Flamingo Crossing AKA Western Way Project

phichi17

New Member
This makes me think of why Walt wanted more land and control than he had in CA.....cheap hotels and shops springing up just outside his gates.
 

bluejayx

Member
This makes me think of why Walt wanted more land and control than he had in CA.....cheap hotels and shops springing up just outside his gates.


but it is different then the Disneyland area, that all design will be control and watch by the Disney company rather then the the other company's.
 

PeeplMoovr

Active Member
I wonder if this development will result in Disney not building any more of their own non-DVC resorts in the foreseeable or even long-term future. With this and the Four Seasons, it appears Disney would rather allow others to run the on-property hotels. Just wondering if anyone had any insight into this or any thoughts. Is this the end of new non-DVC resorts built and run exclusively by Disney? :shrug:
 

Unplugged

Well-Known Member
I wonder if this development will result in Disney not building any more of their own non-DVC resorts in the foreseeable or even long-term future. With this and the Four Seasons, it appears Disney would rather allow others to run the on-property hotels. Just wondering if anyone had any insight into this or any thoughts. Is this the end of new non-DVC resorts built and run exclusively by Disney? :shrug:

I wonder the same thing Peepl... Just curious if anyone knows, were these deals penciled in during the last moments of Eisner, because IMO this is a total sell-out of Disney with regards to their property and resort prestige. There is no privacy of being on property anymore. SAD. :cry:
 

Epcotrob

New Member
I wonder the same thing Peepl... Just curious if anyone knows, were these deals penciled in during the last moments of Eisner, because IMO this is a total sell-out of Disney with regards to their property and resort prestige. There is no privacy of being on property anymore. SAD. :cry:

Do you have any idea where they are building this at? I do. It is not anywhere near anything Disney that you as a common guest can visit. The majority of this project is on the other side of the Toll Road.(429) It is not like they are building this in the woods off of World Drive across the street from DHS.
 

MiklCraw4d

Member
Disney is selling property for their "new mall".
From the Orlando Sentinel:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news....story?coll=orl_news_local_newsletter_subject


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....
<inhale>
...BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Seriously.

Walt does to all that trouble to buy this irreplaceable, unsullied, and contiguous property and all of a sudden we have Generic Q. Mallington coming to town and a ginormous hunk of land right off of Bay Lake going to outside developers.

The only qualm I have about the Iger era so far is the complete blindness to the fact that they aren't making any more land these days and the eagerness to parcel off this precious land seems reckless and counterproductive. Not to mention that this sounds like a total cash-in, devoid of any creative merit whatsoever.

So yeah, Boo. One 192 is enough. We didn't need Disney's 192 Adventure.
 

askmike1

Member
Yeah, I know, but the isolation effect WDW has enjoyed for years will take a hit with this IMO.

WDW has enjoyed an isolation effect for years? The Marketplace (now Disney Village) has been opened since 1975, having non-Disney stores and restaurants. And of course, this isn't to mention all the Downtown Disney hotels or the Westin & Sheraton masked as the Swan and Dolphin. And then of course there are all the non-Disney restaurants/food locations on property (Rainforest Cafe, most of World Showcase, McDonalds in and outside of the parks, all the Coca Cola drinks, etc). Walt Disney World may have enjoyed a period of complete isolation at its conception... but not long after that the complete isolation was lost. And adding another shopping district (which would be controlled by Disney no less) is not really going to make it any less isolated than it currently is.
 

chinitopoop

Member
its not that bad, disney has soooo much land, that they have enough room to be able to put a shopping district like this in there and have it not really affect wdw negatively, if anything it just gives you more to see and do, I was actually just thinking to myself the other day why wdw doesnt have a mall? I'm sure disney can design a really wonderful mall if they wanted to, I think they should also make another community there too like celebration ,i guess but i've heard that celebration is extremely expensive, but they should make a really nice community for people to live in by all these new shopping developments, something like walt's original idea for epcot would be amazing to me with alot of parks and recreation,schools,hospitals different types of housing, centered around a beautiful city type area where theres no need for cars, just like walt explained it in the epcot planning vid he made........ and someone mentioned above that they were going to be using a large chunk of bay lake or something like that? what are they going to do there?! and why has it taken them so long to develop on that land, (im assuming your talking about the lake on the other side of the contemporary right?)
 

