PHOTO BY HAILEY WILLIAMS
we’ve built this beautiful place, we have the Amphicars, we have this beautiful décor. But they come back for the great food and great service.” When Schussler first pitched The Boat - house to Disney executives more than 10 years ago, he was initially told “no,” he said. Disney Springs already had a Rainfor- est Café, T-REX and Yak & Yeti. And, even though Schussler sold those concepts, he still considers them “his.” (Although Schussler is still mad that the new owners took the live birds out of Rainforest Café.) Schussler, however, is a man who be- lieves the word “no” is “yes” waiting to hap- pen. That’s literally a chapter in his book, “It’s a Jungle in There.” So he offered to build an architectural model of the Boathouse concept in about 1,000-square feet in the Disney offices, so people would walk by it every day. “I told them, I bet you after one week, people will say you’re crazy not to do that.” Disney also initially said no to the Amph- icars. But Schussler restored the charmingly retro vehicles (built in the 1960s) anyway and brought two to Disney Springs’ Lake Buena Vista, putting them in the water
(without permission). How did the Disney executives react? “Let me tell you, it wasn’t happy birthday,” he said. But those Disney executives paid atten- tion when a crowd gathered along the shore to take pictures and ask for rides. Now, The Boathouse averages about 85 to 100 rides a day. It’s all part of creating an experience, which, to Schussler, is as much about the smallest touchpoints (tiny cocktail ducks) as it is the big-swing theatrics. People in the restaurant industry often say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Schussler thinks that’s, well, duck guano. To him, the small details add up to a last- ing impression. He is a self-professed “light- bulb nut,” who can spot a burnt-out bulb 100 yards away. “I’m not an expert in anything, but I see things no one else sees,” he said. At his lab in Minnesota, he continues to develop new restaurant concepts, each with its own story. There’s Aerobleu, based on an imaginary character from France who won a DC-3 plane in poker game and travels the world
listening to jazz. That restaurant will be lit by almost 100 juke boxes, if Schussler has his way, and will have certain comic touches (urinals shaped like saxophones and toilets shaped like tubas). There’s the Asian concept Zi, for which Schussler has collected some $40 million worth of Chinese artifacts from the Qing Dy- nasty. “We’ve been working on that one for 25 years,” he said. And Winter Wonderland, where it’s Christmas year-round, has trains, trees that are syrup dispensers and snow that falls in- doors but dissipates before it hits the floor. Perhaps, he said, there could be another location for The Boathouse—with the right real estate, he said. Schussler, who is up front about the fact that he asks landlords for a considerable con- tribution, said there would have to be a cer- tain volume of foot traffic, along with room for retail. And water, of course. There are deals in the works, but he can’t reveal details just yet. “For me, it’s not about the money,” said Schussler, who makes the statement with believable conviction. “It’s about putting smiles on people’s faces.”
PHOTO BY LISA JENNINGS
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JANUARY 2026
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