Disney-branded California community promises the company’s ‘special magic’
A 24-acre fake lagoon constructed in the middle of the California desert will be at the heart of a new Disney-branded planned community, the company announced this week.
Rancho Mirage, California, a city in the Coachella Valley not far from Palm Springs, will be the site of Disney’s first “Storyliving” community, the company said in a press release.
The new developments will be staffed with “Disney Cast Members” and offer Disney entertainment and activities, with the goal of creating “neighborhoods that are infused with the company’s special brand of magic”, the company said. Some neighborhoods will be designated as senior living communities for people over the age of 55.
Plans at the site, chosen in part because Walt Disney himself owned vacation properties in the area, include a private waterfront club and private beach access for members, as well as some paid public access to the man-made beach.
Storyliving is not Disney’s first attempt to translate the popularity of its theme parks and vacation resorts into a model for daily life. In the mid-1990s, the company developed Celebration, Florida, a community at the border of its Disney World resort, known for its rigid small-town Americana aesthetic and pre-scheduled fake snow.
Celebration has since dealt with challenges, including the foreclosure crisis, a 2016 lawsuit by some residents over mold, leaks, and other overdue repairs, and thehigh-profile trial of a man accused of murdering his wife, three children, and their family dog inside their Celebration home in 2020. The town is no longer owned by Disney.
While Rancho Mirage’s mayor said the Disneydevelopment was a “fabulous fit” and the project is estimated to bring the city more than $8m per year, an environmental expert
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