-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Critics say Disney wields too much influence in the Florida Chamber of Commerce
- Thread starter ptaylor
- Start date
Brian Noble
Well-Known Member
Disney throwing its political weight around in Florida? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah, who could have seen this coming after the EPCOT posturing to get Reedy Creek? Or the transportation board and grant/loan manipulation for I-4 interchanges and construction of the money pit for Osceola that is the Osceola Parkway?
Brian Noble
Well-Known Member
Exactly. A company that had its own lawyers literally write the legislation that gave that same company its very own governmental agency isn't going to hold back when it comes to gerrymandering the chamber of commerce.
britdaw
Well-Known Member
Exactly... I haven't read that book, but when I watched the "Behind the Scenes of Walt Disney World" thing they have on Netflix, and saw where Walt actually bought enough land to form actual cities I figured the Disney family/company would stop at nothing to get what it wanted. Which is not always a bad thing, when it comes to Disney.
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
If Disney never came, would there even be a Florida Chamber of Commerce?
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
You do realize Florida was a tourist destination for a hundred years before Disney showed up, right?
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
What was once good for Disney was almost always good for Florida.
It was a healthy symbiotic relationship.
Now ... it's kinda like one of those Real Housewives or Kardashian type reality shows.
What's good for Florida are jobs. Real jobs. Full time ones. And that is what is on the table with the mega-resorts proposed for SoFla. Disney doesn't want real competition. You see how well it handled UNI finally getting its act together and taking just a small piece (very small in reality) of business away when WWoHP opened.
Disney cares about very little beyond its bottom line. It's kinda like when an evil billionaire donates $10 million to cancer research or a wildlife rescue fund. It's a good deed, but not for the right reasons.
The prospect here isn't that the Chamber cares about a good wholesome Florida image. If it did, it would work to solve the many societal ills we have.
No, it wants to protect Disney and who cares about all those jobs down here. Disney PR will trot out a number about what it's worth to the state and yada, yada, yada.
The Mouse has become a giant rat with a voracious appetite and a vicious temperment.
Can I invite a member of Disney Social Media to come debate that point here? (I mean I just did and I'm sure that Tom or Jenn or Gary are reading and will not come here because their social media department exists only as inhouse PR/propaganda and not a true conduit with the fan community ... my question is more is this piece of the post is just gonna disappear? I started asking questions like this on one Disney Place and suddenly you'd have thought I questioned whether Mickey existed!)
~GFC~
It was a healthy symbiotic relationship.
Now ... it's kinda like one of those Real Housewives or Kardashian type reality shows.
What's good for Florida are jobs. Real jobs. Full time ones. And that is what is on the table with the mega-resorts proposed for SoFla. Disney doesn't want real competition. You see how well it handled UNI finally getting its act together and taking just a small piece (very small in reality) of business away when WWoHP opened.
Disney cares about very little beyond its bottom line. It's kinda like when an evil billionaire donates $10 million to cancer research or a wildlife rescue fund. It's a good deed, but not for the right reasons.
The prospect here isn't that the Chamber cares about a good wholesome Florida image. If it did, it would work to solve the many societal ills we have.
No, it wants to protect Disney and who cares about all those jobs down here. Disney PR will trot out a number about what it's worth to the state and yada, yada, yada.
The Mouse has become a giant rat with a voracious appetite and a vicious temperment.
Can I invite a member of Disney Social Media to come debate that point here? (I mean I just did and I'm sure that Tom or Jenn or Gary are reading and will not come here because their social media department exists only as inhouse PR/propaganda and not a true conduit with the fan community ... my question is more is this piece of the post is just gonna disappear? I started asking questions like this on one Disney Place and suddenly you'd have thought I questioned whether Mickey existed!)
~GFC~
Yawn. All these chambers are bankrolled by big business no story here.
American business is is based on a capitalist system of crush anyone and every in the pursuit of profit. You can't the system you love so much in "The Land Of The Free"TM. Just because the company has a fluffy mouse fronting it doesn't mean they they care about anything other than profit, they have 1% to answer to. Disney's licensed products are made in sweatshops some most likely made by kids but who cares morals only matter if people are outraged and profits are affected.
Disney has the freedom to peruse is own interests at the expense of other jobs being created, to deny them that right I am sure would be wholly un-american and could affect the middle classes america harps on about so much. :lookaroun
American business is is based on a capitalist system of crush anyone and every in the pursuit of profit. You can't the system you love so much in "The Land Of The Free"TM. Just because the company has a fluffy mouse fronting it doesn't mean they they care about anything other than profit, they have 1% to answer to. Disney's licensed products are made in sweatshops some most likely made by kids but who cares morals only matter if people are outraged and profits are affected.
Disney has the freedom to peruse is own interests at the expense of other jobs being created, to deny them that right I am sure would be wholly un-american and could affect the middle classes america harps on about so much. :lookaroun
"critics".....historically, whenever any entity becomes no. 1 in its arena, it becomes a target. IBM, Walmart, Microsoft, USA, ...feel free to add to this list. There wasn't much of Orlando before Disney. I personally recall the "airport" as it was in 1979, literally smaller than many strip malls! A local Dermatoligist briefly had a TV commercial in Orlando stating that the incidence of skin cancer in Orlando has risen 3000% in the last 50 years (incidence, not percentage)...garbage statictics..check on how much the population of the area has grown in 50 years due to.....?
Walt 1901
Active Member
April 13, 2011
New Study Shows Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Makes Strong Economic Impact Across Florida
More than 160,000 Jobs Created Across the State and Over $6 Billion in Paychecks Attributed to Disney's Operations in Central Florida
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., April 13, 2011 - A new study released today shows the magic Disney makes for guests at its parks and resorts and on its cruise ships translates into a strong economic impact not only in Central Florida but across the state.
