House of Mouse

Legendary is a word that's used a lot at Walt Disney World in Orlando. It's no wonder, when just the mere mention of the resort stirs up memories of beloved Disney characters, the Magic Kingdom and childhood. But “magical” moments aren't the only things Disney has to offer: There are more than 600,000 square feet of meeting and convention space in the resort and a bevy of luxury properties. Tradeshow Week Assistant Editor Stephanie Corbin spoke with Anne Hamilton, vice president of resort sales and services for Walt Disney World, about what luxury and legendary mean at Disney.

Question: What is luxury?

Answer: We go by the industry standards as far as the physical property and being upscale. We like to say luxury is what you would find in your home: ... comfortable, warm and welcoming. What makes Disney luxury is our cast members, our service and the experience that you're going to have with our cast members ... to make (guests) feel warm, special and have a wonderful – what we call “magical” – experience.

Q: How does Disney meet that expectation of luxury?

A: Every hotel company has a different nomenclature for their properties. You're using luxury or deluxe or first class. … We just look at whatever price the guest is paying for their resort experience. We want to ensure that they feel the value and that they feel like they're getting the products and services that they were looking to have.

Q: What resort properties at Walt Disney World are considered luxury?

A: The Grand Floridian (Resort & Spa) is considered our flagship resort. We also have the Contemporary Resort, the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts and the BoardWalk (Inn) Resort. That's just on the convention side. We actually have many others (on the leisure side).

Q: What types of events and groups do the luxury resorts host?

A: Because of Walt Disney World Resort being such an inclusive destination and having the 47 miles of products and services, we appeal to so many diverse groups and organizations. If I had to lump them into specific categories, I would say it would be corporate, association and incentive.

Q: What do clients look for when they book space at luxury resorts at Walt Disney World?

A: They're looking to ensure that it physically looks like what's in the brochure online. ... At Disney, one of our core values we call “show.” We always have our products and services at a very high standard, so if you look at a picture of a guest room or of our resort online or in a magazine or in a brochure, when you get here, it's going to look just like that. We call it “show ready.” One of our core values is that we have our products and services always at a very high level.

Q: What does Disney offer those guests that's unique?

A: A differentiater for us is our cast, our service, our brand. They expect when they come to Disney that they're going to have a really fun time and something unique is going to happen, or they're going to have some type of interaction or experience that they didn't expect. ... There is that expectation of “there's always something going on at Disney.” We have the different entertainment venues; we have a Cirque du Soleil show; we've got Downtown Disney; we've got our theme parks; we've got restaurants, so there's so much for our guests to do. In that luxury category, it is their expectation.

Q: Disney's Grand Floridian has 40,000 sq. ft. of flexible function space, two ballrooms and 16 breakout rooms. How does that fit in with the meetings and conventions held at the other various venues and luxury properties?

A: In total … we have 600,000 sq. ft. of meeting space at Walt Disney World Resort, and that does not include our theme park venues that our clients utilize across property. The fact that we have the versatility of having so much function space at different resorts ... just lends itself for giving the flexibility of having different kinds of experiences. ... At the Grand Floridian, we don't do that many tradeshows, but we do white papers, educational groups, corporations (and) boards of directors. Those associations that we do have may be coming for a specific focus, but they would still maybe have table-top exhibits or something like that. It depends on what the purpose of the meeting is.

Q: Do some of those groups utilize multi-property bookings – having a meeting at one resort when a larger portion of their event is at another?

A: The Contemporary Resort has 90,000 sq. ft. of space, so we do tradeshows at the Contemporary, and that's considered a luxury resort, as well as the Yacht & Beach, which has 71,000 sq. ft. If a group is at the Yacht & Beach or the Contemporary, the majority of the time their tradeshow and events are happening at their specific resort.

However, one of the flexible features that we do have at the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian (and) the Polynesian (is) they're all on the monorail. So we could have a large group that might have a block of rooms at the Grand Floridian for those that want what we call super-deluxe or super-luxury or a different type of service. They may go over to stay at the Grand Floridian and may go over to the Contemporary by the monorail for meetings. Or if we have a group at the Contemporary and have breakouts and also want a block of rooms at the Grand Floridian to give their guests alternatives, we do that too.

