Influences on Tokyo DisneySea.

[Another Voice]

Removed.

[ImagineerWaryur]

Another well written, thought out article Another Voice.

I don't feel as down on Disney as you are. I mean, I tend to put Eisner and Iger in different places. And Iger has yet to disappoint me the way the former CEO did. It remains to be seen if he follows that business model. So far it looks like he's realized some of what Michael Eisner got wrong. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt for right now. Hopefully the refurb of the Disneyland Hotel will be decently lavish. I hear they're going for a retro 50's look. I'd prefer a Victorian style hotel, but maybe they'll build one of those later. Still plenty of parking lots to use.

Hopefully with Lasseter there we will get a Tokyo DisneySEA quality park, but not a DisneySEA park of course, for the Disney Resort's third park, but I'm sure it's a probably a decade away.


ImagineerWarrior

[toonaspie]

I love the concept idea of having a hotel built into the park. It's rather dissappointing that we have an Animal Kingdom Lodge but you still have to take a 10-15 bus ride to get to the actual Animal Kingdom park.

I do think the ruined Grand Floridian by looking more like a clutter of warehouses instead of a neatly fancified hotel.

Disney should build at least one high class hotel with 5-star status. They dont need to make it super big. They just have to make it very luxurious with Disney charm.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by toonaspie

I love the concept idea of having a hotel built into the park.

Ahem.. TDS' Miracosta?

Disney should build at least one high class hotel with 5-star status. They dont need to make it super big. They just have to make it very luxurious with Disney charm.

Ahem.. we already have two of those at TDR: Miracosta and TDL Hotel.. Problem is.. AAA ratings do not seem to be applied to foreign hotels but these two are most definitely Disney's 5-star facilities.. and one of them, is inside the best Disney park ever built. Eat your little heart out WDW.

[tasman]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

Problem is.. AAA ratings do not seem to be applied to foreign hotels but these two are most definitely Disney's 5-star facilities..

You probably know this but...in the US, "stars" are given by Exxon Mobil, while "diamonds" are given by AAA. Until recently, Exxon Mobil only applied the ratings to US hotels, but they have recently expanded to include Hong Kong and Beijing. So who knows...Tokyo may follow some day. AAA also rates some foreign properties, but only in North America....Mexico, Carribean, etc.

I don't think Disney in the states has the desire to build a five star property. Which is probably why the Four Seasons is being built at WDW...to fill this void...it should at minimum be a four star property.

With regard to the OP...I hadn't realised how closely even the shape of TDS' Mediterranean Harbor echoes that of the houses at Portofino Bay...as the aerial shot makes clear.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by tasman

You probably know this but...in the US, "stars" are given by Exxon Mobil, while "diamonds" are given by AAA. Until recently, Exxon Mobil only applied the ratings to US hotels, but they have recently expanded to include Hong Kong and Beijing. So who knows...Tokyo may follow some day. AAA also rates some foreign properties, but only in North America....Mexico, Carribean, etc.

Actually no, I did not know that because I do not follow what those ratings set out to accomplish. I rate things based on my experience and not on what some oil company or car club thinks of them. Besides, they only rate places as good as them establishments are willing to pay their critics for the ratings. So, no trust here from me.

With regard to the OP...I hadn't realised how closely even the shape of TDS' Mediterranean Harbor echoes that of the houses at Portofino Bay...as the aerial shot makes clear.

You probably also know that Universal Orlando's Portofino Hotel is the ugly duckling version of TDS' Miracosta... For those of us who have stepped inside both of those hotels.. it's really sad how Universal's Portofino turned out so bad.. while OLC soared to the highest level with the Miracosta. But to pay tribute to the real town.. there is a Portofino Cafe at TDS, right on the lower level of the hotel building, inside the park.

[tasman]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

Actually no, I did not know that because I do not follow what those ratings set out to accomplish. I rate things based on my experience and not on what some oil company or car club thinks of them. Besides, they only rate places as good as them establishments are willing to pay their critics for the ratings. So, no trust here from me.

The Mobil ratings don't mean much to me...in the sense that, for example...the criteria that distinguish a five star restaurant from a four star one...are of little significance to most people. However there has to be some objective standard for evaluation, and in the US these organisations fill that void. Also...I haven't heard any evidence to suggest that the critics are bribed. Otherwise you can have the situation in other countries...where hotels may assign themselves however many stars they deem appropriate and then brag about it. And individual opinions, while certainly valid...are generally only useful collectively...otherwise can be too subjective.

[Another Voice]

I haven't heard any evidence to suggest that the critics are bribed.

If Mobil and AAA were "open to suggestions", believe me, the Grand Floridian would have its five diamond/star/prune rating....

Universal's Portifino is hardly a bad hotel. It wasn't designed to be as opulent as Tokyo Disney Resort's Hotel Mira Costa and given the difference in the clients that's okay. It has more of an Italian village feeling than the Mira Costa’s Duke’s palace atmosphere. And imagine the Mira Costa without all those billions of yen in wedding money every year and having to rely on the tourist trade.

The buzz on the upgrade to the Disneyland Hotel (Anaheim) is not all that good. Everything seems to have put on hold with the possible exception of some safety and earthquake modifications which may be required as they look more at the buildings.

Disney is swinging against owning and operating its hotels again.

At WDW the deal with Four Seasons was both a desire for a quick hit of cash and payback for the latest bail-out of Euro Disney. If you remember back to 9/11, there was a Saudi prince who donated $10 million to New York, then blamed the U.S. for "bringing the attacks on ourselves", which promoted the mayor of NYC to return the check. That same prince was also responsible for buying a huge stake in Euro Disney during the bail-out after opening. He also dumped a lot more capital into the development during the latest bailout around the time Disney/MGM Studios opened. He is also a major stake holder in the Four Seasons hotel chain, which has gone private. Besides the hotel, Four Seasons will also sell off massive amounts of acreage for time share condos and single family homes. It will give him a guaranteed return that Euro Disney can not offer.

At Disneyland and elsewhere, it's the same "speed of return" problem that has ruined the parks. Disney management believes it can get its money back faster elsewhere. A hotel may take years/decades to pay its investment...you can find plenty of sad people willing to buy Disney's Puppy Princess Pirate Parade on DVD and Wal Mart pays you back in a month. It’s so much better, from Disney’s point of view, to lease hotels with no money up front…or better yet get some snooker to pay for the use of “Disney” and let them worry about food costs, the unions and all the mess.

[ChrisFL]

I like Universal's Portofino the few times I've walked around the area, although I haven't stayed there. The biggest problem for me is the lack of activity around. It feels like a sleepy fishing village because there wasn't anything going on.

As far as the influence, I had heard that Stephen Spielberg's wife was very fond of visiting Portofino and he had some input on having the hotel built at Universal.

[TDLFAN]

Universal's Portofino was another hotel hoping for a 5-star rating.. but I am sure those spiderwebs in their lamp posts put off many of the critics.. I know it did me the first time I visited the place when it opened.

[ImagineerWaryur]

Honor Hunter over at Blue Sky Disney has posted part 2 of his article on Port Disney comparison to Tokyo DisneySEA.

Great stuff and interesting to see what we got in the end.

Blue Sky Disney: What Was Gotten Versus What Could've Been (Part Two)...


ImagineerWarrior

[DisneySea_Fan]

These are great Another Voice! Well written and very interesting. Where did they base mysteriouse Island on