The $18.2 billion in annual economic activity generated locally by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts accounts for a staggering 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product for the entire state.
Of the 7.2 million Floridians in the workforce in 2009, more than one out of every 50 had a job that can be directly or indirectly tied to the operations of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Locally, 6 percent of all jobs in Central Florida can be attributed to Disney's operations.
"As our business at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts keeps growing, the bottom line impact for Florida is the more than 160,000 jobs and $6 billion in compensation directly and indirectly associated with these jobs that help power our state's economic engine," said Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. "The ripple effect created by our operations resonates throughout Florida as families across the state use their earnings to purchase goods and services from the diverse businesses both large and small that make Florida such an amazing place to live, work and play."
The impact of Disney's operations in Central Florida and across the state includes:
Jobs – Walt Disney World Resort directly employs more than 62,000 cast members. Statewide, the total number of jobs created indirectly and directly by the operations of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts tops 160,000.
Compensation – In Central Florida, cast members at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts earned a total of nearly $1.8 billion during FY2009. Across Florida, when direct and indirect jobs are taken into account, more than $6 billion in paychecks can be attributed directly or indirectly to Disney's operations.
Purchasing by Disney – Each year Walt Disney Parks and Resorts purchases more than $2 billion worth of goods and services. Nearly $1 billion is paid to vendors with a presence in the state and approximately $500 million goes to vendors in Central Florida.
Spending by Disney Guests – Spending by Disney guests at businesses outside the resort area totaled nearly $1.7 billion in FY2009. This includes hotel and lodging expenditures; meals at local restaurants; retail purchases; and transportation expenditures.
Taxes – When taking the amount Disney pays in taxes and subtracting the cost of various government services used by guests and cast members, the net benefit to Florida and all localities is more than $400 million. In Central Florida, for example, Orange County sees a net benefit of more than $100 million and Osceola sees a net benefit of nearly $10 million.
The study was commissioned by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and conducted by the outside consulting firm Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics.
###
New Study Shows Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Makes Strong Economic Impact Across Florida
More than 160,000 Jobs Created Across the State and Over $6 Billion in Paychecks Attributed to Disney's Operations in Central Florida
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., April 13, 2011 - A new study released today shows the magic Disney makes for guests at its parks and resorts and on its cruise ships translates into a strong economic impact not only in Central Florida but across the state.
The $18.2 billion in annual economic activity generated locally by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts accounts for a staggering 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product for the entire state.
Of the 7.2 million Floridians in the workforce in 2009, more than one out of every 50 had a job that can be directly or indirectly tied to the operations of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Locally, 6 percent of all jobs in Central Florida can be attributed to Disney's operations.
"As our business at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts keeps growing, the bottom line impact for Florida is the more than 160,000 jobs and $6 billion in compensation directly and indirectly associated with these jobs that help power our state's economic engine," said Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. "The ripple effect created by our operations resonates throughout Florida as families across the state use their earnings to purchase goods and services from the diverse businesses both large and small that make Florida such an amazing place to live, work and play."
The impact of Disney's operations in Central Florida and across the state includes:
Jobs – Walt Disney World Resort directly employs more than 62,000 cast members. Statewide, the total number of jobs created indirectly and directly by the operations of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts tops 160,000.
Compensation – In Central Florida, cast members at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts earned a total of nearly $1.8 billion during FY2009. Across Florida, when direct and indirect jobs are taken into account, more than $6 billion in paychecks can be attributed directly or indirectly to Disney's operations.
Purchasing by Disney – Each year Walt Disney Parks and Resorts purchases more than $2 billion worth of goods and services. Nearly $1 billion is paid to vendors with a presence in the state and approximately $500 million goes to vendors in Central Florida.
Spending by Disney Guests – Spending by Disney guests at businesses outside the resort area totaled nearly $1.7 billion in FY2009. This includes hotel and lodging expenditures; meals at local restaurants; retail purchases; and transportation expenditures.
Taxes – When taking the amount Disney pays in taxes and subtracting the cost of various government services used by guests and cast members, the net benefit to Florida and all localities is more than $400 million. In Central Florida, for example, Orange County sees a net benefit of more than $100 million and Osceola sees a net benefit of nearly $10 million.
The study was commissioned by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and conducted by the outside consulting firm Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics.
###
dumboflyer
Well-Known Member
Since when is a private company's primary goal the welfare of the citizens of one of the states where they do business? Your argument supposes that the "right reasons" here would be for Disney to roll over and invite competition in because it's in the best interest of some Florida residents.
Disney's first obligation is to their own shareholders--the owners of the company. Their shareholders' interests are not served by failing to protect the company's interests. If there is any other obligation, it's to guests and then employees.
Brian Noble
Well-Known Member
It's well-worth a read. Very well-sourced, a scholarly take, with an eye towards urban development and policy impact. One of the best Disney books I've ever read.
Married to the Mouse has a take on this. One of the impacts of WDW is that they import labor---but it's very poorly paid labor. This ends up putting *more* stress on the surrounding counties and their social service mechanisms, and arguably those stresses outpace the increased marginal tax revenue.
The business *should not* and does not care about the welfare of the citizens, but it *does* need to make sure that the surrounding institutions can support the infrastructure for its business.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Jim Hill talked about this on the most recent Magical Definition show. There was a time (pre-Eisner) where there was an effort for Disney to be a good neighbor.
Monsterfan99
Active Member
Nothing says legit like paying for a study that is a pat on the back.