Walt Disney's deathbed wish = your massive opportunity

Hey friend,

Today’s newsletter: how Disney killed Walt’s utopian dream, this NYC hotel earned $175M from fake murders, and 3 fresh blueprints to cash in on nostalgia.

The Story

In 1966, a dying Walt Disney filmed his final video.

Sweating under studio lights, he pointed at a giant map and described something that wasn't a theme park, a movie, or a cartoon.

It was a revolutionary city.

EPCOT—the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow"—wasn't supposed to be another attraction. It was meant to be a living, breathing city where 20,000 residents would test future technologies, urban planning concepts, and new ways of living.

Walt died weeks later.

More comfortable with cartoon mice than urban planning, Disney execs gutted the vision. Instead of a revolutionary city, we got another gift shop-stuffed theme park🤷‍♂️

But here's where it gets interesting.

Walt’s original vision—creating immersive realities where people could temporarily escape their lives—is now a multi-billion dollar industry that Disney completely missed.

The TWA Hotel at JFK Airport transformed a defunct 1960s airline terminal into a time capsule where guests pay $269/night to live inside a perfect recreation of the Jet Age. Occupancy rate: 95%. Annual revenue: $34 million✈️

Sleep No More has made over $175 million turning a Manhattan hotel into an interactive Macbeth retelling where 400 guests per night wander through 100+ rooms, chasing actors and unraveling mysteries🕵️‍♀️

The formula is dead simple: build a door to yesterday, charge admission, get rich.

Walt saw this coming decades ago. Disney just fumbled the execution.

Now it's your turn.

How To Profit

• Time Travel Tourism

People crave more than a glimpse of history—they want to experience living in another time.

Here's your blueprint:

1. Rent a historically authentic property, like a Victorian mansion or colonial estate (budget around $400-$500 per night).

2. Immerse guests completely by recreating accurate daily life—period-specific food, clothing, technology limitations, and social interactions.

3. Recruit local theatre students (cheap), guiding participants through realistic storylines over a weekend.

Example: A woman in Portland converted her grandmother's 1940s house into a "Weekend in Wartime." Guests ration food, listen to period radio broadcasts, and live authentically for 48 hours. She makes $8,200 monthly from just 12 weekends per year.

• Real-life Video Games

Escape rooms are amateur hour.

Lease a defunct restaurant, small hotel, or warehouse. Transform it into a playable environment with 15-20 interconnected challenges. Unlike traditional escape rooms, your experience has storylines where guests become bank robbers, spies, time travelers, or detectives.

The secret sauce isn't the puzzles—it's making guests the protagonists in a movie they've always wanted to star in. Let them do things they'd never do in real life: crack safes, decode secret messages, or interrogate suspects.

Pro tip: Partner with local businesses to create urban adventures that span multiple locations. A mystery dinner continues to a nearby "crime scene," then a hidden speakeasy for the finale.

Multiple venues = shared costs and higher ticket prices.

• Digital Time Portals

Not everyone has warehouse space or actor friends. I get it.

Create online experiences that aren't just websites—they're portals to different eras. Each site is designed, written, and functions exactly as it would if the internet existed in 1920, 1955, or 1977.

Pro Tip: Build a website like a 1985 Amazon (pixel art, VHS ads). Dropship retro junk: Walkmans, flip phones, neon fanny packs—and watch Boomers cry tears of joy while throwing money in your direction.

Example: Poolsuite FM created a music streaming platform that looks and functions like a 1990s computer interface, complete with retro windows and graphics. What started as a fun project exploded to over 1.5 million users and evolved into a lifestyle brand with merchandise sales exceeding $380,000 in their first collection.

Ask Ace (Q and A time)

"Ace, how do I spot trends early?" — Taylor, from Colorado

From Ace’s private notes to J.P. Morgan, 1919:

Until next time,

Alex

Founder //LZY MNY CLB