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

[Sir_Cliff]

Directly? Probably not. Indirectly?

In the last year, I've talked to 8 different acquaintances at WDI that were asked to move to Florida. 2 said yes and have already moved. Of the 6 that said no, 4 of them are still employed at WDI "waiting" for their roles to move. The number of people asked, who said yes to moving, is pretty low (25%), and certainly you can assume politics played some part in that.

I also don't think Disney was wanting to, or prepared to, shed over 70% of their WDI base due to this move. Not only is that a huge number of people and knowledge to lose in California, that is an daunting ask to replace from the talent pool in Florida.

By announcing that they are delaying the move publicly, as they have, they can now try to convince people in California to stay in their roles a little longer, delay the exodus that has already started, and maybe give them more time to find talent and people in Florida that to date, they haven't been able to find. It probably won't work because the damage has already been done.

It wouldn't be surprising at all if this just ends up fading out of the news, and Imagineers are allowed to stay past their "move date."

I do think people are losing sight of the fact that Imagineers are human beings taking a whole bunch of factors into consideration, and that will include perceptions of the social and political climate. I'm sure at least of those denying that would swear black and blue they would never move to California for similar reasons. Even before Disney became one of the chief targets,. So, there is a definite contrast there.

I'm sure in time they will find people to take those jobs. It should, though, be alarming to Disney if this move is causing them to bleed talent. We also don't know what they're finding about those applying for new positions. Maybe it's people of comparable skills and experience, maybe it's not.

 

[MisterPenguin]

What's the Disney equivalent of Kremlinology?

Reading Teacups Leaves.

Astro-orbito-logy

Peering into the Epcot Ball

 

[cranbiz]

Unfortunately I think horrible traffic is an issue in most major metro areas, Los Angeles is an absolute nightmare, we were at DL and decided to spend a day at Universal and it took us 2 hours to get there (about 30 miles on the 5), and another 2 hours to get back. I’ve never heard anyone talk about a day trip to Universal Orlando resulting in 4 hours of driving from WDW.

That's because there are ways to Universal from WDW that don't require the use of I4.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Maybe in 2019 it made sense to spend so much on a collaborative on site campus, but in 2022 maybe it doesn't. If your Imagineers are going to spend so much more time at home, or out in the field, why build them an office at all, let alone spend $800M on it?

That I could see, reconfiguring the campus to adjust for more employees working from home makes sense, it’s still about money rather than staffing issues or politics though.

 

[flynnibus]

Some people would believe Baghdad Bob as Disney's spokes person as long as they are peddling what they are buying.

Company Spokesperson throws wet blanket on controversy... NEWS AT 11! Kinda like Disney never said anything about the desire to move people out of California and the cost of labor there... they didn't say it!!! Of course not.. because you can't say those kinds of things explicitly when you have an existing labor force.

 

[JoeCamel]

I always hear about the brutal traffic on I-4, but the handful of times I've driven on it, it has always moved smoothly. I keep waiting for one of those massive traffic jams that are referenced.

My wife and I are driving down (from PA) with my parents this weekend. Hopefully this isn't the time we get stopped!

Head to Champions Gate most daylight hours, you will see a constant slowdown and if you are blessed you may get to park on the interstate for extended periods.

 

[bhg469]

Head to Champions Gate most daylight hours, you will see a constant slowdown and if you are blessed you may get to park on the interstate for extended periods.

Yup, it never fails. Eastbound backup all day and west bound after noon into the evening. A few of the sites I'm responsible for are all East of Champions gate. Coming home from those locations are typically a S-Show.

 

[chriskbrown]

Interesting to see where this ends up. I had the incredible opportunity to meet one of the Imagineers who designed RoTR vehicles and others. Literally met her in line riding the ride on its opening day at DisneyLand. Somehow her husband was more interested in my kid's healthcare professions .

She is a brilliant engineer and left for Google; she is married and I suspected the planned move had a huge part in her leaving Disney.

Retracting this move is going to be hard. Delaying to 2026 really does not help - either abandon it or move forward.

 

[cheezbat]

Head to Champions Gate most daylight hours, you will see a constant slowdown and if you are blessed you may get to park on the interstate for extended periods.

As someone who lives off of that exit but works near UCF, this is hell every day. Most days 2 hours to work, and 2 hours back….with a 10-14 hour workday in between….between the constant traffic and rising gas and toll prices, it’s really got me considering quitting my job.

 

[UNCgolf]

As someone who lives off of that exit but works near UCF, this is hell every day. Most days 2 hours to work, and 2 hours back….with a 10-14 hour workday in between….between the constant traffic and rising gas and toll prices, it’s really got me considering quitting my job.

Isn't that like a 35-40 mile drive, though?

Not that that makes 2 hours sound fun or anything, but I feel like that's what you'd expect in most cities. Here in Atlanta there are a lot of places where it could take you 45-60+ minutes to go 10 miles.

 

[Lilofan]

As someone who lives off of that exit but works near UCF, this is hell every day. Most days 2 hours to work, and 2 hours back….with a 10-14 hour workday in between….between the constant traffic and rising gas and toll prices, it’s really got me considering quitting my job.

That would get someone's left leg a good workout if driving a stick. Save the manuals! Nice part about owning a stick is many don't want to drive it or know how to drive one.

 

[bhg469]

As someone who lives off of that exit but works near UCF, this is hell every day. Most days 2 hours to work, and 2 hours back….with a 10-14 hour workday in between….between the constant traffic and rising gas and toll prices, it’s really got me considering quitting my job.

