by MARIAH EPPES
In Disney’s theme parks, souvenirs and photo ops allow enthusiasts to take the magic home. For a few lucky lovers of the Mouse, the magic can be home.
From July 1st to July 3rd, Disney’s highly anticipated high-rise apartment building in Lower Manhattan, the MCKY, will be open for public viewing. Three show units will be available to tour, one for each of the MCKY’s standard floor plans.
If this sounds unusual, it is. But the MCKY won’t be an ordinary residence in any sense of the term. A planned Disney Store and cafe will occupy the ground level retail space (don’t worry, residents have a private entrance). An indoor pool will take the shape of the iconic Mickey Mouse ears. Full-time building ambassadors will assist with resident needs and building upkeep.
But the most obvious difference is how to get one of the apartments in the first place. Landing a Disney-approved pad is not (only) a matter of brokers and credit scores.
In an unprecedented move by the company, tenants at the MCKY will have a customized monthly rent and expenses fee that is adjusted based on their income. The catch is, you have to be accepted. So what qualifications does an ideal MCKY resident have?
‘We know that money isn’t the best indicator of how integral the world of Disney is to someone’s life,’ MCKY building manager, Chris Smith, said. ‘We want our tenants to truly have the spirit of the brand in their hearts. That’s much more important to building our unique MCKY community.’
The MCKY application consists of 40 question-and-answer style prompts and a 500-word personal statement from each person who will be occupying the unit. Even kids.
‘We think it can be a fun family bonding activity,’ said Smith. ‘Everyone can dig deep together about the special role Disney plays in their lives.’
For kids who aren’t old enough to write—and for those with accessibility needs—video clips are also accepted as personal statements.
The building has over 500,000 Twitter followers and thousands of people have already subscribed to the MCKY’s email updates, anxiously awaiting the announcement of the application release. Two of those people are Megan and David Connor.
‘When I was two days old, my mom sat me down in front of Cinderella and I watched it four times in a row,’ said Megan Connor, 34. ‘We got engaged on a Disney cruise. We got married at the park. Our dog’s name is Elsa. We can’t imagine a better place for us.’
‘We don’t even like New York that much. We both work in Connecticut,’ said David Connor, 36. ‘But it was just a no-brainer when we heard about it. We need to be at the MCKY!’
Of course, the main question for the MCKY team is obvious: how will you prevent people from taking advantage of the system?
When asked, Smith just laughs. ‘Trust me, we can tell who’s honest.’
***Update, July 6: the penthouse unit at the MCKY was sold last year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mariah Eppes is a writer in New York City. You can find more of her work around the internet and at birdbyrocket.com.
Image created on neural.love
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