News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

celluloid

Well-Known Member
I would argue that none of this probably matters a whole lot in the long run. It’s easy for people to rant and rave on social media that they hate Disney now but few will act on it. They won’t skip Marvel and Star Wars and Pixar movies, they won’t stop watching sports on ESPN or shows on ABC (they still have shows right?;)) and the ones who went to Disney parks will still go. I will point to the NFL as exhibit A. How many people ranted that they would never watch football again after the players started taking a knee? How many followed through? How are the NFL’s ratings? The buzz often far exceeds the actions.

Seeing is how Disney's animated movies are doing less than other studios children's and family offerings, and Universal's Theme Parks are seeing better growth. I don't think your people won't act on where they want to spend their money has much merit.
 

Dranth

Well-Known Member
Seeing is how Disney's animated movies are doing less than other studios children's and family offerings, and Universal's Theme Parks are seeing better growth. I don't think your people won't act on where they want to spend their money has much merit.
The number of people who act long term when it comes to company political positions is a rounding error for most large companies. If that were not the case much of the middle of the country and the South East US would have banned Disney 20 some years ago, never wear Rebox, Nike, Addis’s, New Balance, drink Coke or Pepsi products, fly on most airlines, watch nearly any movie released in their lifetime and so on. Same goes for the other side who get upset over Hobby Lobby or Chick-Fil-A but then end up right back in those stores in a month.

Now if you are talking about people moving on due to quality, sure, that happens all the time. However, those same people tend to come back when or if things improve.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
Now if you are talking about people moving on due to quality, sure, that happens all the time. However, those same people tend to come back when or if things improve.
That is fair. You are right about many boycotts. At the same time, they are the only thing that works when they are actually stuck to. A lot of this riff raff that is going on is not on a level that will keep going, so that makes sense.
The big issue here is, shooting yourself temporarily, when you are not putting out good quality hurts majorly as that is the time when you need the "loyalty" the most.
 

Tonto

Well-Known Member
Disney could do a lot more for central florida... frankly it's time they did.
Really??? Florida would have next to no economy if it wasn't for Disney and what they started 50 something years ago. The money this company has brought into the state is uncountable. I get what you are saying, but its lacking some honesty.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Seeing is how Disney's animated movies are doing less than other studios children's and family offerings, and Universal's Theme Parks are seeing better growth. I don't think your people won't act on where they want to spend their money has much merit.
Less than a year is not exactly the long run :)

On that point, Disney had 3 of the top 4 and 5 of the top 10 grossing films of 2022 if you count Spider-Man which was technically Sony. They may not have been animated films but why would that matter? People say they are done with Disney then drop $20 to see little blue men or a Superhero movie. As far as parks I’m not sure Universal’s success has much to do with people quitting Disney. As I said, it’s a nice story and people want to believe it, but doesn’t make it so.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
Less than a year is not exactly the long run :)

On that point, Disney had 3 of the top 4 and 5 of the top 10 grossing films of 2022 if you count Spider-Man which was technically Sony. They may not have been animated films but why would that matter? People say they are done with Disney then drop $20 to see little blue men or a Superhero movie. As far as parks I’m not sure Universal’s success has much to do with people quitting Disney. As I said, it’s a nice story and people want to believe it, but doesn’t make it so.

Spiderman was pre this political drama.

I don't think many people who are invested in Avatar 2 did know that Fox, including Avatar is now Disney. That is recent to the lameman. Avatar 2 also grossed much less than anticipated, but that again in truth probably speaks to quality. Not relevant to the political non supporting basis though.

The bigger picture is that neither Spiderman Homecoming or Avatar 2, Black Panther had the political statements that have had people boycotting as plot points or character development. They do not need to boycott the company, but not supporting the products that deal with it have been evident. Lightyear and Strange World are no coincidence. No matter what your opinion on it, they were less profitable because of their direct association with the content.

You are right though. Universal's achievements over Disney have been in quality more than politics. Although staying out of the limelight with it did not hurt them at all.
 
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celluloid

Well-Known Member
Miami has entered the chat

The City of Miami has more than double (and close to triple) the GDP of both Orange and Osceola Counties combined.

Yeah, those arguments that FL, if not for Disney would be nothing should only ever really say Central FL, when they say all of Florida it is a gross exaggeration. It certainly helps but it is not the big winner.

FL would still have some of the best beaches and produce in the world. It would be different, but by no means desolate.
 

OrlandoRising

Well-Known Member
More importantly it hasn't been reflected in park attendance, merchandise sales, the box office, and Disney+ subscriptions. So some people may be mad at "woke" Disney, but they are still visiting the parks, their kids are still watching Mickey, and they're still going to see Avatar.

There have been rumblings that Disney's own surveys have seen a legitimate political blowback against the company from the 60+ age group, similar to how the right criticizes most of Hollywood. That's also an age group that is more conservative than the rest of the company and it's not as important of a demo as families with small children.

Once DeSantis is gone, I suspect Disney will once again have a friendly state legislature to work with.

Again, I predict that if Disney waits out DeSantis, they’ll control the new RCID in 3 to 5 years.

I dunno. Maybe it makes sense for Disney to fight now. After all, Disney is the wronged party.

But sometimes the best way to win a fight is to not fight at all.

There's no viable political path for legislators or a new governor to hand Disney back the reigns of power over RCID once they've been taken. It would be all downside for the politicians and no voters, R or D or independent, would look upon such a deal favorably.

