Disney officially announces the Western Beltway Property expansion

[GenerationX]

Thanks for the news, wdwmagic, and for the images, kurros!

Every time we go to WDW, my wife spends one afternoon at the Orlando Premium Outlet mall while the boys and I go to DisneyQuest. It appears as though Disney would like to keep my wife on property. Seems like a reasonably good idea to me.

 

[goofntink]

Publixdirect itself did yes. But a similar service who picked up the customers,{ If I remember the name right called Harris Teeter Express Lane}is still being done out of Pompano Beach, and Lakeland. The deliveries done by going to Publix,if done,would allow guests to place an order ahead of time so groceries could be delivered the day they arrive,my guess probably more suited for DVC members. And to answer the other question,how I got this info, we do new construction,and service Publix stores in the Jacksonville and Lakeland districts, as well as work at Disney. Publix is also where I met my wife, when she was helping open one of the new stores in our area, and she is still friends with and talks to one of the District managers, who originally was the store manager for the 1st publix store she worked in.

 

[kurros]

I am curious about the question if these will be participants in the sense that we have at Downtown Disney. I'm thinking this is going to be developed in the same way Disney developed The Crossroads. 500,000 sq ft of commercial space is a lot of employees to be giving park admission to.

 

[miles1]

Yes, from what we have been told it will be Publix. Plan is to help keep guests from having to leave property for shopping.

Exactly.

Sorry, but another Debbie (or Donny) Downer here. As much as I admire and enjoy the Mouse I can see this being pretty detrimental to the area economy and to those of you in its labor market.

We've already seen how DME impacted the livery and taxi services in the area, eliminating the need for rides to and from the airports. With this development, Disney may come close to eliminating all reasons to leave the property. On-site, budget concious hotels will cut into the occupancy of off-property rooms. Rental car companies will loose out on business as more people opt for the DME/Disney Transporation combo. On-site grocery stores and department stores will eliminate the need to leave the property for food and necessities.

The end result is that Disney could seriously damage its off-property competition. Those of us that visit may be left with no choice but to stay and shop on property, and those that live there may be left with no choice but to work for Disney or its tenants.

Don't think that prices and wages in the area won't reflect this lack of competition.

(We now return you to my generally optimistic personality :lol: )

 

[kurros]

Or you can point to this as a great step in development of the area as an economic center. Stoneybrook all the way down to Reunion is seeing some interesting new land developments with the "completion" of 429. 192 is getting a lot of new development and redevelopment, and Seidel road to the north is in the works to be widened with a lot of that land being re-parceled for housing and commercial development as well.

In the same way the commercial development of 417 between John Young Pkwy and Orange Blossom Trail helped spark development all along 417. Only this one happens to be a gateway to the Walt Disney World Resort (sorry Kissimmee/St. Cloud)

I can't dispute the fact that Disney's Magical Express has certainly put a hurting on International Drive and the like. But I don't see that being a factor here. I see this as a great step in improving the economy and land values of the area. WDW guests aren't the only ones benefiting from this center.

 

[-SIR-]

Publixdirect itself did yes. But a similar service who picked up the customers,{ If I remember the name right called Harris Teeter Express Lane}is still being done out of Pompano Beach, and Lakeland. The deliveries done by going to Publix,if done,would allow guests to place an order ahead of time so groceries could be delivered the day they arrive,my guess probably more suited for DVC members. And to answer the other question,how I got this info, we do new construction,and service Publix stores in the Jacksonville and Lakeland districts, as well as work at Disney. Publix is also where I met my wife, when she was helping open one of the new stores in our area, and she is still friends with and talks to one of the District managers, who originally was the store manager for the 1st publix store she worked in.

Very cool! Well I know someone who has been a great assistant deli manager here and is hoping to transfer into that area... any word on how soon the first phase of the western way development will be up and running?

 

[sknydave]

So Disney is now supposed to worry about the neighboring businesses that only exist in the first place because of WDW?

 

[miles1]

So Disney is now supposed to worry about the neighboring businesses that only exist in the first place because of WDW?

I didn't say it wasn't a shrewd move on Disney's part from a business standpoint, or that they have any obligation to the businesses around them. I'm saying that other businesses in the area, people that rely upon them for employment, and possibly visitors may not benefit in the long run from this development.

 

[goofntink]

I am curious about the question if these will be participants in the sense that we have at Downtown Disney. I'm thinking this is going to be developed in the same way Disney developed The Crossroads. 500,000 sq ft of commercial space is a lot of employees to be giving park admission to.

Yes it will be like DD. Disney will control who will be tenants in the retail shops. They do not want another bunch of tacky tourist trap souvenier shops selling cheap knockoff Disney merchandise. In other words they do not want it to become another 192.

And for -SIR-, not sure yet, the 1st phase is going to be the retail shops and they are wanting to start clearing as soon as possible,we figure August-September for work to start?:shrug:

 

[uklad79]

Hopefully this will force a lot of the hotels that should have been closed years ago out of business. I guess it depends on what type of hotels we see. It's also shows that Disney won't increase their own capacity any more as getting 3rd parties to open means that in a down turn on visitors they won't take as much of a hit and they will still make money from the hotel companies. I think it's the end of any new Disney hotels in the long term.

