Illustration by Jandos Rothstein
Last week, the Walt Disney Company canceled a billion-dollar office park development in Florida, which had included plans to relocate up to 2,000 employees from California. The announcement came amid an ongoing dispute between the company and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is launching his campaign for the Republican nomination for president today on Twitter. The move is an escalation of this dispute, with concrete consequences for Florida’s economy.
Disney had previously threatened to reduce its economic presence in Florida after the governor targeted the company for its public opposition to the so-called “Don’t say gay” bill. DeSantis in turn sought to remove tax and regulatory exemptions from Disney. The issue thus far has been one of legal and legislative maneuvering, with both parties seemingly aware of the potential to deal lasting damage to each other’s bottom line. Disney’s most recent decision not only ups the ante, but reveals the company’s truly unmatched influence over the state, and the lengths it is willing to go to in order to maintain that power.
DeSantis’s ambitions are blatant: embrace and cajole what is left of the Trump-skeptical but still radical faction of the Republican Party, and then use the momentum to launch himself into a legitimate presidential candidacy. With Disney as his main antagonist, DeSantis has positioned himself as an “anti-woke” advocate who would bring mega-corporations to heel for publicly questioning the government.
For those who find this unacceptable, DeSantis is a dangerous political character who needs to be checked, no matter what multinational giant checks him. The issue has thus become a proxy culture war.
But for many, Disney is a less-than-perfect representative in the role of champion against fascism. Even if Disney is somehow “victorious,” the people may still lose. A victorious Disney is one that maintains a chokehold on Florida’s economy. A victorious Disney is one that resolidifies its power in the state. A victorious Disney has no challenger, because it has successfully beaten down any opposition. While many want to see DeSantis fail, others see this as the lose-lose situation it is.
Until recently, the relationship between Disney and Florida worked cohesively. Disney operates partially within 39 square miles known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is located just outside of Orlando and is home to Disney World. It was created in 1967, captures nearly 25,000 acres, and gives Disney control of transport, property, and debt, as if it were a county of its own. As The Economist puts it, “Reedy Creek was meant to endure.”
This area, which gave Disney a special tax status and the ability to self-govern all of its properties in the district, was the first point of attack for DeSantis. As others have reported, eliminating Reedy Creek had the potential ramification of raising taxes on the local population, particularly in Orange and Osceola Counties, where the district is located. The district also carries bond debt that would have transferred to the counties. Recognizing the economic reliance, DeSantis backed down, while trying to punish Disney by other means, including forcefully taking over the district’s board. Attack and counterattack have ensued.
With Disney as his main antagonist, DeSantis has positioned himself as an “anti-woke” advocate who would bring mega-corporations to heel for publicly questioning the government.
Disney employs over 75,000 people in Florida, operating a multitude of restaurants, hotels, and other entertainment venues. The park drew in nearly 60 million visitors in 2019. In 2022, the company collected and paid over a billion dollars in taxes for Florida, which NBC News reported paid for more than the budget for such essential state functions as the state’s version of a Department of Motor Vehicles. Despite its many tax breaks, Disney remains the largest taxpayer in Central Florida.
Orlando is also a worldwide attraction for dedicated “Disneyphiles,” the people who grew up with Disney, plan their vacations around the parks, and generally express profound affection for the company. Disney touches every part of Orlando: If a resident does not work for the company, they probably know someone who does.
DeSantis’s attack on the company put much of this in jeopardy, and residents are displeased. Shortly after the initial bill dissolving Reedy Creek’s special tax status, residents filed a lawsuit against DeSantis. “Our political leaders should not be going to task with businesses that exercise their First Amendment rights,” Barry Miller, a local business owner, told the Prospect.
According to residents, Disney’s relationship to Orlando is mutually beneficial. “When they are driving on six-lane roads in the middle of Disney, they notice that it’s still beautiful. All the things that cities are supposed to do, Disney seems to do very well and better than most municipalities,” Graham Jarrett, Orlando resident and publisher of Orlando Weekly, told the Prospect. The district boasts 250,000 daily visitors, thousands of tons of waste managed, and a “6-8 minute response time for fire and EMS.”
Not only has Disney effectively commandeered a significant portion of land as if it were the government, it has convinced the residents that this corporate control is good for them. And it might be, but the community has never had the chance to try anything otherwise. Disney moved in and transformed the economy into a “mecca for tourism” in less than 60 years. A whole city has basically never known anything but reliance on Disney, making it unclear what exactly the government could do better. There have been calls to diversify the local economy, and efforts to do so, but so far it’s not been enough. As it is, Orlando teeters on the edge of disarray at the whim of a single mega-corporation, a story that feels awfully familiar.
This is just one corner of Disney’s immense power. The company has eaten up the entertainment industry, and has its hands in broadcast news, real estate, and travel, growing immensely in recent years. As Brett Heinz noted for the Prospect, in 2019 Disney was responsible for nearly 40 percent of all U.S. motion picture box office sales, a figure that continues to hover in that range even post-pandemic.
DeSantis himself has been favorable to Disney in the past. He got married in the park, and in 2021 he explicitly exempted Disney+ from legislation he signed prohibiting social media platforms from censorship. The $1 billion office development Disney walked away from last week included a tax credit provision for the company worth $570 million over 20 years. That credit was certified in 2020, while DeSantis was governor, and would have been the largest tax subsidy in Florida history.
Today, DeSantis has ignored his previous service to Disney, and is instead talking about corporate dominance, as he did at a campaign stop in New Hampshire last weekend: “They’ve had their own government for 50 years, it’s massive corporate welfare, we’re not doing that. They’re going to live under the same laws as everybody else. They’re going to pay their fair share of taxes. And they’re not going to govern themselves. We the people are going to govern.”
This description of Disney’s relationship to Florida is entirely true, and also it’s entirely not why DeSantis went after Disney in the first place.
For Disney, this dispute is about business first and foremost. In 2021, Disney was excited about the newly planned development, citing Florida’s “business-friendly climate” and the huge tax credit. Upon announcing the cancellation of the project, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, had modified his tune: “changing business conditions” had led to the project’s cancellation.
“He noted that $17 billion was still earmarked for construction at Disney World over the next decade—growth that would create an estimated 13,000 jobs. “‘I hope we’re able to,’ he said,” according to The New York Times’ reporting on a company memo.
Putting the discussion of free speech aside, Disney is suing Florida because Ron DeSantis’s actions have the potential to weaken their profits. DeSantis is countersuing for his own political ambitions. Disney wants to operate unencumbered and with unchallenged access to Florida, while DeSantis desires his own form of control. Neither has the interest of Florida residents truly in mind, but Disney has done a much better job of convincing people that it could—if it felt so inclined.
