News Walt Disney Imagineering Leaving California, Moving To Florida... EDIT: Never Mind!

[No Name]

This is great news for The Walt Disney Company, they just saved $1 billion. Cutting unnecessary expenses.

It’s a short-term savings, if even that. The cost was $864 million, but they’d be getting a $570 million tax credit spread over 20 years, which Ron Desantis approved before the feud. That’s probably going to be tough to get in the future, to say the least.

Plus, considering the 3.34% difference in payroll taxes I definitely didn’t just look up, they’d probably save around $2K a year per imagineer. Plus, over time they’d hire at a lower salary, and since the mean salary in Florida is $10K lower than that in California, that would lead to significant savings over time.

So it’s not hard to imagine they would’ve made back their initial investment in less than 20 years, and I fully understand why they cancelled it, but certainly think they would’ve gone through with it if not for their current feud.

 

[networkpro]

It’s a short-term savings, if even that. The cost was $864 million, but they’d be getting a $570 million tax credit spread over 20 years, which Ron Desantis approved before the feud. That’s probably going to be tough to get in the future, to say the least.

Plus, considering the 3.34% difference in payroll taxes I definitely didn’t just look up, they’d probably save around $2K a year per imagineer. Plus, over time they’d hire at a lower salary, and since the mean salary in Florida is $10K lower than that in California, that would lead to significant savings over time.

So it’s not hard to imagine they would’ve made back their initial investment in less than 20 years, and I fully understand why they cancelled it, but certainly think they would’ve gone through with it if not for their current feud.

Lets just leave it at "The current Disney company sucks at financial forecasting, planning, and decision making at the higher levels"

 

[Disstevefan1]

Lets just leave it at "The current Disney company sucks at financial forecasting, planning, and decision making at the higher levels"

 

[flynnibus]

I do think the residents of Lake Nona are probably happy this is cancelled. Less people, less traffic.

Except Lake Nona is a planned community that is yet to be fully developed... so having less things there is completely the OPPOSITE of what is desired by the developer Tavistock. This project was building out a world class campus -- exactly what a developer trying to build an integrated community WANTS.

This is like people in my neighborhood who see a project fail and go "Good, it will still be trees!" -- No it won't dummy, it means THAT buyer's project is dead.. it doesn't mean the property isn't going to be developed later by someone else. And maybe by an even worse project... be careful what you wish for.

 

[No Name]

Except Lake Nona is a planned community that is yet to be fully developed... so having less things there is completely the OPPOSITE of what is desired by the developer Tavistock. This project was building out a world class campus -- exactly what a developer trying to build an integrated community WANTS.

This is like people in my neighborhood who see a project fail and go "Good, it will still be trees!" -- No it won't dummy, it means THAT buyer's project is dead.. it doesn't mean the property isn't going to be developed later by someone else. And maybe by an even worse project... be careful what you wish for.

Yeah, people in Virginia were mad that Disney wanted to build a park with an American history theme because it would’ve taken up their precious empty land. Now they’ve got Walmarts and stuff there anyway.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Except Lake Nona is a planned community that is yet to be fully developed... so having less things there is completely the OPPOSITE of what is desired by the developer Tavistock. This project was building out a world class campus -- exactly what a developer trying to build an integrated community WANTS.

This is like people in my neighborhood who see a project fail and go "Good, it will still be trees!" -- No it won't dummy, it means THAT buyer's project is dead.. it doesn't mean the property isn't going to be developed later by someone else. And maybe by an even worse project... be careful what you wish for.

In general, folks like growth until they're stuck in a traffic jam.

As for this project, Disney started for the wrong reasons and Disney ended for the wrong reasons.

I feel sorry for all the working folks Disney messed up because of this. Their workers, the workers who would have built the campus, all other business that would have happened as a result of the campus being there.

Disney is playing chess with people's lives, but I won't forget this entire mess was created by ONE MAN, not a government, not a party, not the voters. The buck stops with the leadership.

 

[TP2000]

Yeah, people in Virginia were mad that Disney wanted to build a park with an American history theme because it would’ve taken up their precious empty land. Now they’ve got Walmarts and stuff there anyway.

The people of Haymarket, Virginia were furious that Disney wanted to build this on unused land near their town...

Fast forward 30 years, and this is what Haymarket got there instead...

 

[Phroobar]

The people of Haymarket, Virginia were furious that Disney wanted to build this on unused land near their town...

Fast forward 30 years, and this is what Haymarket got there instead...

