Orlando Becoming East Coast Headquarters for Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Louder for the people in the back!!! Orlando is an amazing city and anyone who thinks otherwise is being willfully ignorant and choosing to look only for the "bad"

Following up on my previous post, I don't think it's a diss to say LA's food scene is better than Orlando's - LA may just have the most interesting food scene in the country right now.

Orlando has some impressive heavy hitters, but for every Ravenous Pig or Kadence you'd probably have 10-20 equally compelling options in LA. That's not an insult - it's just a volume thing, but it's nice to see the positive trajectory.

I also have no personal experience with Lake Nona, but from a quick Google search it looks beautiful. Fingers crossed they solve the existing congestion issues before doubling down and welcoming thousands of transplants.

 

[seascape]

It’s only like that around the theme parks. When I moved here, I realized how as a tourist, you have no idea what the rest of Orlando is like. True, some areas are old Florida & outdated, but I love Lake Nona.

I love the Florida vs California debate. It reminds me of a debate I had years ago with my Uncle. He said he knew more about South Korea that I did because he served there in the Korean War. He continued to think Korea was a backwards pathetic country not capable of hosting the Olympics. Yes. 50 years ago Florida was unable to attract a highly qualified workforce but today things are different. Florida is where high quality colleges and Universities are growing. Miami is now one of the top sites for the Financial Industry with continued expansion of Wall Street Brokerages while New York City keeps seeing their number of Financial Employees drop. One last thing in the late 1970's the US Government still had Orlando listed as a depressed city. Look at Orlando today compared to 45 years ago and look at any other city. Look at Florida today compared to California and New York. Anyone would be hard pressed to find any area that New York or California has grown more and better than Florida. Will Disney's 2000 plus jobs make a major impact on the Orlando market? Believe it or not the as answer is no. Today their are over 1,000 people a week moving to Orlando do in 18 months without Disney's new jobs there would still be approximately another 100,000 people in the area. Why are they moving? According to some here they must be stupid. But then Goldman Sacks, Chase and all the other investment bankers must be stupid too because they are expanding in Florida and not New York.

 

[Lilofan]

I love the Florida vs California debate. It reminds me of a debate I had years ago with my Uncle. He said he knew more about South Korea that I did because he served there in the Korean War. He continued to think Korea was a backwards pathetic country not capable of hosting the Olympics. Yes. 50 years ago Florida was unable to attract a highly qualified workforce but today things are different. Florida is where high quality colleges and Universities are growing. Miami is now one of the top sites for the Financial Industry with continued expansion of Wall Street Brokerages while New York City keeps seeing their number of Financial Employees drop. One last thing in the late 1970's the US Government still had Orlando listed as a depressed city. Look at Orlando today compared to 45 years ago and look at any other city. Look at Florida today compared to California and New York. Anyone would be hard pressed to find any area that New York or California has grown more and better than Florida. Will Disney's 2000 plus jobs make a major impact on the Orlando market? Believe it or not the as answer is no. Today their are over 1,000 people a week moving to Orlando do in 18 months without Disney's new jobs there would still be approximately another 100,000 people in the area. Why are they moving? According to some here they must be stupid. But then Goldman Sacks, Chase and all the other investment bankers must be stupid too because they are expanding in Florida and not New York.

Some reasons why some on Wall Street relocate to FL is to escape high taxes , FL having no state income tax, lower COL compared to where they are from and warmer weather. If none of these factors were in play the idea of FL attracting a highly qualified workforce ( ie Wall Street ) would not hold up. Also for $2k a month one can rent a shoebox in NYC, for the same money one can rent a very nice 1 bedroom with all the amenities in FL.

 

[scottb411]

For public education, Orange County residents passed a half-cent sales tax in 2002 that goes specifically to renovating or replacing schools that is in effect through 2025. Since that time, just about all of the schools in the county have had major upgrades or have been replaced (around 136 schools total). Also in 2002, Florida residents passed a class-size amendment that puts limits on the teacher-student ratio that went into full effect during the 2010-2011 school year. These two initiatives that have been ongoing for close to 20 years now have had a significant positive impact on public education in Orange County that can be seen statewide in the Nations Report Card rankings:

Sales Tax:

Sales Tax History

www.ocps.net

Class-size Amendment:

Class Size

Florida s Class Size Reduction Amendment History In 2002, citizens approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution that set limits on the number of students.

www.fldoe.org

Nations Report Card:

National Data Explorer - ETS

National Data Explorer

www.nationsreportcard.gov

 

[the.dreamfinder]

When they do it wrong.. sure

But to think it could have been worse!

