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

[Lilofan]

But they don't cruise out of Houston or New Orleans or Dover or Barcelona or San Juan year round. Moving to ports outside of Florida will impact the Caribbean itineraries.

Moving ports out of FL will impact tourism. Travelers pre and post cruise still spend their time and money in FL ( theme parks, hotels, rental homes, dining , beaches, etc ). Hopefully that doesn't happen.

 

[GoofGoof]

But they don't cruise out of Houston or New Orleans or Dover or Barcelona or San Juan year round. Moving to ports outside of Florida will impact the Caribbean itineraries.

I agree. I’m not saying it’s ideal. It would hurt the business. I’m not saying it will happen. The statement was made that they cannot move WDW from the state….that is true. Another statement was made that they cannot move the cruise business from the state.……that is not true. It would take time and some serious investment but it could be done.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

This is my point as well. If moving even something small out of Florida, then to where? And what is to say the same kind of fight wouldn't be created in the new state unless it was a solidly blue state.

The color of the state is largely irrelevant also, DL has had their share of issues with CA and Anaheim also. There’s no place immune from politics and agendas.

 

[MrPromey]

You may have a fundamental misunderstanding of how our elections work. Votes cast is what matters.

Felt the need to completely reword that so as to sound more condescending after I replied to it, eh?

I understand that just fine and so does DeSantis which is why he worked so hard on redistricting and resetting absentee ballot policy. For the record, I'm not discussing his "positions" - just his pattern of slimy behavior. I’ve seen Hamburger Mary's crowds straighter than this guy’s moral compass.

 

[Tha Realest]

I agree. I’m not saying it’s ideal. It would hurt the business. I’m not saying it will happen. The statement was made that they cannot move WDW from the state….that is true. Another statement was made that they cannot move the cruise business from the state.……that is not true. It would take time and some serious investment but it could be done.

Then please show your work. Where are these alternative ports of call that make this idea anything more than silly fan fiction?

 

[Vacationeer]

It’s not like 17b investments and 13k addition jobs over 10 years is a stretch considering the last decade of growth in those areas. WDW has been performing so well, Epic Universe is likely to increase traffic while also increasing WDW’s need to stay competitive, domestic/global travel forecasts point at increases through the next decade, etc. Sure, it’s not written in stone.

How much did Disney spend over the last 10 years in FL? Why would $17B over 10 years seem like a PR stunt? @ParentsOf4 probably has a chart or something.

It seems more likely than unlikely that they will spend. I came across this from 2018 (below). It is global, not just domestic, but shows how this comment from Iger at a shareholder meeting is not just exaggerated numbers pulled out of thin air.

Disney Is Spending More on Theme Parks Than It Did on Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm Combined (Published 2018)

The company is spending billions to supercharge its theme park division, which has emerged as a surprisingly strong moneymaker.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Vacationeer]

This is my point as well. If moving even something small out of Florida, then to where? And what is to say the same kind of fight wouldn't be created in the new state unless it was a solidly blue state.

For all the costs involved it wouldn’t guarantee similar headaches from repeating.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The color of the state is largely irrelevant also, DL has had their share of issues with CA and Anaheim also. There’s no place immune from politics and agendas.

Anaheim has yet to try and revoke the Disneyland Resort’s development agreement, undo the Disneyland Resort Specific Plan or the Anaheim Resort District. The closest they got was a threat around 2007/8 to allow housing in the Resort District since Disney was slowing down promised investment in the wake of Disney’s California Adventure’s failures. Eastern Gateway was a poorly designed project that ran into trouble during the process it had to go through. There were no efforts to try and hinder projects that confirmed to the existing zoning.

 

[BrianLo]

Caribbean is the money maker and what you're suggesting would significantly hurt that, well beyond this fight with the gov. Location/proximity, infrastructure, skilled workers, customer base, customer expectations...just not viable.

Actually technically no, Caribbean is not really the high yield market. Although it plays well for RCCL whom have managed to create a lot of yield out of Coco Cay. NCL just addressed this in their earnings call Monday and has shifted to Alaska and Europe away from Caribbean. Although a solid base of Caribbean will always be required for the winter months, unless they go big on Australia.

But it's all pedantic because they are NOT leaving Florida.

 

[LAKid53]

Agreed. But a reduction of FL sailings - particularly in this hypothetical scenario where the King of Florida is targeting their cruise line as the 2nd front in the Great Wokeness War - isn't out of the realm of possibility. It would cost more in terms of fuel to sail to Castaway, Lighthouse, etc. from SC but added costs for consumers might be offset by savings elsewhere (such as cheaper hotel rooms in Charleston and/or not needing to book transportation from WDW/MCO to Port Canaveral vs. a shorter Uber/cab ride similar to the Port of Miami). If doing business in FL becomes cost prohibitive due to the targeted actions of 1 man with pudding under his fingernails then there could be advantages to moving some - SOME - sailings to alternative ports, and look for new opportunities like sailing to Bermuda from SC. Port Canaveral isn't going anywhere, particularly because of the proximity to WDW, but how many guests are driving or flying from WDW to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale? If future attacks from the govenor make doing business at those ports more costly, then it makes sense for DCL to explore alternatives to see if they can save money.

I am...in September on the Magic. I do 3-4 DCL cruises every year. Most are out of Port Canaveral. I just got back from the Wish a week and a half ago. I'll be back on her in October.

Next year I'll be embarking from Barcelona, Vancouver (2nd Alaska cruise ) and Port Everglades.

Moving to SC will add a day to any itinerary in the Caribbean. The cost savings hotel-wise won't offset the increase cost of adding a full day to an itinerary.