View attachment 717462

I don't blame them. Those electric Walmart shopping carts are great fun for racing at 1am.

 

[truecoat]

The people of Haymarket, Virginia were furious that Disney wanted to build this on unused land near their town...

Fast forward 30 years, and this is what Haymarket got there instead...

View attachment 717462

While there is a Walmart near the property, it was not located in the area Disney was going to use. Most of it was filled with houses but there is a grocery store strip mall.

 

[Parteecia]

The people of Haymarket, Virginia were furious that Disney wanted to build this on unused land near their town...

Fast forward 30 years, and this is what Haymarket got there instead...

View attachment 717462

Do you think they prefer suburbs and a Walmart to overrun by tourists?

 

[TP2000]

Do you think they prefer suburbs and a Walmart to overrun by tourists?

I don’t know, although I do have experience living in suburban Virginia and know their “type”. It’s an interesting crowd, with no real analog to Westerners of any variety. I have particular experience with the WASPs who run (ran?) and actively support ($$$) Colonial Williamsburg, and that’s a hilarious sub-niche all to itself.

At the time, the locals claimed the Disney property was too close to the Manassas battlefields and would disrespect and befoul such hallowed ground. That was a socio-political stance that painted them as morally superior and of a higher calling, so was hard to beat PR wise.

Apparently now, WalMarts and Chick-Fil-A’s and Home Depots with endless tracts of entry level McMansions are still morally better than a Disney theme park about American history.

 

[Phroobar]

I don’t know, although I do have experience living in suburban Virginia and know their “type”. It’s an interesting crowd, with no real analog to Westerners of any variety. I have particular experience with the WASPs who run (ran?) and actively support ($$$) Colonial Williamsburg, and that’s a hilarious sub-niche all to itself.

At the time, the locals claimed the Disney property was too close to the Manassas battlefields and would disrespect and befoul such hallowed ground. That was a socio-political stance that painted them as morally superior and of a higher calling, so was hard to beat PR wise.

Apparently now, WalMarts and Chick-Fil-A’s and Home Depots with endless tracts of entry level McMansions are still morally better than a Disney theme park about American history.

Problem now is those McMansions are all haunted with the ghosts of Civil War soldiers.

 

[Consumer]

America is a great theme for a park, the only problem is some of the best American themes to adapt are the Wild West, Dixieland, the Space Race, and the progress of the turn-of-the-century, all of which are already embodied in Disneyland proper. The lands planned for Disney's America, with focuses on the Industrial Revolution, Ellis Island, the Civil War, and a World War II hangar, just aren't that enticing. That said, I would love to see Disney take a crack at a land set in World War II era, just not a concrete airstrip.

It's surprising, actually, how many of the ideas for Disney's America made it to opening day DCA, such as the boardwalk, the farms, and the airstrip. Really, with minor changes, DCA could relatively easily be converted to Disney's America. Lands dedicated to Hollywood, National Parks, and Route 66 all work incredibly well for a park celebrating the United States.

Of course, Disney would never make a theme park celebrating a racist, problematic country like the United States in 2023.

 

[DLR92]

I don’t know if the rumor was true, Disney was interested in buying Knott’s Berry Farm to convert the park into Disney’s America.

 

[flynnibus]

At the time, the locals claimed the Disney property was too close to the Manassas battlefields and would disrespect and befoul such hallowed ground. That was a socio-political stance that painted them as morally superior and of a higher calling, so was hard to beat PR wise.

Apparently now, WalMarts and Chick-Fil-A’s and Home Depots with endless tracts of entry level McMansions are still morally better than a Disney theme park about American history

TLDR - The "protect the historic pedimont" movement could not hold back the slow tsunami of population and housing growth. Politicians get replaced, zoning challenges lost in court, zoning loosens and the sprawl continues westward. The war cries of old from the PEC and people trying to stop growth aren't even a mouse squeak anymore.

 

[Parteecia]

I asked because I grew up in SoCal going to local theme parks and have been to Vegas plenty of times but the circus that is Orlando in general was jaw dropping. I can't imagine living near something like that. I will happily take my far more boring suburb, Walmarts, and no tourist traffic.

 

[TP2000]

I don’t know if the rumor was true, Disney was interested in buying Knott’s Berry Farm to convert the park into Disney’s America.

I remember that 1990’s rumor too. But I’m not convinced it ever was based in reality.

I think it was just one of those pre-Internet “urban legends” that was based solely on the Independence Hall recreation that Knott’s has had on Beach Blvd. since the 1960’s.