845 · Cotino – What It’s Really Like Inside Disney’s First Storyliving Community - WDW Radio: Your Guide to the Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise and More Disney Magic!

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
This is where the earlyplanning is taking place for our
so called Disney World project.
Welcome aboard TTA travelers.
In this wondrous place, thefun and imagination of Disney come
together with the innovationsof the real world.

(00:23):
Tomorrow's charge Lighting thepath as we're going.
Tomorrow's child Seeing thatknowledge keeps growing.
Tomorrow's Child Right nowwe're leaving the world of today
behind.
So if your imagination isready, here we go.

(00:46):
WDW Radio you what if Disneybuilt a place you could actually
live in?
Well, they have before, butnever quite like this.
Catino, the first story livingby Disney community sits in the greater
Palm Springs area ofCalifornia and I was among the first

(01:09):
to explore this completely newkind of Disney experience.
I admittedly didn't know whatto expect, but what Catino revealed
about story living trulysurprised me.
This week we'll look at whatmakes this place so much more than
homes in a desert.
How it honors Walt'srevolutionary ideas and dream for
a living, breathing community,how it reimagines that vision for

(01:31):
today, and why it might markthe next great chapter in the evolution
of Disney's own story.
Hello my friend and welcome toWW Radio, your guide to Disney parks
and experiences from aroundthe world.
I am Lou Mongello and this isshow number 845.
And whether this is your firsttime listening or or you've been
with me for all 20 years sincethe very beginning, welcome home.

(01:54):
Please don't forget to jointhe community and conversation over
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Tune in to the live show andchat every Wednesday at 7:30pm Eastern
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This week we'll probably talkabout Catino and don't forget to
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(02:17):
when you're ready to plan yournext Disney vacation, trust my friends
over@m MouseFanTravel.comtheir services are completely free
and more importantly, you getexpert planning from the team that
I have trusted and relied onfor more than 18 years to make sure
that every one of your tripsare seamless and unforgettable, you
can visit them over@mMouseFanTravel.com for a free no
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(02:37):
And as always my friend andyou are my friend, if you like the
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It is one of the best ways tohelp others discover the magic and
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But for now, sit back, relaxand enjoy this week's episode of
the WW radio show.

(03:04):
This week we're looking atsomething new from Disney that you
can't ride, you can't watchand you can't book, but you can actually
live it.
Because I had the rareopportunity and privilege to visit
Catino, the first story livingby Disney community in Rancho Mirage,
California, not far from whereWalt used to escape with his family

(03:27):
to Smoke Tree Ranch for somequiet sun and maybe even some big
ideas.
And Catino is really Disney'snext chapter in place making not
just building theme parks orresorts, but building a place that
people can actually call homebecause it's part private club, part
community, part storytelling experiment.

(03:50):
I think with a 24 acreturquoise lagoon right in the middle
of the desert, it is a placethat mid century modern meets a little
bit of Disney imagineering forbuilding a place that you can actually
go and stay and live in.
And today I'm joined bysomeone who was with me at catino.
He is Mr. Daps fromMrDapps.com and we're going to talk

(04:13):
about what we saw, what wefelt, maybe how it ties back to Walt
and his ideas for Epcot andwhat this might mean for the future
of how Delt Tisney tellsstories that we live in.
Mr. Daps, welcome back.
Thank you so much for having me.
You might remember Mr. Dapstfrom such shows as Wait.
No, I don't even remember what show.
Wait.
We did a.
We've done shows together.
We talked about, we talkedabout foods at Disneyland, I believe

(04:36):
after the opening of Tiana's.
That's it.
That's it.
Because Disneyland is reallywhere you've called home for as long
as you've been doing this,which is a very, very long time.
21 years.
Wow.
Yeah, that's.
Yeah, that's.
So I don't want to say thatwe're the old timers in the room.
We're the only ones in theroom, but we are the old timers in

(04:57):
the room.
You know, there is that pointat media events where you do become
the old timer.
And I think we passed thatpoint several years ago.
So let's.
Before we dive in and there'sa lot really, I think, to cover about
Catino.
I want to give our friendwho's sitting at this table virtually
with us listening, sort of aclear picture of Coutinho, like where

(05:19):
it is, I think, what it is andwhat it feels like.
Right.
So geographically it's locatedin Rancho Mirage, California in Coachella
Valley, about 30 minutes fromPalm Springs.
And this is the first of whatwe know of to be two and probably
more community under the storyLiving by Disney brand, which was
announced back in 2022, whichis a completely new business model

(05:43):
for Disney where they partnerwith developers to create these master
planned and Disney curatedresidential communities.
This one is even bigger than Ithought it was.
This is going to be about 1900plus homes over about 618 acres.
We'll talk about the differenttypes of homes.
Also be a dedicated 55 andover neighborhood.

(06:05):
There's also going to beretail and public spaces and access
to the bay when it opens injust a couple years.
So let's go back, Mr. Daps andtell me what was your first initial
thought when you heard aboutthis announcement of what Coutino
was.
So when they first announcedit, it's actually funny because my

(06:28):
brain immediately went to oh,this is take two on like celebration
or something of that type.
And then ironically enough, Ihad scheduled already a visit to
Rancho Mirage to visit afriend at another complex that turns
out to be right across the street.
So when we were driving in onthe bus the other day, we had the,

(06:51):
I think it was a Marriottcomplex on the right.
And then story Living is onthe left.
And that Marriott complex Iwas at literally a week or two after
the announcement and it wasamazing because I think changed my
perspective on the whole thing.
Because when I was thinkingabout this was it three years ago

(07:12):
one, my first look at thatspace was like, oh, that doesn't
look very big.
Obviously it looks verydifferent now.
The other thing that I wasvery aware of is I'm like, oh, this
is right in the middle, middleof Rancho Mirage.
And I was like, Disney kind ofalways has that in the Disney bubble.
We are controlling andprotecting and adding extra magic

(07:36):
to your space.
And I was wondering how wouldthat actually play out?
Because it felt like as youwere standing on the corner where
we turned into the place, Iwas like, this feels like we're right
in the middle of everything.
And those fears were blown outof the water as well, or maybe into
the Cateno Bay, I don't know.

(07:56):
And so the initial thoughtprocess was one, is there enough
room to really make this aDisney experience that's completely
unique and set apart fromeverything else in the area?
Two, it made sense because I'mlike, well, they have other different
living complexes like that inthe area.

(08:17):
So it's not a huge jump to belike, oh, we could put another one
in here.
And then the connection forDisney with Walt Disney and going
down there years ago, I liked.
But I also was curious howthat would play out since he always
seemed like he was in a moreopen area with space and mountains.
And I was like, will thatreally be what it feels like once

(08:39):
they've opened it?
And thankfully, I can say,yes, it does.
Like, the mountains weregorgeous from just about everywhere
we were at there.
Yeah, I had never been to thispart of California before, so all
this was very, very new to me.
And when I first got outthere, I was like, wow, everything's
very brown.
Like, they really like brown.
But I came to have learnedthat this was, you know, Palm Springs

(09:02):
was sort of where theHollywood elite would go to vacation
because the studios made themnot be more than two hours away from
the studios themselves.
So this ended up being thissort of oasis in the middle of the
desert.
I had no idea what to expectwhen I.
When I got there.
And, you know, the more Ilearned, the more it's like, oh,

(09:24):
I understand.
This is also a big golfcommunity, it's a big residential
community, It's a big vacation community.
Paint the picture for me of, Ithink you sort of had these ideas
of what Coutina was going tolook like from concept art and what
we had heard.
What was your sort of reactionwhen you first arrived?
Now, to be clear, there's.

(09:46):
It's very much in its very,very early stages.
Right.
Of all the 1900 homes, I thinkthere's what, 30, 40?
That's like a couple dozen, itseemed like.
Yeah.
So tell me about your firstreaction when you saw Coutina from
the inside versus seeing itfrom the street.
Like, did it feel Disney ordid it feel like the, you know, and

(10:07):
I mean this in a good way, therest of Palm Springs in terms of
this mid century luxury firstand then a little bit of Disney second.
So my, my first thought, I'mgoing to say both, to be completely
honest, is there's definitelya Disney feel as you're going into
Coutinho because you pass thislittle park area where you can.

(10:29):
I think it was a dog parkmaybe, but they have these very beautifully
curated desert parks andthey've got the walkway and they've
got the little art fixturesand benches that feel very Disney.
Stylistically differentbecause we don't really have a desert

(10:49):
park at this point.
But it definitely had that,like, oh, yeah, this is a step up
from what we would see inOrange county in a park or even just
Walking around in RanchoMirage, then you get into the houses
and the houses.
I almost felt like we werestepping into a movie set, because
it definitely was like,there's definite intention here in

(11:13):
planning.
And even the.
I think it was the first housewe were at which had houses around
it.
And noticing the sight linesto the.
I guess it would have been, Ithink, south mountains.
Like, there were alreadyhouses around that part, but you
could see through, and youstill had.
From the backyard, they linedup the houses just right that if

(11:36):
you were standing in thebackyard by the pool, you could see
the mountains.
And I was like, okay, sothat's a Disney thing.
Like, they've thought through,where is the second floor of this
house?
Not gonna block all of themountains for the house next to it.
And they've done that down theblock, which I think is rather impressive.
And just the style of thehouses and the thought process of,

(11:57):
like, one of the housebuilders we were talking to, they
really wanted to hide the garage.
And so the garage was backaround behind the house, not on the
main street, just to createthat different feel as you were coming
in and kind of elevate theexperience, which is very.
A Disney thing.
And then as you go furtherback into Cotina, because you go

(12:19):
into the houses and the parksfirst, and then kind of in the center
of the whole thing is Cotino Bay.
That was where I felt likethey went from slightly Disney to
like, all right, this is wherewe're really going all in on it.
Because where else do you findthis beautiful bay, lake, pool, whatever
you want to call it, in themiddle of the desert?

(12:40):
That looks so refreshing.
And it looks kind of like whatI think of the cartoons when they
used to be out in the desertand they'd have the mirage in the
distance.
Like, that was kind of.
My first thought was like, oh,this could easily be one of those
mirages.
And I hate to go Bugs Bunny onyou right now, but I can totally
imagine them discharging it,diving, and then landing in the sand.

(13:01):
But as several of our party can.
Can attest, the water was real.
They put their fingers in and.
But there really is this oasisin the middle of the desert that's
surrounded by mountains, andit totally feels like it could have
come out of a Disney movie.
And as you're looking aroundand you.

(13:21):
You did the same thing.
I'm sure we kind of just lookaround and take it all in.
Yes.
You have all of these housesin lots that will be filled at some
point as people purchase andcreate what they want for their houses.
But then beyond that, insteadof seeing the city, you saw trees
and you saw the mountains.
And yes, there's an occasionallight and an occasional building.

(13:43):
But it didn't feel like wewere right in the middle of Rancho
Mirage.
Like, I was really impressedwith that as I was looking around.
And overall, I walked awaygoing like, this really did feel
like it was Disney.
Maybe not a Disney park or aDisney cruise or a Disney hotel,

(14:04):
but you can tell the DNA hasbeen interwoven into all of the experiences,
especially the experiences.
And.
And as we were going throughthe weekend and we kept looking at
these things, three words keptpopping up in what people said.
And then also just in my brainis they really focused on creation,

(14:25):
inspiration and collaboration.
And that was not just in thebuilding of this living or community,
but it continues on as peoplemove in, whether it's with the programming,
with the dining.
Like, we heard it repeatedlythat there is a process, creation
and inspiring people and thencollaborating not just with the people

(14:47):
that work there, but also thepeople that live there.
Yeah.
And to your point, you know,you said it felt like it came out
of a Disney movie, and it'snot because you see castles and characters.
Quite the opposite.
There is a lack of those,which is very intentional.
So the fact that you and I, Ithink a lot of us who were there
got that same feeling.

(15:08):
I think there was this.
This wonderful.
It felt.
It was a combination offeeling like a neighborhood, but
also feeling like a privateDisney resort all at the same time,
but without it being sort ofovertly Disney.
And it made me think, like,over and over again, it made me think
about connecting this on manylevels, not just geographically,

(15:32):
but even emotionally to Walt'sown story.
Right.
He had a home at Smoke TreeRanch in the Palm Springs area.
This was his escape.
This is where he went to thinkand sold his house there to help
finance Disneyland.
He bought it back later on andbuilt a bigger home.
And even, like the name,Coutinho is a linguistic nod to Smoke

(15:55):
Tree.
It's Latin for the smoke tree,which is contiguous, which is a plant
that's.
That's very common.
So I love that it is like manythings that are there, it is a subtle,
quiet hat tip to Walt and hisconnection to the region.
And, you know, and I'm surethis is going to come up over and
over again while you don't.
There is no Mickey Mouse everywhere.

(16:16):
There is not.
It is not overtly Disney orDisney Parks, but there are these
subtle connections.
Sometimes little wonderfulEaster Eggs that tie to Disney in
the park.
So, for example, like LongTable park is directly connected
to Walt and Lillian'stradition of holding these long table
dinners in the desert.
These big outdoor communaltables where people would gather

(16:39):
around to eat and talk.
And I, I'm sure, plan a littlebit together.
And I think that's absolutelywhat it is, what's happening there.
And even when you go into, forexample, and we'll talk more about
the Artisan Club, but like,when you walk into that lobby there,
you'll see that there arethese rotating exhibits that.
That are curated from the WaltDisney archives that showcase Walt

(17:02):
and his presence in the desert.
There was pictures of Walt inlocal events.
He's got his old straw hatthat I'm sure we've all seen pictures
of him.
And I think the goal veryclearly is to connect the residents
and the members emotionally toWalt's personal history, not just.
And not specifically notDisney's ip.

(17:26):
Oh, absolutely.
And I think on top of that isconnect not just with Walt, but also
connect with each other whileyou're connecting with Walt.
Because you saw everywherethere was great intention put to
creating community spaceswhere people could either intentionally
or unintentionally bump intoeach other and basically just build

(17:48):
that community.
Like, it's very interesting tosee Disney intentionally working
to build a communityenvironment from so many different
ways that only Disney can do.
You and I spend a bulk of ourtime building community and in getting
to invest in people.
And I think it's one of themost rewarding parts of what we do.

