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Old 07-15-2007, 03:30 PM
 
Location: Living in Paradise
5,701 posts, read 24,089,599 times
Reputation: 3064

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Quote:
Originally Posted by noland123 View Post
I was just wondering if the State of Florida's tourism industry would survive without Disney World. Could they have kept the original tourist spots(Six Gun Territory,Marineland,Silver Springs,Busch Gardens etc.) and the tourism industry stayed afloat.

Yes, the tourism industry is a web of opportunities for many business and wealthy individuals. Something else will be grown to satisfy the huge thirst of the tourist....
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Old 07-15-2007, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Scotland
5 posts, read 37,734 times
Reputation: 12
Default My Disney Hell

Ive just spent 2 weeks going around all the Disney parks with my 3 kids and I must admit that while most of the times the kids loved it my wallet didn't lol I didn't come to be ripped off and stand in long ques ( no matter what time we got to the parks at). I loved being able to take my time and see some of the place where I was a first time visitor too, so much so that we are now thinking of buying a house and maybe moving to the US full time.
As a Brit I found your country very beautiful in parts and most of the people very friendly and helpful. We stayed well outside the Disney area but found travelling to the parks quite easy by road and well sign posted. I didn't mind the heat or the rain ( well coming from a country that's wet all the time I wouldn't )and I'm surprised to hear everyone having a go at the place.
I would love to buy a house in the Davenport area some of them where really good.
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Old 07-15-2007, 04:22 PM
CBB
 
Location: Munich + FL, 32082
481 posts, read 2,235,859 times
Reputation: 400
Florida without Walt Disney World ....... would still be a very attractive place to travel to. And live in.
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:10 PM
 
Location: On my way to FLA baby !!
1,999 posts, read 1,646,467 times
Reputation: 357
Although we love WDW, Florida has so much to offer other then Disney.

I personally believe that Disney does not do enough for the state of Florida for what it has done for them.

Now if you took the beaches/natural beauty out of Florida, it would be just another state. WDW would leave, people will still come.

.... My FIL could have bought the land/swamp Disney is sitting on long before Disney bought it for 25.00 per acre !! Turned it down to move to Ohio.
Bad move !!!

Everything goes hand in hand I with all the traveling I do from Ohio to Fla, I would still be there without WDW.
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:18 PM
 
Location: San Antonio
4,468 posts, read 10,561,603 times
Reputation: 4239
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retiredcoach View Post
There is a reason that Florida does not have a state income tax, and the Disney contribution is significant enough to offset many governmental costs.
Sorry, I had to laugh at this one. We have no state income tax because it's prohibited in our state constitution. That's a big reason why our property taxes are so high - with no income tax, the money has to come from somewhere. The Disney "income" doesn't begin to offset the property taxes. Same situation in Texas - no state income tax, therefore higher property taxes.
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:46 PM
 
2,313 posts, read 3,158,296 times
Reputation: 471
Quote:
Originally Posted by Floridabound09 View Post
Although we love WDW, Florida has so much to offer other then Disney.

I personally believe that Disney does not do enough for the state of Florida for what it has done for them.

Now if you took the beaches/natural beauty out of Florida, it would be just another state. WDW would leave, people will still come.

.... My FIL could have bought the land/swamp Disney is sitting on long before Disney bought it for 25.00 per acre !! Turned it down to move to Ohio.
Bad move !!!

Everything goes hand in hand I with all the traveling I do from Ohio to Fla, I would still be there without WDW.
People always say that but it isn't really true in many cases. When my father came to south Florida in the 40's you could buy anything for next to nothing, (by todays standard anyway). Areas like Tamarac and even Coral Ridge were cheap. You know what would have happened if you bought it? You end up selling to the developer for about the same as you paid or even less and glad to get rid of it. It isn't till guys like Ken Bearing and the Mackel brothers came along and made the big and often risky investment, that the property becomes something of value.

They develop the land, put in roads and utilities bring in some shopping and make it a place someone can live. So the saying, "You know what I could have bought that for", is kind of a fantasy game people down here like to play with themselves, it's mental masturbation

Last edited by macguy; 07-16-2007 at 12:37 AM..
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Old 07-16-2007, 12:59 AM
 
Location: On my way to FLA baby !!
1,999 posts, read 1,646,467 times
Reputation: 357
Quote:
Originally Posted by macguy View Post
People always say that but it isn't really true in many cases. When my father came to south Florida in the 40's you could buy anything for next to nothing, (by todays standard anyway). Areas like Tamarac and even Coral Ridge were cheap. You know what would have happened if you bought it? You end up selling to the developer for about the same as you paid or even less and glad to get rid of it. It isn't till guys like Ken Bearing and the Mackel brothers came along and made the big and often risky investment, that the property becomes something of value.

They develop the land, put in roads and utilities bring in some shopping and make it a place someone can live. So the saying, "You know what I could have bought that for", is kind of a fantasy game people down here like to play with themselves, it's mental masturbation
Nah... Greed did it to most, or plain stupidness, why would you sell it for what you paid for it?
I cannot remember the exact year in the mid to late 50's when he could have bought it and did not, but he did buy 30 acres near Ft Lauderdale for 50.00 per acre and its worth more then any of us could buy as a plot. Was not swamp land or need much development then is the reason he liked it, BIL owns it all now and has been offered more then 2 mil for it all as a whole. FIL was offered 2,000 per acre in the early 1960's and turned it down, he would have made an easy 50k+.
If he would have bought the land that Disney is on right now, I knew him well enough to know you would have to beg him to get it from him and he would have never sold it for the same he bought it for. Only stupid people would have done that knowing Florida was going to grow. FIL knew in the 40's what was going to happen, he had 8 kids to feed and couldnt buy it up like he wanted, put he was dead on.......

