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Themanstall t1_jeaiy8l wrote

This is scummy and should be illegal.

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kingsumo_1 t1_jeawc1n wrote

Before Disney, the Orlando area was relatively small and the area he bought up was unused swampland that nobody was interested in at the time. The only reason for the shell companies was to prevent a massive burst of people buying up land specifically to thwart their efforts, or force them to pay an outrageous amount to keep their plans intact.

If Disney hadn't moved in and renovated the area Orlando would not be the place it is today. Florida itself would not have received the ungodly amount of tourist money that is also spent in businesses and properties outside of the parks. And they would still have Dinseyland in California, regardless.

And developers buying large chunks of land is not unusual. The only noteworthy factor at all, is because we know what it grew to be.

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BrownAleRVA t1_jebl7nh wrote

IIRC, this is what happened at his California park. Bunch of non-Disney things popped up all around the area. He wanted his own magic place so he secretly bought up land in Orlando.

After it became known that it was Disney, there still was a rush to buy up property around it but Walt planned on that. The land had a large buffer zone to the actual parks. So anything built around the disney owned land wasnt going to be near anything.

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LordUpton t1_jeblh5n wrote

The alternative would be never having stuff like Disney world or corporations lobbying the government for compulsory purchases. People were happy to take their money when offered, it's a bit bullshit to turn around and complain that if you knew that you could hold them hostage that you would have.

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