Army's Resort at Disney to Undergo $50 Million Expansion

Shades of Green, the Walt Disney World resort reserved exclusively for active-duty military personnel, is planning a $50 million expansion.

The U.S. Army is planning to double the size of its 287-room resort in contrast to other resorts at Disney World, which have closed rooms and postponed an opening because of the economic slowdown.

Shades of Green, located near the Magic Kingdom, has been turning guests away lately with occupancy rates consistently ranging from 90% to 99%. That was before Disney World began its offer of free theme park admission for seven days to active military personnel from Jan. 1 to April 30.

Disney World doesn't reveal occupancy rates at its resorts, but tourism analysts and consultants estimate they have occasionally dropped below 70% since Sept. 11.

"We have been turning away as many customers as we take in", said Pete Isaacs, chief operating officer of the Army's Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, VA.

The agency owns and operates four military resorts, including Shades of Green. The others are in Germany, South Korea and Hawaii. The resorts are exclusively for active and retired military personnel, civilian federal workers and their families.

Guests are charged according to their rank. Privates pay as little as $62 a night, while captains, for example, pay $87.

The Army bought the hotel in 1993 from Disney, which ran it as the Disney Inn, for $43 million, Isaacs said. Disney still owns the land on which the resort sits, and the Army has a 100-year lease.