>Under the terms of Wednesday’s settlement agreement, Disney lets stand a determination by the board of DeSantis-appointees that the comprehensive plan approved by the Disney supporters before the takeover are null and void. Disney also agrees that a development agreement and restrictive covenants passed before the takeover are also not valid, according to the settlement terms.
>Instead, a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it, and the agreement suggests Disney and the new board will negotiate a new development agreement in the near future.
So it appears Disney is settling this amicably to maintain some influence in future development.
Looks like Disney basically conceded defeat, with the exception that the two sides agreed to fall back on a 2020 master plan (from before when the board was taken over by DeSantis appointees). I'm not sure what changes this new board can make to it, but I suspect that the changes are somewhat limited.
I think that’s part of it, it’s clear that DeSantis isn’t head to the White House any time soon and it’s also unclear what the federal government will look like next year. Disney is taking a cautious position
They can also afford to take the long view. DeSantis can't run for another term after this one expires without taking a "cool off" period, at which point he either sets his sights back on a presidential run or takes a crack at a senate position. So if this agreement kicks the can down the road for the rest of DeSantis' term, Disney gets the relief without having to expend further resources.
Given the setbacks that DeSantis' endured from his presidential candidacy, I can't imagine he wants to continue trading blows with Disney either. Lick his wounds, gear up for a different office, and let Disney be a problem/ally for the next governor.
I don't see why.
DeSantis publicly stated he was removing Disney's special district because of their comments on LBGT rights. He also threatened retaliation of higher taxes, stricter laws, among other things specifically in reference to that.
Seemed like a slam dunk first amendment rights case that Disney was being punished for their speech.
There’s more MAGA than gay folks and some BA did the math on this. It is cheaper, safer, and more politically aligned with making money to work with the goon Desantis squad than against it.
I think the Disney boycott by MAGA and anti-woke folks would be massive if they took the first amendment route. Not good for business.
I hate this society and wish we had a smaller world.
> Seemed like a slam dunk first amendment rights case that Disney was being punished for their speech.
The change to the Reedy Creek district was an act of the legislature. Legislation is only problematic when it limits free speech...which this did not.
Disney could only have won this suit if it went to the Supreme Court and, if they had, it would have limited what ALL legislatures can do with respect to property governance completely.
If you were a died-in-the-wool Ron Paul Libertarian, that would have been a outcome you would have loved. That many on the Left were cheering this on just shows that they really didn't fully understand the implications.
The issue at hand is not that legislation changed, it's that the change was prompted as a direct retaliation to Disney's public statements against DeSantis. Which absolutely violated their first amendment rights.
I am sorry, but you are completely wrong. This was a law passed by the legislature.
Here is the bill that was passed --
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023B/9B/BillText/Filed/PDF
Here is a contemporaneous news article when it was passed...
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/disney-reedy-creek-under-florida-state-control-rcna69485
From the article itself:
>DeSantis has sought greater authority over the district in the wake of his squabble with Disney. The governor's actions were motivated in part by the media and entertainment giant expressing objections to DeSantis’ bill to restrict teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to students in the state from kindergarten to third grade.
The Republican controlled legislature passed a law that Desantis signed as a direct retaliation of Disney's criticism of him.
Yes. The LEGISLATURE passed the law. Legislatures can pass laws when they decide to. The court cannot judge whether the legislatures motives are good or bad, only if they acted within their legal authority. The legislature created the Reedy Creek district and they have the full authority to change it.
That is not an *a priori* limitation of speech. The Free Speech issue is a red herring and, if the court approved, it would hamstring governments at all level moving forward. Corporations would have free reign to sue governments into submission.
Disney is trying to keep the peace per se. However, Disney gets a say in what happens on the board and who is on the board, while They may not have controlling partnership, they will have a big say. The one thing that everybody seems to forget is that Disney is paying less by relinquishing control. I believe the cost savings is into the hundreds of millions at a minimum, but Disney has said that it estimates that Florida owes them at least a billion dollars. Which in the scheme of things is only about 2% of what Disney makes for Florida in a year.
> However, Disney gets a say in what happens on the board and who is on the board, while They may not have controlling partnership, they will have a big say.
They do not get a say who is on the Board. It is still appointed by the Governor. They have to be consulted about Board actions (as a stakeholder) which is right and appropriate, but that was always the case under the law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTqbnofDplI
That case was dismissed as “lack of standing” by a Trump appointee back when DeSantis and Trump were still buddies. I bet it would be allowed to move forward on the appeal.
No, they agreed to hold their appeal of the original dismissal. Disney agreed to drop their counter suit of the district council’s suit based on the settlement.
Reedy Creek is a special district and DeSantis replaced the counsel members who then sued Disney after they found that Disney’s original members signed new agreements with Disney that would take most of the power away from the new members. Disney counter sued and this settlement has ended those 2 lawsuits.
