Disney’s bullish on its new desert community, but concerns persist.
It’s no secret Walt Disney loved Palm Springs. He and his wife Lillian found peace and solace there, and Walt dreamed up his first masterpiece, Disneyland, from the desert haven.
Some six decades later, the Disney empire again seeks inspiration from the Coachella Valley. The company’s new planned residential development, dubbed Cotino, is set to include nearly 2,000 homes, a manmade lagoon and surrounding beach, plus a members-only clubhouse on more than 600 acres of land in Rancho Mirage. A city center and a hotel are also anticipated.
Some people living in the surrounding area are enthusiastic and excited about Cotino’s amenities and vibe. Others cite concerns about water scarcity, environmental impact, and the homes’ pricing. But Disney projects confidence as residents begin moving in during the project’s first phase.
The Communities of Tomorrow
Cotino is far from Disney’s first attempt at urban planning. Walt Disney himself envisioned the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,” a utopian community that would include homes, businesses, and schools. But when he died in 1966, the original idea for EPCOT did, too.
Disney tried again in 1996 with Celebration, Florida. The town, located near the company’s Florida theme parks, leaned into New Urbanism concepts. Celebration featured walkability, mixed-use development, and a distinct sense of place, with doses of Disney magic swirled in for good measure. Style choices were strictly enforced to project a cheerful yet consistent feel. Planners established schools, a hospital, and places of worship. But fiscally, Celebration proved difficult for Disney to maintain.
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“One of the problems you have when you start a new community is it takes a long time for economic viability of businesses,” explained Jill Grant, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University’s School of Planning. “You don’t have enough patronage right away to keep things going, so either the developers have to front the cost for the first few years, or businesses fold. That was a problem in Celebration.”
Disney sold the property in 2004, and Celebration headline-making problems started in earnest. Criticism arose about a lack of affordable units. Several lawsuits were filed over building practices. The town’s first murder occurred in 2010; nearly a decade later Anthony Todt confessed to killing his wife and three young children in their home there.
Today 13,000 people still live in Celebration, but there’s barely a hint of Mickey and his friends to be found.
Disney’s second community, Golden Oak, Florida, came online in 2010. The 300-home luxury development sits on the grounds of Disney World, with sales prices topping out at a whopping $20 million. There’s an on-site members-only club staffed by Disney cast members; a Four Seasons resort is nearby. While there are communal buildings and outdoor spaces, Disney skipped the schools, hospitals, and other municipal components included years before at Celebration.
Fast-forward to 2025. Cotino is the first project in Disney’s next era of planned living, a new concept it calls Storyliving.
The Storyliving Community
“Welcome to a place where you can live life to the fullest and take pride in every new chapter to come.”
That’s the definition of Storyliving by Disney™ as described on its website. At the project’s onset, Disney officials sent its Imagineering design firm to Rancho Mirage, California, to “create a vision and story for the community,” said Claire Bilby, senior vice president and general manager of emerging businesses at Disney. The process included intensive site-specific research and strategizing to ensure everything–from entertainment and recreation to service and style–promotes a cohesive sense of place and creativity.
While Disney is marketing Cotino, builders and other partners will construct and sell its homes. All lean into a Mid-Century Modern desert aesthetic, a wink at Walt’s Palm Springs era.
“This thoughtful integration ensures that the architectural aesthetics of the homes harmonize with the community’s overall narrative and amenities, like our parks, Artisan Club, and Parr House, creating an inspired living experience that celebrates the region’s evolving landscape,” said Caroline Boone, the executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering.
A town center with retail options is scheduled for completion in 2026. Condominiums are also planned. Residents will one day stroll along parks, pathways, and a promenade designed to bring them together.
But Cotino is not Disney World. There won’t be daily character parades or princess selfies. The placemaking is more subtle and upscale.
“They are not living in a theme park, nor do they want to,” said Bilby. “We’re going to be the coolest place your kids and grandkids are going to want to come visit.”
While Cotino is the first Storyliving development, it won’t be the last. In 2023, Disney announced plans for its Asteria community outside Raleigh, North Carolina. The first homes there should be move-in ready by 2027. And the company confirms additional locations in the United States are “under exploration.”
