Governor DeSantis Responds to Disney World Lawsuit

On April 6, Walt Disney World Resort made an unprecedented move. The Most Magical Place on Earth announced that it was suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. For more than a year, the governor has been going after Disney because ex-CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education bill — also called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Chapek denounced the bill and said that Disney would fight to see it overturned. Since then, DeSantis and the Florida legislature have stripped Walt Disney World of its right to self-govern.

From there, things only got worse. Before the Reedy Creek Improvement District board was disbanded, they made a special deal with Disney. The agreement said that Disney would have the ultimate say over what happens in Disney, regardless of what a new board decided. That did not sit well with DeSantis. Recently, the governor threatened to build a prison next to Disney World. He also said that he would look at building toll roads into Disney World, and impose a special tax on hotels in the area. In an additional threat, he said that all rides and attractions at Disney World would be subject to state inspection. That rule would not apply to any other theme park in the area — like Universal Studios or SeaWorld Orlando.

Disney finally had enough and filed a lawsuit, claiming DeSantis is retaliating against them. Disney claims that they are being punished for exercising its first amendment right. Hours after Disney World announced its lawsuit against the governor, a spokesperson for DeSantis’ office released a statement, which was shared by Variety:

In response, DeSantis’ spokesperson said that Disney is seeking to “undermine the will of the Florida voters.”

“We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state,” said the spokesperson, Taryn Fenske. “This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”

At this time, we don’t have any real information about the legal avenues that the Governor will pursue to fight the lawsuit. There is a chance that Florida taxpayers will have to foot the bill as DeSantis uses state lawyers to pay for the fight.

Florida taxpayers may also see an increase in their taxes since Disney is no longer paying for the upkeep needed in the Reedy Creek district. Before the state — and DeSantis’ hand-picked board — took over, Disney paid for everything that needed to be done in the area. Everything from infrastructure, road repairs, ride and attraction inspections, and everything in between was paid for by the House of Mouse. Since the state now controls the district, the state will have to pay for all of that.