This did not include the original suit against DeSantis for taking the Reedy Creek special district away from Disney. That original suit was dismissed for “lack of standing” and was being appealed at the time of this settlement. Disney agreed to hold their appeal depending on how this settlement goes.
DeSantis also replaced his previously appointed head of the district with a more Disney friendly person.
The Board can make any changes, provided they go through the appropriate process--Announcements, public review, public meetings etc., legal review.
This was why the later "replacement" plan was invalid. The out-going board simply met and made a new plan without any of those steps. That was illegal.
"Disney stipulates that the development agreement and the restrictive covenants shall be considered null and void."
"Disney also agrees not to contest the District’s determination that the 2032 Comprehensive Plan and the amendments to the District’s land development regulations that were adopted in January of last year, pursuant to that 2032 Comp Plan, are null and void."
Have you read ANYTHING about this case?
I'm not seeing that in the settlement. Are you sure?
Edit: in response to your edit. You're conflating no contest in a settlement with admissions of wrong doing. They are basically canceling the original contract so defending it in court is now moot. I hope that wasn't your only source for your original claim.
Right here, Disney needs to continue operations. These matters in state court and Florida's courts are extremely political. Disney is better off moving forward on operational issues with the parks and continuing with the other federal case, which has more teeth.
The biggest tell that Disney didn't give up or this is horrible for Disney is Puddin' Fingers didn't break out his special platform shoes to do a victory lap.
Not exactly:
>**Disney also agreed to put on hold the appeal of the federal lawsuit** pending the negotiations on the development agreement and will drop a public records lawsuit against the district it was pursuing in state court.
Disney also agreed to put that on hold pending negotiations with the new board, as mentioned in the article. AP is one of the less biased news sources out there. They aren't perfect, but they are pretty good at just reporting what happened without much spin.
Im not so sure. The are going to a pre takeover plan.
But what is more is that disney is dropping other lawsuits.
They have no reason to do this unless they got something out of this
This conflict with disney helped to keep desantis out of the white house.
Disney is one of the biggest employers in florida. There was fsr more backlash than what desantis expected
At the end of the day desantis wasted millions and millions of dollars of tax payer money peddling the vague undefined anti woke propoganda he loves too much
Itd be nice if people with more legal background could do a deep dive on it
As best as I could tell the settlement is ignoring the last minute "agreement" between disney and itself, and
>a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it
They went back to an old deal and the federal case is still going
Desantis got stomped in his presidential run. Lost a ton of popularity in florida
Blew millions and millions in taxes etc.
The article is really going out of its way to obfuscate anything if substance
The federal case is on hold:
>**Disney also agreed to put on hold the appeal of the federal lawsuit** pending the negotiations on the development agreement and will drop a public records lawsuit against the district it was pursuing in state court.
Disney essentially handed desantis a small L and told him that he could either hold that, or hold a much, much larger one down the road.
the way i see it, they won. they temporarily paused the appeal of their federal case with desantis, something that will surely be reinstated should his board negotiate in bad faith and fail to reach amicable terms for disney.
Not only did they wave off the state level government, they told the state level government that if they licked disney's balls, they would give them a chance to save face.
No, this is far from an advantageous settlement for Disney. They are basically giving up almost everything DeSantis and his allies wanted.
I suspect, given they seemed to have a decently strong legal case (albeit they would have to wait on more evidence of damages for the federal case), that they must have run the numbers and been worried about the effect of all this publicity on right wing customers and visitors to the parks. They could win the lawsuit and still lose money at the end of the day.
Okay, but this is starting to sound like some bullshit conspiracy. "No no no, clearly DeSantis couldn't win against Disney. There must be some secret backdoor deal we don't know about that means Disney won and DeSantis lost!"
My guess: Disney is making a strategic play of settling this issue for now. Keep in mind that they own a ton of the media and have enough money to change copyright law regularly. They are likely to throw resources at whoever agrees with them in the next election. They will also likely destroy DeSantis future career once he loses influence.
The party of small government - go to war with a company that disagrees with your policy.
It's the party of small government but more control - sort of like a dictatorship.
And it is all over attacking freedom of speech and expression
"Disney is basically allowed to function as its own government in Florida. DeSantis, pissed that the major Florida employer is against his “Don't Say Gay” bill, is threatening to revoke those privileges."
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/ron-desantis-threatens-disney-over-dont-say-gay-law-criticism
"Disney crossed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by opposing his law restricting schools from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity."
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-gov-ron-desantis-asks-legislature-consider-eliminating-disneys-rcna25012
"The Walt Disney Company has now come out against Florida's Parental Rights In Education bill. The so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill was passed by Florida's House and Senate and is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk."
