Walt Disney World has announced that a new Four Seasons Private Residences housing development is under construction at the Golden Oak community near Magic Kingdom. This post shares details about the new homes on-site at WDW, as well as our reaction to the news and the likely demand for this luxury housing.
The new Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World will feature 40 homes, including 31 units in a mid-rise tower and nine attached boutique homes, providing residents with exceptional service and unparalleled resort-style living. With Golden Oak Realty as the exclusive sales and marketing agent, sales are anticipated to begin in late 2024.
“We are proud to expand our residential portfolio, building on the extraordinary living experiences that Four Seasons has delivered to our residents in Golden Oak since 2015,” says Bart Carnahan, President, Global Business Development, Portfolio Management and Residential, Four Seasons. “Together with our partners at Host Hotels & Resorts, we will offer new residents the legendary service, amenities, and experiences of Four Seasons from the comfort of their new homes within the magic of Walt Disney World Resort.”
The new Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World are being developed by Host Hotels & Resorts, the country’s largest lodging real estate investment trust and owner of Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort, in collaboration with Four Seasons, a leader in luxury hospitality and branded residential.
Located in a five-acre enclave adjacent to Four Seasons Resort Orlando (hotel pictured below), the new Four Seasons Private Residences will include 31 units in a single mid-rise residential tower. Designed by HKS, the same architectural firm that designed the resort, the tower’s exterior will reflect the resort’s Spanish Revival style with grand colonnades, columns and arches, French doors, barrel tile roofs, sweeping stairways and decorative metal work.
Each unit in the new Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World will feature open floor plans, premium fixtures, cabinetry and fittings, floor-to-ceiling windows and private verandas perfect for entertaining. Panoramic views of the property may include the area’s natural woodlands, lakes, landscaped gardens, golf course and nearby fireworks display. Future residents can choose from eight one-story floor plans ranging from 3,494 to 4,327 square feet featuring three to four bedrooms. Five two-story, four-bedroom penthouses ranging from 6,576 to 6,962 square feet will also be available.
With interiors from Parker-Torres Design, the residential tower’s lobby will feature an intimate resident lounge and flexible gathering spaces. The lobby and common area’s interiors will pull inspiration from the beauty of the surrounding environment by incorporating natural wood and stone materials with live plants and refined gold details. A private, resident-only pool surrounded by manicured landscaping and serene lake views will include comfortable lounge furniture, cabanas, towel service, pool service bar, children’s water play area and event lawn.
Nearby, the boutique homes of the Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World will include nine attached units grouped in four buildings and connected by breezeways. Designed by architect Cooper Cary and built in the French Moderne architectural style, future residents will have their choice of four floor plans ranging from 5,207 to 5,540 square feet featuring four to five bedrooms. Each home will include its own outdoor living space complete with a covered patio, pool and outdoor kitchen. These homeowners will also have access to all amenities in the adjacent residential tower.
Overseeing the complete residential experience, a dedicated director of residences will ensure that residents and their homes are cared for with the same quality and service excellence for which Four Seasons is renowned. Driven by long-standing commitments to personalized service, residents will enjoy a tailor-made homeowner experience. Concierge and front office assistance, all fully staffed by Four Seasons, will be available 24 hours a day to provide and source a variety of core and a la carte services including menu planning, grocery delivery, dog walking, housekeeping, maintenance, access to premium entertainment and more.
Located approximately four miles from Magic Kingdom, new residents of the Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World will also experience all the benefits of resort-style living including Disney service and spectacular amenities through membership in the Golden Oak Club. Membership offers access to enriching events, select concierge-style services, a private clubhouse with dining options, fitness center, pool, Walt Disney World Resort theme park transportation services, premiere Disney-designed experiences and more.
In addition to resident-only amenities, Four Seasons Private Residences Orlando offers homeowners access to the wide range of world-class recreation and dining options at the adjacent AAA Five Diamond Four Seasons Resort including five unique pools, sports and fitness facilities, full-service spa, Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club featuring a Tom Fazio-designed course, family activities and six vibrant restaurants including the Michelin-starred Capa steakhouse.
Construction on the new residential tower and boutique homes has begun and is expected to be complete by early 2026. (A friend who was at Four Seasons over the weekend sent the photo below.) Sales will be offered exclusively by Golden Oak Realty and are anticipated to begin in late 2024. Those interested in the opportunity to purchase a home can join this interest list for updates.
