WDW Magazine April 2016 - Disney's Hollywood Studios | Page 113

So basically, what we did is we took the entire project. I mean, everything: carpet patterns, drapery
patterns, everything, doorknobs, everything and decided that Aulani would be based entirely on
Hawaiian points of view about what makes Hawaii Hawaii. And that would make our 15-story
beach front hotel look completely different from anyone else’s 15-story beach front hotel
anywhere else in Hawaii. And that’s what happened.
Gavin - And it has turned out amazingly. I’ve been over there once now and spent three days and
really submerged myself. You never want to leave.
Joe - Oh, it’s pretty interesting. And interesting too, because I think people come away from Aulani with
a richer understanding of what Hawaii might really be. Remember, Aulani is a place, so people are going
to come back to again and again. And I believe that by taking that journey, you become more
comfortable visiting the rest of Hawaii, more knowledgeable about visiting the rest of Hawaii. It increases
your confidence about going out into Hawaii, and it will increase your knowledge and understanding of
what you see. I don’t think people would keep coming to Aulani and just staying at Aulani forever. I think
it becomes a machine and engine by which you understand how to enjoy Hawaii better.
Gavin - And not the corporate, other company way to do a Hawaiian vacation?
Joe - No, there’s a way that you get caught in this loop. Frankly, it’s a market research-based loop
of like, “This is what people expect, so this is what we’re going to do.” And you go around and
around and around and around, and you end up with a product that isn’t different enough from
where I came from, you know. You take this great big journey getting to Hawaii. For anyone
who’s not from Hawaii is a giant journey. You’re going to cross the ocean, either on a boat or an
airplane. It takes time, it’s a big deal, you have to prepare for it. It’s not a casual decision.
When you get to the other side of that journey, you want to feel like you’ve got somewhere. Like
when you walk through the door, it’s like we’re not in Kansas anymore. This is a different place
from where I came from. In order for it to be different, it can’t be based on what you already
expect, or by definition it won’t be different. It has to be based on something that it has to say
itself. That’s what makes it different. That’s how you know you got some place new is because
it isn’t just what you said you wanted. It’s more and sideways from just what you said you
wanted. It’s all the things you want, but it’s not just the things you want, because that would be
like not leaving home. You already know you want those things. You already know you need
those things. There’s no new news there; there’s no new discovery there.
That’s not why you travel. You’re traveling to be somewhere else, and in order for that place to
be somewhere else, it has to have an opportunity to be itself. And that’s what we’re trying to do
with Aulani. So, when you get to Aulani, you really have arrived some place that is not like home.