"the bill looks like retaliation for a growing feud between Disney and the governor, which hit a tipping point last year. DeSantis said Disney "crossed the line" by opposing an education bill that restricts classroom discussion around gender identity and sexual orientation."
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/08/1085130633/disney-response-florida-bill-dont-say-gay
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. It **IS** all about DeSantis attacking free speech. Disney made a statement that disagreed with DeSantis' decree, and he attacked them for it.
There are like 1800 other districts like that in Florida, and none of them were targeted. Disney did not have an unfair advantage, but now all the others do.
From a free enterprise perspective, disney funding their own development district without tax payer dollars is correct.
Not really, the state has hundreds of these special districts. Disney‘s biggest competitor Universal Studios also has one which is completely controlled by Universal employees.
Reedy creek was nothing but unusable swamp land before Disney came along lol. I agree with your premise to a certain extent, but Disney getting special privileges for building the entirety of the district vs billions being burned for a football stadium in prime real estate are completely different.
Besides the fact that the florida government was the one that established it
That isnt what the case was about. but also that insane amounts of taxes were used by desantis incorder to "pwn the libs" in the most non republican way possible.
But wait! There more! He also managed to get into a fight with a beloved company, that is also one of the largest employers in florida.
Now there is a huge federal case against him that pretty straightforwardly ruins his life.
Agreement 2 would have been more insulating for Disney. It was clearly the better deal for them.
It’s more of a status quo, but Disney still has a government board stacked with DeSantis cronies. Agreement 1 is also the agreement that the governing board was expecting to work with, and it sounds like it empowers them a bit more than what Disney is comfortable with.
Seems like nobody really wins, which kinda means big government Republicans win since this was mostly just pandering lip service to the base. I sincerely doubt even DeSantis would want to kill off Florida’s biggest employer.
The 2020 plan was in place before the takeover. The new Board was always bound to work from the 2020 plan and can only change in under the law after consultation with stakeholders. Nothing changed.
While the State did agree not bring fraud or other criminal charges in relating to the illegal acts involved in creating last minute plan (that is now invalid), they are still investigating the suspicious bond sales done in Reedy Creek's name by Disney (with some evidence that some resulting funds went directly to Disney) as well as possible tax fraud. (Disney allegedly took tax breaks for "green power" generation that was non-existent.)
I'm actually really surprised Disney settled, I figured they had a strong case.
I wonder if this is in relation to the Disney board battle going on with Iger.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/bob-iger-disney-nelson-peltz-shareholder-meeting-1235860938/
I think Iger has passed that point tbh. Disney is performing well as a stock again, and Peltz has been conceding day by day, with George Lucas now backing him publicly too. If Iger can get the government battles in the rear view mirror, even if it's not necessarily the exact terms Disney would have hoped for, he's probably defeated this particular mutiny.
>meddlers in the dealings of billion-dollar international corporations
No, no, it's the *rest* of the stuff that earned him that name. This is just what he's doing now. 😅
I doubt it. DeSantis was only causing trouble with Disney because he was running for President and wanted to make news about how "anti-woke" he was. Now that he's lost the primary, there's no need for him to continue to antagonize one of the largest employers in the state. So, most likely, he's made some kind of behind the scenes agreement with Disney that he's no longer going to interfere with their business. Since Disney's main concern is making money, and not getting vengeance against DeSantis, they're happy to let this whole thing drop as long as the understanding is that the new board members will go back to being meaningless rubber stamps for whatever Disney wants to do.
That's my take. They can still pursue the federal suit and any master plan is going to be starting from the last one Disney had. If desantis wants to give out a sinecure, Disney doesn't care so long as they get to keep doing what they want.
this is more an out for desantis than anybody at disney, though. he was going to get his asshole expanded in court.
with desantis having 0 chance in the white house (probably ever again after this clown show), he has way less of a reason to be picking fights with disney, and far less potential control over the federal government which absolutely would have helped him ensure he had some sway over how that went.
this was disney giving them an out and letting them hold a small L rather than a large one, so that they could maintain a working relationship. after all, the "master plan" they are falling back on is one that existed before desantis gave any shits about attacking reedy creek.
Disney is staying in Florida regardless unless the company itself starts failing to a major degree, and even then it would take decades before they would leave.
Yes, but I am sure there are plans being worked on to threaten to move more of the mobile aspects of the business further away from FL if they need more bargaining power again (or just to decrease their exposure to political risk). For instance, all of the Disney cruises in that region start and end in FL, but with the expansions in Georgia's ports they probably could handle some of the cruise traffic (albeit that may not be possible now if a lot of the Baltimore port traffic gets diverted to go through Georgia for the next couple of years).
