant floating trampolines, water slides, rolling log and many other water toys that will keep you cool while having fun. Space is limited, so sign up early. Fun for adults and kids. Get out there.

 

[tap & dap]

Not being a beach type family that only spends about an hour sitting in the lounge chair on the beach and about an hour in the water, we tend to run out of things to do on CC so we ride the tram, shop and just walk around enjoying the island. From what I have read, Disney only uses about 20% of the island, so with that assumtion some interesting ideas that I think would be neat are:

1. Take a tram to the other side of the island and have a small shopping area with alot more stores and such, it would be hidden from the regular area so as not to spoil the wilderness look that everyone loves.

2. Take a tram to the other side where a water type attraction could be built. No adcmission included with Cruise.

3. Build on the other side of the island a DVC type resort where everyone would be restircted (on days the ships are in port CC) to a seperate beach and resort area. You could offer transportation from Port Canaveral on a high speed hydrofoil type boat. They would operate from PC on the days that the cruise ships were not in port or at CC, which would limit the days you could get on and off the island.

4. Similiar to the hydrofoil idea offer small commuter jet flights to the resort only on the days when ships were not in port and improve the current airstrip to accomodate the small jets. we could name it Air Mickey and perhaps even build a small airstrip at WDW to accomodate the guests return to WDW.

5. Similiar to the JetSki eco tour offer an ATV eco tour of the interior of the island from a set trail as to not destroy the wilderness.

As I said at the start I think all this (other than the airstrip) should be on the other side of the island isolated from the current unspoiled area that everyone loves, kind of like two seperate worlds. If you built the buildings low enough, you would never see them.

Imagine spending an entire week on CC with the use of the cruise ship area on days when the ships were not in port. Maybe a new DVC resort, imagine how fast those points would sell.

 

[DepCor0311]

I think a small, pirate themed water park would be fun. The admission should be included in the price of the cruise.

 

[lbgraves]

If something was there, I would expect it to be included in the cost of the cruise. We would not use it however. The reason we book a cruise instead of going to WDW is to avoid the lines & stress. The posibility of a seperate resort on the other side of the island sounds nice though.

 

[mom2sean_n_alex]

Would have to say no to anything like that on CC..... and would not be willing to pay extra for it.... ALready paid a lot to get there, want to enjoy the sand/sea not water slides.... and since the wave action isn't much on CC my kids LOVED the water... so no need for wading pools extras for kids.

 

[spotdog]

Does Castaway Cay have electricity from a generator for the cast members who work and live there?

Could they bring in the fuel to power a large enough generator for adequate water filtration and de-salination for a whole water park?

 

[Masonpips]

I would like to see a very small water park built. The cost would need to be included as part of the cruise and things like water slides, a lazy river and other actitivities would be nice.

I would see this as something "extra" and fun to be done in a family environment and would thin out the crowd at the family beach as well.

 

[HookedonMagic]

I like the idea of a small water park. Castaway Cay already has the "feel" of Typhoon Lagoon, only (of course) it is the real deal. The signage and landscaping, as well as the buildings, however, evoke the feel of those at Typhoon.

One tip...heat the pools (using solar energy!) In the winter and spring months, while the air temperature is generally warm, the ocean at Castaway Cay is cold. My family would enjoy being able to swim on the island all year, rather than just when we cruise in the fall.

Good luck with your project!

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by perfectascats
. I was wondering if you could help me with some opinions.

For a class project, we're proposing the addition of a mini-theme park on Castaway Cay. It would be for Disney cruisers only (of course). and would be small enough so that it would not impede on the secluded feeling you have while on the beaches.

Would you be interested in such a thing?

The only people whose needs are not met by Disney at CC and who would benefit the most by improved or expanded recreational opportunities are those who have some kind of physical condition that prevents it. If you want to do something really useful for Disney and full-fare paying disabled DCL cruise customers, design a beach-side resort that is both accessible and fun for all.....Priceless.

 

[Tluvs2talk]

I would also like a lazy river that circled the island!! That sounds perfect.


Teri

 

[Footnotegirl]

I think there's also maps available of the used areas on the island, and I would bet that if you found a way to contact the guy who's family used to own Gorda Cay, he could tell you whats on the rest of the island (there were some articles linked to the forums about it a while back, and I bet a google search for "Gorda Cay" would bring some up).
I think a small water park would be fun, especially when you consider the new cruises that stop on CC twice. A lazy river and maybe a waterslide or some other sort of water fun (I've seen, for instance, big water 'playgrounds' with fanciful sprinklers and giant water guns, etc) would probably go over fairly well. However, charging any more for it than the normal excursion costs on CC would be a really, really hard sell considering the cost of the cruise already, and the fact that people can do the Land/Sea vacation already if they wanted to go to a theme park that badly.
The expense would be huge for Disney, with little return (even if they do charge, they have a huge limit on the number of people who can attend daily), involving adding a lot of facilities that they don't have out there, (remember, they'd also have to add more living quarters for the CM's they'd need to run such a place).

