Big T 1963
Member
So with the news today I guess we won't be getting a 5th gate anytime soon.???? Just saying ..
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Orlando Becoming East Coast Headquarters for Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products
- Thread starter The Visionary Soul
- Start date
WDWBryan
Well-Known Member
MagicHappens1971
Well-Known Member
We weren’t getting one for at least 10-15 years anyway…
Rteetz
Well-Known Member
According to the Times, Iger didn’t like this move from the start. He believe the creative teams from all divisions should all be together.
That dump of a place ( Maingate ) is still open? Anyway its a stone through from fast food central on 192.
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
In my original post I said, "The only thing DeSantis has contributed to this is giving Disney a better PR spin to put on the cancellation. That's it." That was part of my original argument. I am not defeating anything.
My contention is that the decision to do this was not, in any way, driven by the battle with DeSantis. Yes, they are using that battle to try and give themselves a better PR spin on the decision. But that is quite different from the decision being because of that battle.
BagOfGroceries
Well-Known Member
In regards to this thread’s title…
drnilescrane
Well-Known Member
Iger thinks WDI should be structured like the other creative studios, i.e. WDAS, Pixar and Marvel. All under one roof, and all collaborating across the studios. Bruce Vaughn was specifically brought back in a CCO role like Jennifer Lee and Pete Doctor. Chapek wanted a service organization like Universal Creative... or Gensler. Here's the style guides, get to work.
I strongly believe that the biggest legacy of Lake Nona is that it was the catalyst for the Desantis/RCID dispute. I don't think the situation would have spiraled out of control the way it did in Burbank/Glendale if people didn't see it as an existential threat to their livelihoods, safety and happiness.
That was the moment that Chapek lost any last shred of fealty from the workforce and became a dead man walking.
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Disney has officially cancelled the Lake Nona project.
"In March, Disney called Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida “anti-business” for his scorched-earth attempt to tighten oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando. Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for what it called “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” the company made clear that $17 billion in planned investment in Walt Disney World was on the line.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said on an earnings-related conference call with analysts last week.
On Thursday, Mr. Iger and Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chairman, showed that they were not bluffing, pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando. It would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary, according to an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The project, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, was supposed to involve the relocation of more than 1,000 employees from Southern California, including most of a department known as Imagineering, which works with Disney’s movie studios to develop theme park attractions. Most of the affected employees complained bitterly about having to move — some quit — but Disney largely held firm, partly because of a Florida tax credit that would have allowed the company to recoup as much as $570 million over 20 years for building and occupying the complex."
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"Mr. D’Amaro’s tone in an email to employees on Thursday was notably different. He cited “changing business conditions” as a reason for canceling the Lake Nona project. “I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” Mr. D’Amaro said in the memo. He noted that $17 billion was still earmarked for construction at Disney World over the next decade — growth that would create an estimated 13,000 jobs. “I hope we’re able to,” he said.
But the company’s battle with Mr. DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature figured prominently into Disney’s decision to cancel the Lake Nona project, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. A spokeswoman for Mr. Iger said he was not available for an interview.
About 200 Disney employees already relocated to Florida from California. Mr. D’Amaro said in his note that the company would discuss options with them, “including the possibility of moving you back.” The Lake Nona project had initially been scheduled to open next year. Last July, Disney pushed back the move-in date to 2026, citing construction delays."
Full article below.
Disney Pulls Plug on $1 Billion Development in Florida
A new office complex, and relocation of a division from California, would have created more than 2,000 jobs but was scuttled as the company and Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to feud.www.nytimes.com
lentesta
Premium Member
THEY CAN BE TOGETHER IN FLORIDA.
Yeah, I get your point though. I should've known not to trust any Chapek decision around theme parks. That's on me. My bad.
