Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2014/10/16/7-hotels-planned-for-disneys-flamingo-crossings-development/" target="_blank"><b>10/16/14: 7 Hotels Planned For Disney's Flamingo Crossing's Development</b></a>
Originally Posted By dagobert What is Flamingo Crossing? Is it on the WDW property? Does WDW need so many hotels?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Flamingo Crossing is a development on the edge of WDW that will basically be like a budget version of DTD. They announced the project around 2007 and did site work, but nothing was actually built due to the economic downturn. It's Disney-owned land, but physically separated from the rest of WDW by a freeway. Here's the location: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.378063,-81.616981&spn=0.008203,0.009645&t=h&z=17">http://maps.google.com/maps?ll...t=h&z=17</a> Especially with the emphasis on sports teams and how quickly Disney's prices have been rising, I think this makes a lot of sense. Their Value hotels really aren't cheap, especially for a large group, so this is a nice alternative. It looks like the designs will also be more approachable for groups than the high-rise hotel towers by DTD, which can be difficult to move people through all at once
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Does WDW need so many hotels?" Good question. I would even take it further and ask does the Orlando region need so many hotels. The most recent stats I've seen say that Orlando has over 140,000 hotel rooms and growing. I'm guessing that convention business is driving some of that development, but even so it still seems like an extraordinary number of hotel rooms.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros 140,000 for the Orlando area wouldn't surprise me. I think that Disney alone has somewhere in the 32,000-33,000 range, not counting the Swan & Dolphin (another ~3,500) or the DTD hotels I think that Disney sees this as a low-risk investment, since it would be an outside business that would fail instead of Disney. However, that overlooks the number of people who would be interested in staying there instead of at one of Disney's hotel, leading to lost revenue. The DTD hotels usually end up costing about the same as a Disney place once you factor in a rental car and theme park parking, so it will be interesting to see their pricing model for this
Originally Posted By magic0214 The real question is...do these hotels have large fields available for cheerleaders to practice on?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm sure there will be plenty of space when the first couple open...there are tons of vacant lots over there!
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn Western Way is lately the BEST way to enter the WDW property when arriving from the north side. It reminds me of 1970's days of open land and open freeways. None of the Universal/International Blvd/Sea World/Convention Center/Downtown Disney mess.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I am just becoming aware of the huge potential for Youth Sports and the power of business growth. So yes Disney probably needs more hotels. I have 2 small grandchildren in the Dallas are and I just moved here so I am learning about this whole new world and business opportunities that have exploded in this area. My first impression was shocking. You do not want to go anywhere near a high school Friday night football location. I was joking that I need to go online to see schedules of high school teams that I don't even have children or relatives ; just so I know to be away from traffic. FOOTBALL is huge in Texas.... also mega malls of sports for every childs interest Just walk in the door and take your choice. Swim Teams cheer teams dance teams gymnastics teams. They all need to have these practice areas , etc.... And the problem with children needing to be monitored so they are not kidnapped or molested and the problem with the intense heat that all this traffic and concrete highway and sunscreen cancer fears....Children must be indoors. And guess what else Birthday parties can be scheduled and planned around sports activities. Have you seen the huge indoor trampoline complexes? And guess who was at the forefront of all this: Walt Disney World with their huge mega sports complex. It is not actually discussed on many discussion boards unless we are complaint about the crowds in the theme parks and the chanting cheering youth groups taking over the world. WDW has brilliantly manipulated youth sports and most of us have no idea! Lots of money to be made with your childs sporting needs.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Yes... an investor is putting major money into a Sports Complex for amateur tournaments in Branson, MO. Branson obviously needs a draw to replace the audience for has-been entertainers... that audience is literally dying off. But High School Sports Tournaments are HUGE!! Branson has sampled that market with the Branson Sports Rec-plex. But it has nowhere near the capacity to handle the demand.
Originally Posted By magic0214 I went to one of many cheer comps at the Wide World of Sports this year and that was INSANE! Just team after team after team and it was amazing, as cheer is my favorite sport to watch, but its this double edged sword of during these sports comps, the kids overrun the parks, sometimes leading to an uptick in unhappy guests.
Originally Posted By leemac <<cheer is my favorite sport to watch>> LOL. A sport? I think that is about as tenuous as you can get! I appreciate the effort but it sure isn't sport......
Originally Posted By leemac Flamingo Crossing was just a victim of timing. The whole complex is zoned for 19 hotels clustered in three groups surrounding retail outlets at the crossroads of 429 and Western Way. A significant portion of the complex was under Heads of Terms prior to the sub-prime implosion. It is only now that developers are coming back on line. There are several other hotels that will be announced in due course. All of the plots are in the 500-room category.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>...but its this double edged sword of during these sports comps, the kids overrun the parks, sometimes leading to an uptick in unhappy guests.<< That's why I think the WDW Marathon works incredibly well. It's held the 2nd week in January, when nobody else would be in the parks other wise; even with huge numbers of people running the races (and their various travel companions) the parks aren't especially busy during the day so nobody minds the added influx (plus adult distance runners tend to behave themselves better than semi-chaperoned groups of tweens). The other runDisney races seem to be held at busier times, and have varying degrees of success with that, but overall they seem to work nicely. That said, I understand that the children's sports programs also have school calendars to contend with, which often makes it difficult to avoid crowded periods in the parks >>LOL. A sport? I think that is about as tenuous as you can get! I appreciate the effort but it sure isn't sport......<< It's always an interesting debate, and being a former marching band member myself I certainly understand both sides. Marching band and cheering both require a lot of athletic ability and conditioning, but don't have any "head to head" competition; scores are determined by judges so your performance will be the same regardless of your competitors. Then again, that also applies to any number of Olympic sports, from gymnastics and figure skating to archery and track & field. There's a surprisingly large fuzzy grey area there
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The whole complex is zoned for 19 hotels...<< Wow, I didn't realize it was supposed to be that big. That makes the recent announcement of 7 proposed hotels (with only 2 realistically getting worked on) seem even more futile. Still, I'm glad to see that they haven't completely abandoned it
Originally Posted By leemac The area is also zoned for timeshare - non-DVC timeshare. The masterplan is pleasant enough - lots of lakes and circular roadways - much like Dixie Landings or Key West. It is effectively dead land so it made sense to try and grow the west side of the resort. Don Goodman is a phenomenally good real estate guy and his work on Golden Oak and Flamingo Crossing has been very successful despite difficult economic conditions. He has had a second lease of life outside of WDI.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Marching band and cheering both require a lot of athletic ability and conditioning, but don't have any "head to head" competition>> And very American - probably why I can't fathom the popularity of either.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt You mean Southern or maybe Midwestern. I'm in California and the ritual of high school sports and cheerleading isn't as insane here.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^Competitive cheerleading definitely has varying appeal throughout the country, but marching band is relatively consistent throughout (including soCal). But since marching bands have existed for a lot longer and not as "cool", most people don't realize that there's so much to it; most school districts require their marching bands to attend 1-2 competitions (or more) each season as part of their funding agreements, and many of the more competitive ones often do more than that. Where do you think all those bands in the Rose Parade each year come from? : ) >>The masterplan is pleasant enough - lots of lakes and circular roadways - much like Dixie Landings or Key West.<< Sounds like it will be nice. Even if it turns out to be as unfortunate as the pre-Disney Springs version of DTD, I hope that it's removed enough from WDW that it won't be a burden on the resort. Recent hodgepodge WDW development has made me worried for what will be left in the future, but it seems like this site is well suited for a non-Disney-branded area
