by Heidi Reid | Dec 18, 2023 | Buzz, December 2023/January 2024
Disney’s newly announced Chatham County neighborhood comes with a hefty price tag.
If they can dream it, Disney will do it. Storyliving by Disney recently announced its second planned community, dubbed Asteria, will debut in 2027 in Pittsboro. While Disney adults were naturally thrilled at the announcement, others complained about the inevitable high price tag and the fact it wouldn’t be “sustainable.” Which led us to do some digging of our own to uncover just how much it would actually cost to take residence there.
The high-end neighborhood—named for “the wonder of the night sky and its ability to make us pause, ponder and consider life’s possibilities”—will boast various mouse-themed amenities and 4,000 residences with specific homes geared toward the 55+ community. (Walt Disney said it best: “Adults are only grown-up kids anyway.”) Asteria will be a part of the larger Chatham Park, which features 8,500 acres of homes and apartments with a much wider price range.
Housing prices, HOA fees and club membership costs aren’t mentioned in the initial announcement, but based on Cotino, Disney’s inaugural planned community located outside of Palm Springs, California, fans can expect their dream mouse house to flaunt a price tag from the upper $1 million to lower $2 million range. Existing properties in Golden Oak, Disney’s existing Florida community independent from Storyliving, go for $9 million to $13.8 million. Clearly, happily ever after comes with a price tag.
Amenities and the residential clubhouses in the community will offer enrichment programs, special excursions, well-being programs and “a mix of special Disney experiences and everyday activities.” But homeownership alone doesn’t unlock the door to all the magic—it comes at the cost of a club membership. For reference, Cotino’s club membership starts with a one-time initiation fee of $20,000 (!), plus an annual fee of $11,000 and $1,000 food and drink minimum spending requirement. To boot, for an additional $9,000 in yearly fees, residents can extend membership perks to their loved ones (ya know, letting them in on the “fun to do the impossible”).
All that to say, potential NC consumers and those seeking a storybook-esque lifestyle in Asteria must be prepared to shell out some big bucks in order to make their Disney dreams come true. So, can money really buy happiness? I guess we’ll find out…
by Tracy Jones | Dec 8, 2017 | December 2017/January 2018, Do
Christmas is a magical time, especially for children. And when we think of holiday visitors, typically Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman come to mind. But what if your child could meet more than just the Christmas icons we all know and love?
Yes, we’re talking about the fairytale characters kids adore!
This year for the holidays, try something different with Fantasy Faire Character Company, a Raleigh business offering 20-minute visits from their Ice Queen and Snow Princess, or Beauty Princess and Glass Slipper Princess. Each child receives a Christmas card, a handmade gift from the visiting princesses and plenty of holiday magic.
“My aim for the company is to provide authentic and magical experiences for the young and young of heart alike,” says Falon Perkins, the owner of Fantasy Faire Character Company, who is going into her fourth year in the industry. “It’s REAL magic for us. Most of the time, children run up to greet us with a thousand questions, genuine smiles, and the best warm hugs you could ever possibly receive.”
Occasionally, even the parents get enveloped in the magic.
“Parents love what we do,” Perkins says. “Sometimes, even they get a little starstruck around their favorite characters! We try our hardest to bring the characters to life in the most accurate way possible, and the parents really appreciate that. We are so lucky to have gotten to meet so many families and share our love of fairytales and wonder.”
While the Christmas visits are indeed something special, Perkins also highlights her yearly birthday party offerings, complete with a theatrical style entrance by the fairytale character of choice, accompanied by music and plenty of pixie dust, of course. The princess entertains her royal guests with interactive stories, dancing, themed games, sing-alongs, nail painting and more. The birthday girl (or boy) receives an honorary coronation ceremony, complete with a scroll, tiara and certificate. The princess also distributes handmade wands to each child at the party as a keepsake.
Perkins sees her business as a way to create heartwarming moments for children, carefully training her employees to emulate fairytale characters in voice, mannerisms, posing and more. Her princesses keep the magic alive.
“I’ve always had a passion for performing, and being from a small town didn’t provide me with a lot of options for a career in the industry,” says Perkins, who sees herself as a type of fairy godmother in her role as owner. “I love children and I’ve always loved princesses, so I put the two together! Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing when I opened my first company, and I had no idea if the idea would even take off.”
Lucky for the children of Raleigh, it did.
by Jane Porter | Oct 9, 2017 | Do, October 2017
Forget your troubles and escape to a magical undersea world where life truly is the bubbles; this month, DPAC hosts an adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
Originally written for Broadway in 2007, the show failed to wow critics when it opened the next year at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, and it had a relatively short run. Glenn Casale, who directed an acclaimed 2004 production of Beauty and the Beast, came onboard to reinvigorate the lackluster musical.
Casale tweaked aspects of the script to make it more coherent, changed the score, reimagined the costumes and set design, and suspended actors playing sea creatures from harnesses tethered to wires to simulate swimming, ditching the roller skates they used in the original version.
“All that helps make it a big, fantastical adventure,” says Diana Huey, who 5th Avenue Theatre cast as Ariel last year, and who currently stars as the mermaid in Broadway Across America’s tour with the Kansas City Star Light and Pittsburgh CLO Theatre, through November. “I loved, loved, loved the Disney movie, so it is really exciting to get to do this. It’s a dream. The 6 year-old in me was very excited.”
Huey, who bested around 50 other would-be mermaids in auditions, has earned rave reviews for her singing and her spirited interpretation of Ariel. The musical includes all the best-known songs from the Disney movie, plus several new songs from composer Alan Menken, who, with Howard Ashman, wrote the film’s original score.
When she was cast, however, Huey, who is Japanese American, faced backlash from people who insisted that Ariel needed to be white. Huey says hearing that criticism, based not on her performance as an actor but on what she looked like, stung. Ariel is a mythical mermaid princess, after all, not a character with a specific cultural background.
Because of that experience, Huey says, she is speaking out on diversity in casting.
“It’s great to have kids see a diversely cast show and have that be the norm for them,” Huey says. “The negative feedback I got has come from adults. Kids are not necessarily seeing someone who ‘doesn’t look like Ariel playing Ariel.’ It’s cool and uplifting, and I hope it helps instill in them being able to see things with an open mind, and when they’re adults, they won’t even be having those conversations.”
