ORLANDO - Somewhere in Adventureland, near the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and the Pirates Bazaar, longtime Mickey Mouse fan Warren Wilson contemplated the future of the world, or at least Walt Disney World.
News that cable TV giant Comcast wants to buy Disney has shaken Wilson to his core.
"It's scary," said Wilson, 30, who traveled from his home in Hackettstown, N.J., last week for his 10th visit to Disney World.
Wilson wonders what would happen to his beloved Magic Kingdom. What if a giant conglomerate like Comcast isn't interested in Disney's theme parks, which would account for a fraction of the combined company's $47-billion in estimated annual revenue?
"It just doesn't sound like a good thing," Wilson said, shaking his head.
From Disney World to the real world of downtown Orlando, the Comcast bid is about all anyone is talking about. But the tourists seem more worried than the locals, who are open to the possibility of change as long as the tourists and jobs stay put.
"If there's one thing that frightens me, it is the collapse of the No. 1 employment base," Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty said. "We need to make sure that tourists stay and that the jobs follow."
It's no surprise the bid dominates the local news: Orlando is synonymous with Disney, the world's biggest tourist attraction.
The company buys goods from all over Florida (3,600 businesses). It is the state's biggest hotel owner (20,000 rooms) and the Orlando area's largest property taxpayer ($77-million annually).
Disney sprawls across Orange and Osceola counties and almost touches Polk. It's the area's biggest employer and benefactor for charities. It throws its weight around quietly but profoundly.
Comcast's $63-billion bid, along with Roy Disney's attempt to oust Disney chairman Michael Eisner, has created an air of uncertainty in Central Florida.
"That's where the problem is, it's a lot of uncertainty," said Guillermo Savio, a 45-year-old investment banker who works in downtown Orlando. "If anything changes, the local economy might be adversely affected."
Disney World officials referred questions to corporate officials in California, who declined to comment.
Disney's stock has risen since the offer; Comcast's stock has dropped. The Disney board rejected Comcast's bid, but there might be another offer. A showdown is expected at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting on March 3, when Roy Disney, a former board member and Walt Disney's nephew, is expected to challenge Eisner.
Roy Disney says Eisner has stifled creativity in the company, laying off animators from Disney's famed studios and cutting corners at the theme parks.
A bumper sticker on a car in downtown Orlando summed up the anti-Eisner sentiment: "Michael's gotta go, Bring back Roy!"
Such people hope Comcast is Disney's knight in shining armor.
"I would be very happy if someone could take Michael Eisner out of his chair," said Natasha Stoll, a 32-year-old mother of two.
Stoll and her family live in Celebration, the town conceived, built and recently sold by Disney. She has a personal reason for disliking Eisner: Her husband, Russell, was a Disney animator for 25 years until he was laid off last year. He now collects unemployment.
Tourists are mostly oblivious to Orlando's nonstop Disney chatter. They just don't want the park, or its identity, to change.
The theme parks in Orlando and California are not the reason Comcast wants Disney. It's the movie and TV studios, ABC and ESPN networks Comcast is after.
Until 1995, half of Disney's revenue came from its theme parks. Then it bought ABC-TV. Now one-fourth of its revenue is from the parks. If Comcast takes over, 11 Disney parks in four countries will shrink to less than one-eighth of the combined companies' revenue.
"You bring in Comcast, it's going to change Disney," said Janice Ohl, a 36-year-old tourist from Pennsylvania. She said Disney is synonymous with "safe and kid-friendly." If Comcast took over, she said, "I think my perception of the park would be different."
Travel a few miles through bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 4 to downtown Orlando and a less sentimental opinion emerges.
"It's a dog-eat-dog world," said Drew Moonaw, a certified financial planner. "You can't forsake capitalism. That's what the free market's all about."
Over a cocktail with colleagues at a swank downtown restaurant, the kind of place that didn't exist before Disney showed up, Moonaw said he takes his wife and kids to Disney World every year.
On each visit, the Magic Kingdom appears to lose some of its luster. In Tomorrowland, one roller coaster still refers to the 20th century.
"They need some improvement," Moonaw said. "It's lost its sparkle. Maybe they do need a shakeup. Or a takeover. Or the prospect of one."
Mondez Owens, a 33-year-old lifelong Orlando resident, is ambivalent about the Comcast offer.
Owens doesn't care if the name changes or the parks are altered. "As long as they don't take it out of Orlando," he said.
Comcast executives say they would try to improve on the Disney reputation.
"It's hard to think of a product or service in the United States that families love more than Disney theme parks," said Comcast executive vice president Stephen Burke, a former Disney executive. "We believe there are ways to revitalize those businesses, to restore some of the creative spark to the attractions."
Local business leaders predict if Comcast succeeds, it likely won't change the theme parks much.
"I can't imagine profound changes," said Maureen Brockman, vice president for the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission. "What Comcast is buying in Disney is one of the best-loved global brands.
"Whoever owns Disney, that's an asset to build on, not to change."
Some officials wonder how a new owner would handle land use, development issues and tax laws - all of which are unusual in the case of Disney. The Florida Legislature granted Walt Disney unprecedented autonomy when he chose Orlando for his giant theme park.
Disney has a long reputation of influencing the political and development trends in Central Florida.
The company paid Orange County $14-million in lieu of impact fees, but only after the company was confronted by the county about its immunity from such fees.
And when plans for a bullet train were discussed, Disney told the High Speed Rail Authority it would make land available for a train station - if the train went directly to the airport and didn't stop at International Drive and its thousands of non-Disney hotel rooms.
The rail authority agreed.
"We are feasting on the growth and strangled by the growth at the same time," said Crotty, the Orange County chairman. "The remarkable successes of Disney have made this area famous."
Other officials are concerned a new Disney owner might not be as generous to the community.
Disney is the area's biggest corporate donor, giving $21-million to Central Florida charities last year. It has financed an amphitheater on Lake Eola in downtown Orlando and a job mentoring program with the University of Central Florida, among other things.
Dennis Speigel, president of the International Theme Park Service, an Ohio industry consulting service, said he doesn't think the sky will fall if Comcast buys Disney.
Jobs won't be lost.
The park's name won't magically become Comcast World.
And tourists won't notice any changes.
"Six months into the trade, I don't think people would have a clue," he said.
- Times researchers Kitty Bennett and Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Tamara Lush can be reached at 727 893-8612 or at lush@sptimes.com