Q: What is the average size of a meeting or convention that books space at the luxury properties?

A: They vary … 10 people to 10,000. Because … of the amount of resorts that we have, we do what we call small citywide groups where they can come into Walt Disney World Resort, and they can use multiple properties and meet at one of our deluxe resorts. ... We haven't talked about Coronado Springs (with 220,000 sq. ft. of meeting and convention space), but that's our largest resort. ... Many times, what groups would want is a moderate-priced resort ... and then they also have rooms at one of our deluxe resorts like the Yacht & Beach or maybe like the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so they offer different alternatives at different pricing so that the attendees can all stay in the type of resort that they want to stay (in). That is a benefit at Walt Disney World, because we own all those resorts. So we can offer that to our clients, which is unique.

Q: When many of us think of Disney, it's often the cartoons or the theme parks that come to mind. How do the luxury properties break through that image?

A: We have a high repeat-client base, so once a client comes and actually has a meeting experience in the convention center or in the resort, they know that we're a serious meeting destination. At the same time, we offer those external amenities, such as the theme park, our special events that we do … those are all amenities.

When we designed our resorts, we designed them so the convention centers are on a different, let's say, path, than a leisure guest. So, if there are leisure guests in the resort, they would not ever go to the side of the resort where the convention center is because they would be going to the theme parks or the pool.

Q: How do the resorts keep the attendees focused on business instead of leisure?

A: We put the convention center, I would say, on the quieter side and the more exclusive side of the property. (There are) great places to go outside of the convention center and sit on the patio and have a coffee break, but you still feel you're in this exclusive area that's doing business, and that the fun leisure area is on the opposite side. All our resorts are designed that way.

Q: There's been a lot of hotel construction and expansion in Orlando and at the Disney resort. How do the luxury properties fit into that?

A: That question's been asked a lot because of what's happening in Orlando, (with) the new hotels that are coming to market, but I would still go back to the fact that … our brand has a great reputation, we have a high repeat percent of business that comes back year over year, and we are consistently refreshing (and) reimagining our resorts, our theme parks, our amenities.

Q: What do you think has made Disney stand out in that type of expanding market?

A: Anyone who comes to the Walt Disney World Resort, no matter what they like to do, they're going to find something here that's going to fit their needs. Everyone knows we have the theme parks. When you think of Walt Disney World, you may not think that we have some of the best bass fishing in our lakes or that we have 99 holes of golf. Those are what we call the pleasant surprises and opportunities that our groups experience when they come in and they take a look.

Q: How has the marketing strategy for the luxury resorts' meeting space changed over time?

A: We have more direct marketing, one-on-one with our clients. We know who they are and we know the type of group that wants to come in and utilize our properties. The amenities are constantly changing. ... Some of our clients think of meetings, they don't think of vacation, so the marketing itself, from the meeting and convention side, hasn't changed that much. We talk to our clients directly, and it is because we have such a high repeat factor with our current client base.

Q: What has changed at Disney over the years?

A: What changes over time is our products and services, to always be relevant. That's what Disney's known for, and I think that's why we have the reputation that we do with the brand. When people think Disney, they think of creativity, and they think of creativity because there's always something new. ... Our cycle is that there's always something new. Year over year, every year, you can come back to Disney and there's going to be something new.

Q: What other luxury destinations do you compete with?

A: That's a hard question to answer because some groups rotate. ... We're fortunate to have a high repeat group (business), and then we also see groups ... stay at our Disneyland resort (in California), or they'll go to Disneyland Paris. When someone wants a Disney experience, they have more options.

Q: With the economy changing, have you seen any difference in bookings for meetings at the luxury resorts, compared with previous years?

A: No, we have not seen any downward trend. I really believe that … when a client chooses a place for a meeting, whether a destination or a specific resort, they're looking at that end result that they need to have, that return on investment. …

It can be recession-proof if it's all done accordingly and has the execution, and the partnership between the planner and the resort is aligned.