(18:08):
And we can do that.
You know, we can do that in person.
We can do it virtually.
But we're not going to go outand build houses, and we're not going
to go build out a park in agiant swimming pool.
And it was fascinating as wewalked around to notice how even,
like, chairs on the beach wereset up and all of these places that

(18:30):
fire pits all over the placewhere you could just go.
And maybe it's hanging outwith your friends that you intended
to hang out with.
Or maybe as we did severaltimes, we'd end up with different
people in our group justbecause there was an open chair and
people naturally felt like,hey, let's have a seat and be involved
in the community.
And that's reinforced with thepictures you see of Walt being a

(18:53):
part of the community.
And we even heard how, I thinkit was at the opening ceremony where
we heard about how they reallyworked with Rancho Mirage to make
sure that story living inCotino was A part of the Rancho Mirage
community, as opposed tosolely being an exclusive community
that is kind of put off on itsown and could potentially alienate

(19:18):
the local community.
And clearly they made everyeffort to do the exact opposite.
Yeah, I think, you know, wesort of.
We heard a lot from a numberof different people about how not
just Walt spent time there,but he drew inspiration from this
area.
And I feel like Coutinho isvery much a continuation of that
and is very respectful ofWalt's legacy in that.

(19:40):
It's.
It's.
It's very subtle.
Right.
If you sort of know where tolook, it's clearly there.
But I think this idea ofconnect, celebrate and create very
much are in alignment withWalt's value and his emphasis on
community and belonging.
Not just when you go into hisparks, but, you know, this idea of

(20:01):
everyday experiences.
And I think that, you know,not that we can sort of speak for
Walt, but I think, you know,if you were to go there, he might
be like, this is it.
This is exactly.
This is sort of the visionthat I had for what building a community
where people could togethercome together and celebrate and create
was.
Was.
Was what his sort of visionoriginally was.

(20:24):
And the environment aroundthere is conducive to it as well,
because there was multipletimes where you'd be sitting somewhere
or standing somewhere.
And I couldn't help but think,oh, this is why Walt loved this area
so much.
And you'd look at the sunseton the mountains, or some people
got up really early and sawthe sun rise on the mountains.
And they really do look likethey're straight out of a painting

(20:46):
or something.
And as I'm speaking aboutthis, I'm almost thinking of.
There's almost a Grand Canyonfeel to it.
Like the colors, andespecially during the sun rising
and setting, they were sovibrant and beautiful.
And I really wished I'dbrought my night nice camera instead
of my quick one, because I wasjust like, it's so gorgeous, the

(21:08):
mountains and something aboutthe air and the palm trees.
And I was like, I could reallyunderstand why Walt Disney would
want to come down here.
One, to disconnect because itis really quiet.
But two, just to soak innature and be inspired by it.
Yeah.
And I had a chance to have aconversation with Claire Bilby, who

(21:29):
is the senior vice presidentof Disney's Signature Experiences.
And this is the connection toWalt is something that.
That I kept bringing up a lotbecause I thought it was so important.
I want to play a little bit ofmy conversation with Claire Here,
just for some context.
So this is my very first look.
It's all of our first look atCotino, the very first story living

(21:51):
by Disney experience and community.
And coming out here to PalmSprings, Palm Desert, I immediately
thought about Walt.
I thought about the connectionto Walt.
He spent so much time out here.
And Smoke Tree Ranch.
How does the connection toWalt and his connection to this place,
how does this sort of inspirewhat you've built here at Coutinho?

(22:11):
Well, you're absolutely right.
Walt loved it.
This was his getaway.
He would talk about it as hishappy place.
And really, he got a lot ofcreative inspiration coming out here.
And he would bring hisanimators, he would bring imagineers
out here.
So when we look at what theCoachella Valley represents, from
even the Walt days to now,creativity is such an important part
of the culture here.

(22:32):
So what we really did is whenwe started designing Cotino, we really
took the bias of this is acreative oasis.
And so when we work with ourbuilders, you know, that's very much
creative in the sense it's anindoor outdoor living.
When we dealt here with theArtisan Club, which is what we're
opening right now for ourmembers, it's really, how do we bring
that creative oasis here tolife for our members?

(22:53):
And Walt was all about,obviously, storytelling and innovation
and community.
I sort of imagine Coutinho asan extension of that same kind of
legacy and vision that he hadfor even, you know, Epcot when it
was through the city.
Really, story living came outof life is as we just kept watching
these branded lifestylecommunities becoming more and more

(23:14):
popular.
And to your point, how Waltwas so, you know, wanted that belonging,
wanted that sense of community.
And we thought, you know, with.
With our Disney cast membersand Disney service, what a great
way to create a communityaround that aspect.
It's different than a themepark, though, because obvious, you
want to be fully immersed toDisney there.
Here you live here 365 days a year.

(23:35):
So you've got to really.
They don't want to live in atheme park.
So how do you give them thoseDisney touches, which certainly the
cast members is number one,but also just little programming
nods.
How we can bring folks to hear.
Imagine how we could bringDisney chefs here to teach you your
favorite Disney recipes, orhow they talk about healthy living,
or we bring in authors orimagineers that can come and talk

(23:57):
about the latest things thatare going on or latest books.
So it's how we blend thosethings and really talk as you get
to Know your members more andwhat their interests are, cater to
those as well.
Right.
Because I immediately get thesense this is not about just selling
you a plot of land, sellingyou own.
This connect, create andcelebrate very much feels that it's
in alignment with Walt'svision and his legacy.

(24:19):
Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And really, when we werelooking at these branded communities,
they're very much.
This is something that's verymuch the Gen X and the Baby Boomers.
Of course, you know, the BabyBoomers are the last group that grew
up with Walt.
And then you've got the Gen X,which I call it kind of the new Disney,
when we relaunched everything.
And so they love what thatproduct is, but they also want, as

(24:42):
I said to.
They want to connect withpeople that they can get to know.
So a lot of them are reallylooking for those communities that
they can make new friendships.
Kids are probably out of the house.
You know, they want a coolplace for the grandkids to come visit.
And those are things that areall natural in my mind, that we can
provide.
And it seems that Coutinho isagain, evoking Walt, creating a sense
of community and belonging.

(25:03):
Right, right.
Talk to me about this idea offostering a sense of community.
More importantly, this idea ofliving our own story.
Yes.
So what we want to do, as Isaid, when you talk to a lot of folks,
when they talk about wantingto come here, they all have different
interests.
Some want, as I said, someit's all about health and wellness,
some about enrichment.
Some of it is about, I want tolearn how to paint, I want to do

(25:24):
different things.
So what we are trying to do ishow do we talk to the members and
come up with what programs themajority of them want to do.
And then that's going to givethem a commonality that first, okay,
I'm going to go learn how topaint, or I'm going to go learn how
to do yoga classes or whateverand how we create those things.
And we also are going to be afacilitator of sorts.
They want to do book clubs orthey want to do different things,

(25:46):
how we help do that.
So our goal is really to bringthem in and help that facilitate
those members, thosebelongings, those friendship, and
really let them define whattheir next chapter.
This is not about us definingthat for them.
It's about them doing it andus enabling it.
Right.
Cause when you attach theDisney name to something like this,
there are multiple, sometimesunrealistic, but multiple levels

(26:08):
of expectation of what that'ssupposed to be.
And as we were coming in thismorning and I saw the story living
by Disney community.
What do you want a resident tofeel or what do you want somebody
to feel?
When somebody says I live in aDisney community, I live in the Catena
community, what do you wantthat to evoke in terms of a resident?
And as they sort of describewhat this experience is like for

(26:29):
them, I.
Want them to say that theyliving in a community that they really
belong.
That's my headline to them isthis is where I belong.
I have made great friends, Iget to pursue my passions of this.
This is not about Mickey Mouserunning around, it's really about
what I want and meeting peoplethat I have, you know, same and different

(26:51):
interests and that we becomegood friends.
You know, we're going to beprobably 50, 50 here, meaning full
time and you know, second homes.
And so it's how do we blendthose and do that?
And a lot of it, I think thesecond homes will ultimately become
permanent homes as theytransition as well.
So I think it's really thataspect of it is that they belong
and it's very welcoming here.

(27:12):
That's what I want the mostand that they feel like they know
their neighbors.
And I get a sense that.
And who knows, time willobviously tell that Catino and story
living by Disney as a brand isgoing to attract, I'm raising my
hand Disney fans who just wantto continue their story and be surrounded
by like minded people whounderstand what the Disney brand
is going to bring and thenother folks who just want an elevated

(27:35):
type of community experiencewho also understand what having Disney's
name means.
How do you sort of reconcileand align the two of those and satisfy
the folks who maybe don't wantMickey Mouse running around, but
want to sort of feel.
And obviously we're in a roomagain where there's concept art everywhere.
How do you sort of align andreconcile those two?
Great question.
And it is something thatcontinues to evolve because what

(27:57):
I would say again, when youtalk about story loom at Disney,
what is important is yeah, wehave the Walt connection, but we
have the Coachella connection.
So if somebody's moving here,they also like the Coachella Valley.
And while we do have someartwork that are the from the Disney
archives, you also will see alot that you wouldn't know it was
Disney if you didn't actuallyknow all the history.
So we want to be.
We always talk about welcomingto everyone and we will say that

(28:21):
we believe that Disney brandto people does mean very friendly
cast, great service, safetyand Those are unanimous whether you're
a huge fan or not.
And that's what people arelooking for.
And who knows, some peoplethat may not be a Disney fan becomes
one, meeting all of our otherDisney fans as they get to know each
other from that perspective.

(28:41):
So that's where I would say wereally, we will ebb and flow with
them.
And that's why we will alwayshave programming that's not just,
you know, Disney.
It's going to be also just asI said, like fitness.
If you just want to go have agreat workout, you can do that.
Yeah, this is not a body builton great workouts.
But you know, from a 30,000Foot View story, living by Disney

(29:02):
also seems like a.
And I think this is animportant milestone moment that history
will look back on today asbeing because this is really sort
of a brand new business modelfor Disney sort of going into this
type of environment.
How do you see this continuing?
And I know it's really dayone, but how do you see the not just
short but long term vision ofwhat storytelling by Disney is going

(29:24):
to continue to evolve into?
Well, I mean our hope is thatit's going to evolve to several communities.
Obviously right now we havethis one here and we've announced
the one in Raleigh.
And what's so great aboutDisney is we learn so much with each
new project that we applythose learnings to the next one.
And I do think that these aregoing to be wildly popular.
As somebody said to meearlier, where are you going to be
in 10 years?

(29:45):
This will be full.
We have 1900, over 1900 residents.
We've got 4000 in Raleigh andwho knows where we'll go next.
And I took a look at the plotmap of sort of what the next few
phases are, not just in termsof the evolution of building of homes,
but there's going to becondos, there's going to be a hotel.
How does, how does that fitinto the evolution of what this particular

(30:07):
storytelling community isgoing to be?
Yeah, this one is interestingbecause it is really all surrounding
the Cotino Bay.
So in the case of we do havethree phases of homes and again part
of that also is ebbing andflowing with what the demand is,
what homes people want.
And yes, there are futureplans for condos and we'll see what,
you know, what is the demandin the residential market.

(30:29):
That's what's so great.
Why you don't build everythingout at once is that you can adapt
to what you learn on.
From that perspective, thefolks that own the land here, they
do have a plot to go get aresort hotel.
So that is going to be a fourstar more.
And so when they get that,that'll be great.
And that'll be anotheractivation on the lagoon.
And then obviously there'sadditional space in addition to the
45,000 square feet that Disneyhas that they could do some other

(30:51):
retail dining.
And it's very much a great cocollaboration so that it really just
enhances everybody'sexperience almost.
When I learned that, I startedto envision this a little bit differently
as yes, to a certain degree itis a residential community, but it's
also going to really, I thinkinto a destination and is going to
put this area on the map forpeople who might not have thought

(31:12):
of coming here otherwise orwhen they saw there was a residential
community, didn't think thatthey could enjoy everything that
Catena has to offer.
Yeah, no, I agree with you.
And I think that's what alsoexcites Rancho Mirage, the city so
much.
So, yeah.
This is my first time here inthis part of California and I see
why people flock.
I see why Walt came here andit was so important to him.
So many.

(31:32):
Well, and I have to say it'sremiss of me that I haven't mentioned,
I mean, just the mountainsthat surround us.
And I have to say, asbeautiful as they are now in the
wintertime when you got snowtop covered tops, it's spectacular.
It's just spectacular.
So it really is.
We are in paradise.
So yeah.
And again, I keep coming backto Walt because I really do think

(31:53):
this is the realization ofsome of his early dreams.
If you were to walk with Waltthrough Coutinho today, what moment
or do you or detail, do youthink you'd be like this?
This is exactly what, what Ihad in mind.
Oh, well, it's very hard toever predict what Walt would want
so special.
I think.
What do you think would makehim smile the most?

(32:14):
I think he would smile abouthow we have created such a connected
environment here and about howwe have created this artisan club
for, you know, gatherings.
Because that was always veryimportant to him at Smoke Tree Ranch
is how he did that.
We did a nod, by the way, overat the Lawn Table park, which is
our 55 plus.
Walt would always have a longtable that he would have all the

(32:35):
residents come out and dopancake breakfast or whatever.
And we literally mimicked thatover there because we knew what Walt
was always wanting to doeverywhere was the connectivity.
And I think that's what hewould be the most proud of is that
we're keeping that legacy ofhis alive.
I imagine that his idea ofcreating a true community, and I
think it's not just about theincredible view, but it really is

(32:57):
about the vision.
It is, it is.
And it's a getting to be closewith other people.
Absolutely.
Thank you so very much.
Thank you very much.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
It's great talking to you.
I appreciate it.
And so again, I think Waltdreamt of creating places where storytelling
and innovation and communityand creativity very much come together.

