Business and tourism advocates see the new Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando that lets children sleep in the company of little mermaid Ariel and lion king Simba as a sign the region is making an economic recovery.
The 1,984-unit Art of Animation Resort, which Disney announced it was moving forward with Wednesday, is Disneys first new resort in roughly seven years, and it could boost area businesses and push others to consider investing in the hospitality industry.
That bodes well for the destination, said Brian Martin, spokesman for the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau. As Disney goes, so goes the destination.
The Art of Animation Resort is expected to open in 2012, and will create as many as 800 new construction jobs, along with uncounted hospitality-industry jobs and revenue for tourist-dependent businesses nearby.
The newest in Disneys value resort line for families on a budget will feature rooms based on the popular animated movies Finding Nemo, Cars, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. The other resorts in the line are Disneys All-Star Sports, All-Star Movies, All-Star Music and Pop Century Resorts.
The resort will have 1,120 family suites in the Cars, Finding Nemo and The Lion King" suites and 864 rooms in The Little Mermaid wing.
The Art of Animation resort is the largest new value resort, said Martin. Right now, most hotels and resort and hotel companies are renovating their properties and not adding new ones. The most recent hotel to pop up in Orlando was the luxury Waldorf Astoria Orlando on Bonnet Creek Road last year.
Disney isnt releasing figures on how many employees will be hired at the Art of Animation, but by way of an example Martin said the Hilton Orlando, a hotel opened this past fall, hired the equivalent of one person per each of its roughly 1,400 units.
Martin said Disneys resorts could push other hotels to take a new look at projects tabled because of the recession. The fact that Disney is building its first resort in seven years, and doing it fairly quickly, could spur healthy competition, he said.
The new Disney resort could bring new business to the restaurants and shops nearby, especially retailers on the SR 129 corridor, said Mike Horner, a Republican representative in the Florida House and the president of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce.
I think it shows that were coming out of the recession, he said
Horner also said he hopes the new resort will instigate the resurrection of other area projects.
