Orlando Becoming East Coast Headquarters for Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products

[matt9112]

Aside from the Reedy Creek issue influencing this, you have to wonder how much was influenced by recruiting.

If they are in Florida, they are pulling from the universities in the south eastern US. No disrespect to those, including UF and Georgia Tech, but they are not the same caliber as schools in the UC system.

lately it doesn't seem all the brains that they do have already on board is paying off so i wouldn't really blame future prospects. The company is likely entering a very turbulent phase.

 

[Lilofan]

Nice, soft positive spin with emphasis on community involvement, and apolitical, at least overtly.
Under the surface though, this is VERY political, and it's the kind of game that I think Disney, led by Iger, is very good at.

$1B in savings, $16B more to go.....

 

[GrumpyFan]

$1B in savings, $16B more to go.....

Do we add or subtract Galactic StarCruiser from that?

Seriously, though, they will likely spend at least that much over the next 10 years in ongoing operational costs.

 

[DLR92]

Imagineer jobs should have stayed in California. Glad the project been dropped, it sounded disastrous from the beginning.

 

[CaptainMickey]

Yes... airport annexes an hour away is no-man's land. It's literally trying to build a nexus from barren land.

I'm pretty sure the entirety of the entertainment industry isn't motivated by where SeaWorld creative is.

So the most important thing is to be next to the airport? Not the biggest concentration of Theme parks and theme hotels in the world?
I'm guessing you never been to Lake Nona? Its literally 15 minutes from 7th busiest airport in the United States. Orlando has More theme park creative companies and employees then any other city on the planet. (Including Sea World and Universal Creative) Not counting UCF, the Disney College Program headquarters (Intern labor!), video game studios, large defense industries and NASA. Plus it just makes sense for Imagineering to be way more immersed in their largest resort, the Flagship and moneymaker.

Lake Nona area was Disney's call, but Greater Orlando makes a ton of sense, especially if you look at the long term cost savings. Even if it was in the boonies, Don't forget, Disney has a pretty good history of building in no mans land and watching it become the hub.

 

[jpeden]

Aside from the Reedy Creek issue influencing this, you have to wonder how much was influenced by recruiting.

If they are in Florida, they are pulling from the universities in the south eastern US. No disrespect to those, including UF and Georgia Tech, but they are not the same caliber as schools in the UC system.

Except for the fact that only UC Berkeley and UCLA outrank UF (it is #5) in the US News Rankings. And GT is #15. Those two schools are absolutely in the same caliber as the UC System (and I say this as a higher Ed administrator in a major SEC school that isn’t UF).

We aren’t talking about USF or Auburn here. Florida and GT are AAU institutions as well.

They wouldn’t be hurting for talent. UVA, UF, UNC Chapel Hill, UT-Austin, William and Mary, GT, and UGA all in the top-16 and all in the southern US.

 

[hopemax]

Aside from the Reedy Creek issue influencing this, you have to wonder how much was influenced by recruiting.

If they are in Florida, they are pulling from the universities in the south eastern US. No disrespect to those, including UF and Georgia Tech, but they are not the same caliber as schools in the UC system.

And with the legislative moves FL just made regarding the public universities like UF, that is potentially another aspect of this. FL doesn’t want creative, and diverse graduates that have been taught to think beyond the traditional, the long established and status quo. If students and faculty scratch FL’s public universities off their list, that will in the medium to long term, trickle down to the employment pool for all FL based companies.

 

[DLR92]

So the most important thing is to be next to the airport? Not the biggest concentration of Theme parks and theme hotels in the world?
I'm guessing you never been to Lake Nona? Its literally 15 minutes from 7th busiest airport in the United States. Orlando has More theme park creative companies and employees then any other city on the planet. (Including Sea World and Universal Creative) Not counting UCF, the Disney College Program headquarters (Intern labor!), video game studios, large defense industries and NASA. Plus it just makes sense for Imagineering to be way more immersed in their largest resort, the Flagship and moneymaker.

