Does anyone know how much Disney paid for CC?

[lillygator]

....not that I am thinking of buying an island or anything....

 

[bassoongirl]

Here is an article by a guy whose family used to own Gorda Cay (which is now CC). It is very interesting! It has been a long time since I read the whole article, so I am not if the price Disney paid is mentioned.

http://outside.away.com/magazine/0199/9901blackbeard.html

Gayl

 

[lillygator]

great article.....


but no metion of the selling price!

 

[ThreeCircles]

Disney tends to be very secretive about issues concerning its business results and transactions. They won't release business financials on specific aspects or branches of their company.

However, I do recall reading an article that spoke of the costs associated with the startup of Disney Cruise Line as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. The article made mention of the $400 - $450 million spent on each ship and the purchase of Gorda Cay from the Bahamian Government for an undisclosed amount. The article did report that the deal was "valued" in the tens of millions range. It’s interesting to know, as the article mentioned, that the start-up costs for DCL were over $1 billion dollars total!

I attempted to locate the article when I first saw your post earlier this evening but have come up empty-handed so far. I'll keep an eye out for it though!

 

[crisi]

I'm not interested in the value of the island.

I want to know what line item was used for "mercenaries to run drug runners off island and keep them off" and how much that totaled.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

It's my understanding that the government of the Bahamas had pretty much cracked down and run off the drug traffickers before Disney became interested in the island.

 

[ThreeCircles]

That was my understanding as well.

 

[ducklite]

Less than Eisner has in his retirement account.

Anne

 

[crisi]

I have heard the same (with the help of the US Coast Guard is what I've heard), but I have my doubts as to the completeness before Disney got involved (hard to keep drug runners off a desserted island unless you are willing to constantly patrol it or occupy it - and Bahamian military spending doesn't seem quite up to the task of patroling all their desserted islands) and perhaps the order of events (did Disney's interest spark the Bahamian government - did financial contributions help?). Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe I'm just enamoured of the idea of mercenaries with MK47s and mouse ears on their helmets shouting FOR MICKEY!!!!!

 

[Jestocost]

Articles written at the time the purchase was completed in 1996 indicate that Disney declined to provide details on the price they paid for the former Gorda Cay. It did cost an estimated $25 million (or more) just to build the artificial peninsula that serves at the docking area, however.

 

[jgalecpa]

Whatever they spent, it was worth it!


Jim

 

[jrabbit]

Disney didn't actually buy the island - it's a 99 year lease (think Hong Kong). I was told by a DCL rep. that they spent more for the dock than they did for the lease!

 

[ThreeCircles]

Hmmm...

I've heard this lease theory before but all of the articles I have seen indicate that Disney did indeed buy the island from private land-owners who held it before them.

 

[Lilly's Dad]

The Bahamas consist of 700 islands and over 2500 "Cays" of which Gorda was only one. You can bet criminals use other cays now. Also, many of these cays are smaller than a football fiels...even a 3-car garage....if you really want to explore "deserted" islands.....you'll need to approach them carefully on a rubber dingy. perhaps fron a Windjammer cruise.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Yes, but the big attraction of Gorda Cay was the paved air strip.