News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

[Disstevefan1]

Moving DCL wouldn't necessarily have a negative impact on its Financials- especially if the state continues trying to find ways to punish Disney since DCL could be a potential target for petty vindictive interference.

Not building more WDW hotels isn't necessarily "neglecting" WDW, either - but if the state is going to continue to seek out ways to cost Disney money then perhaps that money is better spent in places where they won't have to mount legal battles to build and won't face building inspectors who could potentially care more about pleasing the governor and his handpicked CFTOD board than actually making sure the building is up to code. Those added costs, delays, and headaches would alter the cost-benefit analysis when choosing between multiple options and locations. They could simply save any WDW projects for a time when a reasonable board is in place at CFTOD, which may be several years down the line if Disney somehow loses the court case.

At this moment it may seem like the end of the "world" but let's all hope, this is just a bump in the road for WDW and Florida.

My hope is that WDW and Florida can safely get past the "DeSantis era" this becomes just a footnote in the long and successful partnership between WDW and Florida.

 

[GoofGoof]

So TWDC would purposely neglect WDW and relocate DCL (both cash cows for the company) to prove a point?

The company needs these dependable sources of income.

Not trolling, just asking.

It has nothing to do with proving a point. If they lose the lawsuit the state will be attempting to damage their business any way they can. WDW cannot be moved but you can move the other stuff listed to avoid as much of the retribution as possible. If they attack WDW now what is to stop them from attacking the cruise business next? The difference is the ships can be moved. Not tomorrow, but over time it wouldn’t be hard to find a new permanent home. States would kill to have DCL based there. Bet Disney wouldn’t have to pay a dime for relocation. Same goes for office jobs. Many states are still business friendly. They still want jobs and the economic benefits even if the company is woke. The FL government right now does not.

 

[GoofGoof]

I must disagree. As I said above, Disney has spent $$$$ upgrading their terminal at Port Canaveral and finishing work on the berth they acquired from Carnival at Port Everglades. The Caribbean is the bread and butter of the US cruise industry. The only other options would be Houston or New Orleans.

Why port further away from your most lucrative routes that include Castaway Cay and the addition of Lighthouse Point next year?

It’s not ideal, but the DCL could be moved. WDW cannot. Yes they would throw away investment but what if the state decides to control that business too?

 

[Notypeo]

They can't pack up WDW and move to another state, but they can relocate DCL home ports, slow/stop construction of new hotels in FL (and prioritize new DVC builds in CA over FL, possibly with more Hilton Head type beach resorts outside of FL), and move office workers to other states. None of that would equal the impact of moving all of WDW, obviously, but it's not nothing, either. I'm sure Disney would prefer to have the courts rule in their favor over those options, though.

In the immediate context of this dispute, any suggestion of disinvestment is probably some combination of a bluff and “we were about to fix the yeti until all this happened.”

But I can see the whole episode having an impact on the company’s thinking as far as expansion within existing properties, versus expansion beyond them.

Here’s an analogy. Imagine your family owns two successful, beloved restaurants on either side of town. You “grow” them by charging an arm and a leg, but they’re still packed every night of the week.

Some in the family have pushed to expand into more of an actual chain. Sure, that might cannibalize sales at the existing restaurants, and, after expansion, the profits at every given site might be less than the profits-per-site of you stay at two. But on the whole, profits will be larger. Others have pushed back, emphasizing the risks and the fact that the family has a good thing going with the two-unit setup.

Now imagine if the landlord at the current flagship turns on you….

 

[GrumpyFan]

What if they ran a campaign in Florida to have Floridians reach out to their elected officials regarding the unfairness that is being foisted upon them by the governor and legislature? They could pad it with how much they've invested in Florida and the economy, how they've responsibly built and maintained their property and then make an appeal to Floridians to contact their representatives and the governor to stop the unfair attacks. How would something like this play?

 

[el_super]

The Caribbean is the bread and butter of the US cruise industry.

Yes, but they are also testing Australia this year and added capacity in Europe. Additionally their already announced plan to move into Asia. Spending money to grow their international business instead of growing their business in Florida is always an option, and more than likely they were planning to spend less in Florida after Lighthouse Point anyway.

Outside of these, they could suspend or slow development in Florida, but that will hurt them more than the state. Sadly, they seem to be over a barrel here. Theirs and Florida's best bet would be for this to be settled and a return to what they had or something similar.

Yep. That will have to be their ultimate goal because they will need to work with Florida for years and years to come. They need to get this settled and out of the headlines ASAP.