 

[beachclubbasics]

kurros:

I'm glad that you mentioned the work being done on 192. Last year when I went there it was depressing...half of everything closed down and just plain old delapidated and depressing looking (there's a geat indoor flea market there though!). I hope that this new develoment won't totally kill that area off.

As much as I love WDW, it's starting to take over too much of central Florida.
The parks are great, but then DTD, Celebration (which I think Walt would have hated...too expensive for the average person, which is not what I think Walt would have wanted..and also I feel it is an exclusionary development..more on that later) and now the Western Beltway expansion. It's getting to be way too much.

 

[Thelazer]

kurros:
As much as I love WDW, it's starting to take over too much of central Florida.
The parks are great, but then DTD, Celebration (which I think Walt would have hated...too expensive for the average person, which is not what I think Walt would have wanted..and also I feel it is an exclusionary development..more on that later) and now the Western Beltway expansion. It's getting to be way too much.

Didn't you hear, you must have a credit score of at least 690 in order to get thur the parking gates!

 

[gusdog]

Yea, I think that is the worst part of all this extra expansion is going to be the "Disney Tax!" as we have all come to know it by here in Central Florida. I guess now that they are moving more into the Western Beltway we can expect housing to sky rocket some more just like in Celebration. Oh by the way has anyone noticed how the water tower in these drawings of the Western Beltway looks vaguely familiar to the water tower at Celebration's shoping center?

Just wondering....

 

[Figments Friend]

Oh man....

I don't like this one bit...at ALL....!

Glad to see i am not alone. I don't think this is what we need: more overdevelopement of Central Florida property near WDW. It is a glut NOW...what will it be like once this area opens??

Argh...the cheapening of the concept....

 

[goofy47]

Nice ShortCut!

We took the Western Way Expressway the other day... very nice ride and saved us about 30 minutes... still no signs yet at the exit, and if anyones interested it's exit 267A off of the Florida Turnpike going South, then Exit 8 for Disney once your on WWE... and then you come in near AK and Coranado Springs... Nothing much along there except one distant housing development.. I'm sure that will all change.... :sohappy:

 

[beachclubbasics]

Like I said, as much as I love WDW (I intend to retire to the area and work WDW when I'm ancient...lol), I think that Corporate is starting to overextend the company (I'm also a shareholder). DVC is a good example..while many members love the DVC, it is really starting to make a lot of people angry..the pervasive advertising, tearing down classic parts of resorts to ad DVC sites (Though IMO they needed to either tear down the North Garden Wing of the Contemporary or severely rehab it...same hallway carpet since 1971.....not good).

As far as Celebration, I went house hunting there 2 years ago and just got the feeling from the real estate reps that I dealt with that I'm not the type that Celebration is looking for as a resident (i'm a widow with 4 kids and Native American...though they seemed to like the fact that I'm a teacher). I got the feeling that real estate agents who work with Celebration are told to prescreen for certain "characteristics". Anyway, that was at the height of the Cen. Florida real estate craze and the houses were not worth the price they wanted (Many had cracking dry wall and there were a few mold problems). Plus, with Save Our Homes, my taxes would have been astronomical...much higher than hey are in NJ.

As far as overextending the company, I think they are starting to get too far removed from their core business...animation. I just saw a trailer for Meet the Robinsons (BTW, did anyone else recognize WDW Space Mountain in that ad?) and I don't think it's going to become anywhere near a Disney classic. They made a big mistake going 100% away from handrawn animation IMO. If Corporate isn't caeful they are going to end up being just another amusement park company.

 

[jholiiday]

Forgive me if this has been asked already, but I keep reading about this project in other threads. Everyone keeps talking about how this area is outside of the gates, etc.

But here's my question - What's to stop them from moving the gate? I know I've personally seen about 3 of the big entrance area, but how many are there all together?

 

[marni1971]

Forgive me if this has been asked already, but I keep reading about this project in other threads. Everyone keeps talking about how this area is outside of the gates, etc.

But here's my question - What's to stop them from moving the gate? I know I've personally seen about 3 of the big entrance area, but how many are there all together?

In this respect, the gate means WDWs physical boundary with the outside world. The border. The only way to move this is either buy more land (and move the `gate` outwards - unlikely) or de-annex the land from RCID and sell the land (and move the `gate` inwards).

 

[jholiiday]

In this respect, the gate means WDWs physical boundary with the outside world. The border. The only way to move this is either buy more land (and move the `gate` outwards - unlikely) or de-annex the land from RCID and sell the land (and move the `gate` inwards).

I'm confused then - is this land in, or not in RCID?

 

[kurros]

The development is within the boundaries of RCID, I don't think it is being de-annexed.

marni1971's answer confused me as well. When we say it is "outside the gates" we are mostly referring to those archways you mentioned. You drive under one on Western Way to reach the location of this new development. As in, it is not part of The Walt Disney World Resort. This is by intention and the gate wont be "moved".