WWTBAM Bored

BackInTex wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:25 am

I think you are quite wrong. The $4-5 million per year in taxes paid over those years does not account for the full value of the properties to which the counties will now be able to assess and tax at full value. According to Bizjournals, Universal Studios paid $5.35 million in property taxes to Orange County, about the same rate you're saying Disney paid.

Disney paid $296 million in property taxes over six years, which comes to over $45 million a year, not $4.5 million. That's considerably more than Universal paid.

I can tell some folks here have never been to Orlando. The literal footprint of Universal Studios is nowhere near that of Disney’s, which is a huge complex with multiple amusement parks and multiple hotels and other amenities.

Universal is 500 acres compared to the 25,000 of Disney. It might as well be Gatorland Zoo.

I've been there, and enjoyed Universal far more than Disney.

tlynn78 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:14 pm

I've been there, and enjoyed Universal far more than Disney.

When we visited during the Christmas-New Years week, my granddaughter and great-grandkids liked both equally. I liked WDW best.

We're doing Disneyland and Universal Hollywood for my step-daughter's 18th birthday in October.

Bob Juch wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:01 pm

tlynn78 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:14 pm

I've been there, and enjoyed Universal far more than Disney.

When we visited during the Christmas-New Years week, my granddaughter and great-grandkids liked both equally. I liked WDW best.

We're doing Disneyland and Universal Hollywood for my step-daughter's 18th birthday in October.

Halloween Horror Nights in October at Universal is excellent - get the fast passes

tlynn78 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:55 pm

Bob Juch wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:01 pm

tlynn78 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:14 pm

I've been there, and enjoyed Universal far more than Disney.

When we visited during the Christmas-New Years week, my granddaughter and great-grandkids liked both equally. I liked WDW best.

We're doing Disneyland and Universal Hollywood for my step-daughter's 18th birthday in October.

Halloween Horror Nights in October at Universal is excellent - get the fast passes

I got fast passes. It's too early for the Horror Nights tickets. Disney has a Halloween party too.

Weyoun wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:49 am

It might as well be Gatorland Zoo.

I used to have a fondness for Gatorland. We went on several field trips there when I was in elementary school. The gators were rarely very active since we went in the middle of the day. But they had these "vending machines" where you would put a quarter in and a chicken would come out and play the piano and then get some food. What we learned very quickly was that if you hit the side of the machine, you could startle the chicken and it would come out and play the piano anyway but it wouldn't get fed. We probably ruined a number of chickens over the years by pulling that stunt.

This may explain why Disney hasn't pressed its case publicly. It'll do its talking in court. Florida literally can't do what it's trying to do here because it would impair contractual promises the State made to bondholders when it created the district in the first place. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:08 am

This may explain why Disney hasn't pressed its case publicly. It'll do its talking in court. Florida literally can't do what it's trying to do here because it would impair contractual promises the State made to bondholders when it created the district in the first place. --Bob

I'm not a lawyer but

“…Unless otherwise provided by law, the dissolution of a special district government shall transfer title to all of its property to the local general purpose government, which shall also assume all indebtedness of the preexisting special district.”

that looks like a out clause. And besides, it wouldn't be the first time a governmental agency broke promises, for the better or the worse.

BackInTex wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 6:23 am

Bob78164 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:08 am

This may explain why Disney hasn't pressed its case publicly. It'll do its talking in court. Florida literally can't do what it's trying to do here because it would impair contractual promises the State made to bondholders when it created the district in the first place. --Bob

I'm not a lawyer but

“…Unless otherwise provided by law, the dissolution of a special district government shall transfer title to all of its property to the local general purpose government, which shall also assume all indebtedness of the preexisting special district.”

that looks like a out clause. And besides, it wouldn't be the first time a governmental agency broke promises, for the better or the worse.

Both the Federal and State Constitutions have an impairment of contracts clause that prohibits a legislature from doing what DeSantis did here. The Florida courts have interpreted the State Constitution even more broadly than federal courts have. This law appears to be similar to others that Florida courts have struck down in recent years: “[a] statute which retroactively turns otherwise profitable contracts into losing propositions is clearly such a prohibited enactment.” Indeed, it is a “well-accepted principle that virtually no degree of contract impairment is tolerable.”

