John

Walt Disney Co. has chosen Hawaii for its first hotel outside of its famed theme parks.

The company announced yesterday that it will build an 800-unit resort hotel and Disney Vacation Club on 21 acres of oceanfront land at Ko Olina Resort & Marina.


The firm paid $144 million for the land, next to JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa near Ko Olina Lagoon 1. Disney has not been disclosed the resort's total cost.


Disney said that it would not use the Hawaii space to build a theme park. The company has been focusing its U.S. development efforts in recent years on other types of vacation properties, ranging from cruise lines to time shares and, now, stand-alone hotels.


Disney said that it chose Hawaii as its first stand-alone hotel destination because Disney Vacation Club time-share members showed strong demand for the islands. But the company's interest in the islands goes back to the company's infancy, when founder Walt Disney created the animated short "Hawaiian Holiday" in 1937.


Disney's presence in Leeward Oahu is expected to create about 1,000 jobs but also to help long-struggling Ko Olina finally achieve critical mass and propel Kapolei further along the road to achieving second-city status.

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