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

[scottb411]

Or 42 and 2, respectively…

School rankings are highly subjective and almost not objective at all

In fact - Columbia said “don’t count us anymore” just last week.

Schools are deeply political…and of course a money game. The breedings Grounds of bias.

The rankings are flawed as well. Your example and mine

https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/2022%20Rankings%20and%20Estimates%20Report.pdf

US News is very reputable to the point that hospitals will typically create huge banners of their rankings with the publication and hang them outside their hospital.

It looks like the NEA rankings are more about teacher pay and benefits while US News is student performance. The NEA is the nations largest teacher union. I would agree with the NEA assessment that teachers in California are compensated much better than in Florida but I believe that US News better reflects student performance.

 

[mkt]

Poor education? We have one of the best public university systems in the country! A kid with A’s and B’s and 100 community service hours Evan go to a state school TUITION FREE! It’s insane! Ofc we have Publix but there are countless bodegas which have excellent butchers and bakeries. Healthcare is rapidly expanding. In Tampa it feels like every new office is being occupied by doctors. I mean, if FL is so bad, why is half of NY moving here? Lol!

Poor K-12, not poor universities. Florida K-12 public schools are continually underfunded and understaffed. But yes, our public universities are excellent - for now.

And why is half of NY moving here? First, it's not half - It's not even 10%. Not even 1%. But excellent job on the hyperbole.

Anyway, they're moving here because even though for Floridians the state is expensive, it's still a comparable bargain compared to NY, with the benefit of no state income tax, and no winter (although re: no state income tax, you're screwed in many other ways, like some of the highest insurance rates in the US).

Any other questions?

 

[mkt]

Publix has a monopoly on grocery stores in Florida. Shame, because while they’re fine (and yes, the subs are great), their prices are a bit ridiculous. It’s a shame because there’s very little competition here (I live in Orlando) outside of the big box stores. For a glorious year or so, we had a Lucky’s Market, which was fantastic, especially the butcher. But alas, Publix muscled them right on out.

We refuse to shop at Publix and it makes things a lot less convenient here in Florida. We're right now getting most of our stuff at Kroger for delivery, and do a biweekly Trader Joe's run. In an emergency, Super Target or Aldi.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

On Sep 5th, when I drove past the Lake Nona WDI spot it has already been reseeded with grass growing in very well and all construct equipment was gone. Reminded me of Reflections construction site.

 

[mkt]

I feel the “dead”comes from the fact that upper management feels there is no longer a need to be creative?

Or the bean counters and smell blood in the water with regards to an upcoming economic recession, and are taking preventative measures in advance?

Compound that Florida is no longer Disney friendly, nor can it be trusted to keep promises made to businesses by previous administrations, they have no real reason to continue with their Lake Nona campus.

But the creativity is always there. Blame the bean counters at TWDC, not WDI.

 

[JoeCamel]

I never understood this point- if the Diz was trying to eliminate bloat in WDI, why purchase and build at Lake Nona when you have buildings you already own sitting empty in Celebration? Seems like a waste of money to me-when the point was to save money in the first place? Anyone smart enough with Diz politics able to reason this one out to me?

Nona is a no brainer if you can find the land to purchase so they will make bank on the money no matter if they develop it or sell it off down the road.
If they were relocating the division the cost would be secondary to having a custom space where they can bond as a new team. (OWDI, WDIO?) If you dump them in any available space they will never feel whole just shoehorned in.

 

[mkt]

I never understood this point- if the Diz was trying to eliminate bloat in WDI, why purchase and build at Lake Nona when you have buildings you already own sitting empty in Celebration? Seems like a waste of money to me-when the point was to save money in the first place? Anyone smart enough with Diz politics able to reason this one out to me?

Disney is HUGE. It's an enormous beast.

They were trying to move all of WDI California (and countless other back office roles) to Florida - there isn't enough space in Celebration to handle it on a single campus. Beyond that, as much as I am a proponent of remote work, for creatives, in person collaboration and space for different kinds of studios are amazing things to have.

 

[flynnibus]

If Aldi makes the top ten surely that list is flawed.

Its like saying Dollar Tree is right up there with Target

 

[bhg469]

We refuse to shop at Publix and it makes things a lot less convenient here in Florida. We're right now getting most of our stuff at Kroger for delivery, and do a biweekly Trader Joe's run. In an emergency, Super Target or Aldi.

We love trader Joes but for some reason the two in Orlando seem to have the worst parking situations.. The one closest to us is basically off limits on the weekend because there is a pretty popular restaurant that does brunch in their lot and a good chunk is reserved for Valet parking... even though the lot is small...

 

[bcoachable]

Disney is HUGE. It's an enormous beast.

They were trying to move all of WDI California (and countless other back office roles) to Florida - there isn't enough space in Celebration to handle it on a single campus. Beyond that, as much as I am a proponent of remote work, for creatives, in person collaboration and space for different kinds of studios are amazing things to have.

So you are hinting that the real reason to move was not entirely to cut bloat?

 

[mkt]

So you are hinting that the real reason to move was not entirely to cut bloat?

My guess is that they counted on attrition to reduce cost, but not the number of heads - since people who refused to move and accepted buyouts could be replaced in Florida for far cheaper.

 

[mkt]

We love trader Joes but for some reason the two in Orlando seem to have the worst parking situations.. The one closest to us is basically off limits on the weekend because there is a pretty popular restaurant that does brunch in their lot and a good chunk is reserved for Valet parking... even though the lot is small...

The Dr Phillips one is closest to us, but we prefer the Winter Park one.

 

[Andrew C]

Its like saying Dollar Tree is right up there with Target

Nah..Dollar General is where it is at...

Anyways, this whole grocery store conversation is the silliest ever. Grocery snobs...only on the internet.

 

[mkt]

Grocery snobs...only on the internet.

And in real life.

 

[bhg469]

The Dr Phillips one is closest to us, but we prefer the Winter Park one.

Dr. Phillips is closer to us as well.. Based on how terrible it is on the weekends I may go the extra couple miles next time.

 

[flynnibus]

Anyways, this whole grocery store conversation is the silliest ever. Grocery snobs...only on the internet.

Groceries are most family's highest single recurring household expenses. It's also a category virtually every household participates in. So, not exactly non-trivial.

 

[Andrew C]

Groceries are most family's highest single recurring household expenses. It's also a category virtually every household participates in. So, not exactly non-trivial.

Good thing Florida has stores then!

The conversation is absolutely trivial. Somewhat entertaining though.

 

[mkt]

Dr. Phillips is closer to us as well.. Based on how terrible it is on the weekends I may go the extra couple miles next time.

We'll do the Winter Park TJs with a stop on the way at East End Market for lunch. A lovely family afternoon.

Forgot to add, we'll also get some staple stuff and baby stuff from Costco and Sams. Namely Chicken and Shrimp (our primary proteins) and my son's diapers from Costco, and my son's formula from Sam's (it's the cheapest place I've seen it. After a month, my Sam's membership has already been paid off from the lower price compared to literally anywhere else).

 

[Piebald]

We love trader Joes but for some reason the two in Orlando seem to have the worst parking situations.. The one closest to us is basically off limits on the weekend because there is a pretty popular restaurant that does brunch in their lot and a good chunk is reserved for Valet parking... even though the lot is small...

They all have bad parking. That's part of their strategy to reduce overhead by opening in smaller footprints versus a large strip mall.

 

[mkt]

They all have bad parking. That's part of their strategy to reduce overhead by opening in smaller footprints versus a large strip mall.

The one in Miami I used go to (Coral Gables location) had a multi-story parking garage with 8 charging spots, so it was awesome.