Short of sentient Androids and a host of other plot points, you’d be forgiven that the latest news out of Disney runs a little similarly to Westworld – however, that’s the story of the day as the firm has announced its plans to develop master-planned communities for residential living that will be designed by its own creative staff.
The first such location – a 1900-unit development called Cotino in the city of Rancho Mirage in California, intends to offer housing complexes and villas around what it terms an ‘oasis’. According to the company, the village will offer “shopping, dining, and entertainment,” as well as “Disney programming, entertainment and activities throughout the year.”
Though Cotino will be designed as a living community, visitors will be able to tour its surrounds through day passes with as-yet unannounced prices.
Though the concept may seem in the realm of science fiction itself, Walt Disney famously dreamed of an idyllic city – or as he termed the concept himself, “the creation of a living blueprint for the future” that would be unlike “anyplace else in the world. The concept was dubbed EPCOT – or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
Though Cotino may just be a starting point, the project will instead be developed by third parties and not by Disney itself. Similarly to its various theme parks, Disney will host content and seasonal parties and events in the village in which its participants will be active.
