Trailer park in WDW ?????

[KNWVIKING]

This may be common knowledge amongst the Disney experts on this board but I've never heard of this: I was discussing a recent WDW vacation with an older friend on mine when he stated he had a relative who lived in a trailer park,inside WDW, that was right next to Epcot,even had their own enterance into Epcot and after a certain hour it didn't cost them anything to enter. I think he's crazy but he insists this is fact. Is he correct ??? I have heard that the Reedy Creek Improvement thingy is made up of a handfull of residents living in a trailer park- is this what my friend is talking about ?

 

[Cricket2]

I can just see it now:

"Hey Pa! I'm headed out ta da Golf Ball an seein' ifin' I can catch me one of them Flaminko birds for suppah. Wanna come with?"

 

[Cricket2]

0.00% Pacific Islander

Sort of ruins the image of the Poly huh?

JC

 

[Cricket2]

The median income for a household in the city is $86,288, and the median income for a family is $86,288. Males have a median income of $76,284 versus $21,667 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,731. 0.0% of the population and 0.0% of families are below the poverty line.

Ummmm, these "males" are definitely not "ticket takers".

JC

 

[sgtdisney]

Very interesting stuff.. Do these 'residents' live in permenant structures? It would be interesting to know where these 'cities' actually are located within Disney World....

 

[Another Voice]

Last time I looked both “cities” really were trailer parks (doublewides in fact). The City of Bay Lake is on the northeastern shore, furthest from the campground (they have a private beach and sometimes you can see the residents there). The City of Lake Buena Vista was behind the non-Disney hotels of the Hotel Plaza. Perhaps some of the more enterprising members on the board can use the coordinates in the census info and find a website with aerial photographs. The boundaries of the cities exactly match the boundaries of Disney’s property, which also happens to be the boundaries of the Ready Creek Improvement District.

The cities are one of the ways The Company keeps total control over what happens at WDW. And they are “real” cities in every legal sense of the words. The “citizens” vote, pass ordinances, levy taxes, issues bonds – everything that your own town or city does. The fact that what these cities do exactly mirrors the desires and wishes of a large American corporation is, well, unique. It’s also because living in these cities is “by invitation only”. In other words only people how are guaranteed to vote a certain way are allowed in. The joke was always that it the convicts and other people who couldn’t get a job, but based on the income stats it looks like they’re going for management types these days.

Disney in effect sets its own building codes. It runs its own municipal services like fire protection, trash, water and electricity. It collects its share of state sales tax (what – you didn’t think what you pay in the parks all goes to the state, did you?). For a long time these “cities” even barred Florida State patrols from entering its “borders”. Outside law enforcement organizations had to ask permission to enter WDW property and Disney has been accused using this to stop investigations that it thought might be embarrassing (but it was great way to get out of a speeding ticket. Er, I mean, so I’ve heard).

The cities even set zoning standards (which is why so much of WDW pays property taxes based on “agriculture” rates. The cities and the RCID can also issue their own tax exempt bonds. This became a problem when RCID used up the state’s allotment for municipal bonds to pay for new sewers at new hotels. Orlando wanted to issue those bonds for new schools. And Disney has exempted itself from all the fees and taxes that all other developers in Orange County have to pay as well.

About the only thing that WDW can do but doesn’t is run its own nuclear power plant.

 

[sgtdisney]

That is really quite interesting.. I do remember hearing way back about how Disney didn't want 'people' living on the property. I can see it was people whose votes that they can't control. I remember the Grand Vista Suites at the Old Disney Institute Resort were originally models for a housing development that died when Disney realized letting 'outsiders' live 'on the property' would take away their total control over Reedy Creek Development. Florida must have really, really wanted Disney back in the mid 60s to have allowed all this. What a coo for the Disney Company though.

P.S. I think I found Bay Lake...
http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=11&x=1110&y=7861&z=17&w=1

 

[VintageKnight]

looks like it...

and thanks for the link i looked up my original home and they had a pre-tornado picture on file, nice to see we were home when the shot was takin.


VK

 

[Another Voice]

I actually have a copy of the brochure Disney put together to sell the Lake Buena Vista development. What may interest people that there wasn’t a single picture of WDW in it nor a single mention of it actually being part of WDW.

Lake Buena Vista was being touted as a gated community for second and vacation homes: basically an Orlando version of Baco Raton or Seaside. The project’s primary draws were to be the golf course, the conference center and the Lake Buena Village Marketplace. Back in 1972 being on Disney proper wasn’t thought to be a draw.

In fact, that’s what’s rumored to have finally killed the project. All those upper income bracket people turned up their noses at living so close to “an amusement park”. Disney had all kinds of lawyers to get them out of any problems with Reedy Creek, but nothing could make Disney feel fashionable to the Blue Bloods in the mid-seventies.