The law that established Reedy Creek in the 1960s provided: “The State of Florida pledges to the holders of any bonds issued under this Act that it will not limit or alter the rights of the District to own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, operate or furnish the projects or to levy and collect the taxes, assessments, rentals, rates, fees, tolls, fares and other charges provided for herein … until all such bonds together with interest thereon, and all costs and expenses in connection with any action or proceeding by or on behalf of such holders, are fully met and discharged.” Reedy Creek has the ability to tax property at a rate three times what Orange and Osceola County can and can also assess separate maintenance and utility taxes. In most jurisdictions, taxpayers might object to those sorts of provisions, but, of course, the taxpayer here is Disney itself.

By the way, DeSantis's recent gerrymander of the state's Congressional districts also runs afoul of the State Constitution. which passed an anti-gerrymandering amendment in 2010. That provided that the state from drawing districts that favored or disfavored a particular political party or incumbent or that "deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice." The Florida Supreme Court threw out Republican gerrymanders following the 2010 census on that basis.

If Ron DeSantis and his "family values" supporters were mad at Disney before, I'm sure they'll be hitting the roof now. Disney's latest animated film, Strange World, just premiered in theaters. If you've seen the trailers, it looks like a typical Disney sci fi adventure, complete with friendly creatures, not-so-friendly creatures, and life lessons about dysfunctional father-son bonding. In this case, it's actually grandfather-father-son.

But there's a difference. Teenage son is having problems with his love life. He's found what he thinks is his true love, but he stumbles all over himself trying to express his feelings and impress his beloved. And both dad and granddad give him well-intentioned advice that doesn't work so well. In that respect, Strange World is no different from dozens of other movies. But what's different is that the son's beloved is another teenage boy. Yep, a Disney gay teen couple. And all his friends accept them (not surprising), and dad and macho granddad (who he's never met before the beginning of the movie) also accept and support him. Nobody makes any issue about the couple being gay. In fact, if you change the boyfriend's name and a few "he"s to "she"s in the script, and it could be a standard teen romance.

You wouldn't know any of this from Disney's promotional materials or advertising for the film, but it's very obvious from the first scene that the boyfriend shows up.

I'm wondering what DeSantis will have to say about this film.

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 23, 2022 9:36 pm

If Ron DeSantis and his "family values" supporters were mad at Disney before, I'm sure they'll be hitting the roof now. Disney's latest animated film, Strange World, just premiered in theaters. If you've seen the trailers, it looks like a typical Disney sci fi adventure, complete with friendly creatures, not-so-friendly creatures, and life lessons about dysfunctional father-son bonding. In this case, it's actually grandfather-father-son.

But there's a difference. Teenage son is having problems with his love life. He's found what he thinks is his true love, but he stumbles all over himself trying to express his feelings and impress his beloved. And both dad and granddad give him well-intentioned advice that doesn't work so well. In that respect, Strange World is no different from dozens of other movies. But what's different is that the son's beloved is another teenage boy. Yep, a Disney gay teen couple. And all his friends accept them (not surprising), and dad and macho granddad (who he's never met before the beginning of the movie) also accept and support him. Nobody makes any issue about the couple being gay. In fact, if you change the boyfriend's name and a few "he"s to "she"s in the script, and it could be a standard teen romance.

You wouldn't know any of this from Disney's promotional materials or advertising for the film, but it's very obvious from the first scene that the boyfriend shows up.

I'm wondering what DeSantis will have to say about this film.

Not mentioning the shake up at Disney due too mounting losses from crap just like this? Face it, you’re a small minority of the population, an outcast, abnormal in values.

BackInTex wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:53 pm

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 23, 2022 9:36 pm

If Ron DeSantis and his "family values" supporters were mad at Disney before, I'm sure they'll be hitting the roof now. Disney's latest animated film, Strange World, just premiered in theaters. If you've seen the trailers, it looks like a typical Disney sci fi adventure, complete with friendly creatures, not-so-friendly creatures, and life lessons about dysfunctional father-son bonding. In this case, it's actually grandfather-father-son.

But there's a difference. Teenage son is having problems with his love life. He's found what he thinks is his true love, but he stumbles all over himself trying to express his feelings and impress his beloved. And both dad and granddad give him well-intentioned advice that doesn't work so well. In that respect, Strange World is no different from dozens of other movies. But what's different is that the son's beloved is another teenage boy. Yep, a Disney gay teen couple. And all his friends accept them (not surprising), and dad and macho granddad (who he's never met before the beginning of the movie) also accept and support him. Nobody makes any issue about the couple being gay. In fact, if you change the boyfriend's name and a few "he"s to "she"s in the script, and it could be a standard teen romance.