 

[WDWHero]

Meanwhile in Florida, insurance industry still in shambles, glad Gov is staying concentrated on RCID, ya know the important stuff

 

[Dranth]

Seems bad

Stop it. It is the will of the people!

 

[Andrew C]

Seems bad

this is separate from the topic at hand...

 

[JohnD]

The House is taking up SB 1604 which, among other things, revokes the Disney-RCID development agreement. They're in 30 minutes of debate.

Request Rejected

 

[RamblinWreck]

What if they ran a campaign in Florida to have Floridians reach out to their elected officials regarding the unfairness that is being foisted upon them by the governor and legislature? They could pad it with how much they've invested in Florida and the economy, how they've responsibly built and maintained their property and then make an appeal to Floridians to contact their representatives and the governor to stop the unfair attacks. How would something like this play?

My guess is their legal team is going to advise them to stay as absolutely quiet as possible.

 

[WDWHero]

good point lol

 

[GoofGoof]

Usually your first instinct is the correct one. In this case Disney kept quiet initially, even if they were working in the background regarding the law. The vocal minority pressed the issue and forced Chapek into speaking out. Because Disney's business is entertainment, seems to me they should focus on that. Considering the many recent box office duds I think it would be wise to refocus Disney on what they excel at: providing entertainment customers desire to consume, which would benefit shareholders in the end.

So then we agree that there was no breach of fiduciary duties by the board or management . You like the original bill and don’t think Disney should be against it. That’s your prerogative to have that opinion. Disney execs and the board decide what the company does and doesn’t do. That is their job. You can’t please everyone. As a shareholder you should know what TWDC’s corporate values are and if that’s not something you can support you can sell the shares.

Disney is still very much focused on providing entertainment and based on their financials I‘d say a whole lot of people desire to consume it. I think I’ve said it a hundred times in this thread but here goes again, when Chapek made his public comments about this bill TWDC didn’t stop all business and focus just on this. Business went on as usual and still does. Some lawyers are going to court now and it costs them some money, outside of that nothing has changed. What people should be questioning is why the Governor isn’t focused on Governing the state. There are real issues that he’s neglected in his petty fight with the mouse. While people’s houses are underwater and there’s an insurance crisis he’s holding Press tantrums obsessing over winning against Disney at all costs. Talk about someone who has lost focus on what his actual job is.

 

[GrumpyFan]

That's probably the wisest move for the moment. Don't do a "Chapek" and shoot themselves in the foot.
Although, they can do a LOT behind the public eye to influence things.

 

[el_super]

What if they ran a campaign in Florida to have Floridians reach out to their elected officials regarding the unfairness that is being foisted upon them by the governor and legislature?

I think it would play out to both sides as you would expect: pro-Disney side would love it and the anti-Disney side would see it as more meddling.

I had earlier said here, that I thought they could funnel more money into PACs to start influencing elections, but their hands may be more tied by the news coming out of Anaheim than I originally thought. They may seriously want to get out of politics as much as they can.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They couldn't - and wouldn't - completely abandon FL ports, but if they could get an appealing deal at Port Charleston they could certainly start moving some of their older ships from FL to SC. They could also add more NYC to Canada sailings, have more Mexico sailings out of Texas, etc. Reducing does not mean eliminating.

Ok…

Realistically we’re spinning wheels here…

They would never pull the majority of DCL operations out of Florida…
And you can probably guess why?

Because it was designed to feed/Feed off of WDW.

That is less important that it was 20 years ago…but that doesn’t mean the synergy isn’t still in place.

 

[Disstevefan1]

If they lose the lawsuit the state will be attempting to damage their business any way they can.

Can we try not to blame an entire state for the actions of one person please.

Yes, it's one person's fault.

The buck stops at the leadership.

 

[Andrew C]

Yes, it's one person's fault.

Chapek?

 

[GoofGoof]

this is separate from the topic at hand...

Yes it mostly is and not sure what he could personally do at this point to help that situation, but I think the point is maybe he should focus on doing his actual job instead of winning at all costs. The result of his obsession with winning over the mouse is the very topic of this thread.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think it would play out to both sides as you would expect: pro-Disney side would love it and the anti-Disney side would see it as more meddling.

I had earlier said here, that I thought they could funnel more money into PACs to start influencing elections, but their hands may be more tied by the news coming out of Anaheim than I originally thought. They may seriously want to get out of politics as much as they can.

Disney being “in politics” has no bearing on the actions taken in Florida.

In the US companies are not only allowed to be in politics…they are encouraged.
And if they don’t…they are punished on Wall Street.

The Anaheim situation is a whole different set of issues. But it isn’t the “smoking gun” it’s gonna be spun as by anti Disney forces.