Wondering if Disney has ever considered doing a castle themed resort?

[magicalmickey]

Has anyone ever heard any rumors or anything that they had ever considered this (kind of like the MK castles). I think that would really be cool and wonder why they haven't done that already. Maybe it wouldn't be cost-efficient or something??

 

[eeyore0062]

No, at least I have never heard anything about it. Seems as though the Grand Floridian is about as "castle-like" as you are going to get!

 

[LSUDis]

What a great idea!

 

[trirae]

I totally agree. I would feel like such a princess myself to stay in a castle themed resort.

 

[minijeanie]

I for one would definitely stay there

 

[SomePixiedust]

Definitely a great idea!

 

[greatgonzo]

I cant recall where I read this, but apparently they had given some thought to turning the private apartment inside Cinderella Castle into an ultra-exclusive suite that could be rented nightly. If memory serves, they had some issues with getting people in and out after park hours.

 

[Shells9]

I cant recall where I read this, but apparently they had given some thought to turning the private apartment inside Cinderella Castle into an ultra-exclusive suite that could be rented nightly. If memory serves, they had some issues with getting people in and out after park hours.

I would think the logistics of this would be VERY complicated -- the guests would almost have to be "locked in" for the evening. Not that I would mind, lol, being locked in the castle, but others may have objections.

 

[eeyore0062]

Actually, there is an unfinished apartment in Cinderella's Castle that was designed for Walt and his family. Walt died before it was completed. I have heard it has been used for offices in the past. It was only a rumor that it was going to be designed for paying guests.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

If I won a big lottery I'd want to live there... how COOL would that be?

 

[Lord Fantasius]

Greetings all...

As you can see this is my first post on the DIS boards though I've been a fan of the Disney vision since my first Disney movie many, many years ago. And while I've been a lurker for awhile here, when I saw the topic listing I thought I would finally jump in to the fun!

I'm not sure, though, about staying in the castle overnight. Yeah, when I was younger I thought it would be really cool to stay there, but now that I'm a little older (in body, at least) I think it would be lonely and depressing. To me, the Magic Kingdom is Magically when it is alive, not when it is dark with only sanitation and maintenance crews working. So while staying in the castle during the day would be really, really cool (as has been said), I think after everybody leaves, I would much prefer to be in one of the resorts.

Truthfully, one of the most depressing feelings I ever experienced was when I was walking through a shuttered amusement park or an empty cruise ship.

But the concept of a castle/palace resort area is a great one...it probably has been kicked around a few times at Disney as I'm sure a few guests have put it on their comment cards (at least I did as well as some of our friends...hey, they listened to us about the WL!). It would be quite interesting to see if they could do an entire castle/palace-themed resort (moderate, of course, so families could afford it) where each building was representative of a different country's royal/noble residence.

Could you imagine staying in a Bavarian castle or a Doge's palace? A Scottish Baron's castle or the Taj Mahal (o.k., admittedly the Taj Mahal is technically a memorial/shrine, but it is archetypical)? How about a Shogun's palace or Basque castle? It would be fairly easy to come up with a list of a dozen or so such residences from across the globe! And I think putting it on the North-east side of Bay lake would make it stand out by itself or the southeast corner of the Lake just east of FW.

I wonder if we can start a "If I were going to design a resort" thread or voting poll to see what type of resort would go over with the other DIS members. It would be nice, however, if we could stay away from another beach/caribbean-southwestern/sunset-pastel type resort for awhile; it seems like most of the moderates and DVC villas are already themed that way almost generically...though that's my opinion at least.

My list - 1) Castle resort; 2) Venetian resort (on the water, please); 3) Wonders of the Ancient World resort (Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Lighthouse of Alexandria, etc.); 4) Colonial village; 5) Crystal Palace resort.

...and have a magical day!

 

[eeyore0062]

Greetings all...

As you can see this is my first post on the DIS boards though I've been a fan of the Disney vision since my first Disney movie many, many years ago. And while I've been a lurker for awhile here, when I saw the topic listing I thought I would finally jump in to the fun!

