News Crossroads Plaza Faces Demoliton

[donsullivan]

This is a FDOT decision not a Disney one.

Please don't imply misinformation.

Correct. Disney no longer owns Crossroads and while they were consulted due to the impact on their property and traffic flows, they have no actual say or influence in this decision. This is 100% FDOT trying to fix a major backup problem on I4 that has been getting progressively worse for decades now.

 

[deeevo]

Before even reading the article I imagined this has something to do with the express lane additions and the expansion of I-4. Anyone who drives this on a regular basis knows that this is one of the worst areas for traffic jams. On a good day when I am driving from Tampa I run into traffic starting just before Osceola Parkway and sit there until after the east bound on ramp to I-4. When driving west late in the day, traffic is always a nightmare about 2 miles east of 535 until after the overpass because of people trying to exit onto 535. There are definitely some good stores and restaurants in this plaza but there is absolutely a need to help traffic flow on I-4, not to mention the complete mess of traffic on 535 exiting the interstate, trying to get into and out of the plaza and turning onto Hotel Plaza Blvd. I drive this route between Tampa and Orlando usually 2-3 times per week and hate driving through that area. I personally look forward to seeing something happen there.

And omg at the drive during the Strawberry Festival. Basically in traffic for 50 miles.

 

[jimbo mack]

Just head south on World Drive and west on 192 and you'll find most anything you might need. There are grocery stores as well as a Super Target within a couple of miles of World Drive. you'll also find a wide array of the usual suspects of casual dining and fast-food restaurants, CVS, WalGreens, etc..

Thanks - what area is that? Still in LBV?

 

[donsullivan]

Thanks - what area is that? Still in LBV?

Once you leave the WDW Property on the south side you are in Kissimmee (either direction). Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake do not extend beyond the borders of the RCID property we all know as Walt Disney World.

 

[jimbo mack]

Once you leave the WDW Property on the south side you are in Kissimmee (either direction). Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake do not extend beyond the borders of the RCID property we all know as Walt Disney World.

Do you know how long roughly it takes to drive there from crossroads, on average as I know depends on traffic

 

[richg35]

I don't really get why people are in an uproar over this. Thousands of people who simply live and work in the area are negatively impacted by sitting in traffic in this I-4/535 interchange. Sitting in traffic causes real economic loss and infrastructure needs to be updated to keep up with demand.

To be honest, I do have some sentimental attachment to the place. When my grandparents bought into DVC when it first launched, we would go food shopping at Gooding's and eat dinner at some of the restaurants in the plaza. But let's face it - Gooding's is a fairly overpriced and sorta crummy supermarket with gross carpeting, and the chain restaurants in the plaza are nothing special (and equivalents can be found a short drive from there in any direction).

I can be as cynical as the next person but some of the implications about Disney colluding with the FDOT to wipe out competition seems ridiculous to me. Yeah, Disney has a lot of clout but these improvements are much needed for everyone who has to deal with traveling through this area be it for work or tourism.

 

[donsullivan]

Do you know how long roughly it takes to drive there from crossroads, on average as I know depends on traffic

From Crossroads, via I4 (which is not the recommended route) it's under 10 miles to the Target which is the farthest west point and according to traffic flow as I type this it suggests under 20 minutes. Through the property might be faster on busy times on I4

 

[jakeman]

...these improvements are much needed for everyone who has to deal with traveling through this area be it for work or tourism.

These improvements were needed 20 years ago if we are going to be honest about that area of I-4.

 

[djjohng]

I don't really get why people are in an uproar over this. Thousands of people who simply live and work in the area are negatively impacted by sitting in traffic in this I-4/535 interchange. Sitting in traffic causes real economic loss and infrastructure needs to be updated to keep up with demand.

To be honest, I do have some sentimental attachment to the place. When my grandparents bought into DVC when it first launched, we would go food shopping at Gooding's and eat dinner at some of the restaurants in the plaza. But let's face it - Gooding's is a fairly overpriced and sorta crummy supermarket with gross carpeting, and the chain restaurants in the plaza are nothing special (and equivalents can be found a short drive from there in any direction).

I can be as cynical as the next person but some of the implications about Disney colluding with the FDOT to wipe out competition seems ridiculous to me. Yeah, Disney has a lot of clout but these improvements are much needed for everyone who has to deal with traveling through this area be it for work or tourism.

This is so true. I live in Windermere, near-ish MK. I drive this way to my office on I Drive / Kirkman area and while most of Orlando is a mess of traffic, that whole area is awful. I get up early on weekdays to go to the gym before work to avoid the traffic, and even at 6:45 AM traffic is bad.

On the way home, I NEVER exit on SR535, I'll always go through Disney to get on CR535 from either Buena Vista Dr. or Vista Blvd. All of that is assuming that traffic is at least moving someone on I-4 west which generally starts backing up at Sand Lake, but often Universal Blvd or beyond.

