How Much Does Florida Think Disney’s Parks and Resorts Are Worth?
The Walt Disney Company is suing Orange County, Florida, again.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, as it’s become an annual tradition.
Walt Disney Company
The two parties often squabble over what Disney should pay in property taxes.
Before you proclaim that Disney should pay its fair share, I’ll remind you of something.
The Walt Disney Company
Disney’s right to be a bit defensive on this topic, as it recently won a lawsuit over this very subject.
Now, your favorite company is suing again, but as a byproduct of that dispute, we just learned something.
Photo: Playbuzz.com
How much does Florida think Disney’s parks and resorts are worth? We have hard numbers!
A Quick Lesson in Orange County Politics
Walt Disney Company
Journalist Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics just provided an unsurprising update.
Disney has chosen to sue Orange County “over what it calls “excessive” property tax assessments.”
The Walt Disney Company
Last year, Disney claimed victory in a multi-year legal battle over a similar issue.
Former Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh had changed accounting practices.
Photo: PRNewsFoto/Enterprise Fleet Management
Without boring you about the specifics, he chose the one least favorable to Disney.
In the process, Singh temporarily gained excess property taxes from the company.
Photo: Stephen M. Dowell / Orlando Sentinel
There was just one little problem. What he did wasn’t an acceptable taxation practice.
Disney took the matter to court and finally won in 2024 after a protracted battle.
Photo:ofx.ie
Legal wonks can read the judge’s ruling here, but the gist is this sentence:
“Appraiser failed to comply with section 1,93.011, Florida Statutes and professionally accepted appraisal practices in assessing the Subject Property.”
Orange Observer
Yeah, that’s bad. In truth, this nonsense ultimately cost Singh his job.
As an elected official, Singh faced competition from someone who ran against him partially due to this squabble.
Plenty of people in Orange County (and many other places) felt Singh was theatrical about the whole thing.
He wasn’t interested in boosting Orange County as much as his own political profile.
Let’s just say that tactic backfired mightily, with Mercado beating Singh 60-32 in a primary.
As one of Mercado’s first actions, she dialed back the anti-Disney rhetoric. More importantly, the new (and current) Property Appraiser promised a stringent look at the books.
During her victory speech over Singh, Mercado didn’t pull any punches, either. Here’s the quote:
Photo: Amy Mercado
“Tonight, Orange County voted to restore trust to the Property Appraiser’s Office, and I will work tirelessly to achieve that goal.”
Yeah, I don’t think Mercado likes Singh very much.
Disney Sues Again
Photo: cba.cj
The presumption five years ago was that Mercado knew her predecessor had done some shady stuff.
So, she would behave less combatively with Disney, which proved to be the case for years.
Photo: Miriam-Webster
Mercado was sworn into office in January 2021 and has become a well-respected figure in local politics.
Still, the nature of the beast here is that the Orange County Property Appraiser will always be at odds with Disney.
Orange County courthouse
While the current situation isn’t as combative as the prior one with Singh – yet? – Disney just sued again.
According to Russon, the “multibillion-dollar entertainment giant filed about 15 lawsuits late last week in Orange Circuit Court.”
Walt Disney Company
The biggest debate involves the building that formerly housed the so-called Star Wars hotel.
Disney decommissioned that space and is now repurposing it as Imagineering offices.
Photo: Disney
Still, Mercado perceives the value of the former Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser as $38,267,586.
Yes, Orange County has claimed that the currently empty building is worth $38.2 million. Here’s the filing.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
That’s just one of several disputes involved here, but let me be clear.
This is an annual tradition for a reason. Would you pay a dollar more to the government than needed?
Disney’s no different than you when filing your tax returns. It wants to keep its money.
So, this isn’t a combative process as much as an unavoidable one for both parties.
Photo: Moneycrashers.com
Orange County feeds off Disney’s tax revenue, which comes in many forms.
Property taxes are a part of it, and the county expects Disney to pay its fair share.
Photo: skillastics.com
The current dispute stems from Mercado employing an accounting practice Disney deems unfavorable.
But the interesting part is that we just learned how much Florida thinks Disney’s parks and resorts are worth.
Let’s Talk Turkey!
Credit: Disney
Acknowledging in advance that Disney disagrees with many of these numbers, here’s what we just learned.
According to Mercado as the chosen representative appraiser of Orange County, EPCOT is Disney’s most valuable theme park.
You would have lost that bet, wouldn’t you? Well, it’s true, with EPCOT appraised at $795 million.
For its part, Magic Kingdom, the seemingly obvious choice, only finishes third at $622 million.
Photo: Wikimedia
Disney’s Hollywood Studios slightly edges Magic Kingdom at $639 million.
As you’d expect, Disney’s Animal Kingdom finishes last at $495 million, although that’s a bit surprising to me.
Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Given the sheer size of the appraised property, I would have expected more value.
Presumably, the location of Animal Kingdom on the Walt Disney World campus reduces the land’s worth.
Animal Kingdom
Russon notes that as part of the filing, we also learned the values of several resorts.
Disney is suing over the property estimates for two of the three monorail resorts.
Photo: vecteezy.com
According to Orange County, Disney’s Contemporary Resort has an appraisal of $243 million.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is $90 million more at $333 million.
Photo: Disney
Finally, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort surpasses both with an appraisal of $350 million.
Just to demonstrate how much Disney means to the surrounding area, here’s a fascinating stat.
Photo: Washington Post
The parks have a total appraisal value of $2.551 billion, while those three resorts alone total $926 million.
So, that’s four parks and three resorts valued at nearly $3.5 billion.
Photo: Disney
Even if the Galactic Starcruiser appraisal seems a bit silly, the others underscore Disney’s importance.
Photo: MickeyBlog
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Feature Photo: Disney