(33:19):
And I think this is part of arelatively long line of Disney attempting
to embrace and maybe helpshape how people, how and where people
live.
Right.
Because EPCOT was originallyconceived, as we know as by Walt,
as this experimental prototypecommunity of tomorrow, not a theme

(33:43):
park, but where people wouldcome together to live in this very
optimistically designed, veryconstantly evolving city of the future.
Celebrations opened in.
Sorry, celebration opened inthe 90s near Walt Disney World, where
Disney sort of acted like thatcity planner, Right.
And developer.
They wanted this to be a placewith walkable streets and this very

(34:06):
sort of new urbanism designsand the schools and the hospital
and going back to the idea ofhaving a true physical town square.
Right.
And I think Walt Disney mayhave stepped back from, you know,
the day to day governance.
I think they learned a lotfrom there about one, how complex

(34:26):
it is to run a town.
But what worked and whatdidn't work, and I know when this
was announced and a lot ofconversations are happening now is
how does this compare andcontrast to Golden Oak.
Right.
Which exists in Walt DisneyWorld proper with homes that are
in even a much higher pricepoint of, you know, I think they're

(34:46):
now in the 5 to 20 milliondollars range.
They must have really, reallygood podcasts.
Yeah, no problem.
Like Catino, it is gated, itis exclusive, but it's really more
about the proximity to beingto Walt Disney World.
I think Catino is notnecessarily the next step.

(35:06):
I think it's a bit of a pivot.
Right.
Because instead of Disneytrying to run a town or just sell
prestige high end homes andreal estate near the parks, Catino
is really about curating lifestyle.
And that is not just in thehomes that they built, but in the
programming and the story andI think the community identity that

(35:27):
they are trying to build here.
Absolutely.
And it was interesting to me,like you see in the press releases
and the posts online that yes,there's has a wellness component
of this and when we actuallywent through the whole week or the
two days.
I keep wanting to call it aweekend, but who knows?

(35:49):
But it really was interestingat how much of an investment that
Disney and I think theypartnered with Optum to really create
an environment where it's notjust the physical that they're addressing.
It's also they have help with,yes, wellness from a working out
standpoint and there's a bunchof different things you can do.

(36:10):
And then they have the, like,they had financial wellness they'll
help with and mental wellness.
Like, it was very interesting,all of the different investments
they're making to help withall of that.
And I don't know that Iexpected that from, you know, what
you read and what you see.
And that is not something thatnecessarily, I feel like has been

(36:33):
an approach before, other thanmaybe some of the things on the cruise
line that you're not going tosee in Golden Oak or Celebration.
And it's an interesting.
I think you're right.
It's a pivot of where they'refocusing and it's really about creating.
I almost want to just sayhealth in a holistic way of giving

(36:55):
you a place that's where youcan live in a healthy environment,
where you can work on your ownhealth, whatever that looks like.
And then they're going tosupport you as you do that while
also collaborating with you sothat you can do it in a better way
for what's good for you as theresident at Cotino.
And that was really, I don'tknow, that was kind of something

(37:18):
that I didn't expect to walkout of that experience thinking about,
because it's not somethingthat's really on the forefront when
you go to a Disney hotel.
And yes, they have things foryou when you go on a cruise, but
I don't know that we've seenDisney lean that far into this before.
As opposed to coming up withthe perfect utopian society instead

(37:42):
of coming up with that grandEpcot plan.
I feel like instead they'rerecognizing that these are things
that we do really well andthese are things that Optum does
really well.
And then you could take iteven further.
These are things that the homebuilders do really well and, and
even bringing in theconsultants with the food to collaborate

(38:04):
with.
And rather than trying to doall of it well, Disney owns the niche
it's good at, and thencomplemented that with the things
that maybe it doesn't have thesame expertise for.
And because of that, they'renot creating an entire city, they
are creating a community,which is what the focus of everything

(38:25):
is about.
Again, I keep sort of goingback to Walt, who I felt was the
master of recognizing his andthe company's own strengths and surrounding
yourself by the people who arethe very best at what they do.
I think that's what Catino is continuing.
I think Disney is setting thecreative vision and the standards,

(38:46):
which are obviously very high,and the experience layer, while the
partnered builders handle thehomes, the restaurant people handle
the food.
Eventually, when the.
Not just again, it's going toexpand beyond the private residential
areas, but the lakeside towncenter with the shopping and the
dining and the public areas,those will sort of be with very carefully

(39:07):
curated partners that aregoing to come in and stick to that
vision and stick to thosestandards and the layers of experiences.
So I think when people aresort of talking about this in the
context of Epcot, the city andCelebration and Golden Oak, I think
it's a very different, evensort of, like, emotional pitch from

(39:29):
what they are, other than thefact that, like Golden Oaks, yes,
it is luxury and it isexclusivity, but I think coutino,
I think the pivot, which isimportant for people to understand,
is that it's more aboutbelonging and participation than
it is the luxury and exclusivity.
Oh, absolutely.

(39:49):
And as you're saying that,it's interesting that how it builds
on recent things that Disneyhas done through the last decade
and a half or two decades.
Like I think of the thing wehad in Frontierland years ago at
Disneyland that was all aboutinteractive gamesmanship.
And that eventually leads tosomething like the Galactic starcruiser,

(40:10):
which is all about interactionand community and coming together
on a common goal for whateverthat is.
And then you move even furtherforward and you maybe pivot away
from both of those.
But I think there's lessonslearned across from the company of
different things they do that,whether it's a cruise director building

(40:33):
a week of community on a ship,or people going on a mission with
Chewbacca, that you recognizethese are the principles that work.
And when you have principles,then you can apply them somewhere
else.
I think what they've done isthey've reached across Disney experiences
and probably beyond and said,these are principles we know that

(40:54):
work in other parts of ourcompany to build a community, to
build engagement, to build belonging.
And we can apply them in thisreally targeted space.
And we think that we cancreate an environment where people
are going to really embracethat love living here and live a
fulfilling life, because theyalso talk about purpose a lot in

(41:17):
Cotino that kind of connectswith missions and all of these other
things.
And I really think it'sinteresting to see.
I would love to know thatinterweb of different lessons learned
at different places throughoutthe company that they're using for
whether it's dancing to anencanto song or learning how to cook.

(41:38):
Like, it would be veryfascinating to hear those kind of
conversations and, and learnthose lessons that they've learned
that they're bringing to thiscommunity and into.
This focus and look, you know,first impressions are everything,
right?
You only get that one chanceto make a first impression.
And when it comes to thedesign and the storytelling in the

(41:59):
physical spaces, you know,it's like we eat with our eyes first,
right?
It's one of the reasons why Ilove Japanese food.
Like, it's, it's the.
The visual presentation is soimportant because it sort of sets
the expectation of what is to come.
And I think, you know, I thinkthere was.
It's very interesting in termsof where Catino was located in this

(42:20):
sort of Palm Springs Valleyand the aesthetic that they need
to match and how the overallsort of visual language of Catino
very much leans into that midcentury modern design that feels
very native and authentic toPalm Springs.
You've got those warm woods, alot of browns, the glass walls, the.

(42:41):
The incredible indoor outdoortransitions and these very clean
long horizontal lines.
And you talked about themountain views.
It's.
It reminds me of the quoteabout when Bob Iger talked about
Shanghai.
Like it's authentically Disneyand distinctly Palm Springs.
Like it very much.
It does not feel like it's outof place.

(43:02):
Or you would look down thestreet and be like, oh, that's where
Disney's building.
Because you can see, likethere are no bright, you know, Disney
like pastels.
There is no castle sort oftowering over somewhere as this visual.
Weenie Imagineering, whichworked with the builders and Disney
and the different otherpartners, very intentionally blended

(43:25):
this regional aesthetic intoDisney storytelling.
But it's also very subtle as well.
Like you're not walking in andseeing big character murals and things
like that.
Like, it is a very mature,grown up, lived in storytelling.
Did you find it interesting?
At least for me, there wasmore Disney storytelling than I was

(43:47):
expecting.
I think mainly in the subtle,like hidden Mickeys and some of the
direct connections that we'reused to, to as Disney fans.
And especially the second daywhen we were walking around the Artisan
Club where I was like, wow,this is actually more than I was
expecting in a regard becauseI feel like they kind of.
I don't want to say theyundersold it, but they kind of undersold

(44:10):
it of like, this is very mucha separate thing.
It's not going to be the theme parks.
It's not going to be Disney inyour face.
And it's not.
But I think I took that tomean like, oh yeah, no hidden Mickey's,
no nods to certain movies or whatever.
And I was very pleasantlysurprised that as you walk around

(44:31):
you are going to, let's sayyou're not a Disney fan.
Like, you bring your cousinfrom Iowa or something over, they
might walk around Coutinho andbe like, this is just a lovely place
to live.
And oh yeah, there's theIncredibles house.
That's really cool.
Whereas I could bring my buddyJohnny from Disneyland and he'd be
like, oh my gosh, look atthat, look at that, look at that.

(44:53):
You know, like.
And he's just going to, youknow, geek out about everything.
And I loved how they kind ofrode that fence, I guess, very effectively
of if you are really intoDisney, you're probably going to
love it.
If you're not so into Disney,you're still very much going to love
it because it's got thatenvironment and that, that quality

(45:15):
level that Disney brings to things.
Excuse me.
And I was really pleasantlysurprised in that regard and I shouldn't
have been because that's whatDisney always does.
But it was fascinating to seehow they brought that.
And I really just expected tosee Lucille Ball or Frank Sinatra
walk down the street.

(45:39):
Yeah.
And I didn't know what to expect.
And to be perfectlytransparent, I did not look at a
lot of the concept art.
I didn't read a lot of thematerials ahead of time because they
didn't want to go with anypreconceived ideas or expectations.
I wanted to have the placespeak to me on its own without me
coming in with any sort ofpreconceptions or potentially misconceptions.

(46:04):
And to your point, you're notgoing to walk in like, there is no
Mickey Mouse on the front entrance.
There's no.
I mean, you talk about hiddenMickeys, they are few and far between.
Incredible subtlety is, is, isthe aesthetic.
There are nods and we'll talkabout some of those Easter eggs because
that's really what they are.
But then you also have theParr House, Right.

(46:24):
So you also have this physicalinhabitable version of the Pars mid
century modern home from theIncredibles 2, which I have to tell
you, you see it from theoutside, you're like Oh, I get the
reference.
That's pretty cool.
But when you walk in, therewas a lot of things that sort of
hit me all at once.

(46:45):
One, it felt to me like thishouse was built in the 60s and it
was just sort of modernizedjust enough so that it fits in.
I also felt, and I've onlyfelt this a few other times before
that when I walked in, I gotthis huge, stupid smile on my face

(47:05):
because I felt like I walkedinto the Incredibles to.
The last time I felt that waswhen I walked into Radiator Springs
and I was like, I am standingin the middle of this Cars movie.
Now, the, The Par house, justto be clear, is a.
It's.
It's for members only.
There is an additionalmembership level that we'll talk
about for private events, butthere are bedrooms.

(47:28):
There are, I think there's six bedrooms.
Like you sleep like 16 people there.
There's a, a kitchen thatcomes right out of the movie, but
also there's a secondarykitchen, so if you want to have catered
gatherings there as well.
But if you go and watch thatscene from the Incredibles 2, they
picked it up and they put it in.

(47:49):
It's like they 3D printed themovie because there are those huge
indoor outdoor rockworkelements and the glass walls and
this incredible, breathtakingatrium space that you walk into.
And as you look around, thereis newly crafted, unique, mid century
modern furniture and finisheslike that laminate cabinetry.

(48:12):
My mother would loved it.
And you know, the fabrics thatare very bold.
So it's like a lot of other things.
It carries the incredibleaesthetic without turning it into
like a theme park sort of created.
Stunt's the wrong word.
But you're not creating.
It wasn't cartoony, is thatwhat you're saying?
Exactly.

(48:32):
Yeah.
Yeah, it really.
I think I would have loved ifDisney had had a camera on when we
all walked in, because Ireally think all of us kind of just
literally got this huge, youknow, eyes popping, you know, big
smiles.
And one of the things that'spopping into my head too is that
second level hallway thingthat's kind of a floating hallway.

(48:55):
And that view was absolutely stunning.
And then you think of the TVthat was very retro but brand new,
and it.
I completely agree with youthat, that it's kind of like walking
into Cars Land for the firsttime, where you're like, oh, they
literally just picked it upout of the movie and dropped it here
and somehow took it from ananimated medium to.
This is physically where they lived.

(49:17):
And that was probably one ofmy favorite spaces that we've visited
in a media event in recentyears, just because it was so unexpected.
And I think we hadexpectations of, I don't know, trying

(49:38):
to continue to weave thatthread of not being too much Disney,
but also infusing the story in.
And in this one case, they'relike, pixar, you're right here.
Like, this is it.
And I could imagine I washaving a blast walking around and
looking at the differentrooms, and you're like, oh, well,
Edna sleeps here, obviously.

(49:59):
And, you know, like.
And you could imagine thestory continuing in this building,
and there really wasn'tanything identifiable that was like,
oh, this is flat out the Incredibles.
Like, there were lots of nods,and the calendar on the wall in the
kitchen was adorable, butreally, it could have been any family

(50:24):
from that era that could bethrown in there.
And that's one of the thingsthat keeps popping back into my brain
as we've been gone now a week,and just how it immersed you into
the story.
And you could.
I love anything that makes.
When, after the story's over,your imagination continue.
Use the story on.

(50:44):
And you're like, well, thiscould have happened.
And this is what happened.
You know, like, that's.
That's good storytelling onDisney and Pixar's part.
And this definitely got meinto, like, oh, I need to go rewatch
Incredibles 2.
And there was nothing actually.
Like, we didn't see any characters.
We didn't see a single.
I mean, it might be the onlyDisney opening for something in as

(51:06):
long as I can remember wherewe didn't see Mickey Mouse.
We didn't see, like, theIncredibles would have made sense.
They're probably more thanMickey Mouse.
But, like, we didn't see asingle Disney character when we were
there.
Right.
Nobody came out to cut theribbon or.
Right.
There was no surprise anddelight moment.
Yeah.
And we didn't need it becauseI think the surprise and delight
moment was getting to walkinto that house and just getting

(51:27):
to spend some time in therewith the people that made it come
to life.
And really just that view.
Also, like, looking throughthose windows at the mountains in
the bay.
Gorgeous.
It's like Galaxy's Edge.
Follow me around.
It's like Galaxy's Edge, wherethe word Star wars don't exist.