DCL provides transportation to/from Port Canaveral from either MCO or WDW for $39/person one way. Yes, it's probably more expensive that an Uber, but your luggage is picked up in the AM from your hotel room and taken directly to the port, the buses are Mears, videos are played to keep the kiddies entertained for the hour long drive. And you'd be surprised the number of people who stay at one of the hotels near the Port and take the hotel shuttle or drive from WDW or their home, like me.

 

[LAKid53]

Actually technically no, Caribbean is not really the high yield market. Although it plays well for RCCL whom have managed to create a lot of yield out of Coco Cay. NCL just addressed this in their earnings call Monday and has shifted to Alaska and Europe away from Caribbean.

But it's all pedantic because they are NOT leaving Florida.

View attachment 714371

No, DCL isn't.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Nitpicking about voter turnout seems somewhat irrelevant to me.

Decisions are made by those who show up. If 35% of a population votes and someone gets 51% of those votes they are in charge.

The issue here is a politician who is acting against the best interest of the state/constituents, and is specifically doing so because he sees it as benefitting his desire to get a promotion.

Not to mention doing things that appear to be blatantly unconstitutional to all but the most partisan of supporters.

 

[Andrew C]

For all the costs involved it wouldn’t guarantee similar headaches from repeating.

For this to occur, it would take an industry wide shift due to some borderline cataclysmic event. It is more likely that Disney will go bankrupt and sell all of their assets than DCL leaving Florida. I think people need to come to terms with the fact that it is not an option for DCL.

 

[Fordlover]

Lots of politics today is about making the pool of voters smaller not about appealing to a majority of voters or people in general.

In a pool of 100 voters, if 36 already like me, instead of convincing 15 more it may be easier to eliminate 29 from the pool.

Most of politics is about increasing your odds of winning, no matter what that might involve. For some it is enough to disenfranchise the public and discourage involvement in politics because it is seen as all corrupt.

 

[LAKid53]

I agree. I’m not saying it’s ideal. It would hurt the business. I’m not saying it will happen. The statement was made that they cannot move WDW from the state….that is true. Another statement was made that they cannot move the cruise business from the state.……that is not true. It would take time and some serious investment but it could be done.

Then Disney Cruise Line will end up killing the 3 night Caribbean cruise. Which is very popular. Won't happen.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Anaheim has yet to try and revoke the Disneyland Resort’s development agreement, undo the Disneyland Resort Specific Plan or the Anaheim Resort District. The closest they got was a threat around 2007/8 to allow housing in the Resort District since Disney was slowing down promised investment in the wake of Disney’s California Adventure’s failures. Eastern Gateway was a poorly designed project that ran into trouble during the process it had to go through. There were no efforts to try and hinder projects that confirmed to the existing zoning.

The hotel tax credit was a pretty expensive debacle for Disney, tying minimum wage increases to an already approved project resulted in the project being cancelled after they’d already cancelled leases and spent millions on designs.

There’s challenges everywhere, you can’t run away from bureaucracy.

2 years ago FL looked like the perfect business state, now look at what they’re dealing with, moving doesn’t guarantee anything.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The residents of St Simons Island GA may want a word - Heck no .

You may not know this: But all of "Southern Georgia" is not one small suburban village build on marshland which doesn't even have a port.

 

[LAKid53]

Then please show your work. Where are these alternative ports of call that make this idea anything more than silly fan fiction?

If cruises out of the Ports of Houston and New Orleans were so attractive, there'd be a ship there pretty much year round. There's not.

 

[mmascari]

I said IF... "...If Disney only wants to invest in solidly Blue states, that will pose some challenges." I never said they did, just opined that if it became a desire, it would be difficult.

Quite literally, nobody has even suggested Disney wants to do that. What has been suggested and discussed is how Disney could react to a state becoming hostile beyond a breaking point to the company. Disney wanting to operate in a state that is not actively hostile to them isn't some stretch of imagination and doesn't matter if it's Red, Blue, Purple, or Chartreuse for that matter.

just that if the state puts a gun to their head and makes it bad enough that they don’t want to do business there anymore that’s part of the business that could be moved. WDW is virtually impossible to move.

I think a more likely move would be to replace the state leadership. Not some nefarious action to literally replace them overnight, but an active campaign to support and help replacements in government while hurting the chances of the current state government to get reelected.

The fight today is a skirmish. It's not the war. All of the actions we see Disney taking, even the federal lawsuit, are measured responses to the threat the new RCID board poses. Just like the development agreement and covenants were a measured response to the district being dissolved or a new board taking control of it.

Disney has the resources of a multi national mega corporation and multiple media outlets that can be leveraged directly against a political figure to show them in a bad light. That can be leveraged indirectly though pacs and supporting outside organizations to support a candidate. For that matter, they can do research and searches to find candidates. None of that is guarantee that their choice will win, but it's one huge thumb on the scale pushing an outcome.

Compared to the cost of trying to move out of FL, the cost to change who is governing the state is probably cheap. Who knows, maybe it's $17B over 10 years.

I don't think Disney is ready for that type of action yet. But, if all else fails and that is all they are left with, that's what I would expect.

Clearly, some of us would prefer they just jumped to the end and did this now. Disney however is not in any rush and seems to be content to mitigate each individual issue as it arises instead.

 

[networkpro]

The residents of St Simons Island GA may want a word - Heck no .

A little further North of what the OP was referring to. IMHO they were referring to the St Mary's Estuary with would be off limits due to a small but important Naval Base, Kings Bay which is home to Trident ICBM carrying submarines.