Disney Is Probably Spending $17 Billion at Disney World

Nobody has signed anything official yet, but the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) will soon meet to debate a new development plan.

Disney fans should pay close attention to that meeting because it might bring tons of joy to tourists.

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Disney and the CFTOD have reportedly hammered out a new developer agreement for the next 15-20 years.

Presuming this plan comes to fruition, Disney is probably investing $17 billion in Orlando. Here’s what we know.

How We Got Here

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Let’s not relitigate the past couple of years of unpleasantness between Florida officials and Disney.

What matters is that Disney and the CFTOD agreed earlier this year to let bygones be bygones.

Central Florida Tourism oversight district

Disney agreed to drop all its state lawsuits against Florida officials and pause federal litigation.

Meanwhile, Florida removed Glen Gilzean as District Administrator of the CFTOD.

Photo: Florida Voice

Also, longtime Disney critic Martin Garcia left his position as a member of the CFTOD board, and there’s some debate whether the choice was his.

Photo: Orlando Business Journal

In place of Gilzean, the state of Florida hired Stephanie Kopelousos. This seems like a good time to mention that Kopelousos had previously worked as a lobbyist for the Walt Disney Company.

We perceived this hiring as an olive branch from Florida officials to arguably their biggest rainmaker.

Photo: Florida Voice

Sure enough, we’ve almost gotten whiplash by how quickly the parties have worked together to find common ground.

Disney will not drop its federal lawsuits without a new developer agreement, and the CFTOD knows this.

Photo: Florida Chamber of Commerce

So, the previously acrimonious parties are currently working together on an equitable solution. Until then, the terms have reset to 2020, a time before all this nonsense began.

Thus, we have the same old, same old, for Walt Disney World’s land. However, that situation cannot last forever.

Photo: WESH

So, the parties are currently trying to negotiate a long-term agreement.

The New Agreement

Let’s start by acknowledging that all of this is theoretical until both parties sign on the dotted line.

As such, nothing is set in stone yet, and given the previous tension between the two parties, I’m not taking anything for granted here.

Still, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the CFTOD will hear arguments on an updated agreement.

Should this proposal pass, Disney and the CFTOD will have an agreement that covers at least 15 years.

Here are the pertinent details.

Disney will invest $17 billion at Walt Disney World over the next 10 to 20 years.

More importantly, Disney promises to invest $8 billion in capital expenditures over the next decade, an average of $800 million annually.

Emphasizing the point, we’re discussing expenditures at Walt Disney World alone.

Spaceship Earth in EPCOT

This whole turn of events is remarkable, given that Disney has spent the last three years negotiating DisneylandForward with Anaheim officials.

Now, the CFTOD has used that as a baseline to craft its own agreement.

Spaceship Earth

As a reminder, with DisneylandForward, Disneyland Resort guaranteed it would spend a minimum of $1.9 billion over ten years, possibly as much as $2.5 billion.

The new development agreement between Disney and the CFTOD would secure three to four times as much in Orlando.

Another salient point is that Disney officials have indicated they’ll spend $42 billion on theme park expansion.

Depending on how you look at it, this modified agreement would guarantee that somewhere between 19 and 40 percent of that money goes to Disney World alone.

Photo: Disney

And yes, Disney could ostensibly build a fifth theme park with $17 billion.

Again, none of this is guaranteed, and I’m speaking theoretically.

More About the Agreement

EPCOT continues to get new infrastructure.

As part of the proposed 15-year agreement, Disney also promises to spend at least $10 million on affordable housing in Orlando.

In addition, the company will create a local business hiring program that ensures 50 percent of all construction work goes to Florida-based businesses.

CommuniCore Hall at EPCOT

Overall, this agreement would cover about 17,300 acres of Disney World land, and the wording specifically allows for “a maximum of five theme parks.”

Disney obviously hasn’t announced a fifth theme park, but the so-called King Charles III agreement from 2023 also entitled Disney to build a fifth theme park.

Photo: Disney

This proposal feels like an extension of Disney’s previous legal filing.

As a reminder, the February 2023 agreement was nullified when Florida officials rewrote the rules.

Photo: Disney

So, if Disney wants a fifth gate, it does need a development agreement that allows for that possibility.

We’re still awaiting clarity on the timeline for the $17 billion in investments, as reporting suggests it could take up to 20 years.

However, the developer agreement, as stated, would last 15 years.

The other noteworthy part of the proposal under consideration is that both parties must consent to any changes to the plan.

That aspect alone allows Disney to control its own fate with the former Reedy Creek land once again.

So, the two parties have not just achieved détente but also appear to have negotiated a long-term settlement that ensures the growth of Walt Disney World.

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