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
Development takes money and man-power to staff. That is one of WDW's greatest concerns. One of the biggest things about this development is that WDW can oversee quality and design standards to some degree but doesn't have to staff the area. Plus, that means they have an out if someone complains. I would guess that this will be treated more like Crossroads than DTD (i.e. very much separated from the WDW name). It also provides for a transition area as that area develops since the 192 - WDW jump is fairly blatant.

Plus, it's more $$$. Design and overall theme takes a second seat to that. This is America.
 

brisem

Well-Known Member
OrlandoSentinel.comDisney selling parcels in Flamingo Crossings projectFlamingo Crossings will be developed on resort's western edge
Scott Powers

Sentinel Staff Reporter

November 28, 2007


Private developers and merchants will be able to build, run and own small restaurants, a grocery store, service and retail shops, and several "value"-oriented hotels and motels on the western edge of Walt Disney World later this decade as part of the giant resort's next development.

Disney World's land-development company, Buena Vista Land Co., said Tuesday it has begun offering parcels for sale and development within Flamingo Crossings, the 450-acre lodging-and-shopping district it announced last winter.

The project will rise mostly west of the State Road 429 interchange at Western Way, which connects S.R. 429 -- also known as the Western Beltway -- with Disney's theme parks and hotels. Early marketing materials declared it to be "outside the western gateway to Walt Disney World," but in fact all of the land is and will remain within the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the government agency that the Florida Legislature created specifically for Walt Disney Co. in 1967.

That prospect creates a first chance for third-party owners to buy and develop land inside Reedy Creek. Disney has previously allowed numerous private developments of hotels, stores and restaurants within Reedy Creek, but always through long-term land leases that have kept the real-estate deeds in Disney's hands.

Flamingo Crossings is to be built in phases over eight to 10 years, the company said. Infrastructure construction could start this winter, and the first private hotels or shops could break ground in a year or two, Buena Vista spokeswoman Andrea Finger said.

The district would aim for "value" hotels and motels, she said. Plans call for 4,000 to 5,000 rooms in low- to mid-rise lodges -- priced to compete with moderate hotels and motels off Disney property.

"We think there is room for expansion in that area" of the market," Finger said.

The 300,000 to 500,000 square feet of retail space at Flamingo Crossings would target merchants of practical wares and services that tourists, Disney employees and area residents might need, such as groceries, toiletries or basic clothing -- thereby competing with area shopping centers and outlet stores that draw many visitors off Disney property. The restaurants might include a mix of fast-food and casual-dining franchises not common on Disney grounds.

"Generally speaking, it's your typical shopping center that you see along the interstate," Reedy Creek Administrator Ray Maxwell said. "It's the value end of the market."

That retail concept contrasts with Disney's other major shopping and dining district, Downtown Disney, where patrons find a mix of entertainment, nightclubs, themed restaurants, Disneyana, and offbeat, niche and high-end gifts.

All of the private development would be developed under Disney's watchful eye, fitting into the project's master plan and aligning with Disney's restrictions and prior developments, Finger said. That is one reason Flamingo Crossings land will remain within the Reedy Creek district, rather than subjecting it to Orange County's development oversight.

Consequently, future landowners there will earn the rare power to vote to elect members of Reedy Creek's governing board or to decide any district-wide initiatives -- a right that has been extended to very few outside of Walt Disney Co. during the past four decades. Such votes are unlikely to change any balances of power within the district, Maxwell said, because the district's charter allows property owners one vote per acre. Flamingo Crossings could result in the sale of 450 acres to third-party owners, but Disney would still own about 17,000 acres within the district, while another 7,500 will remain under the control of the district itself or the state of Florida.
 

prberk

Well-Known Member
Anybody have a good visual of this concept, especially showing the new interchange and placement relative to World Drive and the rest of WDW?
 

DisneySaint

Well-Known Member
Basically Disney wants the guests but doesn't have the staffing to staff new Disney brand hotels, so they are letting other companies make it "their problem" but Disney still profits because of the extra guests this will bring on property.
 

JasonP

Active Member
Ugh!!! I understand Disney wants to make money without building and blah blah blah, but this really takes away from that "isolation effect" that someone before mentioned. I love going to Disney World and "not" being in the state of Florida while I am staying on property. I love that feeling when I leave property to goto Route 4 or Route 192 and re-enter civilization it's the weirdest feeling but I love it. They started this crap by letting McDonalds come on property near the All-Star resorts. I am sorry this is Disney and other corporations don't belong there, that was and always should be the Disney way. It's a real shame they are doing this.
 

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