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[wdwfanatic17]

Hello,
I live in Brandon, Fl about an hour south of disney world, near Tampa. Over the last few weeks all my friends working for a construction company or two have told me that they have been hired to build something Disney in this part of florida somewhere in or around Tampa or in that area.


About three weeks ago people from all different areas of construction (plumbing, electrical, structrial, ect.) had a meeting with some disney officials.

I will tell more when i know more.

I don't know about this, i mean what could disney be building that would need this many people. When i heard this story, i thought it was a disney store but then realized that we have billions of them.

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by wdwfanatic17
Hello,
I live in Brandon, Fl about an hour south of disney world, near Tampa. Over the last few weeks all my friends working for a construction company or two have told me that they have been hired to build something Disney in this part of florida somewhere in or around Tampa or in that area.


About three weeks ago people from all different areas of construction (plumbing, electrical, structrial, ect.) had a meeting with some disney officials.

I will tell more when i know more.

I don't know about this, i mean what could disney be building that would need this many people. When i heard this story, i thought it was a disney store but then realized that we have billions of them.

Well, I know that Reservations has a rather large call center in Tampa. Perhaps the space they are in is leased and they are building their own permanent facility or maybe they are building a larger facility for expansion. Whatever it is, I sort of doubt that it's going to be a front end guest area for anything...

 

[Thrawn]

I believe I have heard something about a resort along the lines of Disney's Hilton Head. I think, near Tampa, a Disney resort would do really well, with both the beach and the ability to go to WDW on a bit more than an hour ride.

 

[disneydudette]

I agree.....vero-beach seemed to be a hit....maybe they wanted something along the same thing over by the gulf of mexico.....

 

[the_snow_prince]

That's what I was thinking. This would give you a choice if you wanted to stay on the East Coast (Vero Beach) or West Coast of Florida (Tampa) or Central Florida (WDW). Makes perfect sence to me, which means I'm probably wrong.

 

[NowInc]

Im gunna agree with Mr.P here...i have a feeling its going to be a new call center. I wouldnt expect a resort in tampa...

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by NowInc
Im gunna agree with Mr.P here...i have a feeling its going to be a new call center. I wouldnt expect a resort in tampa...

... And I say that for a number of reasons: First, knowing the area it doesn't seem like such a great idea. The city of Tampa isn't all that well known for it's beaches. They are all pretty much on the Bay which isn't the nicest water... Across from Tampa is St. Petersburg and Clearwater which both have reasonably nice beaches on the gulf but that's not Tampa and unless the resort were on the water, there wouldn't be a lot of point for Disney... It would also be right around the corner from two Bush Entertainment parks (Bush Gardens & Adventure Island) - also not a great idea... Tampa is a good sized city. They have a port that cruse ships come into but Disney still docks their ships on the other side of the state. The highways coming into Tampa are old and confusing in some cases. There is a strip that we here in Florida refer to as "Malfunction Junction" where there are crazy overpasses and splits in the road at the merging of two major highways where countless lives have been lost. Quite a few times over the years, large trucks have flipped over the railings of some of these overpasses landing on the highways below. It's just a very poorly designed stretch of road that was never intended to handle the kind of traffic that it now does... They have plans to widen it but that's going to take years and to quote the spokesman for the Department of Transportation in regards to the construction "People will now have a new reason to fear 'Malfunction Junction' "... Another reason is that it's further away from Disney than the East coast - almost 50% further... Also, the City of Tampa at one point about two years ago, offered to give Disney a good sized chunk of land in a sort of strange entertainment district they have known as Ybore City... Since they've started fixing it up a few years ago, the value in that area has skyrocketed and what was once known as "crack town" now features $200,000.00 condos and town houses... Tampa wanted to give Disney a piece of this land to do with as they pleased (I think they were hopeful for a Disneyquest and an ESPN zone or something) and Disney politely declined. That to me sort of shows that Disney has no interest in the area of Tampa for a front end guest experience... As for the call center, it's a great area because it's not all that far from the parks and there is a large work force in the area to staff such a center for some of the lowest hourly wages in the country (due to a lower cost of living)... It's far enough away from the Orlando area that they don't have to compete with themselves and the rest of the orlando industry for low wage workers as well (Call center staffers typically don't make much more than maids and ticket-takers)... I'm pretty sure this is why Disney chose the are for their WDW call center to begin with... My strong suspicion is still that it's an expansion or replacement of the center they currently have in Tampa... Something front-end like a resort would be cool and I would like to see it probably more than just about anyone else in this group since it's my neck of the woods but knowing more about the area than most of you, I can say that it would make no sense at all for Disney to be doing anything front end at all... Now Inc. knows what I'm talking about when I say this... Tampa would really like to become the next Orlando because tourism dollars are some of the most profitable but it's not likely.. Right now the local govt. is all excited about having a high speed rail that will one day connect Tampa to Orlando but that's at least a decade away and at this point, they haven't figured out where the few billion it will cost is going to come from or how they are going to condemn all the property that they need to or even come up with a clear idea of where all of the track and the stations are going to go...