(51:49):
Right.
It's unlike the.
Because.
Because you might be listeningand going, oh, well, it's probably
like the contemporary wherethose rooms were inspired by the
Incredibles.
It's not.
It's very different becauseit's not a place that was inspired
by the movie.
Right to your point, everyroom is inspired by a different member
of the Parr family orcharacter like Edna.

(52:10):
But it's through the palette,it's through the textures.
Not literal character faces onthe wall.
Like, it's very subtle, it'svery complementary to that mid century
architecture.
And I think it's almost.
It's almost a caricature of it.
And like you said, it'ssomething that we get to step into

(52:32):
as if this place was aphysical manifestation of something
we saw in the movie.
Again, I know we had a chanceto talk to some of the imagineers
about their inspiration aboutsome of the Easter eggs.
I wanted to just quickly playa clip of that here.
This is the Parr House, so welcome.
The Parr House is amultipurpose event space for members

(52:53):
of the Artisan Club.
So members have theopportunity to rent this for special
events, birthday parties,weddings, baby showers, as well as
overnight stays.
So they actually spend thenight here, which is what makes it
so unique.
It's not just like amultipurpose room in a club, it's
actually a home that allowsguests to stay the night.

(53:14):
So there are actually sixbedrooms in this house.
And what's interesting aboutthe bedrooms is we wanted to be to
let them be inspired by thecharacters in the film.
So we used like color nods to characters.
We didn't want any overt sortof expression there.
So we have like nods andcolors and in custom wallpapers and
in lighting fixtures just togive a little nod to the character.

(53:37):
So it's really exciting stuffthat's upstairs because we never
really saw a lot of theirbedrooms in the film Incredibles
2.
But there's also a ton ofEaster eggs, like sprinkled throughout
the house.
So, like, hopefully you canfind some and let us know your favorite.
Actually, please.
What's one that I can't miss?
We keep talking about thecereal boxes in the kitchen, but

(53:59):
there's also a Mr.
Incredible Sing's framed vinylrecord that is pretty exciting too.
How much did you collaboratewith or take input from the folks
over at Pixar?
Because one thing about Disneyfans, we are meticulous about attention
to detail.
So this has to be right, quoteunquote, because it has to be able
to sort of match up to whatour visions are of the movie.

(54:22):
Yeah, so we worked reallyclosely with Pixar on this, and I
don't know if you know, butthis is kind of a full circle moment.
Pixar actually sent a team oftheir artists out here for the 2018
film Incredibles 2.
And they were inspired by thePalm Springs region in the mid century
modern architecture whencoming up with a design of the home.
So when we were trying tobrainstorm of like, what are we going

(54:43):
to do with the clubhouse hereand how could we make this multipurpose
venue come to life, it's like,what's something only Disney can
do?
It's make the home from theIncredibles too.
So it was like, oh, we alreadyhad a team come out and spend so
much time bringing this to life.
Let's see if we can, like,leverage some of that.
So we met with the team thathelped put it together and then,
you know, we learned all these things.

(55:04):
Like the home itself is thismid century modern marvel.
It's kind of like a caricatureof a mid century modern home.
So it's like in animation, alot of things are exaggerated, like
beyond belief.
And, you know, when the teamwas approaching the design of the
home, the Pixar team, it waslike, well, we don't have to make
it buildable, we just have tomake it believable.
And then when we startedworking on it, we were like, okay,

(55:24):
now we have to make itbuildable and believable.
So it was, it was really,really fun to try to like, figure
out how we were going to bringthis to life and have it perform
a very unique function for the club.
And it also is really, it's areally cool project because Pixar
was able to give us so many assets.
So like the cereal boxes wewere just talking about in the kitchen,

(55:44):
it's like literally the exactsame assets they used in the movie
that we were able to, like, reproduce.
So, yeah, because you have tosort of make it authentically mid
century modern and a littlebit of the Pixar look and feel and
squash and stretch and sort ofthe, you know, suspending our disbelief
a little bit, while alsomaking it modern and upscale and

(56:05):
fitting into the theming andthe storytelling of Coutinho as a
whole.
Yeah, you nailed it.
Which has to be a challenge, Iimagine, right?
And I think, you know, one ofthe things that I like to talk about
is the color and the finishesthroughout the home.
Because, you know, in theIncredibles 2 universe, everything's
really contrasted and saturated.
It's concentrated color andthere is texture there, but it's,

(56:27):
you know, it's a computergenerated film, you know, and it's
beautiful for what it is, butit's bringing it to life is Definitely
a challenge.
I think that we were able, andwe were successful and able to bring
it to life with the use of texture.
Like, the texture mix ispretty big here, and it's also iconically
mid century, you know, thetexture and the feel of fabrics.

(56:50):
But as well as, like, thecolor mix, we wanted all the colors
to sort of be complementary toeach other and not so contrasted
as they are in the film.
You know, violets, purples arereally intense, and the reds and
the yellows are very intense.
So I think that we achieved asubtle splash of color throughout,
and it gives nods to the film,but it's generally, it's a relaxing

(57:14):
environment and it's a greatcanvas for any event or just a chill
and watch a movie, you know, night.
I've only just seen.
As soon as I walked in, I'veonly just seen a very small amount
of the first floor, but myinstant thought was, okay, somebody
inherited, like, theirgrandmother's house.
It was visited and had to sortof modernize it for, you know, 2025.

(57:35):
But also paying tribute to,you know, a film that.
That you love so much.
So doesn't it.
I mean, to me, I don't know, Ifeel like this home has been here.
Yeah, exactly.
That's what I mean.
Yeah.
And I think that's, you know,a testament of.
Of great work, great teamwork,and great collaboration.
It just feels natural.
Like, the rocks would havebeen something that they would have
thought was really cool backin the 60s.

(57:57):
I mean, you sort of almost hadthe sunken living room to a certain
degree, too.
Exactly.
Those are the sort ofdecisions, you know, we have to make
when bringing it to life.
And they had that sunken sofain the movie.
And it's like that for us,wasn't working.
You know, like, that's notwhat we wanted to do with this space.
So it's like, how do we pay anod to that and be inspired by it
without having to, like,actually, like, replicate it exactly

(58:19):
as it was shown in the film?
So I think, you know, we hadto, like, make these.
Everything you have to gothrough and decide, like, oh, what's
a must have versus, like,what's a nice to have?
Yeah.
And I think it's like.
I think we got the blendright, but you can tell us what you
think.
The furniture looks like it'sbeen here for 64, like, a long, long
time.

(58:40):
All the furniture in here iscustom, so it's very excited to have
that.
And it was done remote, likein Southern California, so locally,
which I think is really really nice.
Like, even I just noticed thebar stools look like it's something
that could fit Mr.
Incredible.
But it also looks likesomething that I would have seen,
you know, in a relative's house.

(59:00):
And I love sort of themustardy taupe Y cabinets, which
is sort of in stark contrastwith the turquoise appliances again,
which look like they've been here.
We were really lucky to beable to source some of that vintage
looking appliances.
They are modern too, sothey're, you know, they're not going
to work like mid century appliances.

(59:21):
They're going to do a reallygreat job.
But I'm happy that you pointedout the yellow in there.
It was just as we did withevery color in here.
I feel like we really.
I mean, I probably had like 10chips of yellow laminate to just
like go off of the color tonesthat were provided from Pixar.
And we found the perfect one.

(59:43):
And it was.
And it just.
I feel like we nailed it.
I walked in and I got the samefeeling I got.
And this is meant to be thehighest compliment when I walked
into Cars Land for the veryfirst time, and I was like, I'm stepping
into the movie.
I walked in here and I feellike I stepped into the Incredibles
too, which now I have to watch tonight.
So I thought I was there.
I was in the living room.
Thank you.

(01:00:03):
Yeah.
This is beautiful work.
It is beautiful work.
Thank you.
Have you been to any of theother rooms yet?
Not yet.
You were my first stop.
What's the last question?
What is the one?
Because it's all about story.
It's all.
We come.
We come back to Disney becauseit's the way it makes us feel.
What do you want guests tofeel when they step into this space?
Ooh.

(01:00:23):
So in the movie, I don't knowhow you remember, but it's when they
pull in, like, the home itselflooks like a one story ranch when
they first get there and thendash and the family kind of throw
the doors open and run in andthen they descend into this flight
of stairs and it's like thisbig expanse of glass and this view
out.
And that's something I thinkwe were trying to pull off here.
And so it's the same thingwhen you get on, like when you're

(01:00:45):
entering from that side of the house.
It's actually very.
It's like, it's.
It looks very understated.
You know, it's.
Yeah, it's not supposed to belike a real punchy facade.
And then you open up the doorsand then we actually have this, like,
you know, three steps.
You go down and then it all ofa sudden opens up.
So it's playing with thiscompression and release that the
film uses.
And I think that's what I wantpeople to feel like when they get

(01:01:08):
here.
They're not really sure whatto expect.
Throw those doors open, andthen the steps kind of invite them
in, and then they get toreally see the scale of this room
and.
Cause I think the scale isreally effective.
It reminds me of walking intoMagic Kingdom in Walt Disney World,
and you don't see the castle,but you turn the corner and you get
that reveal moment.
That last step is that bigreveal moment.
Yeah, that's cool.

(01:01:28):
I do completely agree withyou, I think.
But we've been giving tours ofParr House for a little with different
groups and different memberslocally and with Disney as well.
And what's exciting is I've.
I just love opening the door.
And we literally.
I've heard so many people justgasp when they see it, and it's just.
Every gasp is like a pat onthe back.

(01:01:49):
Well, I thank you for thefirst wow moment.
I'm going to continue to tour around.
Yeah, make sure you go upstairs.
Let's get some cool views up there.
There's a great shot from that.
And so this is part of this.
Is this the Artisan Club,which, you know, I think differs.
It's funny because we've beentrying to sort of draw parallels.
So to.
How does Coutinho compare andcontrast with different things?

(01:02:10):
The Artisan Club is almost like.
It's almost like a countryclub membership that you have.
And this club is meant to sortof be like this creative oasis.
And I think this is whereDisney starts to lean into it, wanting
to create a sense ofcommunity, not just build homes.

(01:02:31):
Right.
They want to lean intoarchitecture and literature and movement
and things like that.
And so, for example, there'stwo different dining venues here.
One of them is Architects Forks.
Architects Fork.
Say it three times fast, which really.
Which I loved.
First of all, the views of thebay were incredible.
The food was amazing.
But like, this really honorsagain, in such a subtle way the,

(01:02:57):
like, design and imagineeringand the planning and the process
like that.
There's a massive chandelier,which almost like it's almost.
It almost doesn't even looklike a chandelier.
Almost look like a cloud,which they explained is shaped like
a topographic model of thelocal San Argento Mountains with

(01:03:18):
all the little hiking trails.
And if you look at the walls,there's WDI concept art and blueprints
for classic attractions.
Like that is the subtlety thatwe were talking about.
That's not in your face Disney.
But if you are a Disney fan,you know very clearly what those
things are.
Even those chandeliers madeout of the pencils that are.
That architects and imagineers use.

(01:03:40):
Yeah.
And that was one of myfavorite spaces also that we got
to experience, mainly becauseyou walk in and it has a very polished
feel.
Like to me, it was actuallyone of the most Palm Springs area
feeling venues we went into.
I mean, all of them were insome regards, but this one stood

(01:04:01):
out to me just because it hadthe view.
It had the, like the tablesand the chairs and everything just
felt right for the story thatwas being told.
And then you could spend, Idon't know how much time you could
spend hours probably goingthrough and looking at the wallpaper,
at the, the pencils, at the.

(01:04:21):
That chandelier was incredible.
Or just sitting at the bar andenjoying watching the world go by
and seeing that beautiful viewof the bay.
And this was one of the thingsthat also kept popping into my head
as we were going around isthis is gorgeous now, wait till it
gets to a year from now, fiveyears from now.
Because this is one of thosethings where homes and communities

(01:04:43):
are meant to be lived in.
And I think this is one ofthose things Walt Disney talks about
when Disneyland started.
It's only going to get betteras time goes on because the trees
will keep growing and all of that.
And I had that quote poppinginto my head as we were looking at
this because I'm like, this isbrand new.
They just are opening itbasically that day.
And imagine what it's going tolook like when there's trees in that

(01:05:06):
park or whatever it is on thefar side of the bay.
And you've got the littlevillage town, the stores and the
shops there finished.
And you could see the level ofbeauty already in the restaurant
and then the views that it sees.
And then you could also seewhere it was going to go.

(01:05:27):
And then that was complementedby the food and the experience we
got with the service, whichthis was all run by Disney cast members.
And the service was exemplary.
The food was delicious.
I'm still thinking about thebacon wrapped date.
I wanted more because I knewthis was probably the last time I

(01:05:47):
was ever going to be able tohave it.
I'm like, unless we findsomebody that wants to take us there,
that lives there, someday,maybe we'll get lucky.
But there were a couple ofbites That I was just like, oh, I
could take a whole plate ofthese and I'm going to sleep the
rest of the day, but they're delicious.
And.
And then the environment wasjust gorgeous, like, inside the room

(01:06:07):
also, like, you could havetaken that and put it somewhere else,
and it still would have been avery lovely restaurant.
And the fact that it was whereit was at, I thought was fantastic.
I also liked that.
I. I'm sure it was intentional.
You could see looking out theside, you could see the bay.
You could see the lawn for theParr House.

(01:06:28):
The.
But if you really wanted tosee the Parr House, you had to go
outside, either on the deck orlook around the corner.
And I think that was intentional.
And that was just one of thoseother little Disney details that
I thought was brilliant.
Another thing I really liked,and you might have to go with me
here, is if actually you did,if you made the trek to the restroom,

(01:06:48):
which was right by the frontdoor, they had some really good concept
art.
And one of the favorite wasthe House of the Future, right before
you chose if you were going togo into male or female.
And.
And I loved that detail.
And in fact, I came back fromthe restroom and two cast members
walked up to me and they'relike, did you notice the concept
art?
And I was like, yeah, I lovethe House of the Future one in particular.

