Well, I think I was like a lot of people; especially Disney fans. “They want to buy Disney?” “Are they nuts?” I asked myself more than a couple of times as I heard the news break. Then confusion turned into anger, and anger quickly turned into fear: “How dare they think they can just walk on in and buy the ‘House that Walt Built’!”, and of course the ever-popular “Walt Disney World will turn into a subsidiary of a cable company, and the next thing you know they’ll sell it off to the highest bidder!”

While I doubt I was alone in making those statements, many people are really living in fear of what may play out in the months ahead: namely the Cast Members (employees) of the Walt Disney Company, and the residents of the areas in which those Cast Members work. These folks could possibly have their everyday lives affected dramatically, all depending on how this whole thing goes down (if it goes down at all of course). Not to be left out here are the Disney fans (like us) and the patrons at large. Each group has their own reasons for being cautious to downright petrified about the thought of a Comcast parent.

The Cast Members have a special bond with the Walt Disney Company, as not only do they earn their living by making someone else’s day magical through their actions, but they represent a long line of “descendents” that have carried the torch of the Walt Disney Company’s history and ideals, starting back in the days of Walt and Roy. There is an immense amount of pride and family atmosphere among the Cast Member group. Unfortunately, this pride and family atmosphere has been deteriorating due to management procedures and policies, but that’s an entire article by itself. The Cast Members don’t like the idea of a merger because, not only does it mean that they could lose their jobs (merging companies often create “duplicate” departments, and therefore eliminate one altogether to save costs), but they would be allowing an outsider to be responsible for the “family.” I mean, what’s to say that Comcast wouldn’t come in with their own people and replace managers and others at Walt Disney World? They could even cut payroll and fire Cast Members across the board! This is a scary thought for those in the Company, and I would venture to guess that most are paying very close attention to the news as it happens.

Most people only think about the employees of a company when talking about the consequences of a merger, but in Tourism and especially in Central Florida, you also have those that live in the area that are affected by it day in and day out. The economy of Central Florida (as it is today) was built upon Walt Disney World, and there is no doubt why it is said that Tourism is the number one “industry” in the area. The affects of Tourism are widespread: not only does the Walt Disney World Resort employ over 55,000 people, but the resort also has to buy items from local businesses. In turn, those local businesses have money and need workers, so they employ more people. Those workers get a check each month and spend it locally, not to mention the initial workers we mentioned at Walt Disney World who are also spending money locally. It’s what’s called the Multiplier Effect in academia, and it can do economic wonders for an area as it has done for Central Florida. To add even more to the equation, in the example above we were talking about starting the cycle with Walt Disney World. This process happens literally at every interaction with a Tourist in the Central Florida region, whether it is at Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, the International Drive (I-Drive) area, or the Highway 192 area in Kissimmee. As you can see, even one person being let go from employment in Tourism could have some serious consequences. This thought is what worries locals and local businesses dependent upon Tourism in Central Florida, as well as every other area where Disney has a theme park or resort.

Of course, those parks and resorts aren’t any good if no one goes to them, and I would be willing to bet that we Disney fans give a very significant amount of visitation to them. For us, the thought of Comcast being a part of the Walt Disney Company, or at the worst owning the Walt Disney Company, is appalling and downright offensive. Our battle with the idea is one of emotion and quality. First, I think that we have a knee-jerk fear that the Kingdom is being invaded by people who don’t understand what they’re dealing with. Secondly, I think that logic follows with what they could do to that Kingdom to mess it up, which can get quite intricate and catastrophic depending on whom you’re talking to. I think that our fear is fairly legitimate, and it’s only healthy for us to have such a negative reaction to the idea of what we love being changed or taken away. When we don’t have a reaction like that is when we stop caring.

The last group I referred to is that of the general public at large, or rather the patrons of the Walt Disney Company (that is, those who are paying customers of the Company). Their fear stems from what Disney stands for, and its place in American history and culture. To have a cable company come in and possibly change or destroy that meaning, history, and culture would be unacceptable. If you think about it, I dare you to name someone you know who grew up in the United States who has never seen a Disney animated movie or cartoon. The reach is widespread, especially in regards to the childhood memories among the public and interactions with Disney magic. On a second front, the public (mostly represented by those in a regulatory position) is also fearful of this bid because of the possibility of Comcast and Disney to later raise prices for their services, since the options for content providers becomes smaller. If you didn’t want to pay a slightly higher price next year for a pay-for-service channel like HBO, say, then you wouldn’t watch it at all. The combined company would have exclusive rights to the cable channel, and s they would be your only way of receiving it. If you didn’t want to pay their increased price, then the only thing you could do is to drop the service.

Well, now that we’ve seen some of the reasons why these different groups are afraid of the Comcast bid, I think it would be a good time to try and dispel some of those fears above. Of course, doing so would possibly indicate that I am in favor of and trying to defend this bid by Comcast. To that, I would resoundingly say “No”, but depending on the situation I could faintly say “Yes.” To understand what I mean by that, we first need to dispel some of these fears, which just so happens to be the topic of next week’s article in the “Comcast Factor” series.

In the meantime, I wanted to send a special “welcome aboard” to my good friend Corey Thomas who just this week started his column “The Main Street Chronicles” here on Mickey News. Corey has a heck of a lot of knowledge about Disney history and culture, as well as years of experience in the Attractions Industry. I’m sure you’ll enjoy his articles each week just as much as I will.

Thanks for stopping on by, and I’ll see you next week!