 

[perfectascats]

First off, I want to thank all of you for responding! And I hope more people do so (the more, the better).

The class is a Business Communications class...the project is to do a presentation. We're being graded on the actual presentation and the processes of preparing for it more than what's in it (but of course what's in it should be as realistic as possible).

The negative responses are a big help because the outcome of this does not have to be a "yes". The fantasy Disney management just asked our "team" to recommend the next site that Disney should explore for expansion. Since Disney just broke ground in Hong Kong, it would be realistic if our answer was "Expansion at this point would not be beneficial, even if it were on land that Disney already owns. Disney's focus should be on Hong Kong until it is completed."

I still ike the idea of a small water park on an unused portion of the island. Looking at the island itself, it is very possible to have a small water attraction with beach-goers not even knowing it's there. There would have to be an admission charge, even if it is nominal ($10-15)...just to keep it running/clean/etc. They charge for everything else on that island (rentals and such)...

Again, thank you so much for all of your opinions/ideas...keep 'em coming!

 

[Footnotegirl]

Cool! Glad we could be of help, even if we did a lot of naysaying.
Personally, I think Disney should build something in the center of the country. Midwest. Or even center south for the year-round availability.

 

[perfectascats]

Yeah...that was one of the bummers of the project...it had to be a foreign country. I was all about throwing something up in the heartland.

I guess our teacher wants us to learn about foreign investment...like what other governments would do for a US company like Disney or Starbucks. The Bahamas bend over for investments like Castaway Cay...thinking their citizens/economy will benefit from employment.

I found a few interesting things though...The Bahamasa ren't really getting much from CC...Disney is using their own people in the main to run the place....there was minimal hiring of Abacos citizens...I wonder if the govt. got mad about that later?

Interesting perspective from an Abaconian:
Abaconians tour Castaway Cay

SAD story from the grandson of the former owner:
Blackbeard doesn't come here anymore

 

[MouseFan45]

Gentlemen:

CC is all about visiting a secluded private island in the middle of the ocean and enjoying the natural surroundings of the beaches and coves while being within arms length of Disney service and hospitality.

Understand this core experience and propose ways to enhance it and you have something. Throw in a plastic unnatural “amusement/water park” and you tend to destroy the CC magic that helps make people pay a premium to enjoy a cruise with the promise of a day at a Disney beach.

The draw of CC is marketed very successfully as I can attest when we were rained out on our first cruise. It was not long before we signed up again because we had been “cheated” out of our “day at the beach” experience. You really need to experience it to understand what this means to thousands of loyal Disney cruisers.

A while ago, I envisioned building a small DVC type resort on the other side of the island. It would consist of a limited number of small suites with minimal amenities. No swimming pools would be built, no water park or other unnatural amusements would be added. Those are already available by the dozens in Florida and elsewhere.

Instead, the resort would attempt to enhance the experience of living on a deserted Disney island where one would enjoy the unspoiled natural beauty. No telephones would be available but televisions would have access to satellite channels. Evening entertainment could consist of Disney movies, bonfires and story telling about the history and culture of the Bahama islands.

The resort would blend in with the island and impose minimum impact on its’ eco system by using primarily solar power to generate fresh water and provide electricity, cooking, heating and cooling energy. A small dining hall would be used for meals and additional staff housing would be needed. Correctly sizing the entire operation would be the most difficult part of the planning.

The real magic is that guests (and supplies) would arrive on the Wonder or Magic to spend the normal CC day and then move into their island accommodations. They would then have the run of the island for the entire week (or 3-4 days) until their ship returned to provide them passage back to Port Canaveral. This would be accomplished by rotating shipboard accommodations for those parties arriving and leaving the island. Emergency transport would be available for handling other situations.

This approach would provide an additional revenue generation opportunity for Disney. Some Disney cruisers would be willing to pay a large additional price for this unspoiled Disney island experience. The cost of the stay would need to take into account insurance for emergency evacuation for medical and weather related events. Also, it would be wise to plan to replace the resort structures every 4-8 years when a hurricane targets the island.

You really need to experience CC before suggesting ways to change it.

VAA

 

[perfectascats]

There's a lot of detail in that idea! Do you work for Disney?

Anyway, it's kinda funny how some are getting all mean about this...like slamming me because I've never been there or know much about it...THIS IS JUST A CLASS PROJECT, you know? Not even a Graduate class or anything, just a freshman one at a crappy liberal arts southern college.

It's helpful to know all of the ideas and objections, but please don't be so offended at our ideas...it's not like it's actually going to get proposed to Disney and really happen or anything.

Anyway, I've taken all of the responses so far and proposed some changes to my team...so now I'm thinking...a small (and I mean SMALL) water park on the unused side of Disney...far enough away to be out of the sensitivities of those on the "secluded" kick...and built in such a way to look like an oasis that is thankfully found by shipwrecked people (think waterfalls and lots of rocks/grass/landscaping...no cement or anything man-made in appearance.