 

[ElvisMickey]

I work for Verizon and in 2012, we went through a “Finance transformation” where they closed several buildings in the Northeast and brought half of Finance to Lake Mary here in Orlando and sent the other half of Finance to Tulsa, OK. Thankfully, my position was on the Florida side of things. Kind of like winning the lottery, being a Disney fan! Anyway, companies have been moving down here for quite a while. Many jobs aren’t right next to Disney, but in a 30 mile radius. There are tons of corporate jobs here in Lake Mary that have nothing to do with the hospitality or entertainment business.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I have a universal suggestion: everyone should move to Florida…now.

it’s utopia. It’s like money, ice cream AND constant vacationing

 

[MorphinePrince]

For public education, Orange County residents passed a half-cent sales tax in 2002 that goes specifically to renovating or replacing schools that is in effect through 2025. Since that time, just about all of the schools in the county have had major upgrades or have been replaced (around 136 schools total). Also in 2002, Florida residents passed a class-size amendment that puts limits on the teacher-student ratio that went into full effect during the 2010-2011 school year. These two initiatives that have been ongoing for close to 20 years now have had a significant positive impact on public education in Orange County that can be seen statewide in the Nations Report Card rankings:

Sales Tax:

Sales Tax History

www.ocps.net

Class-size Amendment:

Class Size

Florida s Class Size Reduction Amendment History In 2002, citizens approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution that set limits on the number of students.

www.fldoe.org

Nations Report Card:

National Data Explorer - ETS

National Data Explorer

www.nationsreportcard.gov

Teaching for OCPS was a true highlight of my time in Florida!! It was wonderful to teach in a modern, updated, facility with access to the latest educational technology; even the trailer classroom my first year was fixed up to the 9's. Since I teach a core subject (English), my class size was topped at 25, which was the perfect amount of kids to manage six times a day. Then, throw in a variety of different perks thanks to the union including great pay (comparatively speaking) it was a dream.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Teaching for OCPS was a true highlight of my time in Florida!! It was wonderful to teach in a modern, updated, facility with access to the latest educational technology; even the trailer classroom my first year was fixed up to the 9's. Since I teach a core subject (English), my class size was topped at 25, which was the perfect amount of kids to manage six times a day. Then, throw in a variety of different perks thanks to the union including great pay (comparatively speaking) it was a dream.

That’s very encouraging to hear…

because most of Florida had a lot of people putting their kids in “private schools” for a very long time due to the lacking in the public schools system. And that was even in the tourist zones.

 

[MorphinePrince]

Following up on my previous post, I don't think it's a diss to say LA's food scene is better than Orlando's - LA may just have the most interesting food scene in the country right now.

Orlando has some impressive heavy hitters, but for every Ravenous Pig or Kadence you'd probably have 10-20 equally compelling options in LA. That's not an insult - it's just a volume thing, but it's nice to see the positive trajectory.

I also have no personal experience with Lake Nona, but from a quick Google search it looks beautiful. Fingers crossed they solve the existing congestion issues before doubling down and welcoming thousands of transplants.

I'm not particularly a foodie, so the draw of city based only on its food is something I never really paid attention to. I will say that once you get away from the tourist areas, there are a lot of fantastic local places with a different variety of delicious offerings. As far as the road network around this particular area, they are working on expanding the 417 tollway from 4 lanes to 6 over the next two years, so that will definitely help with some of the extra cars on the road.

That’s very encouraging to hear…

because most of Florida had a lot of people putting their kids in “private schools” for a very long time due to the lacking in the public schools system. And that was even in the tourist zones.

August will be my 4th year in this field, so I can only comment on my two year experience with the FL education system. All I can say from my one sided perspective is I didn't feel like I was pulling at the teeth to get resources to give all my kids the best education I could give them. But others may feel differently.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Looking at Georgia‘s booming film industry I think you are correct.

They also receive fairly generous production subsidies to make stuff there. 20 percent of production spend in GA is refunded back to the production company.

 

[MorphinePrince]

I have a universal suggestion: everyone should move to Florida…now.

it’s utopia. It’s like money, ice cream AND constant vacationing

Saving for a downpayment on a house as fast as I can

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Atlanta is close enough. Nothing is filmed in Hollywood anymore. Everything is ATL and London.

Tentpole films yes, but scripted TV and commercials, which receive no incentives, are being filmed in LA as much as they’ve ever been. It’s very difficult to get soundstages in LA and Amazon is doing a massive rebuild of the Culver Studios with new stages. There is also a fair, but competitive film production incentive now that has lured more projects back to CA. Don’t be shocked if UNI buys the golf course north of Universal City to expand or Disney dusts off its plan to build 6-8 stages on the Golden Oak Ranch.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I’m just thinking it’s a little odd they’d spend money on land when they could build this on the roughly 25,000 acres of land they already own in Orlando.

