The Avalon City Council this week authorized the city manager to negotiate an agreement with Disney Cruise Lines. The agreement would give Disney preferential access to Avalon’s anchorage outside the harbor. The vote was unanimous.
Technically, the council authorized the city manager to approve a “term sheet” that would ultimately lead to a port agreement.
Background
Staff asked the City Council to authorize the city manager to execute an agreement with Magical Cruise Company Limited, doing business as Disney Cruise Lines.
According to City Manager David Maistros, the “term sheet” sets the parameters for ultimately bringing a port agreement to the council.
Maistros said he was excited to announce that Avalon was at this point with Disney.
According to Maistros:
- It’s a five-year agreement with two five-year extensions
- It allows Disney Cruise Lines to have preferred schedule access to Tuesdays year-round and Saturdays from mid-September to mid-May.
- The agreement would guarantee 120,000 passengers a year. “Whether they reach that number or not, they’re financially committing to that number,” Maistros said.
- Disney is committed to paying an extra $1.50 in addition to the $7.50 wharfage fee, making it $9 per Disney passenger.
According to the staff report, “This rate will be subject to annual adjustments equal to 2.5% per year.”
According to Maistros, the cruise ships will have from 2,500 to 3,000 passengers on them per year.
He said Disney is committed to providing design and engineering services to Avalon.
Maistros said Disney would provide guest service training and efficiency training that will be available to all businesses in Avalon.
“The majority of the visitors are not during the summer months, it’s bunched into the shoulder seasons in the winter,” Maistros said.
He said this will not increase the number of cruise ships Avalon sees in a year.
“This will decrease the overall number of passengers that come to the city on cruise ships,” Maistros said. He said the financial sting of that has been balanced by the increased wharfage that they will pay.
He expressed the belief that this agreement would benefit the city from a quality-of-life perspective.
“I think this long-term partnership with a company that’s aligned with our believes and concerns as a city makes a tremendous amount of sense,” Maistros said.
Discussion
Jose Fernandez of Disney Cruise Lines and Beth Dibido both came up to the podium. Fernandez thanked the council for considering the agreement.
“Although our relationship with the city of Avalon has not been that long, in the few years that we have been visiting, it’s quickly become a guest favorite as well as a favorite for our crew members who do get the opportunity to get off when we’re in port and take a little bit of a break from our normal day-to-day operations,” Fernandez said.
He said Catalina and Avalon have been identified as critically important to Disney Cruise Line’s growth.
Beth Dibido said they were looking forward to the next five years.
Maistros said the new agreement would go into effect in September 2027.
Jim Luttjohann, Love Catalina Tourism Authority president and CEO, said Disney had gone “over the top” in working with tour operators large and small.
“Our retailers will tell you that the Disney cruise ship days are always some of the best days, so that’ll be even better for our sales tax and for our economy,” he said.
He said having a relationship with Disney was like having a badge of honor on the Avalon community.
Janey Hall asked if this should be considered a trade or is the city staying with the three weekday schedule.
“Nothing regarding this will change that original ordinance that’s still out there,” Maistros said. He said there would be three cruise ships a week and no weekends in the summer.
“Disney doesn’t replace one?” Hall asked.
Maistros said he expects that the total number of cruise ships would not increase.
Maistros said if Avalon has a five-year commitment with a cruise line for specific days of the week, it takes those days out of play for other cruise lines.
Maistros said Disney had Tuesdays and Saturdays between September and May.
“That is certainly a step in the right direction,” Hall said.
She said she was bothered by the size of the boats and that the town is overwhelmed in a short period of time. Hall said she heard nothing but complaints all the time.
“That is a different issue than what we’re talking about now,” said Mayor Anni Marshall.
“Why?” Hall asked.
“Because we’re talking about Disney right now and this is what the agenda item is,” Marshall said.
She acknowledged there were complaints.
Maistros said without question, the city had to address those concerns. He said this partnership between the city and Disney takes preferred days out of the week so that would impact other cruise ship partners.
He acknowledged that a larger cruise ship has impacted the community.
Hall said in the original talks, Avalon was going to check the use of city services; everything from the water use to sewage and trash, but she didn’t think that study was ever carried out.
“We’ve done some of those studies,” Maistros said.
He said he couldn’t remember if it was every September or every other September.
A staff member off camera said the study is done annually, but the resolution for reconsideration is only brought to the council every two years.
Councilmember Lisa Lavelle said part of the “instability” in the past was that no cruise ship company was willing to sign an agreement like this with Avalon.
“The fact that this agreement hopefully will go into place means that money is not only guaranteed, but it also gives both Disney and us a reason to invest in the relationship together and the community together,” Lavelle said.
Lavelle said she hoped other cruise ship companies would follow suit.
She said the agreement would mean the city was on a more stable “landing” when it comes to funding the harbor and projects in the harbor.