(01:07:10):
And they're like, oh, good, alot of people aren't seeing it.
And I was like, I don't know,maybe, whatever.
But no, I really enjoyed that.
And I would love to go backand especially knowing that they're
going to change the.
The menu seasonally.
And that's also one of thoseplaces where they're going to interact
with the people that arevisiting and living there, visiting

(01:07:33):
the restaurant, but living inthe community.
And that will be a part of the.
The process of.
Of building this.
This artisan club.
And I think that's really coolas well.
Well, I think the fact thatyou have that conversation with cast
members speaks volumes,because it is not about it being
so overtly Disney, because itis this reproduction of what looks

(01:07:54):
like a piece of concept art.
Right.
It's very muted tones.
Like, even.
Not that I was taking picturesin the men's room, but fine, like,
you know, original conceptart, I was the only one in there,
I promise.
But of the contemporary, andas you go through some of the other
areas, you might not.
Unless you're staring at thewallpaper, you don't see that it's

(01:08:16):
blueprints for it's.
A Small World or Big ThunderMountain Railroad.
I think that carries over intoone of my.
It really may be one of myfavorite spaces.
I need to go back again toreally find out which is plot twist
and plot twist.
Again, all about story, right?
So even this is architect's fork.
It's all about design and creation.
Plot twist is about storytelling.

(01:08:38):
This is the beach bar andpatio lounge.
And it really doesn't justcelebrate storytelling, but more
importantly the literaturethat became Disney films.
There are pages andtypographical elements referencing
Alice in Wonderland and 20,000Leagues and Treasure island and the
living desert.
Again, subtle.
The very, very subtle little details.

(01:08:59):
These are not sort of movieposters, but what looks like pages
that are hanging out over the bar.
These are little winks forfans instead of overt branding.
And I think, I think that'spart of this whole thing, right?
It's those moments that whenyou first step into it, like when
you step foot into the parhouse, you feel like you're.

(01:09:21):
You're being on set, right?
Are you.
Or you're staying in a Pixarmoving or you're also walking into
a very high end luxury PalmSprings home.
And I think that's.
I think that's the point.
I think the storytelling isvery elegant, it's very subtle, it's
very grown up.
And I think it's like this iswhat Disney does well.

(01:09:44):
This is like something thatImagine Ring does well in.
In also dropping in some ofthese storytelling elements, these
tributes and these littleEaster eggs which are little gifts
for the Disney fans that areresidents or are visitors there or
are part of the community thatcome in and get to find them.
And don't you love.
I don't know if this.

(01:10:04):
I'm sure it was intentional.
Everything's intentional.
Plot twist is all about thoseorigin stories.
You know, that's what was onthe wall.
And then they showed likewhere they kind of recreated like
imagineers circling certainwords and then doodling on the stories
as well on the walls.
And then you had the storiesalso hanging from the ceiling.

(01:10:26):
But I also found itinteresting that it's a cement building
and it's a cement bar.
And it's a very sturdy structure.
In fact, it felt to me moresturdy in some ways than anything
else we did.
And I wondered partially, Iwas like, this could just be me thinking
too much too is like it wasbuilt out of things that foundations

(01:10:47):
are built out of.
And it used the part of thestory that's foundational to creating
a movie.
And I Loved that kind ofconnection, whether it was intentional
or not, of like, oh, thisfeels like a foundational point in
the story.
And maybe the foundation inthe experience is going and meeting
with people and enjoying timeon the beach, because that's where

(01:11:07):
community is starting to be built.
And we even had.
We had a mixology class there.
And that was one of thosemoments where we came together as
a community of media membersand really got to experience some
things that we probablywouldn't have experienced and taste
some things that we probablywouldn't have tasted and may not
taste again, who knows?

(01:11:28):
It seemed a little strong forus, but.
But, like, it was interesting,the foundational nature.
I felt like that was kind ofcarried through all of this and it
wasn't anything they outright said.
It was just kind of one ofthose observations I made as we were
touring it.
And then later when we cameback for the mixology class and I

(01:11:50):
could spend lots of time downthere, like, that was one of the.
There's no shortage ofbeautiful views at Catino, but that
was one where you just felt.
I'm sure it was still 90something degrees there, but it felt
cooler.
Maybe because of the mist,maybe because we're right by the
water.
But there was something veryrelaxing and less formal, obviously,

(01:12:12):
than architect's fork.
Not that architect's fork wasformal, but it did have a nicer feel
to it.
And then having the beachright there with its.
Did you hear that the sand wasspecifically blended and made for
like.
Of course it was.
That's right.
That's all of us.

(01:12:33):
Yeah, all of us are nowreaching down to like, oh, you're
right, it isn't hot and it'scomfortable and you don't get it
all in your shoes when youwalk on it.
Like, it was great.
But you have that right there.
You have all of the seats thatare just outside on the sand next
to the water.
And then you have the bocceball court right there too.
And I was like, this is such agreat hangout place.
That's foundational from astory perspective, foundational from

(01:12:56):
a community perspective.
And I wish we could go backthere, like every weekend, because
I just think it would be, youknow, I'd be curious who in our group
would be Norm from Cheers.
But, you know, it'd be fun.
Well, it's funny that you saythat because it was around this moment
where the dots started toconnect for me.

(01:13:19):
And I realized because.
And we'll talk about this,there's not.
As we were walking through,there wasn't the.
Oh, okay.
And the gym is over here.
Not at all.
Coutinho is not just aboutbeautiful architecture, but it really
is about Disney creating sortof like a lifestyle platform because
they talk about wellness andlifestyle, wellness and lifestyle

(01:13:43):
and daily life very, very intentionally.
It is not very much anafterthought because they look at
wellness not just as you goingto the gym or doing laps or, you
know, running on a trail.
It's about the physical andemotional and social and creative
and this well being of mindand body and spirit and doing something

(01:14:05):
that is multi generational.
It's inclusive on purpose sothat grandparents and parents and
kids can all participate inthat same activity.
Whether it is the encantodance class, the Moana breath work,
or the Incredibles supercircuit strength training, or the
Villains power sculpt classes.

(01:14:27):
The idea is that everybody canfeel like it was made for them.
It's not just sort of thisgeneric, quote unquote workout.
I shudder when I hear that word.
But it's wrapping wellnesslike everything else in story.
So it's fun and it's emotionaland it's repeatable and it's something
that you want to do and notjust do by yourself, but connect

(01:14:50):
with other members of thecommunity as well.
Yeah, it was interesting as wewere hearing and seeing all of that
and experiencing it, some of us.
And one of the things thatpopped into my head was this really
is something that you couldlegitimately say is fun for the whole
family.
Like there's nothing in itthat you're like, oh, no.
Well, you're not going to beable to do this because you're too

(01:15:12):
young or you're not going tobe able to do this because you're
too old.
And I'm thinking of theencanto dance workout thing they
showed us and some peopleactually did I give them credit,
not us.
To be clear, there is no videoof us.
I was wearing a bow tie.
What do you expect?
But they had workout clothes.
They came prepared.
But no, as we're going throughthat, they even demonstrated with

(01:15:36):
the team that was leading the dance.
They had people of all agesdoing it and having a blast doing
it.
And I could immediatelyimagine as a kid, my grandfather,
who was in his 80s or 90s, Iwas like, oh yeah, Would he be as
smooth with it?
Perhaps not.
But I could totally imaginehim doing it because nothing was
unattainable and everythingwas very, very easy to connect with

(01:16:02):
and to have fun doing togetherwhatever level you felt comfortable
doing it.
And I think that's a reallysmart thing.
I would have loved to haveseen, honestly, like one of their
art classes, like, whateverthat looks like, because I do think
that would be fascinating alsohaving seen what they did with some
of their other demonstrations.
And I could just imagine itbeing one of those things, like maybe,

(01:16:26):
maybe it's grandma and grandpathat live here and you get to bring
your kids and grandkids in andthey get to do a thing at the Artisan
Club for, I don't know,painting or something.
And they're painting thedesert and I would love to see that
environment and that.
That.
I just love to see thatexperience because it just sounded

(01:16:46):
like so much fun and wholesomeand, you know, very much what you
imagine from a family pictureof sitting on the porch and.
And in enjoying an afternoonin the desert together, evening in
the desert together.
And like, it really.
That's probably the mostsurprising thing to me about Coutino

(01:17:07):
was how much effort andthought went into wellness at every
level and for every age group.
And it's not a, you know, it'snot a 55 plus community.
They have that in the North End.
But it's not.
It's not only for that.
And even during the openingnight, we saw the different ages
of people that have alreadymoved in.

(01:17:27):
And that was very cool to metoo, because where I grew up in Minnesota,
we interacted with all generations.
And sometimes I feel like weget a little bit lost on that.
And I think there's so much Iwant to say.
Variety is a spice of life,but it really does add so much to
the experience in thecommunity when you have somebody

(01:17:48):
that's been through life doingsomething right along, somebody who's
just starting out.
And I think both sides bringsomething to that experience and
relationship that adds to both.
And I think they're creatingan environment where you really can
come in.
And can you imagine doing theDisneyland trip from the Artisan

(01:18:08):
Club?
Like where you go in, you havethe show director talk about paint
the night or something, andthen you get to go with neighbor
Joe and whoever and you go ona bus and you go to Disneyland.
You get to experience thesethings together with your local community.
That's all ages.
And I just think that's such afun and fulfilling thing that that

(01:18:31):
really adds to the heartcomponent that, you know, I don't.
I don't know that a lot ofbusinesses think about that all the
time when they're like, oh,we're going to build a housing complex
in wherever.
And there's been great careput into all of this.
And that was theintentionality behind everything
we experienced last week.

(01:18:52):
And the guests that areexperiencing it today was very evident.
And.
And I, I really was impressedand appreciated that.
Well, I'm impressed and reallyappreciate how you not so subtly
are dropping in enough hintsto really make sure people know that
you want to go back if someonewill invite you there.
I think we both need to, don't we?

(01:19:13):
I mean, I'm just hoping thatyou'll take me if you get the invitation.
Absolutely.
You're first on the list.
There is no kids club, right?
There is no kids club.
The idea is that it is about connection.
It is about being multi generational.
It is about people doing thesethings together, multi generationally.
Not just in the artisan cluband the studios, but even Cateno

(01:19:35):
Bay, right.
We keep talking about CatinoBay and I've posted videos.
I have more videos coming out.
I know you do as well.
It is about the size of.
Of 80 Olympic swimming poolsusing this crystal lagoon.
It's massive.
And you can see to the bottom.
It does.
It looks like it's almost thisfake blue oasis in the middle.
But there's also likepickleball and there's tennis courts

(01:19:57):
and there's all thesedifferent outdoor recreation spaces.
You talk about the 55 and overlong Table park, which is going to
have not just places for people.
You don't have to go there andwork out all the time.
Like there's shaded greenspaces and there's gathering tables
and something called the FourWinds Park.
Again, I love the nod toRollie crumps Tower, the four winds

(01:20:18):
from the 64 World's Fair.
But this has this.
And I almost don't want tocall it this because it's not, but
it all.
It doesn't.
It has elements of a countryclub type feel, but this is something
very different.
And it's something that Ithink is about bringing people together

(01:20:39):
to form real relationships notwithin your own family, but with
other people.
In this is trying to developreal, true community with programming
that is designed for that in ashared narrative.
And I think that's what'sinteresting too about it is they're
doing that in so manydifferent ways and levels.

(01:21:02):
And this is where it's just starting.
And it's only going to getbetter as more people move into the
community and there's morepeople to engage with and connect
with and then connect withdifferent people at different parts
of the community.
And I think that will beinteresting as well.
But it's not A country club.
I think that's such aimportant thing to say.

(01:21:24):
For one, you're not going todance to encanto at a country club
with, with different outfitson or whatever.
But the level of it doesn'ttake itself too seriously.
Is that a good way to put it?
I think it is very much a.
Yes, this is a very high quality.
This is very polished, butit's also fun.

(01:21:47):
And I think that's animportant thing to remember.
And that's a Disney thing.
And as you're experiencing thedifferent parts of the community,
maybe you're in that 55 plus,there's, there's different opportunities
for you to connect.
You know, maybe it's justwithin your family, but also with
your neighbors and with peoplefrom around the, the community.

(01:22:09):
And I also love that they've,the way they've built that is.
No, they don't have a town square.
No, they don't have that.
But they do have the lake orthe bay.
And I do think in the futurethat's going to kind of become the
place because I think there wasn't.
They say there was a promenadethat you could go all the way around
the outside of that.
And I think that's aninteresting thing because I feel

(01:22:32):
like that's a place where youwill end up bumping into people and
it becomes very natural to,you know, oh, we're going to go to
this class, or, oh, we'regoing to go to this restaurant in
the new shopping area.
And so I think the way they'vekind of funneled everything down
to that bay builds on that as well.

(01:22:54):
And it'll be, I mean, I'vesaid this multiple times to multiple
people.
I can't wait to see what itlooks like and what it feels like.
Maybe more importantly, whenthere's more people in it and the
development continues and youhave the, the, the variable and the,
the excitement of people fromRancho Mirage being able to come
in with the day passes.
Like, maybe that's how we, wepartially get back in at some point,

(01:23:18):
but it'll be.
I think this is where itreally, as much as we got to know
and experience in two dayslast week, there's so much more that's
going to grow and evolve withthis in the coming weeks, months
and years.
And it'll be interesting tosee how they learn from Disney is

(01:23:39):
fantastic at analyzing and adjusting.
Also, like, how does thatprogress too?
Like, there's so many funthings to watch and observe and if
you're living there,experience as, as this thing Grows
and matures.
Well, I think too, you know,we keep talking about these spaces
and wellness and what it is.
And you alluded to this acouple of times.
There's also going to be, andthis is again part of the Disney

(01:24:03):
difference.
There's going to be scheduledprogramming in these spaces from
Disney archivists, Becky Kleinfrom the Walt Disney archives was
there, historians outsideexperts from things like Nat Geo
who are going to come andpresent in some of these places.
And I think the idea is notjust to create the programming and
those Disney touches, butthird places, right?

(01:24:26):
It's where you live, where youwork, but these third places that
you linger and you talk andyou build tradition.
And these community gatheringspots outside of the home and outside
of the work, very thoughtfullydesigned, very community driven commercial
areas, as it were.

