Earlier today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference to once again discuss his grievances with Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney Company. While the company has yet to respond publicly, a series of insider tweets bring to light their ongoing efforts to quietly fact-check the comments made at this afternoon’s press conference.
In a Twitter thread on his personal page, Executive Producer of Spectrum News 13 Alex Farnworth has shared some of the responses his news station and others have been receiving from Disney in regard to the Governor’s public comments.
While Walt Disney World didn’t directly respond to Governor Ron DeSantis’ comments that were made during his Lake Buena Vista press conference, Disney did provide information & context.
— Alex Farnworth (@AlexFarnworth) April 17, 2023
At today’s press conference, Governor Ron DeSantis and those that joined him made multiple demands of Disney to pay their “fair share” of taxes. Disney has quietly reminded media outlets that they have, in fact, paid more than $1 billion in state and local taxes making the company the largest single taxpayer in central Florida.
Governor DeSantis also made reference to Disney appraising its own property to determine its value. The Governor had suggested that most people facing that scenario would significantly undervalue the property to improve their tax situation and indicated that his Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board would be looking into this. Representatives from the Walt Disney Company have also indirectly responded to these comments, stating that “all property in the district, including all Disney property is assessed annually by the Orange County tax assessor or the Osceola County tax assessor, as applicable.”
Among ideas proposed by DeSantis for unoccupied land within the district, including the development of a state park, competing theme park, or state prison, the Florida Governor had also made reference to the need for affordable housing options within the region. Representatives from Disney have agreed, sharing that the company had announced last year that they will contribute 80 acres of land for 1,300 affordable housing units in Central Florida.
Representatives of Walt Disney World were also quick to remind their media contacts that Disney is the largest single-site employer throughout the entire United States, contributing tens of millions to community groups and nonprofits throughout the state of Florida.
DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company have been embroiled in a public feud now for over a year. DeSantis started this lengthy fight against the Walt Disney World Resort after the company’s previous CEO, Bob Chapek, spoke out against Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Starting with the takeover and renaming of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board is now staffed with members handpicked by DeSantis and aims to control how Walt Disney World Resort functions, builds, and maintains its infrastructure. One of these members is Ron Peri, known for calling homosexuality evil and claiming it is caused by drinking contaminated tap water.
Other News From Today’s DeSantis Press Conference
At the press conference earlier today, DeSantis also claimed that Walt Disney World Resort is no longer “above the law,” and would be subject to state inspections of the Monorail and the attractions within the parks.
The Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson stated: “This legislation will allow my department to conduct inspections when someone is seriously injured on an amusement ride. Thankfully it doesn’t happen that often in Florida, but when it does we have the right to inspect and decide when it can safely reopen.”
While “all major theme parks” was mentioned during this discussion, they did not clarify if these measures would extend to other currently exempted properties, including Universal Orlando Resort or SeaWorld Orlando.
State House District 45 Representative Carolina Amesty also took to the podium to share her opinions and concerns. She greeted the audience with a proclamation to “let it be known, in this great nation, here, in the free state of Florida, it is ‘We the People,’ not ‘woke’ corporations.”
She went on to make the following comment regarding Disney’s leadership and recent business practices:
We all love Disney; however, you cannot indoctrinate our childrens [sic]. Instead, they have turned Disney into this corporate PR arm of a small group of extremists who want to indoctrinate our children with radical gender ideologies that have no basis in science, common sense, or basic human decency. They have pushed far-left narratives and lies about our great state and now they think that the rules don’t apply to them.
Carolina Amesty
In addition to Amesty, several other local figures spoke in support of DeSantis’ plans and potential resolutions during the press conference.
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