WDW land being sold off.....inevitable?

[tjkraz]

Here's some info from the 4/3/06 posting at MousePlanet.com under the heading of Nibbling Away at Walt Disney World:

[/i]"Disney has been nibbling away at the borders of its Florida property selling off two parcels since December, with a third tract under contract. The three properties combined make up a total of 130 acres, only a tiny fraction of Disney's 27,000-acre holdings, yet it signals a change in Disney's approach to the land accumulated by Walt Disney back in the 1960s."[/i]

Click on the link above to read the full article.

So, what do you think of Disney selling off part of the property? Personally, I think it's inevitable. Whether Bob Iger is at the helm or some other CEO 10...20...30 years from now, the entire property is just too large of an asset to resist the huge dollars that can be received by selling-off small chunks here and there.

HOPEFULLY we won't reach a point where Epcot Resorts Blvd is littered with fast food joints and convenience stores, but think that we are going to see other business creeping up on WDW as some of the land is sold in coming years.

Comments?

[KNWVIKING]

Disney also bought a chunk of land for the western beltway to run thru, then ran the access road out to CS.

The land that was sold isn't land that fits into any WDW developement plans.
It's not prime real estate.

[AFMom]

I don't think it should be sold. Either leave it as green belt or develop it for Disney. To me this is a slippery slope situation. There was a reason Walt bought so much land - he didn't want any one else near his parks!

[KNWVIKING]

Disney will always have a border that someone will build all the way up to. It's not a bad thing. The area North of the MK is land that Disney will never develope and having someone else do so will not affect sitelines. If anything, people who eventually live in those homes will have lovely views of warehouses and unsightly operations buildings.

I'm not entirely certain which piece of land they are selling off I-192 - kinda know where they're talking about but not sure - but I thik it's a piece that is already surrounded by the outside world. Disney will never develope it either.

There is still more then ample buffer.

While I'm not worried about these particular sales, it would concern me if ths starts to become a pattern.

[dvcconvert]

There was a reason Walt bought so much land - he didn't want any one else near his parks!


Anaheim certainly was Walt's wake-up call to this point!

I really wouldn't let this bother anyone. Some of the land in play was land that wasn't even purchased by Walt, or while he was alive.

I'd suggest you look at the question more like a game of chess. As in the cases cited, when compared to the purchase mentioned for the western way access-- it's more like positioning yourself to maximize your performance.

There is not, nor ever will be permitted any wholesale sell off in part at least from the lesson learned at DL.
Corporate (at least currently) is smart enough to know that they don't have a crystal ball to tell them what they might want or need 50 years forward.
I cannot even remotely envision the day (so long as TWDC is not sold to any other company) that interior roadways will be significantly developed.
And if it is -- I'll be going to Bush Gardens -- and not to see the horses! :ale:
:laughing:

[cobbler]

I don't know if I like this.

I guess as long as it doesn't become a pattern or it starts to look all touristy like Disneyland than it is ok.

One of the things I like about being on property is being away from all that. They do an excellent job of having you feel like you have escaped from the outside world.

DTD area is acceptable but certainly it pushes it for me, anymore than that and I wouldn't like it very much.

[Rozzie]

the first question that popped in my mind was "are they really cash strapped or what?" I mean you can always use money, but isn't there another way then to pick apart the world?

I'm with the don't like this very much crowd. (as if you couldn't tell!!!!!!!!!)

[KNWVIKING]

Disney is not strapped for cash. Besides, we're talking about 15 mil. Grantedit's not peanuts to you and me, but it's hardly a blip on the radar to a company with a cap value in excess of 50 Billion.

In and of itself, this is not a big deal. I'll feel differently if I see this become a habit.