The old Grand Vista Suites were the model homes for the development; the old suites, town homes and villas were intended to be condominiums. In fact the whole area including the Marketplace was built pretty much as planned for the residential community – the failure to sell homes caused the conversion into the resort.


P.S. – Yep, that’s the City of Bay Lake. To the west is WDW’s North Service Area which contains most of the maintenance buildings, Central Foods and some administrative offices. It also has the dry dock for the world’s “fleet” and the employee parking for the Magic Kingdom staff.

 

[sgtdisney]

Again, thanks for the info AnotherVoice!! That whole concept of Lake Buena Vista has always interested me. I had stayed in both the Townhouses and Treehouses a number of times before we bought into the DVC in 1992 and always thought it would be so wonderful to actually 'live' at Disney World. I never did get to see the Grand Vista Suites, although I went to college with a girl whose father was a bigwig at United Airlines and she stayed there and told me how nice it was.. I would love to see that brochure, I am sure it is very interesting to see now..

 

[Another Voice]

One of the things I like about conference call meetings is that I can do something interesting, like digging through the archives…

These are snippets from the brochure, which is copyrighted 1972 (there’s no mention of any opening dates).



In Lake Buena Vista, you can own a piece of the world. And what a world it is.

Ride a bicycle to the Buena Vista Club. And while you’re there, play a few sets of tennis, take a dip in the pool, or take-off on a water skiing party.

Sail to the market place in the commercial shopping center. And while you’re there, watch native craftsmen of the southeast create their unique wares. Or have dinner at a charming restaurant overlooking the water.

Step out of your backyard onto the beautiful fairways of one of Florida’s finest 18-hole golf courses. Take a walk through the pine forest that grows to the fairway’s edge. Fish just around the bend in Lake Buena Vista. Or get away from it all at a secluded private lake, just a few minutes away.

Whatever a vacation in Florida is – sunshine, relaxation, golf, bird-watching, water-skiing, sailing, fishing, tennis, Technicolor sunsets – is yours at Lake Buena Vista.

And you’ll never know the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World is just a few minutes away. Except when you and your children and guests want to go there. And then all you need to become a V.I.P. is a telephone.

Because you own a piece of the world.

********

Lake Buena Vista is a new idea in second home communities. Master planned by the Buena Vista Land Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Walt Disney Productions, the “City of Lake Buena Vista” is not a real “city” at all. Instead, it is being created as a “park” comprised of woods, waterways, trails and active recreation pursuits…

…To accomplish these high goals, Disney has assumed the responsibility for maintaining key elements and standards in Lake Buena Vista. Although a variety of housing is underway, the land itself is available only through long-term leases. The community is being created under the sol-called “condominium-form” of ownership, in which certain elements are shared by all, but Disney maintains key common standards and features. Disney will own the land; you will own your structure. Thus, Disney will forever be your partner.

Located on 4,000 acres of Walt Disney’s World’s 27,500 acre site, Lake Buena Vista encompasses golf- and wood- and water-oriented homesites, townhouses, and company executive retreats…

********

Lake Buena Vista is a private community of residences designed for leisure-living in the Florida outdoors. Looking out onto a lake, a forest or a waterway, residences vary: Family detached “second homes” and vacation sites, homes for business executives and corporations, cluster homes and townhouses.

********

Residential Hostessing is not a new idea, But at Lake Buena Vista’s Townhouses, the concept has proved especially popular with America’s corporate officers and their guests…because Lake Buena Vista has met its promise.

In the Townhouse community, where Residential Hostessing is offered, conveniences and life’s pleasures are anticipated. Businessmen meet in park-like settings to discuss business affairs, dine on gourmet catered luncheons, then tee-off at one of three 18-hole golf courses in Walt Disney World.

********

The Lake Buena Vista Shopping Center is conceived as a unique assemblage of handicraft, boutique and convenience stores…an area original in concept but inspired by places like Carmel and La Jolla, California. Shops and restaurants are arranged for the fun of browsing, and the joy of dining. Subsequent phases of the commercial center will include a suburban style, regional shopping center, and an office-park complex which one day promises to the the prestige business address in central Florida.



All of the major features – the townhouses the semi-attached homes, the Lake Buena Vista Club, the Village marketplace were built pretty much as designed for this “community”. Only the single family, detached homes where never started. As the popularity of Walt Disney World soared in the first years it was opened and the exiting resort hotels were filled to capacity, the “residential hostessing” quickly turned into a hotel and took over the entire development. The idea of developing a residential area was dropped.

 

[Bstanley]

Oh I don't know Scoop.

A few years ago when I was making $65K a year if I had told my two boys that we could live literally within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom I imagine they would have been packed and ready to go in a blink of an eye...

Now - my wife might not have been so easy to convince... ;-)

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Oh I don't know...50K isn't very much and doublewide's these days can be luxurious. As long as you don't have to deal with snow and high winds it could be a great way to go if you don't plan on living in it long term (20 years).