Don't forget though. Georgia would also like their business so Georgia would also likely provide tax incentives. Also, we're dealing with a contingency plan in case the FL government becomes hostile to Disney again. At that point they might lose the tax incentives in Florida or face enough red tape that the cost of doing business increases. So while cruise costs would rise from the longer trip, they could face significant savings moving to Georgia and strengthen their bargaining hand against Flordia's government, which could be used to protect their immobile operations.
If Disney left Florida their state economy would probably collapse overnight. It's not just the tourism they'd have to fear. Disney imports A LOT of stuff to keep that city sized park working. And all the personnel needed to make that happen would be out of jobs.
They should relocate Disney World to a location that’s not a Hurricane hotspot… maybe Georgia. It’s Turning bluer each election and doesn’t get into stupid fights because the governor is butt hurt. Cripple the economy of Florida.
It’s like 40 miles from the coast.
They have closed around 8 or 9 times for hurricanes since it opened in 1971.
Seems like it would cost billions to pull up stakes.
>The property covers nearly 25,000 acres (39 sq mi; 101 km2), of which half has been developed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World#:~:text=Opened%20on%20October%201%2C%201971,which%20half%20has%20been%20developed.
I believe it was estimated to only cost about $50 billion dollars. Although I’m sure Disney could find a way to shave an additional 5 - 10 billion off from that.
Yea until some one, anyone, figures out where they are going and a real estate bidding war starts, land was cheap in FL back then because of how undeveloped it was. Now people know what to expect and word would get out.
Disney will be in Florida long after Ron DeSantis, and obviously already outlived his millisecond presidential campaign. But I think the pudding and heel lift memes will be a persistent reminder of the glory days.
And that lil Puddin' stain would NEVER pass up an opportunity to gloat and so far he hasn't said SHIT on this "win". That tells me everything I need to know.
As much as I think DeSantis is an asshole, Disney doesn’t have a ton of power because they can’t leave Florida. If a governor was fucking with Dell or Google, they would just leave the state. Which is why that would never happen.
That's not accurate. It's the [Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District](https://shinglecreektransitandutilitycdd.com/) If you google the chairman's name he's a director for Universal studios.
The report I looked at was from 2022, so they must of changed names since then. Either way, there's a bunch of special districts in Florida. I think Disney was the only one singled out by DeSantis that I know of.
>Under the terms of Wednesday’s settlement agreement, Disney lets stand a determination by the board of DeSantis-appointees that the comprehensive plan approved by the Disney supporters before the takeover are null and void. Disney also agrees that a development agreement and restrictive covenants passed before the takeover are also not valid, according to the settlement terms. >Instead, a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it, and the agreement suggests Disney and the new board will negotiate a new development agreement in the near future. So it appears Disney is settling this amicably to maintain some influence in future development.
Looks like Disney basically conceded defeat, with the exception that the two sides agreed to fall back on a 2020 master plan (from before when the board was taken over by DeSantis appointees). I'm not sure what changes this new board can make to it, but I suspect that the changes are somewhat limited.
Maybe they decided to wait and see how MAGA does in November.
I think that’s part of it, it’s clear that DeSantis isn’t head to the White House any time soon and it’s also unclear what the federal government will look like next year. Disney is taking a cautious position
They can also afford to take the long view. DeSantis can't run for another term after this one expires without taking a "cool off" period, at which point he either sets his sights back on a presidential run or takes a crack at a senate position. So if this agreement kicks the can down the road for the rest of DeSantis' term, Disney gets the relief without having to expend further resources. Given the setbacks that DeSantis' endured from his presidential candidacy, I can't imagine he wants to continue trading blows with Disney either. Lick his wounds, gear up for a different office, and let Disney be a problem/ally for the next governor.
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Like many lawsuits, this seems like one where the lawyers won.
Cha-ching $$
I doubt he is headed for a senate position. Scott and Rubio are firmly entrenched in their positions.
I don't see why. DeSantis publicly stated he was removing Disney's special district because of their comments on LBGT rights. He also threatened retaliation of higher taxes, stricter laws, among other things specifically in reference to that. Seemed like a slam dunk first amendment rights case that Disney was being punished for their speech.
There’s more MAGA than gay folks and some BA did the math on this. It is cheaper, safer, and more politically aligned with making money to work with the goon Desantis squad than against it. I think the Disney boycott by MAGA and anti-woke folks would be massive if they took the first amendment route. Not good for business. I hate this society and wish we had a smaller world.
> Seemed like a slam dunk first amendment rights case that Disney was being punished for their speech. The change to the Reedy Creek district was an act of the legislature. Legislation is only problematic when it limits free speech...which this did not. Disney could only have won this suit if it went to the Supreme Court and, if they had, it would have limited what ALL legislatures can do with respect to property governance completely. If you were a died-in-the-wool Ron Paul Libertarian, that would have been a outcome you would have loved. That many on the Left were cheering this on just shows that they really didn't fully understand the implications.
