Major DTD update

[jt04]

Along with the parking garage and ramp expect new transit options (red trolleys would be a cheap option and a new parking figuration would allow the current route along the eastern side of the complex to be closed to vehicular traffic) connecting/better connecting this whole section of WDW, including the resorts, Typhoon Lagoon, and DTD.

Also expect a few new rides, despite it's current downtime (due to completely other reasons) has been hugely popular. Expect some more 'rides' like this (I'm hoping but highly doubting that this will include a double Ferris wheel near Cirque, which should be getting a new show about the same time as all of this is finishing up). The putt putt golf is out though.

From my understanding the parking redo will actually include both sides of the street, meaning that the TDO parking will be affected and will become, at least partially, garage itself.

All of this begs the question though; Is Disney finally attempting to copy Universal? Heck from what I've been told they've even been out to Fun Spot and Orange Ave downtown (more unofficially than officially), and oddly enough Vegas in search of what to do with DTD.

It's a bit off topic but I heard a bit of an odd rumor, that all of this ramping up and improving around property isn't just to stay relevant but is also part of a long term (read 10-20 years at minimum) of having WDW host some type of major international event (not the Olympics by any means so don't get that in your mind, but something major and international). There was even talk of actually redoing and improving EPCOT to assist in hosting this event/s. But from my understanding all of this is still just chatter and nothing even semi official yet. Just something to chew on.

Interesting information. Vegas is installing two sky wheels both larger than the London Eye. Perhaps that caught the mouses attention.

There are a lot of concepts that have been built in Vegas that could be adapted for DTD.

 

[Lee]

Sounds like it ... and folks here, including ex-disgruntled (does that mean he is now gruntled?) Imagineer Lee have said the same thing.

Not gruntled. Not disgruntled. Not "Ex". Not current. Not nothin' but a "never-was" .

I recall when Merfie's pal Lee showed me some plans relating to this it was cold in SoFla, so that had to be like back in February, I'm thinking.

Merfie's pal....yeah...

Anyway, it was more likely February of LAST year when I showed you that.

 

[jt04]

I'm starting to think the value of my DVC ownership at Saratoga Springs may go up if these big changes happen. I already enjoy being able to easily walk to DTD now...any additional changes are just icing on the cake (but yes, it does need ALOT more icing in my opinion.

This is why adding compelling "quality of life" enhancements on property should be a no-brainer. It will sell DVC's and increase the value of those already sold.

They just need to be careful how they configure facilities. Keep it Disney.

 

[GLaDOS]

Fantasyland money?

Oy vey. That just means less going to the real problems.

 

[Beholder]

I know all of this is kind of "in the air" sort of speak, but would anyone hazard a guess as to a possible timeline? I understand that may be impossible, but maybe someone "in the know" may have a ballpark figure?

 

[zulemara]

Very sorry if this has already been posted but I've lost all stamina to keep up with the reading around here so I'll try to limit my posting to when I have new, legitimate news/rumors. Today it's two pieces of info about DTD.

I've been told that the DTD expansion will include, at the very least, a parking structure and a new on/off ramp directly to/from I-4. The expansion will include various efforts to make DTD the "go-to" entertainment venue for locals.

The budget is estimated to be somewhere in the "New Fantasyland" range.

First, thank you for the information, it is always appreciated.
Second, if their goal is to make DTD the go-to entertainment venue for locals, I would hope a night life component is part of that. hhhmmmm

 

[xdan0920]

I know all of this is kind of "in the air" sort of speak, but would anyone hazard a guess as to a possible timeline? I understand that may be impossible, but maybe someone "in the know" may have a ballpark figure?

I think the problem with DTD is there is no timeline. The project has been in such flux, for so long, that there isn't any kind of timeline to go off of. Everything seems to be soon, sorta, maybe, or maybe not.

 

[Vader2112]

Very sorry if this has already been posted but I've lost all stamina to keep up with the reading around here so I'll try to limit my posting to when I have new, legitimate news/rumors. Today it's two pieces of info about DTD.

I've been told that the DTD expansion will include, at the very least, a parking structure and a new on/off ramp directly to/from I-4. The expansion will include various efforts to make DTD the "go-to" entertainment venue for locals.

The budget is estimated to be somewhere in the "New Fantasyland" range.

Well they have been building a new off ramp in that area so it is quite possible.

 

[TimeTrip]

Well they have been building a new off ramp in that area so it is quite possible.

I assume you're talking about the ramp/exit that will connect palm parkway to i-drive?
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/tourist-corridor-road-project-will-mean-i-4-traffi/nQCxr/
If they make a dedicated ramp for DTD, I'd be really curious as to where they would be able to squeeze that one in.

