Amidst DeSantis Battle, Fans Call on Bob Iger to Cancel Lake Nona Project

In July 2021, Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that the company would be moving more than 2,000 Cast Members to a new Imagineering Campus in Lake Nona, Florida. From the outset, the announcement was an unpopular one. Disney lost some very talented Imagineers because they took the quit option of move or quit choices that they were reportedly given. Not long after the Lake Nona move was announced, the Florida state legislature introduced and passed the Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics say targets the LGBTQ+ community. Cast Members were furious and demanded Disney halt the Lake Nona move.

While Disney did not stop the Lake Nona move, it did push it back years. However, things between The Walt Disney Company and the controversial governor have since gotten a lot worse. The state has stripped Disney of its right to self-govern and dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement Act. The governor is also angry at the House of Mouse for making deals with the Reedy Creek board before the new DeSantis-appointed board took over. Now-CEO Bob Iger has, in turn, called the governor “anti-Florida” for punishing Disney because they spoke out. Disney is one of the largest private employers in the state and pays millions in taxes every year.

With things reaching an all-time low between Disney and DeSantis, Cast Members are not the only people calling on Iger to stop the Lake Nona move. Fans are demanding that Iger take a big stand against the Sunshine State. The Lake Nona campus will bring millions more in taxes and thousands more jobs to the state. Fans want Disney to show that they won’t let DeSantis keep targeting them.

They want Disney to fight back in a big way.

I wonder why @RobertIger hasn’t made the right decision and officially canceled the Lake Nona project and ensured WDI will remain at its home in Glendale?

https://twitter.com/21royalstreet/status/1648503978748166145

Disney Imagineers have been in California since Walt Disney moved to the Golden State in 1923. California Governor Gavin Newsom has also said that he would work with Disney to try to convince them to stay.

In order to convince Disney to make the move to Lake Nona, DeSantis offered the company a lot of tax breaks and incentives. Some are wondering if he will keep his end of the deal, or if he will backtrack on those tax breaks.

Waiting to see if Ron will keep the tax breaks? 👀

Waiting to see if Ron will keep the tax breaks? 👀

— L'esprit de DIS (@SpiritOfDIS) April 19, 2023

At this time, Lake Nona is expected to be completed, with Imagineers moved to Florida by 2026. Bob Iger has not addressed whether plans will change as things between the company and the governor continue to devolve.