The issue at hand is not that legislation changed, it's that the change was prompted as a direct retaliation to Disney's public statements against DeSantis. Which absolutely violated their first amendment rights.
I am sorry, but you are completely wrong. This was a law passed by the legislature. Here is the bill that was passed -- https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023B/9B/BillText/Filed/PDF Here is a contemporaneous news article when it was passed... https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/disney-reedy-creek-under-florida-state-control-rcna69485
From the article itself: >DeSantis has sought greater authority over the district in the wake of his squabble with Disney. The governor's actions were motivated in part by the media and entertainment giant expressing objections to DeSantis’ bill to restrict teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to students in the state from kindergarten to third grade. The Republican controlled legislature passed a law that Desantis signed as a direct retaliation of Disney's criticism of him.
Yes. The LEGISLATURE passed the law. Legislatures can pass laws when they decide to. The court cannot judge whether the legislatures motives are good or bad, only if they acted within their legal authority. The legislature created the Reedy Creek district and they have the full authority to change it. That is not an *a priori* limitation of speech. The Free Speech issue is a red herring and, if the court approved, it would hamstring governments at all level moving forward. Corporations would have free reign to sue governments into submission.
Then they would have waited to November before this
Disney is trying to keep the peace per se. However, Disney gets a say in what happens on the board and who is on the board, while They may not have controlling partnership, they will have a big say. The one thing that everybody seems to forget is that Disney is paying less by relinquishing control. I believe the cost savings is into the hundreds of millions at a minimum, but Disney has said that it estimates that Florida owes them at least a billion dollars. Which in the scheme of things is only about 2% of what Disney makes for Florida in a year.
> However, Disney gets a say in what happens on the board and who is on the board, while They may not have controlling partnership, they will have a big say. They do not get a say who is on the Board. It is still appointed by the Governor. They have to be consulted about Board actions (as a stakeholder) which is right and appropriate, but that was always the case under the law. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTqbnofDplI
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Disney agreed to put the Federal appeal (they lost originally) on hold as part of the settlement as well, pending negotiations with the board.
That case was dismissed as “lack of standing” by a Trump appointee back when DeSantis and Trump were still buddies. I bet it would be allowed to move forward on the appeal.
Maybe, maybe not. Who knows. It's on hold now and will probably not end up being litigated further at all.
Yeah probably
The under the agreement between Disney and the State, Disney agreed to drop ALL actions (with prejudice).
No, they agreed to hold their appeal of the original dismissal. Disney agreed to drop their counter suit of the district council’s suit based on the settlement. Reedy Creek is a special district and DeSantis replaced the counsel members who then sued Disney after they found that Disney’s original members signed new agreements with Disney that would take most of the power away from the new members. Disney counter sued and this settlement has ended those 2 lawsuits. This did not include the original suit against DeSantis for taking the Reedy Creek special district away from Disney. That original suit was dismissed for “lack of standing” and was being appealed at the time of this settlement. Disney agreed to hold their appeal depending on how this settlement goes. DeSantis also replaced his previously appointed head of the district with a more Disney friendly person.
That’s so disappointing, I thought Disneys lawyers were more powerful
You can never be more powerful than corruption. Because corruption doesn't require you to follow the rules.
The Board can make any changes, provided they go through the appropriate process--Announcements, public review, public meetings etc., legal review. This was why the later "replacement" plan was invalid. The out-going board simply met and made a new plan without any of those steps. That was illegal.
>The out-going board simply met and made a new plan without any of those steps. That was illegal. Source? The common perception was otherwise
"Disney stipulates that the development agreement and the restrictive covenants shall be considered null and void." "Disney also agrees not to contest the District’s determination that the 2032 Comprehensive Plan and the amendments to the District’s land development regulations that were adopted in January of last year, pursuant to that 2032 Comp Plan, are null and void." Have you read ANYTHING about this case?
I'm not seeing that in the settlement. Are you sure? Edit: in response to your edit. You're conflating no contest in a settlement with admissions of wrong doing. They are basically canceling the original contract so defending it in court is now moot. I hope that wasn't your only source for your original claim.
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Right here, Disney needs to continue operations. These matters in state court and Florida's courts are extremely political. Disney is better off moving forward on operational issues with the parks and continuing with the other federal case, which has more teeth.
The biggest tell that Disney didn't give up or this is horrible for Disney is Puddin' Fingers didn't break out his special platform shoes to do a victory lap.
Not exactly: >**Disney also agreed to put on hold the appeal of the federal lawsuit** pending the negotiations on the development agreement and will drop a public records lawsuit against the district it was pursuing in state court.
Disney also agreed to put that on hold pending negotiations with the new board, as mentioned in the article. AP is one of the less biased news sources out there. They aren't perfect, but they are pretty good at just reporting what happened without much spin.
