Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
My point is deliberately exaggerated. My point is there's no subsidies for the kind of things like pedestrian bridge crossings or local roads. This is unfairly handed over to Universal.
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The City of Orlando is willing to pay for the pedestrian bridge over a City of Orlando owned public roadway because if someone were to be injured or killed on the city owned roadway they can legally be held liable if there is a known hazard. And I would say 4000+ people a day crossing at that intersection would be a known hazard.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
Yes, I know that. I'm just saying...
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You're saying that Universal is getting an unfair advantage that Disney is not. And that's why Disney can't build new attractions. Aside from being absurd, that is simply a false assumption. Disney gets LOTS of State funding. They don't get anything from the City of Orlando because WDW is well outside of the city limits.
 
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
The City of Orlando is willing to pay for the pedestrian bridge over a City of Orlando owned public roadway because if someone were to be injured or killed on the city owned roadway they can legally be held liable if there is a known hazard. And I would say 4000+ people a day crossing at that intersection would be a known hazard.
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People who cross Lake Buena Vista Drive isn't a hazard either?

Orlando has no jurisdiction in LBV, I know, but Orlando has taxing authority that they can impose on Uni to pay for it. The state would have to grant LBV that same authority to tax the company that owns it in order to do the same. Granting governments tax authority is one thing, but when the government is "owned" by the company it is taxing, we are messing with fascist ideology.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
People who cross Lake Buena Vista Drive isn't a hazard either?

Orlando has no jurisdiction in LBV, I know, but Orlando has taxing authority that they can impose on Uni to pay for it. The state would have to grant LBV that same authority to tax the company that owns it in order to do the same. Granting governments tax authority is one thing, but when the government is "owned" by the company it is taxing, we are messing with fascist ideology.
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The money is already coming out of a surplus of tax money from Universal. They get $9 Million a year in tax revenue from Universal from a 1996 contract. They are using a one time lump sum of $4 million of that $9 Million a year to build the bridge.

Did you actually read the link you posted?
 
HenryMystic

HenryMystic

Well-Known Member
Universal can build more attractions than Disney because Orlando gives them a measly few million dollars? I've heard it all now. Wow. $5m wouldn't go very far with WDI.
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
PeterAlt said:
And do they opertate them, like Oriental Land Co operates TDL?
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The OLC owns 100% of the TDR and operates it under a licensing agreement with TWDC. Disney does control what OLC can and can't do based on the contracts it signed when TDL was first developed.

The resorts in Paris and HK and, soon, Shanghai operate under different structures with Disney owning large parts of those resorts.

lazyboy97o said:
Hongkong International Theme Parks owns and operates the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is a joint venture between the Government of Hong Kong and The Walt Disney Company. Originally Disney only owned 43%, but that stake was increased to 48% as part of the deals regarding the ongoing expansion.

I do not think the joint venture for the Shanghai Disney Resort has been named yet, but it is between the Shanghai Shendi Group, which is a state-owned company, and The Walt Disney Company. The ownership structure will follow the 57-43 split that was originally in place regarding Hong Kong.
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That is all correct. Disney does have a lot of say in the day-to-day operation of all its international resorts. Much of the top leadership hails frod the USA. The head of HKDL is from California (and his name escapes me at this moment).

China, and I can say this as someone who has lived and worked there multiple times and knows a bit about Disney's relationship, has had a contentious relationship with Disney dating back to the late 90s when the HKDL deal went thru.

I truly believe that SDL wouldn't have happened if not for the global financial meltdown (that we largely caused), which allowed Disney to muscle Central Government in Beijing.

PeterAlt said:
I was wondering because they said Meg Crofton becomes the President in change of DLR, WDW, and DLP. I knew TDL was the only Disney park that Disney had no ownership interest in, so I was wondering why the Chinese parks weren't included in Crofton's group.
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There's nothing to that. Meg's position was created as part of One Disney. You can't have someone based in the states with oversight over Paris. I'd love to know how many times she has been over there. My guess is you could count them on one hand. The Asian parks are under another umbrella.

Oh, and in some Meg news (not that it's really news at this point) but Meg is relocating, somewhat surprisingly, to California full-time. I thought she would stay in O-Town and fly out weekly or a few times a month.
 
