The Six Threats Ron DeSantis Just Made Against Disney

During a strategically planned press conference on Monday, April 17^th, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used his bully pulpit against Disney.

Disney CEO Bob Iger and the former Reedy Creek Improvement District board had previously outflanked the governor on a pillar platform issue.

During the press conference, DeSantis threatened Disney actions in six specific, worrisome categories.

Here’s what you need to know as well as the likelihood of each one.

Disney Must Build and Pay for More Affordable Housing

DeSantis indicated that he believes Disney should assist more with affordable housing.

Honestly, I try to stay neutral on this stuff. If you’ve read much of my writing, you know that I’m in favor of this idea, though.

Every Disney cast member should have the right to affordable housing. I mean, everyone in the world should, but that’s a different conversation.

Disney agrees with me, as we know. That article from MickeyBlog’s Melissa Roden shows that Disney has “earmarked nearly 80 acres of their land to provide affordable housing.”

I don’t know what the cause of confusion is for DeSantis here. One of his research aides may have failed to inform him of this project or something.

Still, the governor has threatened Disney with something it’s already doing. Maybe he wants to take credit for it later?

I dunno, but this is happening without or without the governor’s comments.

Hopefully, Disney will do even more to ensure happy lives for cast members, the best people on the planet!

Florida’s Legislature Will Void the Reedy Creek Agreement

The governor stated something we already knew because he’d previously mentioned it multiple times on the campaign trail.

Florida legislators and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) will work together to nullify Disney’s recent legal maneuver.

The former Reedy Creek board members empowered Disney with control over the land for 30+ years. It was a legal masterstroke.

However, DeSantis and Florida’s gerrymandered legislature will simply create new legislation to void what Disney previously did.

Is that legal? Well, these are the people who theoretically make the laws.

Conversely, Disney’s maneuver appears airtight. The company honored the Sunshine Law and the obscure Florida Section 163.3225, requiring two public meetings and a seven-day notice.

I will just leave this here. Here are the RCID meeting notes from January 25 when the developer’s agreement was first discussed – and the date of the second hearing (Feb 8.) was also discussed. pic.twitter.com/XyUiKZT0vu

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) April 17, 2023

Legal experts suggest Disney’s legal moves are ironclad. Still, Florida WILL vote to nullify this deal.

Then, the court system will ultimately decide who is right and who is wrong.

Florida’s recent tactic with laws of questionable legality includes assigning them to favorable judges to win the first ruling before MANY appeals.

So, I’d expect that as well.

Disney Must Pay Its Tariffs More Quickly

DeSantis also indicated that he and fellow lawmakers would investigate ways to force Disney to pay its Reedy Creek debts much earlier than scheduled.

As a reminder, the governor’s original plans collapsed once his advisors informed him of a strategic flaw.

Reedy Creek owes roughly $1 billion in taxes. If Florida had dissolved the district, those tax bills would have become the responsibility of citizens.

During the press conference, DeSantis returned to this subject, indicating that lawmakers would have more flexibility without this debt.

So, DeSantis wants Disney to pay $1 billion in loans quickly so that he can punish them more effectively. Could he do that?

We’re through the looking glass on a lot of this stuff.

When I speak to people about these topics or do research, I realize how arcane some of the legal citations could be.

I’m talking 19^th century legal rulings…and Florida didn’t even become an American state until 1845!

Still, I struggle to envision a scenario wherein a court would agree that Florida had good reason to force Disney to pay $1 billion early.

That’s doubly true under the inference that Florida is doing this so that it can target Disney more effectively afterward.

Nothing surprises me with court rulings today, but I think this one has a low chance of happening.

That aspect may not stop Florida lawmakers from trying, though.

Florida’s Government Will Oversee Theme Park Safety

Okay, here’s the biggest threat DeSantis made. It’s also the one with the most potential complications for other businesses, at least in theory.

The governor plans to create a new law that will overrule an existing law on record. Currently, the state only oversees theme park safety in small parks.

The Fair Ride Inspections clause reads this way:

Fla. requires state inspection of rides EXCEPT for parks with 1000+ employees and its own inspectors. That exemption includes WDW, Universal, & Sea World.