 

[Casper Gutman]

This is a FDOT decision not a Disney one.

Please don't imply misinformation.

Well, except that insiders in this thread and (if I recall correctly) elsewhere have implied Disney has pushed for this. Given the history of Disney’s interaction with state and local officials, the idea that this is done without Disney’s, at the very least, strong approval is highly unlikely. For an academic account of how Disney manipulates a friendly government, try Foglesong’s Married to the Mouse.

 

[jakeman]

Well, except that insiders in this thread and (if I recall correctly) elsewhere have implied Disney has pushed for this. Given the history of Disney’s interaction with state and local officials, the idea that this is done without Disney’s, at the very least, strong approval is highly unlikely. For an academic account of how Disney manipulates a friendly government, try Foglesong’s Married to the Mouse.

I don't really care what an "insider" says when there is a news article spelling out the process and the end result of said process.

You believe what you want. I'll stick with vetted facts.

 

[mwf5555]

Sad but necessary, I opened the Red Lobster there way back when as a Bartender

 

[Casper Gutman]

I don't really care what an "insider" says when there is a news article spelling out the process and the end result of said process.

You believe what you want. I'll stick with vetted facts.

Wait, you mean the article that outlines Disney’s significant influence on the project and features numerous stakeholders implying it is being done for Disney’s benefit? That article?

Do you really believe that news articles do, or even can, offer complete and intricate details of clandestine contemporary backroom corporate dealings? Do you really expect an OS article to explicitly say “In Orlando, Disney gets what Disney wants?” Because that would never happen, but this article gets really close.

Oh, and I suggested an academic text that outlines Disney’s history of governmental manipulation in Orlando, which is a lot more “vetted” then an OS article.

 

[ford91exploder]

Wait, you mean the article that outlines Disney’s significant influence on the project and features numerous stakeholders implying it is being done for Disney’s benefit? That article?

Do you really believe that news articles do, or even can, offer complete and intricate details of clandestine contemporary backroom corporate dealings? Do you really expect an OS article to explicitly say “In Orlando, Disney gets what Disney wants?” Because that would never happen, but this article gets really close.

Oh, and I suggested an academic text that outlines Disney’s history of governmental manipulation in Orlando, which is a lot more “vetted” then an OS article.

You forget that for some only Disney's media mouthpieces are 'The Truth', If Disney's official blog said the sky was green. Well that would settle it for all time the sky is green...

 

[Kingtut]

I don't really care what an "insider" says when there is a news article spelling out the process and the end result of said process.

You believe what you want. I'll stick with vetted facts.

So you believe if FDOT has another plan the spared the Crossroads but took 1 or two of the hotels space and that gas station you can't get to - that FDOT would select it over Disney's ( assumed by me) objections?

The current plan as presented does seem to benefit Disney without any significant impacts. The problem with this area is that there is simply too much traffic for any of the feeder roads to handle and by the time this project is complete the increase in tourists will make it seem as if it wasn't even done.

I will miss Goodings because of fond memories of our early trips but it has become a shell of what it once was. Personally I would make the main way in to DS the next exit on I4 ( if I recall it's the EPCOT exit) and severely restrict access to DS from this area. Besides Disney doesn't want you to drive so you shouldn't have any reason to be out here with the great unwashed mass of people who have to live here.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I don't really care what an "insider" says when there is a news article spelling out the process and the end result of said process.

You believe what you want. I'll stick with vetted facts.

Or the Sentinel’s past reporting where Disney consulted with FDOT from the get go and the Crossroads owners had little input and appealed the current plan?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trav.../os-disney-crossroads-535-20161216-story.html

 

[TP2000]

I discovered that Gooding’s at Crossroads in the mid 1990’s. It became a traditional stop on the way in from the airport for snacks and supplies. I will be sad to see it go for some reason.

 

[WDWdream97]

Is the idea still going that Disney will offer some of the Crossroads businesses a deal on leases for Flamingo Crossing?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Facts aren’t something these lunatics know. Sometimes this forum is better than reality tv!!!

None of us have “facts.” What we have are a variety of accounts that need to be read critically in light of known biases and past behavior. We have some insiders here who have proven more accurate on specific subjects than the OS or Disney’s own PR. Even if we didn’t, the article in the op supports, as Dreamfinder points out, a reading that the new development is largely at Disney’s behest and the displaced businesses have had little say.

Does anyone think this would be happening if WDW still owned the Crossroads?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Whatever pushes your Disney is evil agenda.

This is a completely substanceless reply. What “facts” am I ignoring? What is your counter-argument?

Also, I don’t think Disney is “evil.” I think it’s parks division is, at the moment, poorly run, and in Orlando it sometimes uses its outsized influence to behave in unfair and unwise ways.