 

[sgtdisney]

Very, very interesting.. Thanks so very much for posting that.. I can just imagine what the concept was like at the time.. Disney World was a very different place in the 70s... I can see, especially back then, why the concept may have had trouble taking off. Owning a structure, but not the land is a little hard for the average joe to take. Of course now Disney has all it's DVC resorts which as we all know have been wildly popular. Oh, if only one could time travel and visit 'The World' as it was back then. I remember very well visiting the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village and it was, now that I think of it, kind of like a 'Disneyfied' version of the LaJolla Shopping district. This was in 1976 on my first visit to WDW after numerous previous visits to Disneyland when I was very young..

 

[Another Voice]

If there’s any doubt that this is the best and most resourceful Disney board on the ‘net, I hope this thread puts an end to any questions. I’m half expecting another breathless expose from Jim Hill about the “hidden” cities in WDW with lots of breathless quotes and breathless back slapping (similar to the “Destination Disney” piece he wrote).

Anyway, you can see the City of Lake Buena Vista at http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=2243&y=15700&z=17&w=1 . At least I think it is, I remember it in a slightly different location, but that was before a lot of the build out of the Hotel Plaza and Downtown Disney. In any case it looks like the “residents” have a swimming pool now.

No one should confuse either Bay Lake or Lake Buena Vista for anything remotely like real residencies. They are company housing and used for a very specific reason by a select few, hand picked individuals. If any other company tried this it would quickly be labeled a shame.

In a similar move, only property owners can vote for people to serve on the Reedy Creek Improvement District Board. The boundary of the district exactly matches Disney’s property boundary. For various legal reasons (as I understand it), you can’t have a special district with only one land owner, so Disney “sells” tiny amounts of land to certain individuals. They, in turn, vote exactly how Disney wants.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The development of WDW would not have been possible under any other means. There’s no evidence that Disney has greatly misused its extraordinary powers (although opinions vary). The harshest assessment about the whole situation is that Disney avoided all the mess and headaches that go along with this scale of development, and forced them on Orlando instead.

There is a huge operation underway all the time underneath the “magic” of Walt Disney World. And 99% of the guests neither know nor care about it.

 

[airlarry!]

This is some interesting information.

I love two things in the supplement info from Scoop:

1. The epodunk website lists the following nearby parks and recreation:
General James A. Van Fleet State Trail

Nice, but isn't there a theme park or four right next door, also?

2. The census info shows that nearly 36% of the residents consider themselves of French ancestry. The Cajun in me finds that remarkable out in Central Florida!

Oh yeah. Did you know that 69% of the workers work in the "Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services" industry? Surprise, surprise.

Also, that of those workers, 3 of them make between $150-199k a year, 5 of them make between $75-99k a year, and 2 make between $50-75k a year.

I'm in the wrong labor market.

 

[Bstanley]

The 'Net' is indeed a remarkable tool.

There are 6 households with listed phone numbers in Bay Lake (4 single listings and 2 double), and 4 households with unlisted numbers. And for a mere $9.95 a person you can download the same information that used to cost you a couple of days worth of a Gumshoe's time if anyone was that interested...

Another interesting thing - no one who lives there pays rent or makes a mortgage payment.

 

[larworth]

And you’ll never know the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World is just a few minutes away. Except when you and your children and guests want to go there. And then all you need to become a V.I.P. is a telephone.

Because you own a piece of the world.

Any ideas on what type of VIP privileges one would have gotten?

WOW. I can just picture whipping out the old cell phone to let them know I'm on my way over. I'd park my golf cart at the back entrance and give a high five to the security guard who greeted me "good to see you again Larworth". And in no time I'm skipping down the FP line to.....

I don't think I'd have any trouble voting anyway they wanted me to.

 

[d-r]

This is just what I believe, and I may be wrong, but AV, I don't think the brochure that you transcribed and the sat. photo is a place were there is currently any actual "residence." I think that the brochure is describing what became the Disney institute. I don't know if they have been razed or not with the making of saratoga springs, but at the old disney institute, there used to be a few "houses" along with the treehouses and the "condos." One of them was actually big, like 3 or four or five bedrooms. I remember this being one of the largest accomodations you could rent at wdw (I'm thinking you had to go through the "suites people" to book it). Basically, you had to get a golf cart if you stayed there because the only transportation was the insitute bus. I was always told that these houses were the models for the planned residential thing, but that it never "took off." That eventually they built the DI instead, because they couldn't get it to go (evenutually, though, this sort of idea led to Celebration). I think that the brochure that you posted describes the planned community where those model homes were that became the institute and now saratoga springs. Again, I'm not sure that those houses are still there right now, with the saratoga springs construction, but you could rent them up until not very long ago. Also, there are "condos" across the lake from downtown disney that I always thought were used for the college program, but then someone told me that wasn't what they were used for.

DR


DR