Realtor and broker associate Debbie Behlman recently toured Cotino’s sales office and model homes. As more people move in and amenities come fully online, she expects the community will be a success.
“We are excited to have Cotino be a part of the community,” Behlman said.
Criticism and Concerns
While it might sound like a desert utopia, some have raised considerable concerns about Cotino.
For starters, there’s the hefty price tag. Rancho Mirage is well-known as a wealthy bedroom community; the Disney development fits right in. Access to some amenities, including the Artisan Club, is only granted with an additional five-figure expense. Cotino includes a variety of housing styles, starting in the high $1 million range, according to a Disney spokesperson.
According to Zillow, the average value of a single-family home in Rancho Mirage stands at $864,926, significantly less than the Disney development. While the city agreed to add more affordable housing several years ago after a lawsuit, those units still haven’t come online. So, chances are, the Disney cast members employed at Cotino will come in from elsewhere to work.
“The people who clean the bathrooms aren’t going to be able to live there,” Professor Grant said.
The environmental impact of a 2,000-home development in the fragile desert ecosystem also raised initial alarm bells. Disney says Cotino’s developer conducted a comprehensive environmental impact report which would have required barriers around nests if specific birds were found during construction. None were identified.
Perhaps the feature that’s attracted the most criticism is what Storyliving calls the jewel of the community: Cotino Bay. The 24-acre artificial water feature extends to 12 feet deep, with a surrounding white sand beach. A company called Crystal Lagoon developed the bay, which uses “proprietary technology” to prevent evaporation water loss. Disney says Rancho Mirage city officials worked closely with the California Water District to make sure there weren’t any issues.
But for residents who regularly deal with drought in a changing climate, the bay’s been a bone of contention.
Alena Callimanis is a retired systems engineer and lives in nearby La Quinta. She helped form the group La Quinta Residents for Responsible Development and is passionate about protecting the area’s water reserves. Her group got a surf park project shelved due to water conservation concerns, and she has similar questions about the ethics and practicality of Cotino Bay.
“Why do you need something that big in the middle of the desert when we are so concerned about water?” Callimanis asked. “We’re two hours from the ocean, for Pete’s sake! So why do that? Have you ever looked at a swimming pool in the desert after a windstorm? We have so much sand…how the heck are they going to keep it clean?”
Bilby acknowledged that “the sand will be a challenge,” but that Disney has the necessary machines in place to mitigate it. A fine print disclaimer found on the Storyliving website states: “No representation or warranty is made about the continued operation/maintenance, long-term water levels or features of Cotino Bay; water levels may fluctuate.”
Despite the worries and uncertainty, Disney had widespread municipal support during the planning, zoning, and construction process. In a 2022 op-ed for the Palm Springs Desert Sun, Rancho Mirage’s mayor Ted Weill wrote that while he could “certainly empathize with the optics of a proposed 24-acre lagoon,” the developers took extra steps to ensure the project is offsetting their allotted water usage, including desert landscape and a recycled water system.
What’s a Community, Anyway?
Disney says each Storyliving community it plans, Cotino included, puts the needs of its homeowners first. And it will use its other brands to build enrichment programming tough to find elsewhere. Make your own Dole Whip? Check. Take a guided hike of nearby Joshua Tree National Park with a National Geographic Explorer? Sure. Enjoy an international dinner with Disney chefs from around the world? No problem.
But does Disney’s concept of community tick all the boxes as defined by New Urbanism? As Professor Grant pointed out, there are major differences between planning a true community and building a group of expensive homes with enviable amenities and Disney flair.
“You have to provide for a diverse range of people and needs, not just places for the elite,” she said. “You need to have the right kind of environmental conditions so you can provide basic amenities and services, you need to have the scale to allow a mix of income levels and work opportunities.”
As the site’s under development, it remains to be seen if Cotino and Storyliving by Disney™ will be as picture-perfect as advertised. But Disney’s confident in its new vision of planned living, despite initial pushback and some Cotino-critical neighbors.
“It’s an unknown for those folks right now,” said Bilby. “I think when they see the final product, they’re going to be very proud of it.”