You wouldn't know any of this from Disney's promotional materials or advertising for the film, but it's very obvious from the first scene that the boyfriend shows up.

I'm wondering what DeSantis will have to say about this film.

Not mentioning the shake up at Disney due too mounting losses from crap just like this? Face it, you’re a small minority of the population, an outcast, abnormal in values.

Election results strongly suggest otherwise. —Bob

BackInTex wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:53 pm

Not mentioning the shake up at Disney due too mounting losses from crap just like this? Face it, you’re a small minority of the population, an outcast, abnormal in values.

The moves at Disney have nothing to do with this movie, but, rather with the losses Disney has sustained in marketing and expanding its Disney Plus streaming service (alone or with Hulu and ESPN Plus as a bundle). Disney has both the Marvel and Star Wars properties, which continue to crank out one winner after another, including this month's runaway box office hit, Wakanda Forever.

But BiT will be happy to learn that Strange World is doing poorly at the box office. It will probably bring in $25 million over the five-day weekend, while last year's Encanto, with audiences more skittish due to Covid, did $40 million over the same weekend. Analysts have given several reasons, including a lack of any musical numbers, minimal marketing, a lack of commercial tie-ins, and lukewarm audience reaction. I haven't seen the gay storyline mentioned as a reason for the film's mediocre showing. For what it's worth, I wasn't impressed by the movie's plot. Science fiction storytelling is not Disney's strength. And this weekend's other new releases: Devotion, The Fablemans, and Bones at All (each targeted at a separate demographic) are also struggling.

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:45 am

BackInTex wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:53 pm

Not mentioning the shake up at Disney due too mounting losses from crap just like this? Face it, you’re a small minority of the population, an outcast, abnormal in values.

The moves at Disney have nothing to do with this movie, but, rather with the losses Disney has sustained in marketing and expanding its Disney Plus streaming service (alone or with Hulu and ESPN Plus as a bundle). Disney has both the Marvel and Star Wars properties, which continue to crank out one winner after another, including this month's runaway box office hit, Wakanda Forever.

But BiT will be happy to learn that Strange World is doing poorly at the box office. It will probably bring in $25 million over the five-day weekend, while last year's Encanto, with audiences more skittish due to Covid, did $40 million over the same weekend. Analysts have given several reasons, including a lack of any musical numbers, minimal marketing, a lack of commercial tie-ins, and lukewarm audience reaction. I haven't seen the gay storyline mentioned as a reason for the film's mediocre showing. For what it's worth, I wasn't impressed by the movie's plot. Science fiction storytelling is not Disney's strength. And this weekend's other new releases: Devotion, The Fablemans, and Bones at All (each targeted at a separate demographic) are also struggling.

Consider it "seen". I know they lost at least 7 ticket sales on Thanksgiving. I'm sure there are more.

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:45 am

BackInTex wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:53 pm

Not mentioning the shake up at Disney due too mounting losses from crap just like this? Face it, you’re a small minority of the population, an outcast, abnormal in values.

The moves at Disney have nothing to do with this movie, but, rather with the losses Disney has sustained in marketing and expanding its Disney Plus streaming service (alone or with Hulu and ESPN Plus as a bundle). Disney has both the Marvel and Star Wars properties, which continue to crank out one winner after another, including this month's runaway box office hit, Wakanda Forever.

But BiT will be happy to learn that Strange World is doing poorly at the box office. It will probably bring in $25 million over the five-day weekend, while last year's Encanto, with audiences more skittish due to Covid, did $40 million over the same weekend. Analysts have given several reasons, including a lack of any musical numbers, minimal marketing, a lack of commercial tie-ins, and lukewarm audience reaction. I haven't seen the gay storyline mentioned as a reason for the film's mediocre showing. For what it's worth, I wasn't impressed by the movie's plot. Science fiction storytelling is not Disney's strength. And this weekend's other new releases: Devotion, The Fablemans, and Bones at All (each targeted at a separate demographic) are also struggling.

The two trailers are excellent; perhaps they show all the good scenes. The only gay reference is a hug near the end.