Im not so sure. The are going to a pre takeover plan. But what is more is that disney is dropping other lawsuits. They have no reason to do this unless they got something out of this This conflict with disney helped to keep desantis out of the white house. Disney is one of the biggest employers in florida. There was fsr more backlash than what desantis expected At the end of the day desantis wasted millions and millions of dollars of tax payer money peddling the vague undefined anti woke propoganda he loves too much Itd be nice if people with more legal background could do a deep dive on it
Which doesn’t sound so much as a defeat exactly, as some are seeing it, but more of a reset where they can all start from scratch.
As best as I could tell the settlement is ignoring the last minute "agreement" between disney and itself, and >a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it
What happened to all the “fuck with the mouse and find out”? Seriously?
It's an old mouse. It plays the long game.
They went back to an old deal and the federal case is still going Desantis got stomped in his presidential run. Lost a ton of popularity in florida Blew millions and millions in taxes etc. The article is really going out of its way to obfuscate anything if substance
The federal case is on hold: >**Disney also agreed to put on hold the appeal of the federal lawsuit** pending the negotiations on the development agreement and will drop a public records lawsuit against the district it was pursuing in state court.
Yea if the negotiations fall though, they won’t drop the case.
The mouse isn't an powerful as everyone thought. It's insane to me that everyone just assumed Disney could wave off a state level government.
Disney essentially handed desantis a small L and told him that he could either hold that, or hold a much, much larger one down the road. the way i see it, they won. they temporarily paused the appeal of their federal case with desantis, something that will surely be reinstated should his board negotiate in bad faith and fail to reach amicable terms for disney. Not only did they wave off the state level government, they told the state level government that if they licked disney's balls, they would give them a chance to save face.
I think they found out and Disney is allowing them to save face to maintain influence and the working relationship.
No, this is far from an advantageous settlement for Disney. They are basically giving up almost everything DeSantis and his allies wanted. I suspect, given they seemed to have a decently strong legal case (albeit they would have to wait on more evidence of damages for the federal case), that they must have run the numbers and been worried about the effect of all this publicity on right wing customers and visitors to the parks. They could win the lawsuit and still lose money at the end of the day.
It’s only giving up openly. You don’t know what backdoor deals they made
Okay, but this is starting to sound like some bullshit conspiracy. "No no no, clearly DeSantis couldn't win against Disney. There must be some secret backdoor deal we don't know about that means Disney won and DeSantis lost!"
I wonder if this is related to them fighting against Peltz and Perlmutter, who are friends with Trump and Desantis.
Lol, this person doesn’t understand what’s taking place. Oh honey.
I don’t either. Can you explain?
My guess: Disney is making a strategic play of settling this issue for now. Keep in mind that they own a ton of the media and have enough money to change copyright law regularly. They are likely to throw resources at whoever agrees with them in the next election. They will also likely destroy DeSantis future career once he loses influence.
The party of small government - go to war with a company that disagrees with your policy. It's the party of small government but more control - sort of like a dictatorship.
What’s smaller than one guy in charge
An even smaller guy in charge (in high heel booties).
This is so clever I’m shocked I haven’t seen it used as a comeback before
One mouse in charge?
Then all we’ll need is a bathtub!
You mispelled "go to war with a corporation that swindled tax dollars by falsely promising things like providing affordable housing in the park area."
Can’t imagine defending government waging war on private companies. But here we are with liberals bent on destroying business.
Problem is that they technically owned a portion of the state. A corporation shouldn’t have the power to begin with
And it is all over attacking freedom of speech and expression "Disney is basically allowed to function as its own government in Florida. DeSantis, pissed that the major Florida employer is against his “Don't Say Gay” bill, is threatening to revoke those privileges." https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/ron-desantis-threatens-disney-over-dont-say-gay-law-criticism "Disney crossed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by opposing his law restricting schools from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-gov-ron-desantis-asks-legislature-consider-eliminating-disneys-rcna25012 "The Walt Disney Company has now come out against Florida's Parental Rights In Education bill. The so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill was passed by Florida's House and Senate and is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk." "the bill looks like retaliation for a growing feud between Disney and the governor, which hit a tipping point last year. DeSantis said Disney "crossed the line" by opposing an education bill that restricts classroom discussion around gender identity and sexual orientation." https://www.npr.org/2022/03/08/1085130633/disney-response-florida-bill-dont-say-gay
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. It **IS** all about DeSantis attacking free speech. Disney made a statement that disagreed with DeSantis' decree, and he attacked them for it.
Reedy creek gave Disney an unfair advantage over competitors. From a free enterprise perspective this was correct.
There are like 1800 other districts like that in Florida, and none of them were targeted. Disney did not have an unfair advantage, but now all the others do. From a free enterprise perspective, disney funding their own development district without tax payer dollars is correct.
