Disney Headlines for April 3rd, 2024
Okay, we’re past the silliness of April Fool’s Day.
So, everything I’m about to discuss is true, unlike 70 percent of what you read yesterday.
In this week’s Disney Headlines, we’ll talk about the end of the Florida Feud, the next step in affordable housing, and the new Disney+.
Lay Down Your Burdens
I thought of a Biblical quote/Battlestar Galactica episode the other day when I first heard the news.
On March 27th, The Walt Disney Company agreed to several concessions regarding the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Specifically, Disney declared its 2022 contracts, the ones with the hilarious King Charles III clause, null and void.
Also, Disney dropped all its in-state litigation against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and various other involved parties.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a speech during a public appearance that gave longtime observers whiplash.
From 2021 until, well, two weeks ago, the governor frequently criticized Disney as much as possible.
Suddenly, his tenor changed as he parsed through very specific legalese.
While DeSantis also spoke extemporaneously about Central Florida theme parks in general, he was decidedly less adversarial.
In that moment, it was readily apparent that Disney and DeSantis had cut a deal to put the nonsensical Florida Feud behind them.
I wrote my day-of-the-event analysis, which you can read here.
However, I’ve done substantially more due diligence since then, and this agreement has proven fascinating.
To a certain extent, it’s a Rorschach test in that people’s preconceived notions play a factor in how they evaluate the outcome.
I’m not going to change anyone’s mind on anything, but here are a couple of other factors to consider regarding this agreement.
Reunited, and It Feels So Good
First, Disney is facing an activist investor battle for seats on Disney’s Board of Directors. This fight concludes today.
While politicking for that, Disney has likely encountered several potential allies who expressed concerns over this matter.
A resolution of the Florida Feud may be what Disney needs to either A) win that vote or B) show that it will work with Nelson Peltz if that’s what the voters want.
Peltz recently took the extraordinary step of relitigating Captain Marvel and Black Panther as films.
That’s akin to questioning UConn’s recruiting the past two seasons as the defending national champions head to the Final Four this week.
Argue that day is night if you want, but it’s still day. Peltz did that because it’s an open wound for some Disney fans.
Agreeing to go back to business as usual in Florida helps Disney’s perception.
Conversely, the timing of this agreement shouldn’t be lost on anybody.
Disney had scheduled depositions with the appointees to the CFTOD, who were going to testify on record the following day.
The CFTOD’s lawyers had done everything they could to prevent this testimony, but they were running out of options.
Importantly, Disney had requested a video recording of those depositions.
So, Disney was working on a voting deadline that gave it at least a few more days, while the CFTOD’s countdown clock was reaching zero.
Everybody Wins!
This settlement legitimately is in the best interest of both parties at this moment and for the future.
With the reset of the (former) Reedy Creek rules to 2020, Disney can more or less act like this never happened while plotting expansion.
In other words, no matter how you interpret the results, it’s the best news for those of us who want new rides and themed lands.
For that matter, notorious Disney critic DeSantis was either hinting at a new Walt Disney World theme park or begging for one.
That’s a far cry from the prison threat he made almost exactly a year ago.
Notably, that’s not the only Central Florida Disney project of note this past week.
Disney also won approval from Orange County to proceed with its affordable housing project.
The company has promised to transition 114 acres of land into 1,400 units of multifamily affordable housing.
As often happens, some of the locals potentially impacted by this decision vocally spoke out against it.
And, as often happens, big business got its way in the end, with Disney winning by a 4-2 vote, thanks to the urging of Mayor Jerry Deming.
The mayor’s support was vital to the vote occurring on that day, and it’s significant for another reason.
After three extremely awkward years, Disney cuts two different deals with Florida elected officials, one from each political party, in 48 hours.
Icy relationships are unmistakably thawing, which is precisely what needs to happen as Walt Disney World expands.
By the way, in case you’re wondering why anyone would be against affordable housing, it’s partially the typical reason.
People love the idea as long as it doesn’t potentially impact their property values.
Also, in Central Florida, there’s a very real concern about overcrowded schools.
The Hulu/Disney+ Marriage
The shotgun wedding has officially happened. After years of speculation, Disney+ has permanently integrated Hulu.
The next time you access the Disney+ app, you’ll notice a slew of new titles, almost all of which were formerly on Hulu.
At this point, Disney doesn’t distinguish between the two, at least not in theory.
Subscribers to Hulu + Live TV must use the Hulu app rather than Disney+.
Other than this one specific subset of subscribers, the merger has finished.
Of course, you must subscribe to Hulu and Disney+ to access all the content.
So, the Disney Bundle looks better today than it ever had before.
The catch – and my warning for parents – is that some decidedly mature content is now available on the service.
You should take a moment to verify your Parental Controls if you have children accessing your account.
I doubt Disney would mess up by showing *ahem* the wrong recommendations after Bluey, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Why the Change?
Overall, this change benefits customers by unifying Disney’s streaming services and increasing user efficiency.
You no longer need to know which service you should use to watch something. Disney+ will tell you.
Over time, I expect additional consolidation, but Hulu’s content licenses are extraordinarily complex.
In the short term, the unified Disney+/Hulu app is what you’re likely to use.
As for what you should watch, I wrote this in December. After checking, all the television shows are still available.
The only movies on the list that are missing are the holiday films plus Crazy Rich Asians and Talladega Nights.
Also, you can add Shogun now, which I haven’t started yet, but my friends won’t shut up about it.
Stating the obvious, this was a big week for Disney, and the next two weeks will include similar seismic Headlines.
We’ve got the Annual Shareholder Meeting tomorrow and then the final vote on DisneylandForward in two weeks. Stay tuned!
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Feature Photo: Getty Images