In a move that sends either shivers of delight or shudders of loathing among fans of Hawaii, Disney is set to open its first resort in Oahu next year.
The 800-plus-unit property, dubbed "Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa," is designed as a Polynesian village (albeit one with high-rise towers) that will include hotel rooms and two-bedroom Disney Vacation Club Villas.
The 21-acre resort is being built in Ko Olina, a golf and vacation development that already has a Marriott resort and a man-made beach carved out of the rocky coastline.
Aulani is a different kind of development for Disney, the first that isn't linked to a theme park or its cruise line. The hotel will be far from the famous tourist areas and beaches of Waikiki, which is on the other side of Honolulu, to the east, near Diamond Head. Ko Olina is the kind of self-contained environment Disney likes for many of its developments.
In a video presentation posted on YouTube, Joe Rohde, Disney's "executive designer and vice president, creative," explained the thinking behind the new resort.
"Now the word 'aulani' specifically means a messenger of a chief ... but when you use it to apply to a place like we are making, it means the place is going to speak, to speak on behalf of something greater than itself. In this case, that greater thing is Hawaiian culture."
The YouTube video is typical of the buzz-building word-of-mouth campaign Disney has put together for Aulani. Members of D23, the Disney super fan club, were invited to preview the project at a presentation June 30 in Anaheim.
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