Disney fans don’t need wait until the next decade and travel to Abu Dhabi to experience what Imagineers can do with a desert environment.
They just need to be able to afford some expensive California real estate.
Today, Disney invited reporters to experience Cotino – the first Storyliving by Disney Community, now under construction in Rancho Mirage. Located not far from Walt’s old vacation home in the Coachella Valley, Cotino is Disney’s third real estate development and first on the west coast.
“Walt first started coming down here in the 1930s and he built a home here in 1948," Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline said. "He called it his laughing place - or one of his happy places - where he could come and get away from the cares of the studio."
Disney is hoping that Cotino will entice people – Disney fans or not – to discover their happy place in the Palm Springs area by purchasing a home in the community, then joining its Artisan Club.
Cotino sits on 618 acres at the corner of Monterey Avenue and Gerald Ford Drive in Rancho Mirage. The gated community is slated for 1,932 residential units, including single-family homes and condominiums, though only a small handful of homes are ready for occupancy at this time.
Last night we toured three model homes for Cotino’s 300-home phase one, with one each from Shea Homes, Davidson Communities, and Woodbridge Pacific Group.
The homes all evoke the midcentury modern design style that is so associated with the Palm Springs area. But they definitely are 21st century luxury homes at heart. The exterior lines are often boxy, to accommodate high ceilings and without the need for steeply pitched roofs to disperse the almost nonexistent rain in the area.
Each of the homes offer expansive open floor plans around their kitchens, with floor-to-ceiling glass openings to their patios. The outdoor spaces in these Cotino homes are extensions of their interior living spaces rather than moats of grass surrounding them.
Clearly, these are spaces designed for entertaining. But Rancho Mirage has outlawed short-term rentals since 2022, which – in theory – should keep Cotino’s homes from becoming Airbnb party houses. You will need to get to know a resident to party here.
What I don’t get is the bathroom layout in some of these homes. A dual shower gave me middle school locker room flashbacks, even if it was fancy as heck. And who wants a bathroom vanity that faces two showers?
I do not want to know the answer to that question, do I?
Two of the homes included Accessory Dwelling Units (aka “granny flats”) that offer a one-bedroom apartment that could be accessed without entering the main home.
The homes, as nice as they might be for the people who want and can afford this sort of dwelling, are not explicitly "Disney," save for whatever decoration an individual owner might chose. But the spirit of Disney lives in the community's club for its residents.
This is the second use of the “Artisan Club” branding for a Disney-originated residential community, following its use for the clubhouse in the Artisan Park neighborhood in Celebration in Florida.
Having spent a fair amount of time Florida’s Artisan Club over the years (full disclosure: family are members), I can say that this is nothing like its namesake.
This Artisan Club is an optional club open to Cotino homeowners and their families. (California law prohibits recreation and social club memberships from being automatically included in homeowners' associations.) Membership includes access to a restaurant – Architects Fork, as well as to pickleball and tennis courts, a pool, fitness center, dance and wellness studio, the Plot Twist bar... and a 24-acre lagoon from Crystal Lagoons.
Membership requires a $20,000 initiation fee and annual dues of $11,000 for the homeowner and immediate family or $19,000 for a homeowner and extended family (including grandparents, parents, children’s spouses, and grandchildren). There’s a food and beverage minimum spend of $1,000 a year for members, which goes up to $2,000 a year for members with extended family.
To help celebrate the grand opening of the Artisan Club today, we were invited to sample a few of the dishes from Architects Fork, including a tasting of the Dates (wrapped in Applewood bacon and stuffed with cotija cheese, topped with pepitas for $14), Ny Steak & Fries (that’s how they styled it on the menu - Wagyu strip with chimichurri and fries for $53), and Salmon (topped with Lemon Cream and served with asparagus and sweet pepper for $37).
It was all delicious. Disney has contracted an outside party, S&A Global Affiliates, to develop food and beverage at Cotino, though Disney cast will prepare and serve. And the space is pure WDI, with plenty of design touches from Imagineers, including a lighting fixture made of designers’ pencils, above a wall of design plans from Disneyland attractions.
The highlight of the Artisan Club is access to the Parr House, a six-bedroom home and members' community space that recreates the home that the Parr family of superheroes was stashed in for Incredibles 2.
Let's take a video walk-through the Parr House. Is this Disney's first Pixar castle?
Next year, Disney is planning to open a public town center across Cotino Bay from the Artisan Club. Cotino Bay Beach, Dining and Shops will include its own beach access to Cotino Bay, accessible with day passes, as well as restaurants and walkable retail, including studios featuring local artisans. Initial tenants include the restaurant Elevare, On the Mark Fine Foods & Provisions, Khaga Yoga, and the first U.S. location of Canadian-based coffee shop Artigiano.
But for now, buying in is the only way for the public to access Cotino. Disney fans on the east coast can look forward to Asteria, the second Storyliving by Disney community, now in development in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
For more information about Cotino, please see Disney’s website. For more Disney and themed entertainment news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
I find this somewhat appealing as a resort where you're staying a week or 2, but actually living at a place like this seems targeted only towards those who have more money than they know what to do with and who would probably rather have an estate outside of a planned community like this to begin with. I can definitely see folks buying the condos here and club memberships to list on the rental market (AirB&B/VRBO), especially given the proximity to Coachella (you could probably pay for 3-4 months of your mortgage with a single week's rental during the annual festival), but as full-time residences in a region that's full of comparably priced options, I'm not sure I see the appeal here even as a flex for well-off Disney fans.
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Continuing trend of Disney building bland, non-themed trash that could be mistaken for a Hampton Inn.