Do You Think Disney Will Ever Take Full Control Over Swan/Dolphin?

[Rescue Ranger]

Im curious if Disney will eventually decide, at a time when the lease is up, they want to take full control and make both the Swann & Dolphin fully Disney Resorts. Can they do that? I know some are not happy that they are not fully operated by Disney because everything in those gates, in those boundaries should be only Disney, especially two big noticeable resorts. With Eisner now gone (I believe from things I've read, he had a lot to do with NOT owning the hotels), I wonder if it will ever happen.

While they already work very closely with Disney as partner resorts right in the midst of it all, I think it should happen eventually.

 

[Tiffany]

Im curious if Disney will eventually decide, at a time when the lease is up, they want to take full control and make both the Swann & Dolphin fully Disney Resorts. Can they do that? I know some are not happy that they are not fully operated by Disney because everything in those gates, in those boundaries should be only Disney, especially two big noticeable resorts. With Eisner now gone (I believe from things I've read, he had a lot to do with NOT owning the hotels), I wonder if it will ever happen.

While they already work very closely with Disney as partner resorts right in the midst of it all, I think it should happen eventually.

I honestly hope this does not happen as the SPG program and the service received at the Swan in a regular room is better than club level service at Disney Resorts sometimes. For the price and location and service provided by the S/D they are currently our resort(s) of choice.

 

[lassiem1127]

I doubt it would ever happen...in fact Disney is allowing more offsite hotels to build within the property.

 

[minnie61650]

I honestly hope this does not happen as the SPG program and the service received at the Swan in a regular room is better than club level service at Disney Resorts sometimes. ....

I agree.

 

[OKW Lover]

I wouldn't bet against it. "Ever" is a long time. But I doubt it will happen in the near future.

 

[WillCAD]

It wouldn't be a matter of "taking control," it would be a matter of buying the two hotels from Starwood and remodeling them to a Disney theme.

Disney owns the land and leases it to Starwood, but Starwood owns the hotels, and the cost to Disney to buy them would be as much as building new hotels. But after buying them, Disney would have to put yet more money into remodeling them, as well, making the whole deaql much more expensive than building new hotels.

Disney's recent trend has been toward outsourcing, anyway. They have been outsourcing things like janitorial and housekeeping service at some of the resorts, the entire DME service is outsourced, and they are allowing other companies to build a huge new shopping, dining, and hotel cluster on the west side of WDW property. The idea that Disney would want to "take over" Swan and Dolphin goes against their current corporate strategy.

I think it's more likely that Disney might go the other way, and completely outsource the management of some of their own resorts to an outside company.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

The deal they have now is pretty sweet! They get a ton of money for the land those resorts are on and are required to do nothing but provide transportation

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We love the Swan and Dolphin just the way they are now. Great customer service unlike the Disney Deluxes and a great price, unlike the Disney Deluxes. These 2 resorts are an excellent value for the money and customer service.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I honestly hope this does not happen as the SPG program and the service received at the Swan in a regular room is better than club level service at Disney Resorts sometimes. For the price and location and service provided by the S/D they are currently our resort(s) of choice.

I agree 100%

 

[deej696]

Land leases and the licensing of the Disney brand have been part of the overall corporate strategy for a long time. Take the theme parks abroad for example. Disney merely takes a portion of revenue in exchange for use of the brand in the Asia properties, with no ownership interest by Disney itself. DLP is only partially owned by the parent, with the remaining percentage owned by individual stock holders. In Eisner's book he talked about this strategy at length, specificially the Swan and Dolphin, as in his eyes it was easier to license the name for a percentage of revenue, without going to the expense of building the actual hotel or theme park.

Being that Disney still owns the land, and takes a percentage of the revenue off the top, I'm not sure that it would make sense financially for them to make the kind of investment needed to ever purchase these hotels...