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
You're saying that Universal is getting an unfair advantage that Disney is not. And that's why Disney can't build new attractions. Aside from being absurd, that is simply a false assumption. Disney gets LOTS of State funding. They don't get anything from the City of Orlando because WDW is well outside of the city limits.
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Using that as an excuse not to build attractions was me over exaggerating to make a point! Gosh, I don't really believe that!

BUT, it would be nice if LBV could tax Disney in order to build pedestrian bridges over LBV Boulevard. Better yet, if that tax was just slightly higher, they would be able to build people movers or monorail extensions...

But this can't happen because it would be dabbling in fascist ideology. Therefore, for fairness, Orlando shouldn't be subsidizing Uni's pedestrian bridges. These bridges should get build and Orlando should REQUIRE Universal to build them with their own money. Or have the state pay for them and fund Disney's as well.
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
lazyboy97o said:
Looking at some articles from 2011, it seems like Disney's involvement in Haifa was a bit of a stretch. The firm involved was Shamrock Holdings, the investment firm founded by Roy E. Disney. There was no direct involvement with Disney.
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THIS!!!

No Disney in the Middle East. None.

This also includes the Marvel Theme Park that was in the works (some of the art looked quite intriguing) for Dubai before Disney bought Marvel. That licensed deal was quietly scuttled and Disney will instead allow Marvel characters and merchandise to be used in some nebulous venture that sounds a lot more like a mall/regional entertainment center than the original theme park.

Everyone enjoying the Carnival Titanic media/PR disaster as much as I am?
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
Using that as an excuse not to build attractions was me over exaggerating to make a point! Gosh, I don't really believe that!

BUT, it would be nice if LBV could tax Disney in order to build pedestrian bridges over LBV Boulevard. Better yet, if that tax was just slightly higher, they would be able to build people movers or monorail extensions...

But this can't happen because it would be dabbling in fascist ideology. Therefore, for fairness, Orlando shouldn't be subsidizing Uni's pedestrian bridges. These bridges should get build and Orlando should REQUIRE Universal to build them with their own money. Or have the state pay for them and fund Disney's as well.
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The Reedy Creek Improvement district has and does build infrastructure purely for Disney and has used its status as a governing body to give Disney an advantage in getting projects accomplished.

In a rather direct way, Universal is paying for the bridge. The money is from additional taxes which are being paid. This is not some weird rationalization. The City has been pocketing the surplus from the program for years instead of paying off the debt early. The City remains well ahead in the deal.
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
THIS!!!

No Disney in the Middle East. None.

This also includes the Marvel Theme Park that was in the works (some of the art looked quite intriguing) for Dubai before Disney bought Marvel. That licensed deal was quietly scuttled and Disney will instead allow Marvel characters and merchandise to be used in some nebulous venture that sounds a lot more like a mall/regional entertainment center than the original theme park.

Everyone enjoying the Carnival Titanic media/PR disaster as much as I am?
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No, the Haifa thing is happening. I saw the Disney brand waived around in a Haifa city tourism promotional video.

Slightly on topic, do you know anything about the Disney park that was being planned in the mid 1990's when it looked like a final regional comprehensive peace treaty was on the verge of being signed? The park was planned to be built on land donated by Israel and Jordan on their respective borders in Eilot, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan. The idea was ultimately turned down because of security concerns!
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
HenryMystic said:
Universal can build more attractions than Disney because Orlando gives them a measly few million dollars? I've heard it all now. Wow. $5m wouldn't go very far with WDI.
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Truly, but can we move on (or move the discussion) ... there's news at WDW, Shutters at Old Port Royale has a new menu and chef. Discuss.

Here's another: weather is going to be cold this weekend, so TL likely will close at least one day.

Seriously, anything but this inane talk.
 
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
The Reedy Creek Improvement district has and does build infrastructure purely for Disney and has used its status as a governing body to give Disney an advantage in getting projects accomplished.

In a rather direct way, Universal is paying for the bridge. The money is from additional taxes which are being paid. This is not some weird rationalization. The City has been pocketing the surplus from the program for years instead of paying off the debt early. The City remains well ahead in the deal.
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That's what I'm talking about. To be fair, the state should grant Reedy addition tax powers. But that would be fascism.
 

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