Not Exactly the Love Train

Oh, it'd be easy to blame Disney and only Disney for the tragi-comic bullet-train story unfolding in Orlando. Suffice it to say that the damn thing should never be built.

But if it is going to be built, who can fault Disney for trying to force the state to by-pass competitors and run a what amounts to a direct airport-to-Disney shuttle service?

What a mess.

Comments

[Cph]

It seems unclear from the article whether public dollars are paying for this project, but if Disney wants a non-stop train to the airport, let them pay for the whole project themselves. I have a feeling they would not do that (as they have not done yet) unless the opportunity presents itself to feed from the public trough, as giant corporations are wont to do. Lewis's comments about "what's best for statewide high-speed rail" are particularly telling: one would think that Disney would want to do what's best for the entire region, but apparently they want to continue the fantasy that they are a self-enclosed world unto themselves.

[Anonymous]

This is a simple case of negotiation showdown poker. If the locality were to decide to build the bullet train anyway, do you think Disney would refuse to allow it to stop at DisneyWorld? It's all about who will blink first.

[Lauren]

This is exactly why this year we in Florida passed a constitutional amendment to put the estimated costs of all future ballot measures right on the ballot. People are less likely to vote in favor of stupid plans such as this that they have no real opinion on if its going to cost them $1.3 billion a leg.

The better idea though would be to stop putting these things as constitutional amendments on the ballot, and just make them laws, so that they can be overturned.

[Mr. Poge]

Of course public dollars are paying for this nightmare. No one in their right mind would pay for it out of their own pocket.

Disney wants to do what's best for Disney - you can't fault them for that. Fault the Florida voters who passed a Constitutional Amendment requiring that the state build this monstosity.

On the bright side, once it's built there will be plenty of empty train cars to use as classroom space to fulfill the classroom size amendment, or pig dormatories for the pregnant pig amendment.

[Matt Medlin]

A lot of people seem to making out like this is some big mean corporation trying to throw its weight around at taxpayer expense. Look at it from Disney's point of view. Right now Disney HAS non-stop transportation service from the airport to the resorts (via bus). Taking customers directly to Disney property and doing everything possible to keep them there is part of Disney's strategy -- one of their competitive advantages, actually.

What the sponsors of this boondogle rail project want is for Disney to give up that competitive advantage "for the good of the community." They want those 2.2 million captive riders and all the revenue they will bring in to subsidize their project. By refusing to go along with this plan, Disney is effectively saying, "Give us a deal at least as good as we have right now, or count us out." If free trade and fair competition mean anything at all in this country, Disney should have every right to take that position.