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

[GrumpyFan]

If the parental rights bill had never existed and DeSantis quit as governor two years ago. Does anybody STILL believe that Disney's Lake Nona buidout would be moving forward today? Anybody?

Heck no! Disney has huge economic problems right now is is undergoing massive cost cutting measurs today. Disney does not have the money to spend on this UNpopular facility. Staff in California have....for a long time....been very vocal about NOT wanting to move to Florida.

Lake Nona was a very UNpopular Bob Chapek era idea that again....nobody liked in Califormia. Even people in Lake Nona didnt want this. Bob Iger took this opertunity to kill an UNpopular and EXPENSIVE project...and blame it on DeSantis.

Nice one Bob.....sneaky but very clever!

I do. From a business financial perspective, it makes sense. Moving offices is never a popular thing for any company, but that doesn't mean it's not still in their best interest. California is expensive and has traditionally become more and more difficult to do business there, which is why many businesses and people have moved out from there.
I think it's only a matter of time until the next Disney CEO re-considers a move like this for some of the California divisions of the company.

 

[Fordlover]

If the parental rights bill had never existed and DeSantis quit as governor two years ago. Does anybody STILL believe that Disney's Lake Nona buidout would be moving forward today? Anybody?

Heck no! Disney has huge economic problems right now is is undergoing massive cost cutting measurs today. Disney does not have the money to spend on this UNpopular facility. Staff in California have....for a long time....been very vocal about NOT wanting to move to Florida.

Lake Nona was a very UNpopular Bob Chapek era idea that again....nobody liked in Califormia. Even people in Lake Nona didnt want this. Bob Iger took this opportunity to kill an UNpopular and EXPENSIVE project...and blame it on DeSantis.

Nice one Bob.....sneaky but very clever!

You hit the nail on the head. Iger is rolling back all sorts of costs anywhere he can. Besides, if you are laying off 5K+ white collar employees, no sane person would encourage building MORE office space! Disney is in major capital preservation mode.

 

[Cliff]

I would argue that moving staff to Florida and building the Lake Nona campus would be extremely expensive. What does Disney get in return from spending that money and UPSETTING it's staff? I suspect that same money will be better spent on it's multiple efforts on defending multiple lawsuits against them from the state of Florida and investors and staff. I suspect that Lake Nona money WILL be needed to buy Comcast's portion of Hulu too. How many BILLIONS will that ALONE cost Disney???

Lastly,...I'd rather that Disney use that Lake Nona money to keep the California staff IN California where they belong and maybe use it to fill in the gigantic construction crater that has PLAGUED Epcot for what?....4-5 years? Disney didn't have the money to even do THAT in a timely manner?? They allowed Epcot to suffer that for YEARS on end.

I'd rather that Disney use that IMAGINARY Lake Nona money to hire Universal project managers to spruce up Epcot for them. Universal will build an entire gigantic theme park in about the same time that it took Disney to build a Moana walk through garden attraction. Seriously? The parks are suffering and Disney doesn't seem to have the money to get them up to speed....but they have money for Lake Nona?

Lake Nona?....yeah, they don't need Disney there. Lake Nona is already one of the fastest growing "upscale" areas in central Florida and Disney leaving it will NOT change that growth speed very much. Many locals don't want Disney there anyway!

But yeah, I blame multiple Disney lawsuits, stock price decline, large staff layoffs, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel studio decline and D+ subscriber decline all on Ron DeSantis folks. This is NOT Disney's fault,...it's the governors fault. Yep,....so easy!

 

[Vacationeer]

Page 999 - There’s always room for one more lol

Anyway… What the cancellation of Lake Nona shows is that big projects or investments are never too big to get yanked.

It’s makes the uncertainty of $17b/13k jobs over the next decade stronger. Bob asked if Floridians care about that tax revenue. Lake Nona made that idea less abstract.

 

[GoofGoof]

I think the bottom line on the Lake Nona cancellation is that DeSantis’s battle with Disney had at least some impact on the decision. Nobody knows how much that drove it but it had an impact. There were other factors too. I think we all mostly agree on that except for a few partisan DeSantis supporters desperate to deflect any blame from him.

Whether DeSantis was the cause or not is irrelevant because that’s the story that’s out there. People read headlines not details with context. The public perception is DeSantis’s feud with Disney cost the state a billion in construction spending and $2.4B in recurring salaries over the next decade. Anyone who views the economy as their top issue is not going to look favorably at that result.

 

[scottieRoss]

I would argue that moving staff to Florida and building the Lake Nona campus would be extremely expensive. What does Disney get in return from spending that money and UPSETTING it's staff? I suspect that same money will be better spent on it's multiple efforts on defending multiple lawsuits against them from the state of Florida and investors and staff. I suspect that Lake Nona money WILL be needed to buy Comcast's portion of Hulu too. How many BILLIONS will that ALONE cost Disney???