GhostHost1000
Premium Member
Bingo and TWDC issued public statements about that as well and was very upset at Newsom behind the scenes
Both sides are playing politics here in every way
Sadly no one is going to win at this point
DisneyDean97
Well-Known Member
For anybody who thinks this is a major L for DeSantis or the Florida GOP... you don't understand how divided our politics are. They're going to spin this as Disney is abandoned Floridians... and then they'll bang on their chest and proclaim "no woke companies want to come here, because they know Florida is where 'woke comes to die'!"
CaptainMickey
Well-Known Member
relocate to no mans land? You mean the theme park capitol of the world? Universal and SeaWorld Creatives and many other theme park creative businesses are based in Orlando. There is a tremendous talent pool in the area and everything is cheaper here then CA.
I wish Imagineering spent a lot more time at WDW. A lot of their work lately (especially DVC / hotels) looks like it was from people that have never been to Walt Disney World or hang out there any length of time. Disneyland gets all the love and will continue to, even though WDW makes all the money. I doubt any of them have ever stayed one night at Ft. Wilderness. It's so sad how the current crew at Imagineering just doesn't "get" WDW any more.
Yeah except that dog won’t hunt with the donor class, and you need them to fund campaigns.
drnilescrane
Well-Known Member
I guess, but with 42 square miles they couldn't have found somewhere with at least some nexus to WDW?
At least Glendale is a 5 min drive to the studio lot... Lake Nona just seemed such a bizarre choice even if Orlando made sense. Why not build a Celebration Place at Flamingo Crossings?
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Guys, I’m sure the unprecedented campaign by the current administration, cheered on by a substantial portion of the voting population, to use any possible leverage point, regardless of legality or morality, to punish Disney and attempt to seize control of their cultural output had NOTHING to do with the Disney’s decision not to give Florida another pressure point with which to harm them.
I mean, what does silly Disney think is more likely, another once-in-a-century pandemic or that the incredibly lucrative culture war industry will continue to encourage performative cruelty for the foreseeable future?
And you can bet a lot of major corporations are looking at the Florida situation right now and saying, “Man, I want a piece of THAT.”
I mean, what does silly Disney think is more likely, another once-in-a-century pandemic or that the incredibly lucrative culture war industry will continue to encourage performative cruelty for the foreseeable future?
And you can bet a lot of major corporations are looking at the Florida situation right now and saying, “Man, I want a piece of THAT.”
flynnibus
Premium Member
Well... you can reverse you way out of anything if you try hard enough.. which is exactly what I think you are doing here.
Meanwhile, the real world had people making life choices not based on perceived future PR wins.. but actual life choices based on where they were being asked to move... and the individuals resisted. Draw your own conclusions on why, but culture wars for a population that is HIGHLY exposed is not an immaterial subject. Employees enlarge resisted and the company struggled with it.
The company acknowledging the situation with it's employees is a good thing.. the notion that Disney is willing to further entwine the topics purely for future PR victory laps is some serious gymnastics. They have far bigger fish to fry.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
Probably less then the cost of Harmonious.
Eisner was the same - he forced WDE to move out to California, alongside a lot of other parks-related stuff, in the 80's or 90's, and the experience in the parks somewhat suffered for it, as execs were forced to take 6-hour plane fights to CA (or, frequently, Eisner's house in Colorado), where Eisner would often micromanage things.
Personally, I was excited to hear about some of the ancillary things that were moving over, alongside WDI. Lake Nona also represented my best possible chance, at least for probably a good while, of snagging a corporate job with Disney (at least before the hiring freeze and HR closing so many jobs without interviews let alone hiring). For someone like that (or me), who wanted to work in the professional side of the company, in Florida, or for those who could have made money off all those people, and the wider improvements to the greater Orlando area as a result, it sucks.
Arguably this is going to be one of those what-if- moments for Disney fans in 20 years if this doesn't get un-cancelled when a new admin (on both sides) gets into town. Much like a true effort at DVC expansion, regional parks, or any of the dozen other concepts Eisner walked away from without barely trying.