Further Feudalism

From the local suck-up-to-the-wealthy rag:

Perhaps sensing a similar shift, the parks themselves are moving ahead with new offerings aimed at the upper crust. After several years of planning and site preparation, last month Walt Disney World Resort began presales of homes inside its exclusive Golden Oak residential development, where multistory mansions will be priced as high as $8 million each. SeaWorld Parks Entertainment, meanwhile, is expanding Discovery Cove, its limited-admission boutique park where swim-with-dolphin packages start at $199 a person.

Abe Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said one explanation could be that rich travelers are beginning to feel more comfortable displaying their wealth now that the worst has passed of a brutal global recession in which extravagant spending would have been considered shameful.

"I think these people didn't spend a lot before not because they couldn't afford to, but because it was not socially acceptable," Pizam said. "Now it is not so shameful as it was."

Oh, good, we were worried that they'd be embarrassed or something. This is right in line w/ this item.