(01:24:47):
It's create and really set outto create environments I think that
very organically foster someof that social interaction.
And I think more importantly,they want to create a sense of belonging
for the people who are there, right.
And I think there's going tobe, people are going to find the
places that they go and theyhang out, right?
The places that you just sortof go over and over again, whether

(01:25:08):
it is, you know, the pool baror the lounge or some of the programming
spaces.
And I think it's so importantand intentional, like you said, even
things like that, the, thesight lines are very, very intentional
from where you sit and whatyou get to see.
Because every chair, everyplace that you sit, you could see

(01:25:29):
water or art or conversation.
And I think it's verythoughtfully and intentionally and
strategically designed thatway to make sure this place does
not necessarily feel like acountry club or resort, but a place
that is home even if you justmoved in.
Yeah, it's helping you findand build your tribe.

(01:25:52):
Like it's creating that, thatenvironment where you don't just
live and go to work, but youlive at home, I should say, and go
to work, which the homes are lovely.
You also live in the community.
And I think that's somethingthat, especially after the pandemic
became a little bit morechallenging is I think there was

(01:26:13):
that little bit of fear ofinteracting too much with people
around you or whatever.
And I'm glad to see that it'scoming back to saying hi to your
neighbor and hanging out withyour neighbor and randomly stopping
by for conversations on the porch.
And those are just things thathappen naturally as human beings.
And then this is like, yes,this happens naturally, but how can

(01:26:37):
we also just help it along alittle bit more and how can we add
a little bit of Disney magicto that as well?
And they gave us a list ofprogramming that's coming and it
was fun to watch.
I don't remember where we werewhen they were doing this, but it
was fun to watch the people inour group light up for different
things.
And you brought up NationalGeographic and one of the groups

(01:27:01):
or the people that are comingin is a photographer from National
Geographic and going to teachhow to take photos.
And I was just like, oh, I'mon board for that.
That sounds like a blast.
And other people wanted, maybeit was art or I die at the animation
Academy.
So that might not be my thing.
But I love that they'refostering the environment where you

(01:27:21):
can really pursue your passionwith like minded people.
And maybe one person's alawyer and one person's a teacher
and another person is astudent, who knows?
And I love that they'vecreated an environment and they're
creating the programming toreinforce that environment where

(01:27:44):
all of these different peoplethat have a shared love of Disney
at some level or another cancome together and share that joy
and share that love.
And I think that's somethingthat connects probably and resonates
to us in particular, justbecause that's why we do what we
do at some level is we have alove for this thing that really goes

(01:28:07):
back a very long time.
And we love to get to sharethat with other people that have
that similar thing.
And when you get to do ittogether and get that shared experience,
it just amplifies everything.
And that's something thatDisney has somehow figured out how
to put into a community nowversus seeing it in a parade or fireworks

(01:28:30):
or the first time meetingMickey Mouse.
And there definitely was thatshared sense of happiness.
I mean, joy, like that's whatwas coming out of it.
And that's not something wealways see at media events even,
or when we go to things, youknow, we go to lots of D23 things
or special archives, eventsthat are open for people to sign

(01:28:54):
up to.
And generally it's more of awow, you know, like, oh, that's cool.
Like it's a geeking out thing.
And I wouldn't say, yes, wegeeked out at certain individual
things during the two daysthat we were there.
But I would say more we walkedaway with a real feeling of, of happiness

(01:29:14):
and joy and togetherness.
Like they fostered the senseof community they're trying to build
in Cotino.
With our media group, we'vedone, I don't know how Many media
events through the years, howoften do we all get together and
take a picture by a sign andwe're like, no, we have to do that.
It just doesn't happen.
And it's not because we don'twant to.

(01:29:35):
It's just because that's notthe focal point.
Usually the focal point isthis is the story we're covering.
We now need to run and coverit as quickly as we possibly can
and get it up and not sleepfor four days, which still happened.
But because of the environmentthat they created and the culture
that they're creating in this,I think we all walked out by the

(01:29:56):
second night going like, oh,we really need to celebrate this
and remember this and get apicture and carry it on with us,
because it is so differentthan what we normally cover.
Well, that photo, to be clear,was also taken immediately after
we gather around one of thosecommunal tables.
And we were literally andmetaphorically dumping our wallets

(01:30:18):
and purses onto the table tosee if we can combine our funds to
actually afford to go andpurchase one of these as a.
As a communal vacation home.
And I think we need.
It's important that we talkabout that aspect of it because this
does obviously come at a price.
Look, even the Artisan Club,to be very clear, the Artisan Club
is a voluntary paid membershipon top of home ownership.

(01:30:41):
And that membership is limited.
Currently.
I think currently is probablythe operative word, currently limited
to Cateno residents.
And there's a core membership,there's extended membership, whether
it's for your spouse and kids,and there's an extended membership
for multigenerational familiesthat are going to run you, you know,
$20,000 in order to get accessto the private beach, to the pools,

(01:31:04):
to the courts, to the paddleboarding and kayaking and all the
stuff that you can do on the water.
The ability to dine atArchitects Fork and Plot Twist and
some of those special eventsand storytelling dinners and the
overnight access at ParrHouse, if you want to go for a bachelorette
party, your daughter, sweet16, whatever it might be.

(01:31:25):
So.
So there is a, again, it's, Ithink, very intentionally positioned.
Not like a golf club.
It's more about a creativityand lifestyle club.
Like it's Club 33, but everysingle day, like you sort of live
in that model every single day.
And, you know, there might bea sticker shock value to that, but

(01:31:46):
when we start talking aboutthe homes next and the prices, $20,000,
relatively speaking.
I'm not.
I'm a podcaster, relativelyspeaking, for those who are buying
a second or third home in, inCateno, it is relatively de minimis
ish.
Right.
And I think, go ahead, justthink about how much people spend

(01:32:08):
on other things.
And like out here, my magickey is now closer to two grand than
it is to what used to be 200.
And when you think of, of the,like, it's not cheap and it's not
something that's ever going toprobably be in my budget, but when

(01:32:28):
you think of what it'soffering and the distinctiveness
of kind of made sense becauseif they made it too low, like I'm
sure there was a ton ofthought put into this price point
because if it was at a twolevel or too low of a level and it
was too easy to get in, Idon't know that they would get the

(01:32:48):
same cultural return on whatthey're investing in.
And yes, there's the monetaryreturn that they're looking for as
well.
But I think there's a veryintentional choice made of if we
put things at this level andeven the location that they put it
in.
I think all of that was partof an equation that not only makes

(01:33:11):
this a profitable businessbecause as we need to remember all
the time, Disney is a businessand not a public amenity, but they
need to make a profitablebusiness, but they also need it to
be a profitable community or asuccessful community.
And that's a challenge.
That's the harder part.

(01:33:34):
It's not impossible to makemoney off of a community.
What's much harder to do iscreate a community.
That reaching into that wholeinspiration, creation and collaboration
thing, and that part was thepart I think even as I've been thinking
about it for a week, is that'sreally intriguing how they're going

(01:33:55):
to make that happen.
And part of that is you haveto have people buy in enough that
they're willing to not justinvest the money, but also invest
their time and their efforts.
And I remember using, I usedto do youth group events and we would
do lock ins for free andnobody would show up.
But if we put a five dollar, a$10 fee on it, which literally we

(01:34:18):
just threw into pizza andsoda, everybody like the thing would
just, we couldn't get, youknow, we didn't have enough space
then.
And I wonder if there'ssomething to do or you know, there's
some sort of logic like thathappening here as well where they're
like, we need to hit thiscertain mark financially just to
know that people are going totake it.
I don't want to Say seriously,but take it seriously and really

(01:34:40):
invest in the community.
Just like we're investing inthe community.
And look, this is, this is not.
And I understand, you know,I'm sure we've seen, you know, the
Internet being the Internetand sometimes there is pushback when
things like this are announcedand figures are attached to it.
I think this is different thanGolden Oak where the value proposition

(01:35:02):
is I live in Walt Disney Worldversus here, where I think it's,
I live is part of a curatedlifestyle, Curated creative, I think
lifestyle.
And this is not about sort ofgating the Disney magic for lack
of it.
It's about allowing Disney, Ithink to deliver consistency and

(01:35:23):
standards.
And I think the price pointshere are probably, I'm guessing might
be different than what wemight see when it's built in, when
the second one is built in the Carolinas.
And if this model works, whereelse this might evolve to.
And we'll talk about what thefuture is going to look like because
it's not just going to behomes that are at this price point.

(01:35:44):
And I think we should, I thinkwe should sort of talk about the
actual homes themselves, likethe physical spaces where residents
are going to live and connectand make their own story.
And I think too how thebuilders reflect, because there are
multiple builders reflectDisney's approach to storytelling
and design and attention to experience.
So right now there are threedifferent builders and three different

(01:36:07):
collections.
There is Shea Homes which isbuilding the Atelier 2 like a cottage
collection.
Davidson Communities isbuilding the canvas which is sort
of a grand collection.
And Woodbridge Pacific GroupGroup is building, we've seen, I
think the Westwood 2, which isthe estate collection, which are
homes that are ranging fromabout 20, almost 2275 square feet

(01:36:29):
starting to about 4200 squarefeet starting to end, sorry, two
story, very high end luxury,some of which have private guest
suites and very expansiveindoor outdoor living.
And look, these homes aregoing to start in the mid one millions
and I think the estatecollection starts in the upper four

(01:36:50):
millions.
That is a certain price pointthat is going to attract a certain
customer, more importantly acertain resident.
And I think it's reflective ofboth the story living by Disney brand,
the build quality and I thinkthe look.
It's.
You are in very much a premiumlocation of a premium location.

(01:37:11):
You're in the Rancho MirageCoachella Valley and some of the
unique community amenitiesthat are going to be built in there
as well.
Absolutely.
And when you hear thosenumbers, especially, you know, I'm
from the Midwest originally,like you, you say the mid millions
first as a starting point.

(01:37:32):
And my first thought was like,oh my gosh, like how does anybody
do this?
But then you start thinkinglike living in Orange county in California
here I'm like, you can't getanything for that.
Like that's, that's sadly likewhen you look at the houses that
we got to tour.
So we toured three housesduring this media event and all of

(01:37:53):
them were gorgeous.
All of them had more spacethan any most houses I've ever lived
in.
You know, I might have livedin a farmhouse as a kid.
That was massive.
But the space in each of themwere, there was a lot.
And then you look at location,location, location, that's, that's
a big deal too.
And I kind of walked away fromit, especially when I started looking

(01:38:16):
around my neighborhood as I'mwalking around is this isn't the
end of the world for aCalifornia priced house.
And like that was the shockingpoint to me was it's actually more
reasonable from a Californiareal estate market than I expected
it to be.

(01:38:38):
Maybe not so much for being inRancho Mirage, because I think the
further you get away from thebeach, the, you know, the less expensive
generally it is.
But it really shocked me thatthat was the entry point and if you
really wanted to live thatlifestyle, like I have a few friends
that were eagerly followingalong as we were going through our

(01:38:58):
two days and obviously at somepoint the price point comes up and
I was like, well, they'resaying you can start, you know, mid
1 millions.
And they're like, oh, that's it.
And, and they live a verydifferent lifestyle than I do.
And that's, they must have areally good podcast, right?
They have, they have something.
But you know, I appreciatethat, like, as daunting as that seems

(01:39:20):
to me and you know, like thatjust blows my mind is for some people
that's kind of a, that that'san expectation.
And, and I don't completely,I, I can't say that I completely
resonate or I don't resonateat all with it, but I don't completely
understand it, but I recognizethat other people do.

(01:39:41):
And for the people that aregoing to want to live in this and
want to have that lifestyleand then want to spend the extra
money to stay at par house orgo to Disneyland with, you know,
30 of their closest friends,like on a regular basis, like that's
kind of the expectation of,that's what you get when you go into
a community like this that isgated with security that are the
loveliest people you'll evermeet and is, you know, providing

(01:40:05):
that Disney experience withDisney cast members.
And while you are moving intoa community and you're just buying
a house as your entry level, Iguess you could say, for Catino,
I almost would think.
I would almost think at thatpoint, you're also going to just
get the Artisan Club as well,because then you're getting the full
experience.

(01:40:26):
And it's kind of one of thosethings I've gone back and forth on
in my brain is you think ofthat second house we went to, which
I think was made byWoodbridge, and it was massive.
We had what, maybe 30 peopletotal with cast members in Disney
and media members in thistour, and we could have easily had

(01:40:50):
double that there.
Like, you started thinking of,like I started thinking of, do you
ever see the ugly dachshundand they have that dinner party in
the backyard that just goeshorribly wrong.
I was like, oh, this is waybigger than that house.
And you know, like, you could.
You could start imagining how,like, these were kind of the opening
seeds of this is how you buildcommunity in this bigger Cotino community

(01:41:12):
is we've built layouts thatyou can move around and play with
that really are conducive forcommunity within your home.
And I thought there were somany elements in it that were brilliant
because they had theirdefinite communal spaces, and then
they also had the places thatyou could get away from the community.
Also, if you needed yourrecharge time or you needed to go

(01:41:35):
work or record a podcast.
I think all of us that.
That have a microphone werelooking at that second level suite
above the garage they calledthe granny suite.
And I was like, oh, that's thecoolest thing ever.
That's where I'd be spendingmost of my time, right?
I was like, I don't.
I mean, I need the rest of thehouse for this suite, but, like,
I don't really need the restof the house because the suite would

(01:41:56):
be plenty.
But it really was like, whenyou start thinking about the size
and the offerings and thepools and the view, all of that stuff,
the price is prohibitive, butI don't know that it's unreal.
Like, I don't know that it'sunreasonable, even though, you know,
it's not for me.

(01:42:18):
And look, it's.
It's not for you, it's not for me.
Even collectively, we foundout it wasn't for all of us.
But you know, the thing that, that's.
It's frustrating sometimes.
Look, and I have no horse inthe race.
I have no.
Is when.
And you know, these thingscome up and the Internet becomes
the Internet and people get soangry and so mad.
But look, everything is notfor everybody.

(01:42:40):
And you can't get mad atDisney for providing elevated experiences.
Whether it is concierge levelon cruise line, whether it's Club
33, whether it's Golden Oak,whether it's, you know, even sometimes
when resorts get built.
Well, why are you building?
I'll never be able to affordthose bungalows.
You can't.
You have to sort of build fora wide spectrum of guests.
And you're right, it is.

