Rumor Has It: Disney Plans $17 Billion Investment in Disney World, What Amazing Will Be
DEBARYLIFE – The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) will convene shortly to discuss a potential new development plan, while nothing official has been signed as of yet.
Fans of Disney should keep a close eye on that meeting as it has the potential to make tourists very happy.
It is said that Disney and the CFTOD have worked out a new developer agreement that will last for the next 15 to 20 years.
Disney is presumably spending $17 billion in Orlando, assuming this plan is implemented. This is our current understanding.
Central Florida Tourism Oversight District The district overseeing tourism in Central Florida
Let’s not revisit the ugly exchanges that have occurred over the last few years between Disney and the Florida government.
The fact that Disney and the CFTOD decided to let go of grudges earlier this year is what counts.
Disney consented to halt federal litigation and abandon all state cases it had filed against Florida government leaders.
In the meantime, Florida dismissed Glen Gilzean from his position as CFTOD District Administrator.
Longtime Disney critic Martin Garcia also resigned from the CFTOD board, though it’s debatable if it was his decision.
Stephanie Kopelousos was hired by the state of Florida to replace Gilzean. It would be appropriate to bring up Kopelousos’s prior employment as a Walt Disney Company lobbyist at this point.
This employment, in our opinion, was Florida officials’ way of reaching out to their biggest rainmaker.
Indeed, we’ve been so close to receiving whiplash from how swiftly the parties have cooperated to reach a compromise.
Disney is aware that the CFTOD will not relinquish its federal cases without a new developer agreement.
Thus, the once-hostile parties are now cooperating to find a fair resolution. The terms have been reset to 2020, before all of this insanity started, until then.
That means that the property at Walt Disney World is still the same. But things can’t stay that way forever.
In order to reach a long-term agreement, the parties are now attempting to negotiate.
To begin with, let’s be clear that unless both sides sign on the dotted line, everything is just theoretical.
Since there has previously been hostility between the two parties, nothing is set in stone just yet, and I don’t take anything for granted.
Nevertheless, according to the Orlando Sentinel, the CFTOD will hear arguments regarding a revised agreement.
If this proposal is approved, Disney and the CFTOD will have a minimum 15-year deal.
Disney plans to spend between $10 and $20 billion in Walt Disney World.
Of more significance, Disney pledges to spend $8 billion on capital projects over the following ten years, or $800 million a year.
It should be emphasized that we are talking about expenses at Walt Disney World specifically.
Disney has been working with Anaheim officials to negotiate DisneylandForward for the past three years, so this entire turn of events is astonishing.
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Now, the CFTOD has crafted its own accord using it as a starting point.
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Recall that Disneyland Resort pledged to invest, through DisneylandForward, a minimum of $1.9 billion over a ten-year period, and potentially as much as $2.5 billion.
Disney and the CFTOD would secure three or four times as much in Orlando under the new development deal.
The announcement by Disney authorities that they will invest $42 billion on theme park expansion is another important aspect.
Depending on how you interpret it, this revised deal would ensure that Disney World alone receives between 19 and 40 percent of that money.
Indeed, with $17 billion, Disney could theoretically construct a fifth theme park.
I’m talking hypothetically here, so once more, none of this is guaranteed.
Disney also agrees to provide a minimum of $10 million in affordable housing in Orlando as part of the planned 15-year deal.
Furthermore, in order to guarantee that fifty percent of all construction work is awarded to Florida-based companies, the corporation will establish a local business recruiting program.
Approximately 17,300 acres of Disney World property would be covered by this deal overall, and the language expressly permits “a maximum of five theme parks.”
The so-called King Charles III deal from 2023 gives Disney the right to construct a fifth theme park, even though the company hasn’t disclosed any plans to do so.
It seems as though Disney’s prior lawsuit is being expanded upon by this plan.
Recall that when Florida officials revised the regulations, the February 2023 agreement was void.
Disney therefore needs a development agreement that permits the potential of a fifth gate if that is what it desires.
The timetable for the $17 billion in investments is still unclear to us; reports indicate it could take up to 20 years.
That developer deal, however, was supposed to endure 15 years.
One other significant aspect of the idea that is being considered is the need that any changes to the plan be approved by both parties.
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Only because of it, Disney is once again in charge of what happens to the former Reedy Creek land.
It appears that the parties have not only reached détente but also worked out a long-term agreement that will allow Walt Disney World to continue expanding.