That does sound brutal. Do you own your home in that area? Any chance to move rather than quit? When we moved to Florida we were originally planning on Davenport because it was cheap and at the time we were able to get around a tiny but better but the places we looked at were closer to 192. Thankfully before we moved, we looked at apartments all over. The one we loved was by Champions Gate but second place was in Hunter's Creek. The day we checked out the one in Champions Gate, traffic was STUPID! That gave us the feeling it would have been a bad idea. Today is exactly a year since we moved and we actually bought a house near our apartment in Hunter's creek because we like it so much. Yes traffic down John Young is stupid most days but its super easy to get around wherever we need to. Publix is around the corner, the Loop is there as well. WDW is just 15 minutes up Osceola and Universal is about 25 mintues away.

 

[el_super]

Saw the news that Netflix is laying off people. I had heard thru the grapevine that some of the office spaces that were being freed up by DPEP people moving to Florida, were being assigned to Disney+ production companies... and now I'm wondering if the pause on moving CMs to Florida, is in part because Disney realized they won't need that space for Disney+.

I haven't seen anything indicating that Disney announced scaling back any part of that 33 Billion infusion into Disney+, but I would suspect that they are re-evaluating that investment now.

 

[UNCgolf]

Saw the news that Netflix is laying off people.

I'm still baffled that so many people are surprised Netflix has lost some steam.

A massive part of the appeal was that they had almost everything people cared about in one place. Since they started losing shows like the Office and Parks & Recreation (among many others), people have less reason to stay subscribed.

 

[Tonto]

I don't disagree that WDI should probably be expanding in Florida, but that idea doesn't negate the fact that there is still a huge pool of talent, within the entertainment industry as a whole, within California. Locking yourself out of that market is a huge mistake. It seems to me, that Disney felt these people would willfully give up their lives to move, and now that they aren't, the plans have to change.




Yeah but that's just the thing.... this move ultimately will end up costing them money. Unless they are planning to sell off large chunks of land in Glendale (which comes with it's own problems now), it seems unlikely they would ever recoup the cost of moving people.

On top of the huge cost they were already planning for this new campus ($800M) and the potential for the price to go up due to supply issues and construction delays, they now also have to weigh this plan against the labor market's trend toward work from home options. Maybe in 2019 it made sense to spend so much on a collaborative on site campus, but in 2022 maybe it doesn't. If your Imagineers are going to spend so much more time at home, or out in the field, why build them an office at all, let alone spend $800M on it?

I wonder what the stats are on an office complex being announced 5 years in advance, ever actually coming to fruition.

Companies for the most part are done with the stay at home experiment.
It ultimately failed. I think the Florida campus is more relevant today than back in 2019 for that reason.

 

[mightynine]

I haven't seen anything indicating that Disney announced scaling back any part of that 33 Billion infusion into Disney+, but I would suspect that they are re-evaluating that investment now.

I don't see why. Netflix losing steam doesn't mean streaming is going away.

 

[LSLS]

Companies for the most part are done with the stay at home experiment.
It ultimately failed. I think the Florida campus is more relevant today than back in 2019 for that reason.

Really? Our company and most of our clients felt it worked so well we/they started hiring out of market for fulltime remote positions.

 

[cranbiz]

Companies for the most part are done with the stay at home experiment.
It ultimately failed. I think the Florida campus is more relevant today than back in 2019 for that reason.

Many companies are staying with either a full remote or a hybrid remote work environment. My company is only requiring people to come to the office for certain positions, like customer technical support, where they need specialized equipment to set up customer scenarios. The $$ savings in downsizing office space is real. We have done away with fixed work spaces. If you need to go in for any reason, you now need to reserve a work space in advance. I have been 100% remote now for close to 7 years. First due to lack of office space in my area and then due to covid.

 

[flynnibus]

Many companies are staying with either a full remote or a hybrid remote work environment. My company is only requiring people to come to the office for certain positions, like customer technical support, where they need specialized equipment to set up customer scenarios. The $$ savings in downsizing office space is real. We have done away with fixed work spaces. If you need to go in for any reason, you now need to reserve a work space in advance. I have been 100% remote now for close to 7 years. First due to lack of office space in my area and then due to covid.

The key is the type of work.

Many companies in the past wouldn't let people work remote because they didn't think they could trust people or be effective. This mindset hindered many that COULD have been remote, but never had the chance. But remote isn't the answer for EVERY role or everyone. We will go through the yo-yo period where companies will learn that yes... some roles and people SHOULD be in a managed space.. even if not for needing specialized resources.

And I say this as the guy building your remote work solutions for the last 25yrs

 

[el_super]

I'm still baffled that so many people are surprised Netflix has lost some steam.

A massive part of the appeal was that they had almost everything people cared about in one place. Since they started losing shows like the Office and Parks & Recreation (among many others), people have less reason to stay subscribed.

Yeah but this statement highlights some of the pivoting that is now happening on how the success of the streaming platforms was being gauged. Netflix spent a king's ransom on new content, because they knew they were being held hostage by IP rights, and as long as the sub counts kept climbing, Wall Street was OK with the spending. If the success of Netflix was wholly reliant on known IP/nostalgia, that's a huge red flag for investors.

The question is, will the same hold true for Disney. They announced spending 33 billion on new Disney+ content. What would that be... 6 or 7 new theme parks? That's a huge sum of money. That decision was made based on the previously Netflix model... Spend big and increase subscribers. That model doesn't apply any longer and both companies will need to be better at justifying their expenditures.

Which means the growth of Disney+, and to circle around, the required office space in California, may now be in question.

Companies for the most part are done with the stay at home experiment.
It ultimately failed. I think the Florida campus is more relevant today than back in 2019 for that reason.

Disney themselves adopted permanent classifications for full-time remote and hybrid workers. It's not going anywhere.