This happens everywhere, look at the guy who bought almost all of the land he can get his hands on from Sieverville, Tn Rt. 66/338 to Route 40, he bought it in the early to mid 1980's for less than 500.00 per acre, people thought he was crazy, everyone came in Rt 441 then, we did ! and he is now laughing all the way to the bank with it and in the 1990's he began selling it off for millions per acre for road frontage lots he bought. He now owns the Governors Shopping Complex there and Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, plus several hotels in resort towns.

Many people talk about the land in Fla, FIL bought it and should have bought more of it ( was limited b/o kids), those who didnt buy it wasnt either smart enough to grab it or didnt see the growth coming to invest in it.
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Old 07-16-2007, 02:46 AM
 
2,313 posts, read 3,158,296 times
Reputation: 471
Quote:
Originally Posted by Floridabound09 View Post
Nah... Greed did it to most, or plain stupidness, why would you sell it for what you paid for it?
I cannot remember the exact year in the mid to late 50's when he could have bought it and did not, but he did buy 30 acres near Ft Lauderdale for 50.00 per acre and its worth more then any of us could buy as a plot. Was not swamp land or need much development then is the reason he liked it, BIL owns it all now and has been offered more then 2 mil for it all as a whole. FIL was offered 2,000 per acre in the early 1960's and turned it down, he would have made an easy 50k+.
If he would have bought the land that Disney is on right now, I knew him well enough to know you would have to beg him to get it from him and he would have never sold it for the same he bought it for. Only stupid people would have done that knowing Florida was going to grow. FIL knew in the 40's what was going to happen, he had 8 kids to feed and couldnt buy it up like he wanted, put he was dead on.......

This happens everywhere, look at the guy who bought almost all of the land he can get his hands on from Sieverville, Tn Rt. 66/338 to Route 40, he bought it in the early to mid 1980's for less than 500.00 per acre, people thought he was crazy, everyone came in Rt 441 then, we did ! and he is now laughing all the way to the bank with it and in the 1990's he began selling it off for millions per acre for road frontage lots he bought. He now owns the Governors Shopping Complex there and Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, plus several hotels in resort towns.

Many people talk about the land in Fla, FIL bought it and should have bought more of it ( was limited b/o kids), those who didnt buy it wasnt either smart enough to grab it or didnt see the growth coming to invest in it.
All you can get is the current market value and cheap land is cheap land unless you developed it. Land can sit for years and years and not go up in value. You can buy all the land you want now in north Florida. Are people stupid because they aren't going there and buying it? Then in 20 years you will hear the same stories. What if's or "I could have" are never ending.
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Old 07-16-2007, 03:29 AM
 
103 posts, read 391,021 times
Reputation: 32
I agree this sentence"Disney is the number 1 tourist attraction in the world".
Yes,since the Disneyland was opened in Hongkong.So many people go Hongkong to visit.The traffic is so crowd.And the environment turns bad.But people still go to Hongkong to visit.Because the tourist there is so popular.
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Old 07-16-2007, 09:06 AM
 
1,418 posts, read 10,158,847 times
Reputation: 947
Ahhh, I was just about ready to agree with you Macguy, until you divulged your real agenda and problem with Disney:

Quote:
I love rollercoasters also and have ridden many. Disney isn't about any of that, it is a machine with it's tax breaks and minimum wage jobs, abuse of it's employes and rip off prices. You peel away the layers and it is a disgusting company.
So, for a patron's perspective, you have no real problem with Disney; but you seem to be disgruntled about what they pay their employees. Maybe you worked there and didn't like what you were paid?

The funny thing is I have no problem with some tax breaks it was given to come to Orlando way back when - that was the deal it made, and it has generated more in tax revenue for the state than the measely little property tax concessions it negotiated. And, what's wrong with minimum wage jobs? As long as people are willing to work them, then what business is it of yours what Disney pays? There are plenty of farmers that pay minimum wage, plenty of other people who pay minimum wage - why is Disney "evil" if some of its jobs are minimum wage?

Rip-off prices? I think it charges about $60 an adult ticket per theme park. I paid just about this same amount recently to go see the Kennedy Space Center. Talk about a rip-off! What a hoakey, see-nothing, do-nothing piece of garbage that was! And, Bush Gardens isn't what it used to be either - you can forget the animal exhibits - they are run down and as hoakey as they come. The coaster rides are about the only thing that park has going for it.

Of all of the Theme Parks in Florida, I'd say that Disney's Magic Kingdom and Sea World are the best value for the price. Sea World is what Bush Gardens should have been, but over time turned into a ghetto-coaster theme park. I'm not saying that Epcot, or some of the other Disney attractions are worth the money, but the Magic Kingdom definitely is.

That having been said, I would agree with Macguy to the extent that Disney has not kept the Magic Kindgom up to date and as cutting edge that it once was in the '70's and early '80's. They are just now making an attempt to update some of its attractions, but some are pure "junk" in my opinion. There is no reason for this - they can afford to renovate various attractions to keep them from becoming dated, but they choose not to. If they don't keep up with the times, all it takes is a "Bill-Gates World" to make Disney the next Six Gun Territory.
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