Disney in the Panhandle?

[Uncle Timmy]

Cork, that is great information, thanks.

I called a friend who works for an environmental services company in Panama City about this topic. He reported the following:

He was in a meeting with the DEP in P'Cola (on an unrelated matter) when he overheard them discussing "the theme park" on Hwy 79.

My friend was curious about what they were talking about and asked the DEP guys to explain. According to them, some company was already in talks with DEP for permitting a theme park somewhere along the Hwy 79 area, north of the new airport.

Interesting.

 

[Cork On the Ocean]

Hi guys,


Good to be back!
You're absolutely right Joe. When Disney bought Orlando, Disney kept his plans quiet and set up dummy corporations in order to secretly buy the land for his park so that speculators could not run up the price. By the time plans for the park were revealed 18 months later, Disney's lawyers had purchased 27,400 acres at an average price of only $182 per acre. From what I understand, when they did Epcot, they dubbed it Project X and even had secret war rooms (so to speak) set up for closed door discussions among the top brass. I'm sure whoever is doing a park (if they are), is using the same tactics.That's what's making it so hard to pinpoint the location but Vernon fits with tw's info on north 79.

Been trying to find corporate reports for Universal but no luck yet. Maybe a look into DEP public records could give a clue.

Did find JOE'S 2005 4th quarter report and it's quite interesting. Will start a separate thread for it. But they don't seem to be pulling back. Yes, they are diversifying some 1031 capital into other areas but lots planned for the Panhandle. Also hadn't realized that they don't have a final on the airport and are now projecting 9/06 for the final but I still think it's imminent.

In any event, while I'm certainly not big on quick flippers, I thing that investors that leave this area are gonna miss something big. Instead of freaking out, investors should be loving this buyers market. What ever happened to buying low? And yes, the panhandle is still low compared to other coastal areas in Florida. Just a guess but if Sept 06 is the airport approval, I'm thinking that we should be seeing an upswing again at that time.

 

[Sandcastle]

Thanks Joe and Cork for all of the info. I?ve been a member of this site for only a short time and I find it fascinating reading every evening.

It?s hard to believe that St. Joe would devote the time and capital required to develop a major airport on Route 388, if its only objective was to sell beach-front properties and ranchettes in the piney woods to retiring boomers. There must be something in the works that will materially increase the value of Joe?s inland holdings, especially in Gulf and Franklin Counties where they own vast amounts of seemingly unattractive property.

I wonder if Joe has many large tracts close to Route 79.

I?ve also heard that Washington County has huge untapped ground water resources which would be required to sustain significant development. Maybe, if we locate the water we can locate the development area.

 

[montana]

Just to add fuel to the rumor's I had a friend who travels the southeast putting in commercial grade power lines yahdayahda........anyway. He was telling me that about a year ago they were putting in some realllllllllllllly serious stuff running from the bay county area power plant out toward the new airport area. This said: he mentioned that there was more planned and that the word in his camp was something in the Disney/Universal arena ;-) ;-)

 

[Smiling JOe]

Thanks Joe and Cork for all of the info. I?ve been a member of this site for only a short time and I find it fascinating reading every evening.

It?s hard to believe that St. Joe would devote the time and capital required to develop a major airport on Route 388, if its only objective was to sell beach-front properties and ranchettes in the piney woods to retiring boomers. There must be something in the works that will materially increase the value of Joe?s inland holdings, especially in Gulf and Franklin Counties where they own vast amounts of seemingly unattractive property.

I wonder if Joe has many large tracts close to Route 79.

I?ve also heard that Washington County has huge untapped ground water resources which would be required to sustain significant development. Maybe, if we locate the water we can locate the development area.

Much of the land around Hwy 79 is owned by JOE and people that were in the know 3-4 years ago.

 

[Mrs Jones]

PCB Chamber officials told my husband's service club that a "major parcel delivery service" was planning to locate in Bay County. Specific names were not mentioned but the inference was that it is UPS.

 

[Camp Creek Kid]

Since this thread has been revisited:

I've been thinking about the theme park rumors and it has occurred to me that when Miracle Strip Amusement Park closed Sept. 2004, that there was talk that it would be relocated elsewhere in Bay County. The owners of Miracle Strip sold the land to developers and the equipment to someone else. Maybe this is the "theme park" everyone is hearing about. Maybe it is just a reincarnation of Miracle Strip, which wouldn't be a bad thing because it was a nice little amusement park.

 

[SHELLY]

Maybe it is just a reincarnation of Miracle Strip, which wouldn't be a bad thing because it was a nice little amusement park.

That would be a neat idea. I have a dream of winning the powerball, buying up a couple beachfront condos, leveling them, and putting up an old-fashioned (not Disney style) amusement park near the beach.

Lots of kiddies (now adults) had fond memories of that place and their time at the beach Too bad we now class shopping malls as "entertainment centers" and video arcades as "amusement."

 

[beachmouse]

My memory's pretty hazy, but I think there was talk of the rides getting sold off. Hopefully the nice old wood roller coaster found a home somewhere, whether it's at a new Miracle Strip Park or elsewhere. I love the old school wooden coasters so much more than what's supposedly the latest and greatest in thrill ride design.

Too bad the hurricanes make a Santa Cruz-style amuesment pier impractical in these parts. Because that would be just so cool if it was workable.

 

[SHELLY]

Hopefully the nice old wood roller coaster found a home somewhere, whether it's at a new Miracle Strip Park or elsewhere. I love the old school wooden coasters so much more than what's supposedly the latest and greatest in thrill ride design.

Damn ya Mouse! Ya made me take a stroll back through memory lane

The coaster was sold to Cypress Gardens: "Cypress Gardens will also break ground for the Starliner, another piece of amusement park history, which will get a new lease on life at the park in 2007."

A ride on the Starliner

Florida's Lost Tourist Attractions