Lastly,...I'd rather that Disney use that Lake Nona money to keep the California staff IN California where they belong and maybe use it to fill in the gigantic construction crater that has PLAGUED Epcot for what?....4-5 years? Disney didn't have the money to even do THAT in a timely manner?? They allowed Epcot to suffer that for YEARS on end.

I'd rather that Disney use that IMAGINARY Lake Nona money to hire Universal project managers to spruce up Epcot for them. Universal will build an entire gigantic theme park in about the same time that it took Disney to build a Moana walk through garden attraction. Seriously? The parks are suffering and Disney doesn't seem to have the money to get them up to speed....but they have money for Lake Nona?

Lake Nona?....yeah, they don't need Disney there. Lake Nona is already one of the fastest growing "upscale" areas in central Florida and Disney leaving it will NOT change that growth speed very much. Many locals don't want Disney there anyway!

But yeah, I blame multiple Disney lawsuits, stock price decline, large staff layoffs, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel studio decline and D+ subscriber decline all on Ron DeSantis folks. This is NOT Disney's fault,...it's the governors fault. Yep,....so easy!

The only statement of fact in the entire post is the first sentence. Once we get past that it delves into pure conjecture that is not based in the real world.
As for finances, Disney has 10.4 Billion Dollars in cash on hand.
Finally, as for Epcot, I think you are a little confused. The crater is almost finished, Moana was only started about a year ago, and the new Festival Center is finishing up. Landscaping has begun in the 'Crater' and Universal Epic Universe will have taken 5 years.

 

[GoofGoof]

The only statement of fact in the entire post is the first sentence. Once we get past that it delves into pure conjecture that is not based in the real world.

As far as the cost, the move was always being done to save money not cost more money. They were moving 2,000 jobs to a state with lower wages so long term they could pay less in salary and less in upkeep. The project was going to cost $1B but they were getting $600M in tax credits so net cost of $400M and the P&L impact would be spread over 30+ years so not a huge expense. The plan was always to expand the campus in the future as well so 2,000 could become a lot more jobs and again at a lower cost. If it wasn’t cheaper to move the jobs to FL there would have never been a reason to do it.

 

[JohnD]

Let's get this thread to 1,000.

 

[JohnD]

Okay, maybe this one?

 

[JohnD]

I give up. Someone else can have the honors.

 

[lewisc]

This thread will reach 1000 pages less then 2 months after it started.

Haunted Mansion has been stuck on 999 ghosts for over 50 years

 

[Figgy1]

Agreed about not wanting to be forced to move for a job. However, not everyone interprets current Florida law into being hostile for "being who they are." I know that is so very difficult for many to accept, but it is true.

Of course, if DeSantis is wrong on this calculation, Floridians will vote him out of office and into oblivion... The bad news is we just have to wait and see. And Disney is doing what they can to increase those odds.

He's term limited so he's either leaving in January 25 or 27

 

[Figgy1]

This thread will reach 1000 pages less

 

[JohnD]

I think you are missing the point. It’s not about what you or anyone else thinks. It’s about what the people asked to move think. A lot of those people are in creative positions. A larger than “the average job” percentage are gay. For CMs who are not they still do not want to see their co-workers unhappy or suffer. That’s the point. Whether other people are OK with what’s going on is not the issue and it has nothing to do with voting people out.

We have a winner!

 

[GoofGoof]

We have a winner!

It will probably get deleted….but I’m taking a screen shot as proof that I was the first post on page 1,000 before the purge

 

[flynnibus]

I would argue that moving staff to Florida and building the Lake Nona campus would be extremely expensive.

If it was knky going to cost them sonmuch - why do you believe they went forward with the idea in the first place?

When your theory starts out with ‘this makes no sense for them’… reconsider your assumptions

 

[JohnD]

It will probably get deleted….but I’m taking a screen shot as proof that I was the first post on page 1,000 before the purge

With the help of several nudges to get us there.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

He's term limited so he's either leaving in January 25 or 27

The problem is that all he has to do is sit out one term, and he can be elected to 2 more, unless the Florida constitution is changed.

 

[LAKid53]

The problem is that all he has to do is sit out one term, and he can be elected to 2 more, unless the Florida constitution is changed.

And that won't happen...

 

[Cliff]

If it was knky going to cost them sonmuch - why do you believe they went forward with the idea in the first place?

When your theory starts out with ‘this makes no sense for them’… reconsider your assumptions

Obviously...as of yesterday, Disney does NOT believe they need Lake Nona anymore. So, it seems they also think their original concept turned out to be a bad one when placed under their CURRENT economic conditions. The Lake Nona idea was created at a time that was different than it is today.

Lake Nona is dead for Disney and I think it has ZERO to do with DeSantis and everything to do with the project being hated INSIDE Disney itself and their need for money in OTHER places of the company right now. DeSantis himself or the Parental Rights bill did not kill Lake Nona.