BREAKING: Disney Cancels Lake Nona Campus, Imagineering Not Moving to Florida
In a shocking reversal, Disney has announced that they are pulling the plug on their planned $1 billion Lake Nona project in Florida.
The new Disney campus, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, was supposed to be the new home for more than 2,000 employees who were to relocate from Southern California, including most of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Photo: CoStar.com
Bob Chapek’s Master Plan
When the move was initially announced by former CEO Bob Chapek, many of the affected employees were upset with the relocation, with some even quitting the company to avoid the move.
Despite these employee complaints, Disney held firm to their plans, arguing that the new blessing of space and the corresponding Florida tax credits would make the move worthwhile.
Photo: CNBC
In fact, when he announced the move in 2021, Disney President of Parks, Resorts, and Experiences, Josh D’Amaro cited “Florida’s business-friendly climate” as justification.
Disney vs. DeSantis Heats Up
Since the Lake Nona project was initially announced, however, the relationship between Disney and Florida has soured.
Following the company’s public criticism of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill last year, Governor Ron DeSantis responded by dissolving Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District and passing other measures hostile to the company.
Photo: Getty Images
For his part, Disney CEO Bob Iger has called the new measures “retaliatory” and questioned whether or not Florida wanted Disney to continue to invest in the state.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Iger said on the company’s Q2 earnings call.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Undoing Chapek’s Mistakes
Although the headline surrounding the Lake Nona cancellation will revolve around Disney’s ongoing feud with DeSantis, Iger was never in favor of the move in the first place.
Source: CNBC.com
It was Bob Chapek who wanted Imagineering relocated to Florida and Chapek who argued that the business benefits outweighed employees’ concerns.
What’s Next?
Now, Lake Nona will enter the history books as another canceled Disney project.
In an email to cast members, D’Amaro took a very different tone than he had in 2021. In today’s email, D’Amaro cited “changing business conditions” as a reason for the cancelation. He did, however, retain his optimism in the future of Walt Disney World and stated that an estimated $17 billion was still earmarked for construction at the resort over the next decade.
Photo: Roberto Gonzalez
For the almost 200 Disney employees who had already relocated to Florida from California, D’Amaro said that the company would discuss options with them, “including the possibility of moving you back.”
The Lake Nona campus was originally expected to open next year before being delayed to 2026. Now, the project is canceled, and the showdown between DeSantis and Disney just got a lot more serious.
Photo: Disney
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