I'm not sure, though, about staying in the castle overnight. Yeah, when I was younger I thought it would be really cool to stay there, but now that I'm a little older (in body, at least) I think it would be lonely and depressing. To me, the Magic Kingdom is Magically when it is alive, not when it is dark with only sanitation and maintenance crews working. So while staying in the castle during the day would be really, really cool (as has been said), I think after everybody leaves, I would much prefer to be in one of the resorts.

Truthfully, one of the most depressing feelings I ever experienced was when I was walking through a shuttered amusement park or an empty cruise ship.

But the concept of a castle/palace resort area is a great one...it probably has been kicked around a few times at Disney as I'm sure a few guests have put it on their comment cards (at least I did as well as some of our friends...hey, they listened to us about the WL!). It would be quite interesting to see if they could do an entire castle/palace-themed resort (moderate, of course, so families could afford it) where each building was representative of a different country's royal/noble residence.

Could you imagine staying in a Bavarian castle or a Doge's palace? A Scottish Baron's castle or the Taj Mahal (o.k., admittedly the Taj Mahal is technically a memorial/shrine, but it is archetypical)? How about a Shogun's palace or Basque castle? It would be fairly easy to come up with a list of a dozen or so such residences from across the globe! And I think putting it on the North-east side of Bay lake would make it stand out by itself or the southeast corner of the Lake just east of FW.

I wonder if we can start a "If I were going to design a resort" thread or voting poll to see what type of resort would go over with the other DIS members. It would be nice, however, if we could stay away from another beach/caribbean-southwestern/sunset-pastel type resort for awhile; it seems like most of the moderates and DVC villas are already themed that way almost generically...though that's my opinion at least.

My list - 1) Castle resort; 2) Venetian resort (on the water, please); 3) Wonders of the Ancient World resort (Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Lighthouse of Alexandria, etc.); 4) Colonial village; 5) Crystal Palace resort.

...and have a magical day!

I like your idea with the different castle buildings, but where would they build it. It would be most appropriate right around MK and then it would have to be a deluxe resort!

 

[LSUDis]

In the rooms, they would need to have canopies (probably netting to save $) over the beds. Also, they could deliver you/luggage to your rooms using carriage-type vehicles (horses?).

 

[ganggreen4jc]

With regards to the "Castle-themed-resort" idea, I hope it doesn't turn out like this....

www.excalibur.com


What about a "DisneySea - underwater" themed resort or maybe a "Seven Wonders of the World" themed resort?

 

[JayCT]

Lord - Originally Disney did have plans to build a Venetian Resort between CR and the Poly at one time. Check out tikiman's website for more information on it. Jay

 

[Lord Fantasius]

Thanks, JayCT, I know...part of the reason I included it, I would love to see it come to fruition!

Gang, you're right about that! Specifically why I didn't say ala' Excalibur! Also like the idea about a DisneySea resort, but then with Bay Lake unusable, Disney would have to dredge another lagoon to be underwater of. Otherwise, I could imagine having every room surrounded on one side with a large aquarium. The Seven Wonders resort would be cool....

LSUDis - love it! Actually going with the castle-theme. It would also be neat to have rooms with stone and/or stucco-type walls...don't always need a flat sheetrock/plaster wall for atmosphere!

I think you are all about right that any resort on the Lake or in view of the MK would have to be a deluxe resort...but here's hoping one day they will encircle all of Bay Lake with a monorail (or would that just be too much?)!!

Cheers!

 

[eeyore0062]

I like that DisneySea type concept.... they could use King Triton's castle in Little Mermaid as the prototype.

How about a Bavarian themed resort with little cottages like the 7 Dwarfs house that sleep a family of 5? The main building could have a Festhaus style food court and all castmembers have costumes looking like the dwarfs for the men a and the Snow White style dresses for the women. The pool slide could be themed from the coal mine train shoots. There could be plenty of tall pine trees. I think it would be cute and a great addition to the moderates.

How about a Neverland style resort? The rooms could look like Wendy, John and Michael's bedroom. The pool could be themed on Hooks boat and instead of walking the plank, they could have slide down the slide.

Of course my favorite would be the Beauty and the Beast resort with the main building being the Beast's Castle and include a full service restaurant called Lumiere's and a food court courtesy of Mrs Potts and Chip. The buildings could look like Belle's cottage and they also could sleep 5-6 people.