"Princess" and "Health" Suites Coming to WDW

[Ed]

The following story is in today's Orlando Sentinel -

Disney converting hotel rooms into 'princess,' 'health' suites

By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
11:59 PM EDT, April 25, 2011

Walt Disney World is converting some of its 25,000 hotel rooms into moderately priced, princess-themed rooms and high-end, "health-and-wellness" suites, in a bid to carve out new niches from within its existing hotels.

The overhauls are part of a directive across the Walt Disney Co.'s theme-park division to develop more specialty hotel rooms that appeal to targeted demographics. The initiative includes the company's first new hotel in Orlando in nearly a decade: Disney's Art of Animation Resort, in which more than half of the roughly 2,000 hotel rooms will be basic suites aimed at budget-conscious families.

"We are really putting significant focus and intensity and resources into driving that strategy," said Mark Rucker, vice president of lodging for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

The emphasis on niche hotel rooms comes as Disney seeks ways to lure new visitors to its U.S. theme parks. Disney World and Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., draw close to 70 million people a year combined, but experts say they could struggle to grow further unless they are able to tap into new pockets of travelers.

Disney also expects the specialty rooms to deliver higher nightly rates than conventional hotel rooms by attracting vacationers willing to pay a premium for select amenities — be it a Princess-and-the-Frog-themed headboard or an in-room yoga session.

"The more segmented you can become, the more you can match the segmentation of consumer demand," said Bill Carroll, a senior lecturer at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. "That gives you the opportunity to price differentially."

With the new hotel rooms, Disney is, perhaps not surprisingly, placing its biggest bet on the company's well-known lineup of princesses.

Disney says it plans to transform about a quarter of the 2,000 rooms in the "Riverside" section of Disney's Port Orleans Resort into "Royal Rooms." Billed as rooms that the princesses themselves have stayed in during vacations, they will include many nods to the animated heroines, from bathroom faucets in the shape of Aladdin's genie lamp to the footstool that came to life as a dog in Beauty in the Beast.

It's a concept Disney has dubbed "storybook" hotel rooms — rooms that are more lavishly themed than conventional hotel rooms and are devoted to key company franchises. The company previously converted a wing of rooms in Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort to a pirates theme, and those have proven so popular that the resort has been able to charge a $30-a-night premium for them.

Disney says the 512 Royal Rooms will open to guests in February or March of next year. They will debut the same year that Disney World begins opening a multiyear expansion of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland section, in which central additions will be based on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves — all princess movies.

In addition, Disney is banking on the princess makeover to ensure that travelers remain willing to pay a premium to stay at Port Orleans, which, like Caribbean Beach, is priced as a "moderate" resort, Disney's middle tier. Those rooms will be among the most vulnerable to losing business to the new Art of Animation Resort, a lower-priced, "value" hotel. Art of Animation, which will have 1,120 family suites and 864 regular rooms, will open in phases beginning in May 2012.

In another move designed to prevent trading down, Disney says it is also replacing the full-sized beds that had been standard in all Port Orleans rooms with queen-sized beds. Disney's deluxe hotels — its most expensive category — already have queen beds.

"We really wanted to focus on our moderate product," Rucker said.

Rucker said Disney is also developing new plans for the suites in its deluxe hotels — beginning with 23 in Disney's Contemporary Resort that will be refurbished to attract health-conscious travelers. Disney says it will convert the entire 14th floor of that hotel to a health-and-wellness theme, complete with a private yoga studio, custom-designed menus, and concierge services.

The rooms themselves will be outfitted with amenities such as bamboo floors, low-allergen pillows and mattresses, exercise equipment and massage tables. Disney says it expects the suites to open by November.

Some experts think those rooms may prove a tricky sell, even for Disney.

"For them to carve out any inventory and specialize in those kind of rooms, I'm not sure they're going to see a lot of returns," said Scott Smith, a lodging instructor in the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. "It seems to me that it's such a small, niche market, whereas families going to Disney who like princesses or pirates are huge."

Disney says it views the Contemporary suites as a pilot program. "This is a test for us," Rucker said.

Disney officials would not say how much they are spending on the specialty rooms. Rucker said only that it is "quite a substantial amount above and beyond" what the company spends on its routine refurbishment programs. Disney hotels typically undergo "soft" renovations — in which bedding, curtains and other fabrics are replaced — every six years, and "hard" renovations — replacing fixtures and such — every 12 years.