(01:43:01):
This is a business and this isa new type of business for Disney
that is, is very much for, youknow, a certain type of guests.
And I think it's unfair to getmad at Disney or get mad at people
who live there because they'reable to do that.
They're providing somethingthat I think they obviously did their

(01:43:22):
homework on and is a, is anarea that they finally wanted to
start dipping their toes in.
And don't you think there'slots of these experiences that, you
know, we will never like,we'll never live in Coutinho, I'm
just gonna guess.
But I'm glad that they existbecause it means that the company

(01:43:44):
is growing and the company is expanding.
And as much as there'sdefinitely the FOMO factor on some
of these, these exclusivehigher end offerings, I like that
they're happening becausethink of the other things that come
because of them that we get.
Maybe it's a new land, maybeit's a new, you know, a cruise ship

(01:44:05):
or something.
But like it's a good thing forDisney to be offering these because
it means the company'sexpanding as opposed to retracting.
And I think as Disney fans,like in business you're either going
up or down.
And if you're goinghorizontal, that's not a good thing.
And eventually you're going tocoast in for a landing, good or bad.

(01:44:26):
And I think one of the thingsthat I remember as a Disney fan through
the years is like, there'sfewer times I've been more concerned
about Disney than when therewas the possibility of weakness in
the company and a corporateraider coming in and purchasing said
company.
Like I go back to 2004 andfive in my head and all of the uncertainty

(01:44:47):
at that time.
And it was a celebratory time.
Cause we had the 50th comingup, but we also had that like, oh,
is Comcast gonna buy Disneyand split it up.
And so as is kind of that, Idon't know, historical Disney fan,
now this is going back to usmaybe being the old guys in the room.
But as I look back at thesethings, I'm glad that as we move

(01:45:10):
forward, we're getting more ofthese things that I can't afford
and I probably won'texperience just because it means
there's going to be moreDisney options for me to experience.
Because there'll be morestability, there'll be more magic
that comes out of the thingsthat they've invested in.
And, and that's an okay thing.
I think that's, that's a thingthat should be celebrated perhaps

(01:45:31):
more than we do maybe becausewe just don't think about it that
way too.
I don't know.
And I think, and I was goingto save this for later, I think maybe
it's an appropriate time totalk about it now because I think
the question that keeps comingup is, and there's more, I want to
talk about the, the structure,the physical buildings themselves
too.
But I keep getting sort ofasked, well, who is Cateno for?

(01:45:53):
Is Catino for the high endDisney fan that is look, looking
for a luxury Disney communityto live in?
Is this for the Club 33 andGolden Oak members that are looking
for a second, maybe third home?
Or is it for folks that arelooking for a high end luxury experience?

(01:46:14):
Maybe you're not necessarilyDisney fans, but understand and can
appreciate the level of thevery high standard, the level of
excellence, the exceedingexpectation that Disney does very
well.
I would argue that it'sprobably a combination of both.
As you were saying that myanswer was like, yes, because all

(01:46:36):
three of those groups aregoing to love it.
And I, I know people in all ofthose groups and they are the ones
that pop into my head of like,oh, I could see this person living
there, I could see that personliving there.
And then there's other peoplethat maybe it's not their thing,
like I very much invested into.
I would rather live in asmaller space that has less financial

(01:47:02):
and time investment so that Ican spend more time going to Japan
or going to France.
You know, like I, you know,it's where you place your value for
your time, your money and inyour life.
And I think there is a groupof several groups of people that
this is exactly perfect for them.
One person I was textingearlier today loves living in the

(01:47:24):
desert.
And this is like, oh, I lovethis environment.
We've now added Disney to itand it Looks gorgeous.
Sign me up.
Like I would.
If I were to pick one personthat will end up living there someday,
that would be the person, andmaybe it'll be their first home.
Who knows?
But it's very much for thosethree groups.

(01:47:49):
And I think we even met somepeople randomly as we were walking
around that kind of fit into acouple of those groups during the
opening night.
And I think there is that.
I don't think it's supposed tobe exclusive.
I just think it's a.
This is the offering we haveat the price point that we can do
it at and make it equitable,both for the company and also for

(01:48:12):
the resident and the peoplethat value that might not be the
loudest people on theInternet, but they're showing up
and they're saying, hey, Iwould like this level of house.
I would like to either add ordetract whatever rooms that they
can and make this, you know, Mickey.
You know, if you want, you canput a Mickey pool in your backyard.
Like you're allowed to do that.

(01:48:34):
But I think those are thepeople that are showing up for it.
And I don't think they'renecessarily the loudest people on
the Internet.
And.
And that's.
That's fine.
But I think that's also whereit's a gift from Disney to invite
people like us to kind of bethe eyes and the ears of this is
what this is about.
This is who it's for.

(01:48:55):
And I would not be surprisedif there's some people that listen
to us today that are like,hey, I didn't think this was for
me at all.
But it's something that waydown the line, this is where I want
to retire, or a future versionof this is where I would like to
retire.
And so it becomes part of thatfinancial plan of like, oh, I'm going
to put whatever aside everymonth, because someday this is the

(01:49:18):
dream.
And I just.
A lot of powers and dreams,like, when you've really defined
your dream and you're pursuingit quite often, it's not a matter
of if anymore.
It's just a matter of when.
And sometimes the when doesn'tline up to where you want it to be.
But I do think there will bethose people that see this and get
a better view of it throughthings like what we've done.

(01:49:41):
And then as people live thereand share about it, that it will
inspire them to want to live there.
And maybe that will add alittle bit of a different mix into
who does live there.
You know, we were there thenthe evening that we were there, the
second night was the officialgrand opening of the Artisan Club.
And they had invited a numberof people outside this, just our

(01:50:03):
very small media group thatwas there, including current residents,
some of the builders, some ofthe partners, and some folks who
already bought homes and whowere living there.
And I did not go up to anybody.
I wanted to be respectful oftheir privacy.
But some people did come up tous and me individually or some of
us in a small group, and we'reasking, you know, who we were or
sort of just making conversation.

(01:50:23):
And it was interesting becausethere was one couple that I talked
to that said, we've beenlooking in this area for more than
a decade.
We've gone to every community.
We just keep coming back.
We know this is where we wantto be.
But it wasn't until we sawDisney come in to say, we walked
in, we met with the Disney folks.
We looked around like, this is it.
This is the place that we werelooking for.

(01:50:44):
The flip side of that coin,another couple of I met said, we
are the world's largest Disney fans.
Like, we live, eat, breathe,sleep, Disney.
Like, I know that they wereClub 33 members.
Like, this is sort of.
This was something they didn'tknow that they were waiting for.
But as soon as Disneyannounced it, they knew from their

(01:51:05):
experience with Disney overgenerations of decades of generations,
they knew this is where theirsecond home was going to be.
And, you know, when I firstheard the term story living, I didn't
know what that was going tolook like in an actual neighborhood.
And then when I saw the modelhomes, it started to all make sense

(01:51:27):
and it wasn't.
And the thing that was reallyinteresting to me was how each builder
interpreted sort of the quoteunquote, Disney touch a little bit
differently.
And when I say Disney touch, Idon't mean there's a Mickey Mouse
room here, there's a Mickeypool here, because there was really
none of that.
We joked around how one of thebuilders like, look, there's a Mickey
Mouse cookie jar over there.
Ever anything like that before.

(01:51:49):
But each builder and look, youknow, we all had sort of relative
recency bias and to weeds.
We sort of fell in love witheach home for a different reason.
Like the Shea homes, the firsthome felt, relatively speaking, again,
sort of the most approachable.
It was simple.
It was simple, good vibe, andit was comfortable.
Yeah.
Like, I think.
Which will resonate with a lotof people.

(01:52:11):
It seemed very sort of effortless.
Effortless because it was notincredibly huge.
There was something Very, verycomfortable at that second home from
Davidson Community really lentitself to those open social kitchens
and social spaces.
Like, I think you may haveeven said something like this earlier.

(01:52:31):
It almost felt like a littlecommunity within the home itself,
because you all have differentplaces and spaces that you can go.
Again, it.
It felt very much like itbelonged in that part of California,
but still a little bit ofdistinctly Disney, not because of
the storytelling elements, butjust the way it was designed.

(01:52:54):
And then that final home fromWoodbridge Pacific, that estate collection
really feels like.
This almost felt likesomething out of a Disney resort
or even something that couldeven be like in a golden oak.
It was very grand, it was verydetailed, but still warm.
Again, there was private.
It was almost like a villawithin a villa, like having its own

(01:53:17):
private suite.
And I think it's reallyinteresting how Disney's role in
ensuring there was consistencyin emotion and expertise, but not
necessarily about design, ifthat makes any sense.
And I think it's alsofascinating to see sort of how Disney

(01:53:39):
has gone from building placeswe visit to places we live.
And it was, I think, buildingon what you just said is Disney.
Clearly you could feel theDisney touch when you walked into
each of those houses, and notjust because there was a Minnie Mouse
golf cart in the front yard, but.

(01:54:00):
But as you walked in.
Disney does a very good job ofcultivating the emotional experience
as you go through something.
And you could tell there wasthought process put into.
When you enter this house,this is what you're going to feel
and what you're going to experience.
And it was not the samefeeling for each house.

(01:54:21):
One of the houses, I think itwas, the second one there was that
massive, massive closet that'sbigger than the studio I'm in.
But you could tell despiteeach one being created and built
by separate companies, therewas that overlaying Disney connection
to it.

(01:54:41):
And it wasn't, as you said,there were no hidden Mickeys.
There were no paintings, youknow, murals on the outside walls
or whatever, which you coulddo if you lived there.
You can decorate the househowever you want, but they really
set the palette for you topaint on once you've moved in.
And really, that foundation isbuilt when you've decided that you

(01:55:02):
want to live there and you'repicking which house you want to live
and where it's going to be andall of those fun things, but they're
really setting the.
It's a canvas where you cancome in and you can create that.
I'll be a little cliche rightnow story Living experience that
is.
Is going to be your family'sstory once you move in, however long

(01:55:25):
that takes.
And there were three distinctstories that we experienced as we
went to these three different houses.
And it was funny, as we wereat the third one, each of us kind
of talking about what weresonated with at different houses.
And I think there was a littlebit of a, you know, agreement that,
like, oh, if we could takethis from this house and that from

(01:55:47):
that house, which I'm surepeople are going to do in the future
of, like, oh, I like, likethis offering in whatever house,
and could we combine, youknow, the backyard with.
With the studio above the.
The garage of this house?
And.
And I think that's probablythe Disney touch in all of this is

(01:56:09):
creating that.
I mean, it's.
It's going back to what Istarted with the creation.
Inspiring and collaborating islike, from the moment you said, hey,
I want to live here, you'renow a part of that lifestyle and
that process and that experience.
And I get happy just thinkingall three of those houses as I think

(01:56:30):
about seeing the peopleinteracting with each other in the
living room or out on thepatio or whatever it was, or geeking
out about specific closets or suites.
And I think that's going to bereally fun to see how that evolves,
too, just because they'regoing to.

(01:56:50):
You know, we were talking toone of the.
I guess he was a marketing guyfrom one of the builders, and he
was talking about all of theway you can customize each of these
houses.
And I'm sure that people whoare doing the.
Whatever that process is todesign each house, they're going
to start noticing trends oflike, oh, well, people really like

(01:57:10):
this in the kitchen.
Like, I will say I loved allthree kitchens.
I had minor notes on each ofthem, but, like, I would.
I would love to be cooking inany of them every night of the week.
I would be totally happy.
But, you know, there's goingto be certain trends and lessons
learned as this builds.
Institutional knowledge thatthey're going to be like, hey, you

(01:57:32):
know, maybe they like thisside size of an island in the kitchen.
Or if you do this with theliving room, you can.
You can have a better flow.
You know, like, there's.
I'm sure things that will popup that become popular and people
really like and that will beinteresting to watch evolve as well.
But all of that is possiblebecause Disney has created that palette

(01:57:57):
or that canvas where you canreally create something that.
Going back to the Shanghaithing is Distinctly Disney, but maybe
also uniquely lou Mongello orMr. Daps.
I was speaking to one of thebuilders and he basically paraphrasing,
said, look, if you can dreamit, we can do it.
Like if you can pay for it, we can.

(01:58:18):
You want that second, you wantthe in law suite on top of this house,
we can do it.
But I think it's, it's, Ithink it allows us to see how Disney's
influence is beyond sort ofthe theming and design details.
It's about creating spaceswhere people feel something.
Whether the feeling that youwant is comfort, is it connection,
is it inspiration, is it something.

(01:58:39):
I think each of the buildersdoes that.
Look, I think the Shea House,sort of the way I described it was
sort of it's approachable luxury.
Again, it's, it's relative, right?
We're talking about, you know,figures that are in the seven figures.
But from a relativeperspective, the Davidson really
I felt was about that social design.
They were designing for flowand community.

(01:59:01):
And I think the Woodbridge,again houses that are in the mid
fours is very much about thatelevated, almost more private, high
end living.
But they all sort of integratethe same thing, right?
The views and the flex spacesand the ability to adapt to whatever
the homeowner wants.

(01:59:24):
And I, look, I know thatthere's a lot that we're trying to,
you know, cover and convey andI think we've all been, we've both
been sort of creating contentand we'll have more about that too.
But I think sort of steppingback a little bit and zooming out,
like what does this mean forthe guest, for the person, for the

(01:59:44):
Disney fan that is starting todream about wanting to live in the
magic, as it were.
And I think it's important tonote too, this is phased one, this
is phase one of story living itself.
They've already announcedanother story living community called
Asteria in North Carolina,which is also again could include
thousands of residences.