 

[rioriz]

*sigh*

You're right. From now on I won't post any information I get because projects get cancelled from time to time. From now on, the only rumors you get are 100% iron-clad guarantees. This just in! Cars Land coming to Disney California Adventure!

I think you should keep right on posting what you have...it certainly makes for discussion of actual news and rumors....

 

[Lee]

If they make a dedicated ramp for DTD, I'd be really curious as to where they would be able to squeeze that one in.

I havn't seen a particularly new plan, but based on the diagram I have, this was what they had in mind back in Spring 2011.
(As I read it, yellow is the entrance, red is the exit back to I4. No idea on what the plan is for eastbound traffic.)

 

[fillerup]

Interesting fact on that... Disney currently pays a big chunk of change to the state of Florida to maintain I-4 due to the wear and tear caused by Disney guests. The program is called "I-4 Fair Share." I don't have any direct knowledge of how this will relate to the new construction, but the assumption that Disney doesn't help foot the bill for the roadways is incorrect.

Tim - can you provide a link of some sort or further info on this "I-4 Fair Share" arrangement? To be honest, I've lived in Central Florida for a few decades and I've never heard any mention of this before.

I Googled numerous words, word combinations, and phrases and I can't come up with anything. And a search of the FDOT website doesn't produce any results either.

I'm not playing internet Gotcha - trying to prove a poster wrong - it's just that if this WDW contribution to road maintenance exists, I'd like to be able to educate myself about it.

As far as a new interchange dedicated to DTD, I think it would be both a logistical and financial nightmare. The distance between the 535 and Epcot interchanges appear to be no more than about 4000 feet. I don't see how this would be workable, but I'm not exactly an engineer.

And if an interchange were built and Disney paid anything less than 100%, I think roughly 100% of Florida taxpayers would scream bloody murder until this went the way of high speed rail.

 

[xdan0920]

Tim - can you provide a link of some sort or further info on this "I-4 Fair Share" arrangement? To be honest, I've lived in Central Florida for a few decades and I've never heard any mention of this before.

I Googled numerous words, word combinations, and phrases and I can't come up with anything. And a search of the FDOT website doesn't produce any results either.

I'm not playing internet Gotcha - trying to prove a poster wrong - it's just that if this WDW contribution to road maintenance exists, I'd like to be able to educate myself about it.

As far as a new interchange dedicated to DTD, I think it would be both a logistical and financial nightmare. The distance between the 535 and Epcot interchanges appear to be no more than about 4000 feet. I don't see how this would be workable, but I'm not exactly an engineer.

And if an interchange were built and Disney paid anything less than 100%, I think roughly 100% of Florida taxpayers would scream bloody murder until this went the way of high speed rail.

I don't see people being too worked up over this. Building two new ramps does not exactly equal a major capitol expenditure. Disney should definitely be footing a portion of the bill, but lets not forget, the more money spent at DTD, the more money gets funneled into the Florida coffers.

 

[luv]

They do keep telling us were going to have tolls on I-4. That is the only rumor I 100% believe.

As far as DTD is concerned, I no longer believe any of it will actually happen...and won't until whatever it is has actually started operating. But it's always fun to hear updates!

 

[Ignohippo]

So are they still thinking of keeping the retail portion of the HW concept for what was/is Pleasure Island and then creating a new two-story adult entertainment area a la City Walk?

If so, it sounds like they're almost creating a bigger version of the same thing they shut down. The big benefit of this plan though would be that retail would now have a continuous area from the Marketplace to the West Side (and possibly a bigger draw with the new "entertainment complex").

It still seems odd to me that they'd expand a district that has been seemingly 30% unoccupied for the last 3 years. Where are the tenants going to come from? I doubt any prospective tenants have come to the area and said that they'd sign a lease if DTD had a multi-story parking garage...

 

[jt04]

So are they still thinking of keeping the retail portion of the HW concept for what was/is Pleasure Island and then creating a new two-story adult entertainment area a la City Walk?

If so, it sounds like they're almost creating a bigger version of the same thing they shut down. The big benefit of this plan though would be that retail would now have a continuous area from the Marketplace to the West Side (and possibly a bigger draw with the new "entertainment complex".

It still seems odd to me that they'd expand a district that has been seemingly 30% unoccupied for the last 3 years. Where are the tenants going to come from? I doubt any prospective tenants have come to the area and said that they'd sign a lease if DTD had a multi-story garage...

Perhaps a little birdie can ask a certain Raven for some clues on where DTD stands at this time.

 

[devoy1701]

So are they still thinking of keeping the retail portion of the HW concept for what was/is Pleasure Island and then creating a new two-story adult entertainment area a la City Walk?

