Does anyone LIVE at Disney as a fulltime guest?

[PearlySwan]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/08/walt-disney-w-1.html

Soon you will be able to live on WDW property if you want (it was de-annexed as well but is right next to Fort Wilderness.) So even closer than Celebration.

"The resort expansion, announced last year, will include the Four Seasons hotel, fractional ownership vacation homes, custom single- and multi-family vacation homes, and an 18-hole golf course."

^^^^

 

[moon]

What a coincidence! I'm watching a Disney Christmas show with Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel, and she said that people stay all winter long at the campsite.

She talked with a couple who had their RV and the surrounding area fully decorated, much to elaborate for someone who'd stay only for weeks. So people can stay at least for a full season.

 

[marius97]

More and more, I'm thinking these residents are NOT execs. Think of the board spats and such - a board member could REALLY mess with Disney through manipulation of whatever voting rights they had in Reedy Creek.

Instead, I bet they are simply well cared for employees that have such a sweetheart deal (free housing?) compared to what they could get outside the world, that they dare not rock the boat.

And they probably have an NDA (non disclosure agreement) and are reminded of it often.

When you look at the pictures, you can be all but guranteed that they aren't high level employees/board members living or staying there. A double wide modular home may be fine for you and I, but those multimillonaires wouldn't be caught dead in one.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

If I ever win the lottery I'm moving to Disney, and living in one of the resorts.

 

[Planogirl]

That would be OK if you didn't have pets or kids or want a yard or a home-cooked meal or furniture or...

OK, where do I sign up?

 

[marius97]

Here is another thought as to why Disney doesn't want you staying too long (and this goes to the theory of some that Disney is the evil empire just after your money.) I'm sure Disney has done the research and figured out that people on a 7 day MYW ticket spend much more per day than someone there long term. This is the same problem they have with annual passes...particularly florida resident passes. Someone going for one week will do character meals, buy a photopass CD, and buy tons of merchandise. Someone that is there much more often will be less likely to do all of those high priced things. They would rather have ten different families there for a week each than one family there for ten weeks.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/08/walt-disney-w-1.html

Soon you will be able to live on WDW property if you want (it was de-annexed as well but is right next to Fort Wilderness.) So even closer than Celebration.

"The resort expansion, announced last year, will include the Four Seasons hotel, fractional ownership vacation homes, custom single- and multi-family vacation homes, and an 18-hole golf course."

I just read through this thread and was about to reply I had heard the Four Seasons will have some sort of homes available for sale there. I am secretly playing the lottery, hoping I win the down payment for one!

 

[jayandstacey]

When you look at the pictures, you can be all but guranteed that they aren't high level employees/board members living or staying there. A double wide modular home may be fine for you and I, but those multimillonaires wouldn't be caught dead in one.

yeah, but.... In my experience, residency or "domicle" can be established pretty easily - like a month a year.

So if it WERE execs, the trailers might be the street address. They might simply do 'sleepovers' at that nice hotel nearby and just grab their mail from the trailer - meanwhile their family is back in Anaheim or wherever. I know that's not probable, as a "lucky employee" scenario is more likely. But just cuz its trailers doesn't mean it isn't execs.

I did a google search and found another site saying, in 1998, that the homes were via a waitlist of Disney employees and were dirt cheap - like $25K to buy and $10 a month for fees. So when asked to vote on something, they remember that Disney has control over both their income AND their housing (as I bet one of the sale stipulations is that they have to sell to another CM if they leave Disney).

 

[jayandstacey]

Here is another thought as to why Disney doesn't want you staying too long (and this goes to the theory of some that Disney is the evil empire just after your money.) I'm sure Disney has done the research and figured out that people on a 7 day MYW ticket spend much more per day than someone there long term. This is the same problem they have with annual passes...particularly florida resident passes. Someone going for one week will do character meals, buy a photopass CD, and buy tons of merchandise. Someone that is there much more often will be less likely to do all of those high priced things. They would rather have ten different families there for a week each than one family there for ten weeks.

yes - what's interesting is that somehow Disney considered all this back in the 60s. On the one hand, I think that there's no way they could have predicted two-week stays or longer...yet then I remember they bought 36 square miles or whatever the absurd size is. And there was Walt's plan for Epcot.

We're sitting through a 100 year movie that was filmed back in the 50s and 60s and is still unfolding in front of us.

You're right that perma-guests would simply occupy space and count against their occupancy limit. And whatever they rode would have that much more wear-and-tear for the fact that they rode it. And all that stuff. OTOH, there was Walt's EPCOT vision, and there are more stores and 'traditional' things to do than ever before, and maybe the property is ever closer to being able to support living, not just visiting.

But at the end of the day, the self-governance of Reedy Creek is so wildly critical that no appeal to money would likely allow them to let go of it - even if letting go only meant giving voting rights to 500 residents. We Americans have a nasty habit of turning on our keepers

 

[jayandstacey]

The Swan and Dolphin have a 31 day limit on their booking website, with no provision to extend.

other properties in the Starwood fleet, using the same site, also won't let you book more than 31 days online but offer a number to call to arrange such a stay.

So I strongly suspect the Swan/Dolphin would NOT be a way to sneak under the radar and become a Reedy Creek citizen.

 

[jayandstacey]

If I ever win the lottery I'm moving to Disney, and living in one of the resorts.

You'd need the lottery to be a LUMP SUM (not annuity) of roughly the following:

$15 million - luxury
$10 million - mid
$5 million - value

And many lotteries fall short of those numbers in the lump sum.

But, we've pointed out that you can't do that in WDW, unless you are willing to move rooms every few weeks AND you maintain another place somewhere and it is your primary residence. And that's a whole other pile of expenses to pull that off.

 

[Brave teacher]

I wish i could live on property!

 

[MonorailDriver]

Do you think I could just set up an apartment somewhere in the Magic Kingdon, maybe above the hall of Presidents?

 

[jayandstacey]

Do you think I could just set up an apartment somewhere in the Magic Kingdon, maybe above the hall of Presidents?

You know, I started a thread a few months ago about cabanas in the parks.

I sense that the desire to have a "place of your own in the park" would be so strong that disney could make a KILLING on this. Rent little areas for 6 hours at a time, and put them in a bunch of different places. Give them a couch, TV and fridge. And a cash register at the entrance. This is kind of the opposite of living on Disney property, it is the idea of the micro-rental.

"My Le Cellier ADR is for 6pm, then I have a cabana over in the old Odyssey from 7 to close. So I'll finish my meal, head to my cabana and just people watch for a while, maybe order a drink or two, maybe nap. I'll leave all my stuff there from afternoon shopping, then stop back at closing to pick it all up. Grandpa will probably just stay there watching the game"

A goldmine, I tell ya.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

That would be OK if you didn't have pets or kids or want a yard or a home-cooked meal or furniture or...

OK, where do I sign up?

And don't forget: mousekeeping!
Sign me up!

 

[BradyBz12]

I wish i could live on property!

I'm planning to move in here...

 

[wdwluver]

I would need more than just a bed in a room. So all of the hotels would be out. Maybe DVC would work, you've got a bedroom, kitchen, laundry and a whirlpool tub. hmmm...

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Now I cannot remember where I read/heard it or the specifics lmao but I heard there is someone living at FW and another living at POFQ or POR... and in both situations have been living at their respective resorts for over a year now.

 

[Missus Toad]

I'm planning to move in here...

OMG, seriously, I just said that to my husband on our last trip!!!

 

[declansdad]

An earlier poster mentioned something about squatters in the unfinished section of Pop. Was this true?