(02:00:04):
I think they're going to startselling in 2027.
This cateno is going to bebuilding a town center, retail dining.
They already started toannounce some of the, for lack of
a better term, sort of theoperating participants that are going
to come in.
There's also going to be somepublic spaces.
There's going to be access toa public section of the Cateno Bay

(02:00:27):
beachfront that's going toopen up next year.
I sort of envision, we didn'tget to go over there, but I sort
of envision like a desertversion of Disney's Boardwalk meets
Disney Springs.
So it's not just forresidents, but also for locals and
guests.
And I think by attracting avariety of commercial tenants and

(02:00:50):
businesses, it's going toprovide not just residents, but people
in the area a lot of differentoptions for socializing and programming
and dining and curated art andmusic and things like that.
And allows people who maybecan't afford to live in Cotino, at
least in this early phases,the ability to experience Cotino

(02:01:14):
well.
I also think the whole regionwill make it even more of a destination
than it already is, becauseyou think of for the Disney fan in
particular, you can go downand kind of have that connection
with Walt and just feel whatit was like in that area that once
inspired him.
Then you can spend the daygoing to Cateno Bay and shopping

(02:01:35):
and dining there.
Maybe you stay the night there.
And then you spend the nextday going over to the Air Museum
and seeing Walt and Walt's plane.
And I love that they'restarting to create almost a.
It's almost another place thatkind of becomes a place to connect
with Walt.
As Disney fans, we like to goto these places that are somehow

(02:01:58):
connected with Walt.
Maybe it's Walt's barn up inLA or the Walt Disney Family Museum,
or go to Marceline.
And this is almost creatinganother one of those, because it's
now creating a place whereyou're feeling a realization of Walt's
dream in perhaps a way hedidn't even realize.
But there's still that throughline of the story of community and

(02:02:23):
creating something better thancame before.
And also he had the culture oflet's keep polishing and plusing
up.
And I fully expect that to behappening at Cateno as well.
And then also getting toconnect with, you know, 15, 20 minutes
away, as well as plane.
Like, I think it creates a newdestination for Disney fans to go.

(02:02:44):
I also think it's a greatthing to see how it connects with
the surrounding community,because they definitely aren't just
making this isolated thing.
They are saying, hey, this isa place that the public is welcome.
And that's good for twothings, because one, it makes for
a healthier community at large.
But two, you don't know who'sgoing to come through and spend a

(02:03:05):
day on the bay and decide,hey, you know what?
I'm on this side today.
Someday I'm going to be onthat side.
And which is funny because wewere on that side and we all were
like, I kind of want to goover to the other side, but grass
is always greener I guess,but, but I think it'll be interesting,
especially with this being thefirst one because this is very connected

(02:03:29):
to the environment around it,the community around it.
And the story that Walt Disneystarted in the Palm Springs area
decades ago and when you moveover to the east coast, that's a
different story, that's adifferent environment, that's a different
community.
And my question mark is like,oh, what does that look, feel, what

(02:03:50):
is that like once it gets tothat point?
And that's going to besomething that's I think very interesting.
And then if there's more ofthem, how do they connect with their
local communities and theirlocal interests and their local Disney
stories?
And only time will tell that.
And, and to that point, as Isaid, this is phase one.

(02:04:13):
And if you look at the plotmap, you see that there are multiple
phases of building.
We've talked about how there'sthe space for 1900 plus homes.
On that map is also space for condos.
Right.
Which I'm hoping, assuming aregoing to come in at a different price.
There's a chance.
There'S also space for a hotel.

(02:04:34):
Right.
So again, these can all change.
Time will dictate whatCoutinho is eventually going to continue
to evolve into.
But what I think Disney iscreating is not, not, and I don't
want to use the word just, butnot simply a residential community
center around all the thingsthat we've been talking about and
storytelling, etc.

(02:04:55):
But the really potentiallycreating a destination.
Can Cateno eventually evolveto something that is not just for
residents, not just for peoplewho are local or visiting Palm Springs,
but folks who want to go andmaybe have a condo there, maybe go
and stay at the hotel there.
And if so, is this the firststep in a series of footprints that

(02:05:17):
Disney is going to put aroundthe country, potentially around the
world for similar type destinations?
I say maybe and, and I thinkpotentially history is going to look
back on this time, the weekendthat we were just there as a monumental
step for the Disney companygoing into a very different type

(02:05:42):
of business and business modelthat I think can and will become
not just a single or twoplaces around the country, but something
that could be a very, veryimportant and impactful and I don't
just mean financially part ofthe Disney company and brand.
Well, I think you'recompletely right there.
And that's assuming that wesee happen the picture that was painted

(02:06:07):
for us.
And like all of if it goes onthe path that it looks like it's
going for, I think the Sky'sthe limit with this, and that will
be very interesting to see howthat grows and how that changes things.
And I was thinking as theywere doing the opening ceremony in
front of the Parr House thatnight, like, it was beautiful.

(02:06:27):
It was like they had thelights and they had the colors and
the glowing things in thewater, but it was also very subdued.
And it wasn't something thatwas like fireworks and confetti and
big, loud moments.
Instead, it was more aconnection moment.

(02:06:48):
It connected with the peoplethat were in the space, it connected
with the community, and thenit connected with Disney as well.
And I kind of felt like it wasone of those moments where Disney's
saying, hey, we have all ofthese things that we can do, and
we're using all of them to dothis now.
And this is gonna be new, andyou're probably gonna love it.

(02:07:11):
And to me, it's almost like aDisney's Animal Kingdom, when that
first was announced and thingcame to be is like, what do you mean,
animals?
I remember thinking that I'mlike, disney's gonna have a safari.
Why?
What do you add to animals?
You know?
And now it's not a zoo.

(02:07:31):
It's not a zoo.
Right.
It's not a zoo.
And I think in some ways,there's a correlation between those
paradigm shifts is whereAnimal Kingdom kind of redefined
both.
You know, it's not a zoo andit's not a traditional, you know,
Disney theme park, Castlepark, whatever you want to say.

(02:07:51):
I think this is doing the same thing.
It's not a traditional, youknow, housing complex.
It's not a.
It's not a.
It's not a hotel resort.
It's.
It's something different thatbuilds off what Disney already does.
Well.
And I think it could befoundational for future options for
this if it.

(02:08:13):
If people, like, if it becomessomething that people really want
and value in the marketdemands it.
Like, we could really see achange in how people connect with
Disney, because maybe you goto Disneyland or Walt Disney World
from, I don't know, Wisconsinor something once every couple years,

(02:08:33):
but maybe there's something inIllinois or something that's closer,
that has.
You can go for a day, you canconnect and get your Disney fix,
whatever that is, and feellike you're connected in a way that.
That goes beyond watching amovie, connecting on social media
and Disney plus.
And I think when you have thatkind of connection, it goes deeper

(02:08:57):
than the.
I don't want to call itpassive connection of when we're
connected on Social media orthrough movies and all of this stuff.
But there's a deeperconnection that comes out of that,
and I think we experienced it,that we just got the tiniest taste
of what that's like.
And I think everybody thatexperienced it in our group really

(02:09:19):
did walk away feeling theyfelt something special and different.
And that's kind of a.
That's an interesting place tobe in.
And I really hope it'ssomething that people don't.
Listen to the naysayers andreally go check it out for yourself,
because it's like all thethings that we cover, it looks one
way through a screen, and itmight look great.

(02:09:41):
It's never as good as if yougo and see Fantasmic and sit in the
front row and get wet or Worldof Color or whatever it is you want.
Like, there's.
There's something aboutexperiencing it for yourself that.
That I. I feel like you reallyhave to have that moment before you
can really make a good judgment.

(02:10:01):
And I used to.
To tell people, like, oh, you.
You know, people when they'dhave complaints at Disneyland, I'm
like, well, tell you what,I'll walk with you, and we'll go
sit in town or city hall for10 minutes, and then we'll go outside,
and you can tell me if youstill think it's a complaint.
And every time, once theyexperience that space, they're like,

(02:10:22):
yeah, you know, that's notreally a complaint.
Like, this is a special place.
These people are beingcompletely lovely.
And in the grander scheme ofthings, the Disney experience really
does kind of COVID all of the imperfections.
And it'll be interesting tosee how that is translated into this

(02:10:47):
story living.
And what does phase two andphase three and phase four look like
as it grows and hopefullyevolves around the country and maybe
around the world?
Yeah.
And I think this is somethingthat's not just new for Disney fans,
but as a new way to createlifelong Disney fans or maybe even
lifelong Disney citizens.

(02:11:08):
Right.
And maybe the next step insort of what the future of the Disney
difference is, not just in howwe vacation, but how we live.
And one of the things, again,that struck me most about this is
it doesn't feel like Disney isjust selling houses.
They're trying to reallydesign how we gather and relax and

(02:11:30):
celebrate and take care ofourselves and our families and friends.
And from Walt's vision ofEpcot to Celebration to Golden Oak
to Catino, you can actuallysee how Disney's sort of asking the
same question that Walt did.
How do we make like everydaylife better.
How do we do it?
Through design andstorytelling and story living and

(02:11:51):
community and.
And look, I think whether ornot you or I can ever live in a place
like this, you can feel Walt'sfingerprints on it, his love of that
area, his obsession withprogress and I think his belief around
bringing people togetheraround the literal and metaphorical

(02:12:14):
table.
So I, we want to hear from you.
Like would you like.
I think the end of the answeris yes.
Would you like to live in aDisney community like Catino?
Why?
Or maybe why not?
You know, what about Catinoappeals or is intriguing to you?
What other questions do youhave about Catino?
We will try and get themanswered for you.
Come be part of theconversation over in the clubhouse

(02:12:36):
on Facebook at www.radio.com clubhouse.
Better yet, call the voicemailat 407-900-9391.
Tell me how you feel.
I will play it on the air.
You can share your thoughtsand your questions and then when
you're done doing that, pleasego and visit Mr. Daps.
Mr. Daps, first of all, thankyou for sharing the Cateno experience

(02:12:57):
with me.
I really enjoyed getting to tochat with you while we were there
and of course for your timetoday, tell people who you are, what
you can do.
More importantly, where theycan find you.
You can find me everywhere.
If you look up dapsmagic.comlike we're connected everywhere and
then if you're looking for MePersonally, it's MrDapps for everything.

(02:13:17):
We keep things very simple asbest as we can with a name that is
a little bit nebulous at times.
But for those that don't knowit's Disney and positive stuff, that's
what DAPS stands for.
But yeah, connect with us.
We'd love to connect with you.
And sometimes I hop on theWednesday night things too.
They're a lot of fun.
It's the Disney apocalypse.
Positive stuff is is one ofthe many reasons top 10 reasons why

(02:13:40):
I dig Mr. Daps and what you do.
Thank you again for this.
Thank you again for your time today.
Hopefully we have a chance.
I mean we probably won't beable to go in half these on a house,
but maybe we get a chance togo back and visit and see what future
expansion and phases look likeand see what story living by Disney
continues to evolve to.
If you can snap your fingersright now and just put yourself anywhere

(02:14:02):
in Catino just for an hour,where would you go?
I would go back to the thebeach bar.
But I would like to combine itwith the the bacon covered dates.
I was gonna say if you cancombine that with snacks and the
mystery fans and they do serve stuff.
But yeah.
My idea to allow you did thatmy idea to go to allow us to go back

(02:14:26):
and I said look to reallyconvey what the story living experience
is like let me live in a housefor a couple of months.
I don't think that ideaactually flew.
That may not fly but I bet wecould pitch a part two of our cotina
coverage and be like, hey,we'd like to do a live podcast from
the par house and you never know.

(02:14:46):
I like how you're thinkingthat's going to do it.
For this week's show.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to tune in this and every
week.
I am so incredibly grateful toand for you and I hope that you found

(02:15:07):
some magic, some value and somaybe a little inspiration in this
week's show and you might besaying, hey Mangello, what about
this week's trivia contest?
I know I'm going to skip thisweek only because of time because
this conversation did go long.
I promise I will bring it backnext week.
So I'm just basically givingyou one more week to answer last
week's trivia contest question.
If you want to talk more aboutCatino, we can discuss it on this

(02:15:28):
week's WW Radio Live show thisWednesday, 7:30pm Eastern on Facebook
and YouTube.
And please don't forget toconnect and chat with me on social.
I am at Lou Mongello onInstagram, Facebook and LinkedIn
and turn on notificationsbecause next week at this time, starting
on November 10th, I will besailing on that brand new Disney
Destiny for a preview cruise.
I'll be sharing a lot of videoand photos, possibly live video,

(02:15:51):
primarily on Instagram.
So if there's something youwant to see, questions that you have
or something that you want toknow about the Destiny, let me know.
But for now, if you enjoyedthe show, please help spread the
word, share the show and tella friend.
Remember, be kind, choose the good.
Have an amazing day today.
Do something kind andunexpected for others.
Positivity is contagious andhas a ripple effect and know that

(02:16:12):
I love and appreciate you.
So until next time, see ya.
Hey Lou, Joe Casco here.
It was great seeing you atCreator Camp.
I just listened to episode 843.
It was great.
I want to take the road lesstraveled on being in or out on Epcot.
Being the best park I am in.

(02:16:34):
I am lucky enough that mybrother is a cast member, and I frequent
the parks more often than many people.
But one of my favorite things,he'll ask me, what do you want to
do?
And I'll just.
I just like.
I'll just tell him I likebeing here.
I like.
I just like hanging out.
And Epcot, I think, is thebest place to hang out.
I have actually, you know, ondays where I was kind of working

(02:16:58):
remotely, I worked from theDVC lounge.
I've hung out in the land.
I love walking around thecountries and taking in all the things
that you guys mentioned.
And so I am in on Epcot beingthe best park.
Hey, Lou.
My name is Alex.
I'm from Michigan, and I'mjust thinking about attractions that

(02:17:18):
tell the best stories.
As far as what you said, I am out.
I think that the best storiesdon't rest on context from movies.
So I think the best story toldis from dinosaur.
I know that that might bebecoming a little archaic.

(02:17:40):
That is a joke.
I think that the way that yougo in the initial immersion into
the Cretaceous period,whichever period it is, and then
you move through this storythat is both comical and frightening,
but also, when the attractionends, the story's not over, because

(02:18:03):
then you see the dinosaur inthe lab.
I think it is a beautifulstory, told immaculately.
Thanks so much for what you do.
Have a magical day, and bye.
Well, it sounds pretty good.
In fact, that's just the right spirit.

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845 · Cotino – What It’s Really Like Inside Disney’s First Storyliving Community

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}845 · Cotino – What It’s Really Like Inside Disney’s First Storyliving Community