Disney Promises Harsh Punishments If This Continues at Disney World

The Walt Disney Company is counting on something very important to its cause not happening in Florida but has promised that if it does, harsh punishments will be handed down.

Credit: Walt Disney Company/Canva

Disney’s Long Tenure in Florida

In the early 1960s, when Walt Disney was scouting out various locations and tracts of land on which to plant his second theme park resort, Florida was ideal, though that wasn’t immediately apparent to those involved in the decision.

In the mind of the great visionary Walt Disney, the Sunshine State had everything to offer future guests of a theme park resort complex that Walt had already dreamed up, planned out, constructed, and opened to visitors in his mind’s eye. And Central Florida, in particular, would serve as the proverbial  “X marks the spot” on the map of Florida, especially because of what Walt deemed excellent road access in the area.

Credit: Walt Disney Archives

The Florida spot was perfect as it offered sunshine nearly 365 days a year, and the land on which Walt had his sights set was incredibly inexpensive–largely due to the fact that it was covered in layers of swampland and marshes. But Walt already had a plan for dealing with that as well, and when Walt Disney began buying up tracts of land in Central Florida, no one knew it was Disney, and since the land was covered in swamps, it was cheap to buy–that is until an astute journalist with the Orlando Sentinel was able to confirm that the entity buying up all the alligator-infested land near Orlando was none other than Walter Elias Disney.

RELATED: Florida Family Thinks Back on the Day They Sold Their Land to Walt Disney

By 1965, Disney had purchased more than 27,000 acres of land–almost 43 square miles–for $5 million, which, when adjusted for inflation, would be closer to $43 million today. Nearly immediately, Walt and his brother Roy O. Disney set about making sure the company’s plans would be protected, thanks to a self-governing district over the Disney-owned property, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was finally incepted in 1967.

RELATED: Disney World By the Numbers, Just in Case You Were Curious

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Education Legislation Dispute Gives Reedy Creek the Boot

In March 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the Parental Rights in Education bill, a piece of legislation aimed at keeping teachers of Kindergarten through third grade from using instruction time to discuss gender identity and sexual orientation. But some at The Walt Disney Company didn’t agree with such legislation and convinced then-CEO Bob Chapek to issue a statement against it on behalf of the company.

Gov. DeSantis didn’t appreciate Chapek’s candor, and over the next several months, a fiery feud exploded between the two entities, finally leading DeSantis to step in and take over Disney’s Reedy Creek District, replacing its board members and changing its name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Committee.

Credit: Reedy Creek Improvement District

Skip ahead a few more months, and Disney filed suit against the State of Florida for violation of the company’s right to free speech. DeSantis responded with a countersuit. And the controversy has only continued to brew from there.

Disney’s Frustrations Become Apparent at the Federal Level

Tensions over Florida’s suit against Disney remain high, and on Monday, The Walt Disney Company made it clear that if Florida’s governor wins the federal lawsuit in which Disney alleges the company’s free speech rights were violated by Gov. DeSantis, Disney won’t be the only ones who are punished because of a “disfavored viewpoint.”

In court documents on Monday, Disney asked a judge to reject Gov. DeSantis’s motion to dismiss Disney’s case against Florida’s government, pointing out that First Amendment rights remain in place, even when they are in direct contrast to governmental entities.

In documents associated with Disney’s federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the State of Florida, Disney says that the governor took over its Reedy Creek District in retaliation for the company’s stance against the Parental Rights in Education law. Disney also points out that the governor’s actions were outside the company’s protected rights, as outlined by the Constitution.

Credit: Becky Burkett/Canva

“If the line is not drawn here, there is no line at all,” Disney said in court documents on Monday. “The retaliation against Disney for crossing the Governor’s ‘line’ was swift and severe: for the explicitly stated purpose of punishing Disney for its comments, the State immediately stripped Disney of its voting rights in the governing body that oversees Disney’s use of its own private property.”

But DeSantis says Disney’s suit has no merit, as do his appointees on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Committee. He also suggests that the government in Florida is immune from such liability.

Disney Stands Its Ground at the State Level as Well

Disney and DeSantis are also battling it out in Florida state court in Orlando.

Credit: Becky Burkett/Flickr/Gage Skidmore/Canva

Per the Associated Press:

Before control of the district changed hands from Disney allies to DeSantis appointees, the Disney supporters on its board signed agreements with Disney shifting control over design and construction at Disney World to the company and prohibiting the district from using the likeness of Disney characters or other intellectual property without Disney’s permission. The new DeSantis appointees claimed the “eleventh-hour deals” neutered their powers, and the district sued the company in state court to have the contracts voided.

Disney’s counterclaims in state court include the company’s petition to the court to declare the aforementioned agreements enforceable and valid. The court’s ruling in the case, as well as the related outcomes for both Disney and the Florida legislature, remain to be seen.