Disney Officially Cancels Lake Nona, FL Relocation Project

[RamblingMad]

Think about the math. The FL campus was going to save Disney a lot of money. This speaks volumes about how threatened they must feel to cancel a cost cutting initiative that would pay off over time. This tells me that Disney is thinking FL is going to be problematic for more than a couple of years.

 

[TeamRiley]

The business math might work, but the employee problem would have cost them more. No one wanted to move. It was going to be a complete loss of intellectual and industrial knowledge of their systems. On paper it worked, in reality it was DOA.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Think about the math. The FL campus was going to save Disney a lot of money. This speaks volumes about how threatened they must feel to cancel a cost cutting initiative that would pay off over time. This tells me that Disney is thinking FL is going to be problematic for more than a couple of years.

For sure, RM. Long term political climate has long influenced business decisions of many companies over many past years.

 

[longboard55]

I would assume many Disney employees would not want to move to Florida in the current political climate, so it more than just the Reedy Creek mess

 

[BrianL]

I always assumed that it would go ahhead, but not be an Imagineering campus with relocated employees, but rather just a sattellite office where they could start new programs and hire locally. The Imagineering teams for the most part did not want to move. Pulling the plug though has to do with the current state of affairs in Florida.

 

[bookgirl]

This was going to get cancelled anyway. Too many employees did not want to move.
It is good political timing for the announcement though.

I’m pretty sure this was the final nail in the coffin of a project already being second guessed. Just the nudge they needed.

Either way Florida loses thanks to R.De who gets another taste of Disney petty.

I’m totally here for it.

 

[pindecisive]

Think about the math. The FL campus was going to save Disney a lot of money. This speaks volumes about how threatened they must feel to cancel a cost cutting initiative that would pay off over time. This tells me that Disney is thinking FL is going to be problematic for more than a couple of years.

Our last visit to DCA was actually quite eye opening. The marvel section was extremely popular and they'd done some work on the "boardwalk" section (still under construction for several rides). Since DCA was originally a bit of a failure it has been great to see it be far more successful that it's historically been.

Moves like this make me wonder if future DL work/DisneylandForward is going to be the focus for the new few years.

 

[DCJ]

Great job Ron. While you are out of the country campaigning for other countries to bring business to Florida, you have this mess you created to show them what could happen to their business if they come to Florida. Ron got caught up in the fight, short term thinking.

And... Disney got what they deserve keeping Chapek in power while he soaked all of us. He looked good to the board upcharging every breath you took when on property. Now Disney can deal with the mess that happened on Chapek's watch.

I do hope Disney wins this fight though. Government takeover shouldn't happen in America.

 

[White Cat]

Probably ok. Traffic in that area is awful and only going to get worse with the building going on.

 

[amylevan]

I suspect this had less to do with the political mess in Florida than they are going to admit. It’s a good way to make that point though.

I’m pretty sure this idea was dead with Chapek.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I know it's expensive to do biz in Calif, and so many things are heavily regulated. That was the impetus for them to relocate to FL. I guess Calif. doesn't look so bad now.

And they brought the California CEOs with them.

 

[The Mayor]

Everyone can blame the Governor but in my opinion this project was dead long before all this crap with Disney started. It’s been in the planning stages since 2019 and was supposed to open at the end off 2022. Along with Covid stalling everyone and everything, Disneys recent financial standing has contributed to the cancellation of the Lake Nova project. Losses in streaming, 7,000 recent layoffs, closing the Galactic Starcruiser and Disney stock dropping, are not exactly good for the bottom line. I think that their recent financial situation has more to do with the cancellation and that they can use the Govenor as a scapegoat to appease their overly loyal followers.

 

[BrianL]

I suspect this had less to do with the political mess in Florida than they are going to admit. It’s a good way to make that point though.

I’m pretty sure this idea was dead with Chapek.

They were already pulling back ont he mandatory relocations, but I had expected the building to go forward, possibly with some different departments or use as other WDW administartive offices. Cancelling it altogether is surprising.

 

[HopperFan]

They were already pulling back ont he mandatory relocations, but I had expected the building to go forward, possibly with some different departments or use as other WDW administartive offices. Cancelling it altogether is surprising.

It was. The project had recently been presented to the Development Review Committee and fully approved this spring.

SO ... I guess there are 60 acres up for sale, and maybe even more if there were some other projects planned hinging on all those Disney employees.

 

[RamblingMad]

Our last visit to DCA was actually quite eye opening. The marvel section was extremely popular and they'd done some work on the "boardwalk" section (still under construction for several rides). Since DCA was originally a bit of a failure it has been great to see it be far more successful that it's historically been.

Moves like this make me wonder if future DL work/DisneylandForward is going to be the focus for the new few years.

I personally prefer DL/DCA over WDW. I haven't liked WDW since the 90s.

 

[bcla]

Our last visit to DCA was actually quite eye opening. The marvel section was extremely popular and they'd done some work on the "boardwalk" section (still under construction for several rides). Since DCA was originally a bit of a failure it has been great to see it be far more successful that it's historically been.

Moves like this make me wonder if future DL work/DisneylandForward is going to be the focus for the new few years.

That was Michael Eisner's folly. He rather lost touch with what made a Disney park special and a lot of it was made with pretty generic rides like a wild mouse coaster and a generic drop ride that one might find at a regional amusement park. They specifically were trying to save money in hopes that some Disney magic somehow rubbed off on it. California Screamin' was revolutionary though.

 

[TLSnell1981]

That was Michael Eisner's folly. He rather lost touch with what made a Disney park special and a lot of it was made with pretty generic rides like a wild mouse coaster and a generic drop ride that one might find at a regional amusement park. They specifically were trying to save money in hopes that some Disney magic somehow rubbed off on it. California Screamin' was revolutionary though.

Soarin' wasn't bad either.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I suspect this had less to do with the political mess in Florida than they are going to admit. It’s a good way to make that point though.

I’m pretty sure this idea was dead with Chapek.

True, but it's smart on Iger's part to announce it now. Chapek was a lousy checkers player whereas Iger can play 4 dimensional chess while taking part in a round of golf. And Iger knows it's a particularly excellent time to point out that when it comes to Disney, they are getting the "anti-business/pro-regulation" treatment" from Florida. He's planting the seed that other companies might be next based on the whims of one individual....whether it's Florida, or really any state based on an announcement that is supposedly coming next week from said individual.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t this project dead or dying when Iger came in? Want to make sure I’m getting facts straight because yesterday news was all over the place from starcruiser to this to the Anaheim council proposal

 

[Her Dotness]

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t this project dead or dying when Iger came in?

Most likely, it went on life support under Cheapek when a group of longtime Imagineers reportedly said, "Nope. We ain't moving. You adjust, not us."

Not like any of us have more than wild guesses, of course.

I think D'Amaro's letter merely the formal admission that Disney agreed to cave, probably actually decided to do that some time ago. They knew they couldn't PO their most creative, talented people for very long and escape unscathed.