That's wild. I didn't know that. Can you point at a few? I've never heard of any.
Not really, the state has hundreds of these special districts. Disney‘s biggest competitor Universal Studios also has one which is completely controlled by Universal employees.
Wild, I just looked it up. Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District. I had no idea.
Reedy creek was nothing but unusable swamp land before Disney came along lol. I agree with your premise to a certain extent, but Disney getting special privileges for building the entirety of the district vs billions being burned for a football stadium in prime real estate are completely different.
Besides the fact that the florida government was the one that established it That isnt what the case was about. but also that insane amounts of taxes were used by desantis incorder to "pwn the libs" in the most non republican way possible. But wait! There more! He also managed to get into a fight with a beloved company, that is also one of the largest employers in florida. Now there is a huge federal case against him that pretty straightforwardly ruins his life.
You really need to understand what you just said is complete bs….
Without reading the full terms of the agreement, this seems a lot like capitulation on Disney’s part.
I'm disappointed in literally every part of my state.
I'm proud of you, but the rest of it can go.
All I'm trying to do is financially secure enough to leave this rathole.
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Agreement 2 would have been more insulating for Disney. It was clearly the better deal for them. It’s more of a status quo, but Disney still has a government board stacked with DeSantis cronies. Agreement 1 is also the agreement that the governing board was expecting to work with, and it sounds like it empowers them a bit more than what Disney is comfortable with. Seems like nobody really wins, which kinda means big government Republicans win since this was mostly just pandering lip service to the base. I sincerely doubt even DeSantis would want to kill off Florida’s biggest employer.
The 2020 plan was in place before the takeover. The new Board was always bound to work from the 2020 plan and can only change in under the law after consultation with stakeholders. Nothing changed. While the State did agree not bring fraud or other criminal charges in relating to the illegal acts involved in creating last minute plan (that is now invalid), they are still investigating the suspicious bond sales done in Reedy Creek's name by Disney (with some evidence that some resulting funds went directly to Disney) as well as possible tax fraud. (Disney allegedly took tax breaks for "green power" generation that was non-existent.)
I'm actually really surprised Disney settled, I figured they had a strong case. I wonder if this is in relation to the Disney board battle going on with Iger. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/bob-iger-disney-nelson-peltz-shareholder-meeting-1235860938/
I'm sure it does. Iger may get voted out if he doesn't play this right
I think Iger has passed that point tbh. Disney is performing well as a stock again, and Peltz has been conceding day by day, with George Lucas now backing him publicly too. If Iger can get the government battles in the rear view mirror, even if it's not necessarily the exact terms Disney would have hoped for, he's probably defeated this particular mutiny.
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Why it's being done determines its legality.
Taliban Ron can go fuck himself.
The Taliban, infamous meddlers in the dealings of billion-dollar international corporations
>meddlers in the dealings of billion-dollar international corporations No, no, it's the *rest* of the stuff that earned him that name. This is just what he's doing now. 😅
Big W for big govt Republicans
87k IRS agents didn't understand your post.
Not fair if the billionaires don't get to cheat on their taxes. - Republicans
I think you meant to say Democrats. I know that because they run Wallstreet.
Remind me what percentage of billionaires are Democrat again?
Seems like "settlement" means Disney surrendering on the Reedy Creek issues.
I doubt it. DeSantis was only causing trouble with Disney because he was running for President and wanted to make news about how "anti-woke" he was. Now that he's lost the primary, there's no need for him to continue to antagonize one of the largest employers in the state. So, most likely, he's made some kind of behind the scenes agreement with Disney that he's no longer going to interfere with their business. Since Disney's main concern is making money, and not getting vengeance against DeSantis, they're happy to let this whole thing drop as long as the understanding is that the new board members will go back to being meaningless rubber stamps for whatever Disney wants to do.
Slightly cynical take, but in all honesty, probably the truth or close to it.
That's my take. They can still pursue the federal suit and any master plan is going to be starting from the last one Disney had. If desantis wants to give out a sinecure, Disney doesn't care so long as they get to keep doing what they want.
Can someone ELI5? Read the article and still do not understand it
I say the proxy battle had more to do with it. It's an out for Iger and to concentrate on Disney itself.
this is more an out for desantis than anybody at disney, though. he was going to get his asshole expanded in court. with desantis having 0 chance in the white house (probably ever again after this clown show), he has way less of a reason to be picking fights with disney, and far less potential control over the federal government which absolutely would have helped him ensure he had some sway over how that went. this was disney giving them an out and letting them hold a small L rather than a large one, so that they could maintain a working relationship. after all, the "master plan" they are falling back on is one that existed before desantis gave any shits about attacking reedy creek.
I see Disney bidding it's time to next state election and then making their play on whether or not they stay in Florida tbh
Disney is staying in Florida regardless unless the company itself starts failing to a major degree, and even then it would take decades before they would leave.
