After Disneyland entered the political arena with the SOAR campaign, Walt Disney World got jealous and decided to join the frey as well. Today, in a letter to the editor published in the Orlando Sentinel, Al Weiss, President of Worldwide Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Meg Crofton, President of the Walt Disney World Resort, demonstrated their support for Project Hometown, a plan to build a new arena, performing arts center, and renovate the Citrus Bowl. This follows Walt Disney World's $12.5 million contrabution to the performing arts center which has already been anounced. The Orlando City Council approved the plan on Monday and it now goes before the Orange County Commissioners on Thursday. In the letter Meg and Al say:
"Simply put, the time has come to move forward. This is the defining moment for our community's future and we must take advantage of this unique time when the best interests of our community and the public and private resources are aligned.
We respectfully urge our elected officials to vote to approve all three of the proposed venues. The time is now. The dreams of our community depend on it"
This development comes the same day as other news regarding Disney's relationships with the communities they opperate in is published. The LA Times published a column ciritical of SOAR and its move to put a referendum on the ballot. Also the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Disney Cruiseline is considering to not sail out of Port Canaveral. Personally, I support Project Hometown, SOAR, and Disney sailing out of their beautiful Port Canaveral terminal. I want what is best for both Disney and their communities, and I believe that what is best for one is best for the other. That being said, I look forward to seeing Disney on Ice in a beautiful new arena in the near future.
Quick Takes:
Studios: I am not quite sure how I feel about the news that Disney is going to remake Escape to Witch Mountain. As a child I found the films to be a little creepy, and the 1995 telefilm starring a young Erik VonDetten(Celebrity Mole alumnus) was just bizzare. I hope they make the movie in the epic form, Disney has been a fan of latley. That might make it exciting.
Media Networks: Disney/ABC/ESPN and RCN, a cable provider in Chicago and New York have reached an agreement to carry Disney's cable networks. I remember hearing that this round of cable carriage negotiations was expected to be difficult, and now Disney has already agreeded to terms with big cable systems like Time Warner and Comcast. I can't help but wonder if this process would have been more difficult if Michael, along with his advisor Peter Murphy,was still in charge.
Consumer Products: In Warren Spector's blog, he has an entry regarding Disney acquiring his Junction Point Studios video game company. In his discussion, he comes across as a total Disney dweeb. He is one of us! While he cannot give details about the project he is working on, but knowing that he is a Disney fan makes me excitied about a project I know nothing about. I think this is a great move for Disney Interactive Studios.