If so, it sounds like they're almost creating a bigger version of the same thing they shut down. The big benefit of this plan though would be that retail would now have a continuous area from the Marketplace to the West Side (and possibly a bigger draw with the new "entertainment complex".

It still seems odd to me that they'd expand a district that has been seemingly 30% unoccupied for the last 3 years. Where are the tenants going to come from? I doubt any prospective tenants have come to the area and said that they'd sign a lease if DTD had a multi-story garage...

Maybe they're finally admitting that it all had to do with layout and accessability. Now I'm not big on admitting that it's possible that TDO "gets" the bigger picture when it comes to certain things...but perhaps they realized that there was no way that DtD could grow into something bigger with it's current layout. So in order to get what they wanted, they needed PI to fail, so they could come up with a valid reason to close it, rather than just saying "uh...we need to make some huge infrastructure changes here because we've outgrown our current layout and this current layout with 'pockets of isolated shopping areas' won't work".

Whatever the motive...creating one continuous shopping/dining district incorporating Marketplace/WestSide/Hyperion Wharf and then created an adult district opposite with said parking structure and *hopefully* appropriate site transportation makes sense.

I won't try to pretend that this was their grand plan from the get go...we all know that the pooch was screwed with trying to get us to believe that they had a "grand plan" not long after they closed PI. And I won't give them the benefit of the doubt until we see earth being moved. But it just might be possible to save DTD.

I wonder what the timeline could possibly look like.

 

[MichWolv]

If this is actually happening, here's a link to a similar type of devleopment that seems to track with the rumors of the redeveloped entertainment district at DTD. http://rosemont.com/portal_park.html.

This just opened near O'hare, in an area that is otherwise full of business hotels and a huge convention center. The two-level entertainment district backs up to a massive parking deck, surrounds a "village green" type of common area where there are concerts (think West End Stage) most weekends and will be an ice rink in the winter, and includes an 18 screen fancy movie theater, an Irish Pub, and fancy bowling alley (if Splitsville is anything like it, it should be a great fit), a comedy club, an upscale Mexican restaurant, a greek restaurant (coming soon), a Toby Keith pub/music venue, a gastropub, and a beer garden (coming soon). The restaurants with second level space all have outdoor decks overlooking the common area. Opening along with it was a new freeway exit off of I-294, and opening soon across the road will be a big new shopping area (premium outlets, I think).

I'm not saying that DtD will be a copy of this, but the concepts sound remarkably similar. Early response to the Rosemont district is very positive, although the clientelle is, obviously, quite different. However, if Tim is right and they are shooting for locals to join the vacationers, that tracks with Rosemont's goal which was to attract locals to join the conventioners.

 

[flynnibus]

I don't see people being too worked up over this. Building two new ramps does not exactly equal a major capitol expenditure.

I'd say it does... for some perspective... adding ramps to a 6 lane road here in our county.. ranged from $18 million to $26 million based on different factors at each location. Something that is likely 10 million dollars plus.. I'd consider that major capital

And usually efforts like this are privately funded. Municipalities tie improvements desired by developers to proffer agreements to pay for the transportation improvements. Or if it's a move to lure a business in, a municipality may offer some money towards transportation improvements to offset the costs.. but generally this is all work funded by the developers. Just part of their cost of business to get development done.

 

[flynnibus]

If this is actually happening, here's a link to a similar type of devleopment that seems to track with the rumors of the redeveloped entertainment district at DTD. http://rosemont.com/portal_park.html.

This just opened near O'hare, in an area that is otherwise full of business hotels and a huge convention center. The two-level entertainment district backs up to a massive parking deck, surrounds a "village green" type of common area where there are concerts (think West End Stage) most weekends and will be an ice rink in the winter, and includes an 18 screen fancy movie theater, an Irish Pub, and fancy bowling alley (if Splitsville is anything like it, it should be a great fit), a comedy club, an upscale Mexican restaurant, a greek restaurant (coming soon), a Toby Keith pub/music venue, a gastropub, and a beer garden (coming soon). The restaurants with second level space all have outdoor decks overlooking the common area. Opening along with it was a new freeway exit off of I-294, and opening soon across the road will be a big new shopping area (premium outlets, I think).

Doesn't sound much different from the 'Town Center' concepts we've seen for most mixed use development over the last 10 years honestly.. people have a huge hard-on in the 'green' era to make walking accessible mixed use (residential, retail, services, commerical). Pretty much every development in our area is pushing for this concept.. mainly because it's a good way to get more residential in the area (big money for developers) and they can also offset the residential with commercial tax base.