 

[matt9112]

Mmm...if you want Hollywood actors to show up it'll stay in Anaheim.

Sounds like your calling them all lazy.

 

[Lilofan]

I'm not particularly a foodie, so the draw of city based only on its food is something I never really paid attention to. I will say that once you get away from the tourist areas, there are a lot of fantastic local places with a different variety of delicious offerings. As far as the road network around this particular area, they are working on expanding the 417 tollway from 4 lanes to 6 over the next two years, so that will definitely help with some of the extra cars on the road.

August will be my 4th year in this field, so I can only comment on my two year experience with the FL education system. All I can say from my one sided perspective is I didn't feel like I was pulling at the teeth to get resources to give all my kids the best education I could give them. But others may feel differently.

Real diner food, bagels = it's all in the water , quality Chinese food really only exist in NJ/NY. For a number of FL pizza places advertising " NY Style Pizza" is pretty much of a joke.

 

[MorphinePrince]

Real diner food, bagels = it's all in the water , quality Chinese food really only exist in NJ/NY. For a number of FL pizza places advertising " NY Style Pizza" is pretty much of a joke.

Fortunately I don't really care for either Chinese food or pizza

 

[WannaGoNow]

Atlanta is close enough. Nothing is filmed in Hollywood anymore. Everything is ATL and London.

Not true. Studio sound stages are so heavily booked in the greater LA area, they‘ve had to turn old warehouses in places like Pacoima, Santa Clarita and Sylmar into new ones. Or perhaps you’re talking Hollywood proper, but that’s still wrong as Paramount Pictures (and their soundstages) are in Hollywood itself.

Toronto and Vancouver see more production than Atlanta. LA has double the sound stage space of Toronto.

But there’s plenty of production to go around, especially since streaming services have increased the amount of content needed to feed them.

Oh the 1% does just fine in CA. That’s for sure. It’s the poor and middle class who struggle.

The poor struggle everywhere. CA provides more public services and greater benefits than states like FL.

As for the middle class: Looks out window of house bought recently. Gorgeous clear blue sky, temps in the 60s, will hit low 80s later, humidity at 30%. Kids are riding bikes, heading for the nearby park’s bike trail. Neighbors are out drinking coffee on their porches. Probably go to the beach later on, after we finish planning our next weekend car getaway to Lake Tahoe. Will pick up food from the farmer’s market or we might hit the El Salvadoran supermarket, maybe get takeout from some of the best Indian restaurants in the country, or perhaps dim sum from a Taiwanese chain. If we want to hit a museum or see live theater or attend the opera or classical music, world renowned institutions are in our backyard (and offer low or free admission on various occasions). Two of the world’s most highly ranked universities are nearby; might sign up for an extension class or attend one of the free lectures offered by their faculty.

Yeah, life really sucks here. Constant struggle.

 

[celluloid]

Real diner food, bagels = it's all in the water , quality Chinese food really only exist in NJ/NY. For a number of FL pizza places advertising " NY Style Pizza" is pretty much of a joke.

Believe me, we all know there is "Something in the water" in NY/NJ.

 

[WannaGoNow]

I love the Florida vs California debate. It reminds me of a debate I had years ago with my Uncle. He said he knew more about South Korea that I did because he served there in the Korean War. He continued to think Korea was a backwards pathetic country not capable of hosting the Olympics. Yes. 50 years ago Florida was unable to attract a highly qualified workforce but today things are different. Florida is where high quality colleges and Universities are growing. Miami is now one of the top sites for the Financial Industry with continued expansion of Wall Street Brokerages while New York City keeps seeing their number of Financial Employees drop. One last thing in the late 1970's the US Government still had Orlando listed as a depressed city. Look at Orlando today compared to 45 years ago and look at any other city. Look at Florida today compared to California and New York. Anyone would be hard pressed to find any area that New York or California has grown more and better than Florida. Will Disney's 2000 plus jobs make a major impact on the Orlando market? Believe it or not the as answer is no. Today their are over 1,000 people a week moving to Orlando do in 18 months without Disney's new jobs there would still be approximately another 100,000 people in the area. Why are they moving? According to some here they must be stupid. But then Goldman Sacks, Chase and all the other investment bankers must be stupid too because they are expanding in Florida and not New York.

Funny, that’s how I feel about all the CA haters in this thread whose only experience with CA Is listening to pundits on cable television.

There’s room to expand in FL. There isn’t in CA urban centers and NYC. But growth isn’t the only metric. Unchecked growth is big trouble.

I do look forward to NY and CA transplants bringing their attitudes to FL. That’s going to be fun to watch.