Turning to commentary, this isn’t a project about which I care tremendously since Disney bloggers, regrettably, are not the target audience for these homes. (Sad but true.) It’s my understanding that the starting price for the the new Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World has not been settled upon yet, but will be no less than $3 million per unit. It could be as high as $5 million. Again, starting prices–not maximums.
I can see the appeal of building a new home in Florida. As mentioned before, we lived in Horizon West for several years, which is an area that’s absolutely booming (it includes the Flamingo Crossings Town Center retail and dining complex, for reference). When we moved into the area in 2018, there were only a couple of ‘phase one’ communities. The main road was small, and it felt like a mix of swampland and countryside. There was (and maybe still is?) a literal orange grove across from where we voted in elections. It felt like I’d imagine Anaheim in the early 1950s.
By the time we left, there were a half-dozen additional developments, many more stop lights, and more lanes of traffic. All of which were built in the span of only a few years. There were also a wide variety of homebuilders, with detached home prices from the $300s to $800s. (Those numbers are probably higher now–they came close to doubling from the time we arrived to when we left.)
Obviously, these Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World are going to be considerably more expensive than that. The key difference, of course, is location. These are on-site at Walt Disney World, just like Golden Oak. There’s a sea of empty land in Central Florida, much of which is swamp and undevelopable. But a lot can, and will, be built on that. Just like Horizon West now versus in 2018.
By contrast, once these limited number of parcels near Magic Kingdom are fully-developed, that’s it. Adherents to the first three rules of real estate would recognize that Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World has a lot going for it on that basis alone. I don’t know if that makes them “worth” $3 million or $5 million or $25 million or whatever.
What I do know is that if I were writing this article back in 2010, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, I probably would’ve been highly skeptical of Golden Oak. Disney dabbling in a real estate development of multi-million dollar homes–with the scars of the housing bubble still fresh–resulted in fierce criticism at the time. I remember reading those remarks on forums back in the day, and nodding in agreement, being totally clueless as to the home appreciation in the decade to come.
Point being, early buyers at Golden Oak have had their purchases vindicated, as home values have skyrocketed since. The Monday morning QB critique would now be that Disney should’ve waited a little longer to launch Golden Oak, giving the housing market more time to recover and stabilize. But it’s easy to second-guess that move with the benefit of hindsight. I don’t think many people saw the Central Florida real estate market exploding the way it has, or Walt Disney World’s growth in the decade-plus since.
That’s my way of saying that my knee jerk reaction to the Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World is that these homes will be massively overpriced at potential $3 to $5 million starting prices. That’s emotion talking, based on what I think a home in Central Florida “should” cost based on a mixture of the subjective value I’d ascribe to living on-site along with objective costs of housing in the area.
In my view, the distinction between on-site and off-site is largely arbitrary. There’s a really nice Toll Brothers development behind Magic Kingdom that’s about the same distance from the park as the Four Seasons. This will undoubtedly be nicer, but it’ll also have a significant pricing premium by virtue of its status as being on-site.
Is it “worth” that? Again, it doesn’t matter what I think because I’m not the target demo for this. Also, because that’s not how the housing market works. These are worth whatever people will pay for them–and just like there’s a reason why Horizon West is more expensive than rural Iowa or Brentwood is more expensive than Compton, there’s a reason why Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World will sell for more than the nearby Toll Brothers development.
The reality is that on-site homes at Walt Disney World are incredibly supply-constrained, and there’s a reasonably large pool of diehard Disney fans with large amounts of wealth who want to live on-site, specifically. Not just on-site adjacent. Part of this is undoubtedly a matter of status, but there are real perks and amenities, and other real reasons for wanting to live in the Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World.
So long as demand from wealthy diehard Disney fans exceeds the supply of on-site housing at Walt Disney World, these will sell well at whatever multi-million price tag they have. It’s similar to Storyliving or that Adventures by Disney private jet tour from that perspective. At some point, Disney will exhaust its supply of wealthy fans and hit a wall on projects like this. But I’ve learned not to question when that day will come. Probably not with the Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Four Seasons Private Residences at Walt Disney World? Plan to put your name on the waiting list? Would you buy a home in Golden Oak or any of the planned Storyliving by Disney communities? Think this will be a big hit, colossal flop, or something in between? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
