How One Developer Will Capitalize on New Train to Walt Disney World

ORLANDO, FL—Walt Disney World is in conversations with Virgin Trains to add a new station inside the magical theme park. Virgin Trains currently connects Miami to Palm Beach and is building the final leg to connect South Florida to Orlando. Virgin Trains plans to connect Orlando to Tampa in the coming years.

Virgin Trains, formerly known as Brightline, has been wanting to have a station in Disney since 2018. Back then, documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed a map that had a Disney station.

Senior Vice President of Virgin Trains Ben Porritt told the local media that the proposed Disney-property station would offer over 140 million people an additional transit option to Central Florida’s most-visited destination, Walt Disney World.

While there’s been no formal confirmation from either party on whether the new station will be built on Disney property, its addition would entice both tourists and South Floridians to visit Central Florida and, in turn, benefit the local economy.

BTI Partners, developer of The Grove Resort and Water Park, one of Orlando’s newest vacation home communities, says it welcomes the move. The Grove, which sells two- and three-bedroom luxury vacation condos to buyers looking to be five minutes away from Walt Disney World, would see the value of the condos appreciate even faster.

Dave D’Ambrosio, director of strategic partnerships with BTI Partners, tells GlobeSt.com that a train station would mean more demand for vacation homes at The Grove, which is located five miles from Disney World.

“The day South Florida residents can hop on a train to visit Disney World, many of them will want to stay in resorts that are an Uber ride away from the park,” D’Ambrosio says. “We believe connecting Disney to South Florida will boost occupancy rates in resorts near Disney. At The Grove, most of our vacation home owners rent out their two-and three-bedroom residences to tourists looking for alternative short-term rental opportunities near Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. For that reason, the new station will be very beneficial to The Grove and the individual owners.”

D’Ambrosio says The Grove Resort & Water Park just completed construction of its third tower, adding 293 fully furnished residences to the resort.

“The two- and three-bedroom residences are selling from $330,000 to $595,000 to buyers from all over the world,” he says. “With the completion of the third tower, The Grove now has a total of 878 luxury residences, which can be placed in a short-term rental program run by a world-class hotel operator, Benchmark. We have recently begun planning an expansion of The Grove but it is too early to be able to disclose details.”