Disney's only chance is to try to negotiate a solution that DeSantis can frame as a win now, and I'm not sure there's much political reason for him to compromise.
 

mkt

Disney's Favorite Scumbag™
Premium Member
Yeah, those arguments that FL, if not for Disney would be nothing should only ever really say Central FL, when they say all of Florida it is a gross exaggeration. It certainly helps but it is not the big winner.

FL would still have some of the best beaches and produce in the world. It would be different, but by no means desolate.

Even Tampa's GDP surpasses Orange/Osceola Counties combined.

Oddly though, Jacksonville's is less than Orange/Osceola. I had assumed it would've been higher owing to the city's relatively large finance and insurance sectors, as well as the HUGE port there.
 

mkt

Disney's Favorite Scumbag™
Premium Member
Disney's only chance is to try to negotiate a solution that DeSantis can frame as a win now, and I'm not sure there's much political reason for him to compromise.
It doesn't matter whether or not he wins or loses the RCID battle, because in the eyes of his supporters, he'll have won anyway.

If he loses to Disney, he still wins by 1- standing up to a "woke" corporation, and 2- because he's now a culture war warrior who needs to be elected to change the courts even further.

And if he wins against Disney, he wins for those same two reasons.

DeSantis doesn't need to beat Disney to win. But Disney needs to beat DeSantis, period.
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Disney's only chance is to try to negotiate a solution that DeSantis can frame as a win now, and I'm not sure there's much political reason for him to compromise.
This is not Disney’s only chance and it should now be clear that even a “compromise“ where they’re the only party making concessions is not actually on the table. The governor, not Disney, is the one publicly pushing back against Disney making “nominal“ concessions.
 

Tonto

Well-Known Member
Miami has entered the chat

The City of Miami has more than double (and close to triple) the GDP of both Orange and Osceola Counties combined.
Yeah, thank God for international money.
Also, my response was directly related to the individual that said Disney needs to do more for Central Florida.
 

mkt

Disney's Favorite Scumbag™
Premium Member
Yeah, thank God for international money.
Also, my response was directly related to the individual that said Disney needs to do more for Central Florida.
Thank god for having a relatively diverse economy that's less reliant on tourism and is more well equipped to weather an economic downturn.

Yes, and international money. Which is also a thing in Orlando, just not at the level of Miami.

And yes, while inland Central Florida would still be a backwater if it weren't for Disney, Disney is the main factor that artificially drives low wages in the region.
 

Vegas Disney Fan

Well-Known Member
Disney's only chance is to try to negotiate a solution that DeSantis can frame as a win now, and I'm not sure there's much political reason for him to compromise.
With enough appeals this case will take years to settle and DeSantis will be gone long before those appeals have made their way through the courts, as someone mentioned earlier a Disney friendly government makes this all go away by simply not challenging the first court ruling that's in Disney's favor.

At this point I think Disney could offer DeSantis everything he wants and he'd still turn them down, he wants the press that comes with fighting a woke company, not a win.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Spiderman was pre this political drama.

I don't think many people who are invested in Avatar 2 did know that Fox, including Avatar is now Disney. That is recent to the lameman. Avatar 2 also grossed much less than anticipated, but that again in truth probably speaks to quality. Not relevant to the political non supporting basis though.

The bigger picture is that neither Spiderman Homecoming or Avatar 2, Black Panther had the political statements that have had people boycotting as plot points or character development. They do not need to boycott the company, but not supporting the products that deal with it have been evident. Lightyear and Strange World are no coincidence. No matter what your opinion on it, they were less profitable because of their direct association with the content.

You are right though. Universal's achievements over Disney have been in quality more than politics. Although staying out of the limelight with it did not hurt them at all.
Lightyear was still the second highest grossing animated film of 2022. 2nd to Minions which is a major franchise, which was also succeeding on its own without people defecting from Disney. It surpassed many animated movies from other studios. Lightyear also wasn’t highly rated by critics who aren’t judging it based on political message or content. Got a 74% on rotten tomatoes from critics. Toy Story 4 got 97% from critics. Big drop in quality there.

Again, this isn’t about my personal opinion one way or the other. The masses do not “vote with their wallet” nearly as much as people think. It’s just the way it is.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Don't even try to "both sides" this.
Seriously? I said “Companies are being forced to “take a side” more and more and often they are faced with a decision of you are either with us or against us. This happens from both sides.” You think that only happens from the right and never the left? It clearly happens both ways on a whole variety of issues.
 

Tonto

Well-Known Member
Yeah, thank God for international money.
Thank god for having a relatively diverse economy that's less reliant on tourism and is more well equipped to weather an economic downturn.

Yes, and international money. Which is also a thing in Orlando, just not at the level of Miami.

And yes, while inland Central Florida would still be a backwater if it weren't for Disney, Disney is the main factor that artificially drives low wages in the region.
Yeah. well you have your opinions. Its clear you have an axe to grind.
Have a good night.
 

mkt

Disney's Favorite Scumbag™
Premium Member
Yeah. well you have your opinions. Its clear you have an axe to grind.
Have a good night.
Well, no.

The first two lines are completely factual.

The third one is my opinion having been raised and educated almost entirely in Orlando, and then having left for 15 years to travel the world before returning to Orlando after a brief stint in Miami.
 

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