DeSantis claims new bill will require inspections only for theme parks in special districts. Other parks keep exemptions. pic.twitter.com/8VlhLkqYbo

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) April 17, 2023

Currently, Disney self-polices ride safety, as do SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Orlando Resort.

DeSantis has indicated that the new law will apply solely to legal districts. It’ll provide state oversight under The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (AG).

The current Florida AG commissioner has been an egg farmer, albeit a hugely successful one, for most of his life.

As such, his qualifications for oversight of theme parks are in question. It was a bit unfair to drag him into this mess.

More importantly, Florida’s legislature must write the new law in a way that will protect SeaWorld and Universal Studios from taking the hit, too.

So, this new law is all but certain to happen. It’ll likely apply only to special districts…like the CFTOD.

Earlier this year, Universal campaigned for its own special district, ostensibly for BRIGHTLINE operations.

The upcoming legislation must clear Universal of aggravation, or they’re accidentally pulled into the feud, too.

Whatever happens next, DeSantis has planned for Disney to face new overhead.

These inspections will enforce more oversight over attraction malfunctions and injuries.

Ostensibly, if someone falls and twists an ankle, the new enforcement team could close the ride.

That’s a problem if the accident occurs on something like Slinky Dog Dash, an attraction with low throughput anyway.

Of course, the primary plan here is simply to annoy Disney through governmental interference, which is an odd choice for many of the politicians involved.

The Disney Prison Threat

You know how you’ll be fighting with a loved one and say things you don’t mean?

At the time, your impulsive goal is to sound tough, even if you hurt the other person. You’re not speaking sincerely, but you want them to believe you.

Well, DeSantis did that with this threat. As MickeyBlog’s Jess Landers reported, the governor hinted that he could add a prison near Walt Disney World.

You should giggle at this threat rather than worry. We’ll start with the real estate aspect:

https://twitter.com/MildlyAmused/status/1648024567590313985

Saying you’ll add a prison near Walt Disney World is akin to threatening Manhattan residents with building a prison in Jersey City.

Disney owns 43 miles of land in Central Florida. Walt Disney planned ahead, understanding politics and human nature.

Disney’s founder gave his successors plenty of room to operate.

Any new construction wouldn’t be logistically close to anything significant at Disney. If it were, Disney would have purchased that land by now.

Disney does this all the time to ensure nobody owns land close to anything that matters.

Also, Central Florida residents enjoy high property values due to their homes being close to Walt Disney World.

That goes double for the Golden Oak crowd, many of whom are DeSantis donors.

As far as bluffs go, this one is transparent. However, selling the land for different purposes isn’t just possible. I’d call it probable if the parties remain acrimonious.

Remember how the Four Seasons Orlando sold for $610 million? Land near Disney is incredibly valuable.

DeSantis could feasibly sell that land at a high price and then trumpet the revenue as proof of concept for his anti-Disney campaign.

Florida Will Force Disney to Pay More in Property Taxes

I talk myself out of mentioning Groundhog Day each time I write about the Reedy Creek dispute.

This time, I cannot help myself, as this is a case of history repeating itself.

Disney has feuded with tax appraisers regarding Walt Disney World property values and taxation MANY times over the years.

Former Property Appraiser Rick Singh overbilled Disney repeatedly with his land appraisals.

Disney’s victories in this matter earned a spot in the Biggest Disney Business Stories of 2020 and 2021. So, it wasn’t even that long ago.

Voters later voted Singh out, selecting current Property Appraiser Amy Mercado instead. Disney has since sued Mercado for similar practices.

Despite all this recent Florida history, DeSantis spent part of his press conference indicating that he’d tax Disney more for its land.

I strongly suspect this will happen, as it seems to occur every year or two anyway.

Disney and the state of Florida have rarely seen eye to eye on land valuations and taxes during the past decade.

Importantly, Disney wins these cases in court, though.

So, this particular threat is akin to a winless team guaranteeing a victory against an undefeated opponent.

I will point out a difference this time, though. Tax appraisers have rarely possessed the legal resources to combat Disney’s impressive array of attorneys.

If DeSantis prioritizes this fight, it’d at least be a fairer one than what previous Tax Appraisers have faced.

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