Lake Nona area was Disney's call, but Greater Orlando makes a ton of sense, especially if you look at the long term cost savings. Even if it was in the boonies, Don't forget, Disney has a pretty good history of building in no mans land and watching it become the hub.

If I was a imagineer, I would have took the lay off. I would never want to live in Florida. I rather just travel and oversee the Florida projects. Not move!
I’m pretty sure imagineers have their passion with Disneyland, not WDW.

 

[Ayla]

ronnys presidental run?

This is very, very bad for Ronny. Regardless of his petulant, petty 'statement' about it, it's a very bad look for a state to be as anti-business as Florida currently is.

 

[TalkingHead]

Savage.

More like juvenile and unprofessional, an embarrassing imitation of the original insult-politician who is currently crushing DeSantis in the public-opinion polls.

 

[matt9112]

If I was a imagineer, I would have took the lay off. I would never want to live in Florida. I rather just travel and oversee the Florida projects. Not move!
I’m pretty sure imagineers have their passion with Disneyland, not WDW.

your probably right.... so while this resort PAYs for that resort it deserves the same level of care and attention that they show to DL.
WDW has been the core of the parks division LONG BEFORE any political drama you may or may not like. its also arguably the core of the DCL as well. but its treated as second hand trash.

 

[matt9112]

More like juvenile and unprofessional, an embarrassing imitation of the original insult-politician who is currently crushing DeSantis in the public-opinion polls.

yeah....trump will win another term..... some real goals ya got there.

 

[mkt]

Aside from the Reedy Creek issue influencing this, you have to wonder how much was influenced by recruiting.

If they are in Florida, they are pulling from the universities in the south eastern US. No disrespect to those, including UF and Georgia Tech, but they are not the same caliber as schools in the UC system.

Blue chip companies like Disney can recruit from wherever they want and relocate people.

"Want to move to a warm weather low-tax state and have Disney on your resume?"

 

[mightynine]

"Want to move to a warm weather low-tax state and have Disney on your resume?"

"Yeah, but is it Florida?"

 

[DLR92]

Imagineer job and department should have stayed in California anyways.

 

[el_super]

As an employee with Corporate based out of FL this has me concerned for the future.

You will be fine. Disney will have a presence in Florida until the state becomes a lagoon.

WDI will also, still have a presence at WDW. They have an office there and will continue to. The imagineers that were already located in Florida, will not be asked to move to CA.

From my perspective this was all about office space allocations and where it made sense to build office space and relocate people.

And to be honest, at some future point when they DO need to expand operations, they will have to look somewhere other than Glendale/Burbank because they are just tapped out ...land wise (unless DreamWorks wants to sell).

 

[mkt]

"Yeah, but is it Florida?"

"I'll have to sleep on it"

 

[Touchdown]

For years businesses have poured money into GOP funds because they were anti business regulation, now that that is no longer true, businesses are going to have to choose the lesser of two evils, pay money to a party that is going to demand 1950s morality or a party that is going to push environmental and union regulations on them. That’s not an easy choice for most companies, but when it comes to entertainment companies where a majority of their workforce is liberal it’s an easy choice.

 

[drnilescrane]

And to be honest, at some future point when they DO need to expand operations, they will have to look somewhere other than Glendale/Burbank because they are just tapped out ...land wise (unless DreamWorks wants to sell).

Disney has entitlements to build another ABC sized tower on the Burbank Lot south of the Buena Vista Gate (the flat lot) and can build a third phase of GC3. There's also multiple floors available in some of Worthe owned buildings in Burbank - such as The Tower and Media Studios North (which was originally developed for Disney anyway).

 

[CaptainMickey]

If I was a imagineer, I would have took the lay off. I would never want to live in Florida. I rather just travel and oversee the Florida projects. Not move!
I’m pretty sure imagineers have their passion with Disneyland, not WDW.

Thats my point. I consider this part of the problem. WDW with all the resorts and DVC make ALL the money. You can fit everything at Disneyland into the parking lot at MK at WDW... But Disneyland gets all the love. I agree 100% that WDW is an afterthought with Imagineering, it's obvious and that's not good.