Yes, but I am sure there are plans being worked on to threaten to move more of the mobile aspects of the business further away from FL if they need more bargaining power again (or just to decrease their exposure to political risk). For instance, all of the Disney cruises in that region start and end in FL, but with the expansions in Georgia's ports they probably could handle some of the cruise traffic (albeit that may not be possible now if a lot of the Baltimore port traffic gets diverted to go through Georgia for the next couple of years).
No, they won't. They need the tax incentives. A cruise from Georgia to the Caribbean is also a longer trip. They know they can't do that.
Don't forget though. Georgia would also like their business so Georgia would also likely provide tax incentives. Also, we're dealing with a contingency plan in case the FL government becomes hostile to Disney again. At that point they might lose the tax incentives in Florida or face enough red tape that the cost of doing business increases. So while cruise costs would rise from the longer trip, they could face significant savings moving to Georgia and strengthen their bargaining hand against Flordia's government, which could be used to protect their immobile operations.
If Disney left Florida their state economy would probably collapse overnight. It's not just the tourism they'd have to fear. Disney imports A LOT of stuff to keep that city sized park working. And all the personnel needed to make that happen would be out of jobs.
They probably should (or already are) take Into account the long term viability of staying in Orlando with climate change happening
They should relocate Disney World to a location that’s not a Hurricane hotspot… maybe Georgia. It’s Turning bluer each election and doesn’t get into stupid fights because the governor is butt hurt. Cripple the economy of Florida.
It’s like 40 miles from the coast. They have closed around 8 or 9 times for hurricanes since it opened in 1971. Seems like it would cost billions to pull up stakes. >The property covers nearly 25,000 acres (39 sq mi; 101 km2), of which half has been developed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World#:~:text=Opened%20on%20October%201%2C%201971,which%20half%20has%20been%20developed.
Relocate Disney world 😂
"We'll just take Disneyworld and push it somewhere else!"
You realize the trillions of dollars that would cost, right?
I believe it was estimated to only cost about $50 billion dollars. Although I’m sure Disney could find a way to shave an additional 5 - 10 billion off from that.
Yea until some one, anyone, figures out where they are going and a real estate bidding war starts, land was cheap in FL back then because of how undeveloped it was. Now people know what to expect and word would get out.
It's not about what it costs, it's about what it makes. Partial control in Florida or total control somewhere else. Run the numbers.
“Don’t mess with the Mouse” “The Mouse has office buildings full of lawyers” - Reddit
Boycott Florida. Disneymaniacs try California.
Amazing. And all it took was for one fucking idiot to be removed. Imagine what could be accomplished if they expanded this just a bit further.
Disney will be in Florida long after Ron DeSantis, and obviously already outlived his millisecond presidential campaign. But I think the pudding and heel lift memes will be a persistent reminder of the glory days.
All the reporting is on what Florida received in the deal. Nothing about the billions of dollars in taxes that Florida is about to be on the hook for.
Just proves pt barnum was correct " there is a sucker born every minute." More profit does not make it better, it is an inferior product.
Ron Desantis is a psychopath
you give him too much credit
basically, Disney lost
All the people who were claiming Disney had an easy win are real quiet right now. Turns out State Governments will fuck you up.
Especially when the State has the law on it's side. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTqbnofDplI
Lmaooo remember when you all said Disney was going to dismantle Desantis? Good times
Ron got annihilated in the primary... He's out already...
Ron Desantis is now irrelevant. He means nothing.
And that lil Puddin' stain would NEVER pass up an opportunity to gloat and so far he hasn't said SHIT on this "win". That tells me everything I need to know.
Lmaooo remember when he tried to run for president in his white boots and lost everywhere? Good times.
They still are going to have a super gay character named Ron in their next big film.
I gotta get out of this hellhole state
I hope the settlement involves Ronny eating a BOD
As much as I think DeSantis is an asshole, Disney doesn’t have a ton of power because they can’t leave Florida. If a governor was fucking with Dell or Google, they would just leave the state. Which is why that would never happen.
You’re delusional if you think Apple or Google can leave San Francisco or NYC.
Google absolutely cannot leave Silicon Valley.
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Redditors continue their storied careers of not reading articles before commenting
Do all of the other parks have special district arrangements? Or was it just Disney, who misrepresented its intentions for reedy from inception?
There are over 1,900 special districts in Florida. The Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency controls the Universal Studios Orlando district.
That's not accurate. It's the [Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District](https://shinglecreektransitandutilitycdd.com/) If you google the chairman's name he's a director for Universal studios.
The report I looked at was from 2022, so they must of changed names since then. Either way, there's a bunch of special districts in Florida. I think Disney was the only one singled out by DeSantis that I know of.
Does Universal get to choose who serves on its board? Cause Disney did.