 

[DisneyWorldGuru]

It might be a resort because Tampa and St.Pete are trying to become a big vacation city. Up north we see the Tampa Bay/Clearwater ads on TV.

But I am sure it is a call center or offices. If it was a resort they would prob. put it down by the Keys.

 

[Thrawn]

Originally posted by DisneyWorldGuru
It might be a resort because Tampa and St.Pete are trying to become a big vacation city. Up north we see the Tampa Bay/Clearwater ads on TV.

But I am sure it is a call center or offices. If it was a resort they would prob. put it down by the Keys.

Problem with putting it down by the Keys is that you can't go from there to WDW for the day without a decently long ride.

Tampa is just close enough to be within that one day pull.

I'm not saying that it is a resort, just that one there would work.

 

[DisneyWorldGuru]

One thing I can tell you is that Disney shoukld put something here up north. We need some Disney magic closer.

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by DisneyWorldGuru
One thing I can tell you is that Disney shoukld put something here up north. We need some Disney magic closer.

I tend to believe that all of us think they should put something closer to where we are.

 

[DisneyWorldGuru]

Hey any new Disney park is good.

 

[CmdrTostada]

I understand what Mr. Pomey is saying. I live in Sarasota, about 45 mins. south of Tampa, all the concerts are up in Tampa and I hate going up their because I always think we will get lost, the highways are confusing, there are a lot of one way streets, and the beaches arent nice at all. The beaches are a lot nicer in St Pete. Also I dont think Disney would ever build a DisneyQuest in ybor because there is a Gameworks there.

 

[Merlin0402]

I live in Palm Harbor, the city between Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, and while I would love for Disney to build something commercial in the Tampa Bay area, I highly doubt that they will. Tampa isn't exactly what I would call a tourist destination, at least not yet. They are currently cooking up all kinds of new projects to make it one, a huge art district comes to mind, but the surrounding areas are much nicer. I could see them building something near Clearwater Beach, the most popular one down here, an area that is already completely covered with hotels. The area is really nice and the water isn't half bad either. But, due to the wishy-washy planning here, I'm sure anything that Disney would want to build would be shot down or protested. I can't think of the last big project that was actually completed, and whenever anything big is built, everyone complains and it is either closed or changed to suit the locals, the roundabout anybody? Also, the attitude towards tourists is HIGHLY negative, even though the area would die without them.

 

[freediverdude]

Disney project

Well I live in St. Petersburg, and while I would love to see a Disney resort go in here, I also doubt that Disney would be able to do it the way they would like. Most of the beach area from Clearwater down to the Sunshine Skyway is divided up into small beach communities, each with their own set of rules and restrictive zoning and such. If a lot of people weren't so desperate for a place on the beach and willing to pay a ton and put up with the rules, these communities would have zoned themselves out of business a long time ago. Just to name a couple of examples, certain communities ( I won't name names, but locals will know which ones) won't participate in the county bus service because they fear people they don't want in their community might visit....some communities won't even let you carry an open container of coffee (or any other beverage, not just alcoholic) on the beach without a community policeperson coming up to give you an expensive ticket, etc. As you can see, these places aren't likely to give Disney a blanket ok for whatever they might want to do, and in fact, might not even want Disney there. But, who knows, maybe Disney found just the right place or something...