Disney scraps $867m Florida plan amid Ron DeSantis feud – BBC News
Published May 24, 2023, 6:20 a.m. by Violet Harris
disney news - disney scraps 867m florida plan amid ron desantis feud bbc news
In a move that will surely add fuel to the fire of the ongoing feud between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and The Walt disney Company, disney has scrapped its plans to build a $867 million dollar gondola system connecting its theme parks in Orlando.
The proposed gondola system, which was first announced in 2017, would have connected disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot theme parks with four separate lines. The project was put on hold in 2019 amid concerns about its cost and feasibility, but disney had been moving forward with the plans until now.
In a statement, disney said that the company had "made the difficult decision to cancel the disney Skyliner project." The company did not give a specific reason for the cancellation, but it is likely that the ongoing feud between DeSantis and disney played a role.
The feud between DeSantis and disney began last year when the Florida Governor refused to give the company a $15 million tax break for its new theme park in Orlando. In response, disney began a public campaign against the Governor, accusing him of being "anti-disney."
The feud escalated last month when DeSantis signed a bill into law that bans local governments from entering into agreements with theme parks that restrict their ability to expand. The bill was seen as a direct shot at disney, and the company responded by threatening to cancel its plans to build the gondola system.
With disney now officially scrapping the gondola project, it is clear that the feud between DeSantis and the company is only getting worse. It remains to be seen what other consequences this will have for the relationship between the two sides, but one thing is for sure: the gondola system would have been a great addition to the Orlando skyline.
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Disney has scrapped plans to move 2 000
jobs to Florida over what it called the
changing business conditions in the
state the decision comes as relations
between the entertainment Giant and
State Governor Ron DeSantis grow
increasingly tense the disagreement
started when the company criticized
Florida legislation that restricts
discussing sexuality and gender identity
in primary schools and soon after Mr
DeSantis stripped Disney of its
self-governing powers in the Walt Disney
World entertainment complex saying what
he called a woke company didn't deserve
such rights now Disney has sued the
state over the decision well let's speak
to Anthony zurchar our North American
correspondent who's live in a town
called celebration originally built by
the Walt Disney Company in the shadow of
the theme park Anthony just this is a
long-running issue isn't it so just take
us through this sort of latest stage
it is it's been going on now for over a
year but this latest stage uh is
Disney's decision to pull an investment
not into the theme park that's very
close uh to me here in celebration but
in Orlando they were going to bring
white-collar jobs some tech related jobs
2 000 of them to this area and for the
people I was talking to around here they
were looking forward to that because
they wanted to have Florida wanted to
have some jobs that weren't directly
related to the hospitality and tourism
industry they wanted to expand a little
bit into the tech and white collar
corporate sector and this is Disney
showing that they can bring some pain to
Florida if the Run stance continues to
try to punch Disney for what they view
their free speech rights expressing
their disagreement with Florida law so I
mean you can't talk about DeSantis
without talking about the sort of
election we're assuming or expecting
that he will announce his candidacy at
some point soon just wondering how this
is going to play with voters
well you know I've been talking to
voters here in Orlando and uh you know
most of the people I talk to either work
for Disney or still work for Disney I
mean the reach of the company hero in
Orlando is very deep and a lot of the
people I talked to have very real
concerns about whether Wanda Sanders is
going too far and leaning into cultural
conflict cultural War issues rather than
focusing on economics but I think that's
a calculation that Ron DeSantis is
making that their Republican primary
voters the one who will determine who
the Presidential nominee will be are
more interested in cultural issues
taking on local corporations and woke
government rather than catering to big
businesses that may be at least in
Rhonda Sanders's evaluation where the
primary voters are now they're not the
uh corporate voters not the big business
uh small government voters that would
vote in Republican primaries in years
past who's going to win in a battle
between Disney and in Florida who's
going to win Rhonda santis or Disney
okay
Disney has very deep pockets and they've
been in fights like this before and
they've had the endurance to last I was
talking with someone who is platforms
with Disney in the past and she said
they are a very powerful adversary
they're a good friend to have on your
side but they're willing to wait out Ron
DeSantis so I think it's that's going to
be a tough fight for Ron DeSantis I
think it's going to be really
interesting and any sort of reaction
from the rest of the states or is this
very much seen as a real Florida issue a
real Florida tussle
well you know I think Ron DeSantis is
trying to make this into a national
issue he's he's making this the
centerpiece of his nesting campaign that
is willing to take on vested interest
vested corporate interest even when it
comes at an economic price so I think
when we see him if we see him announce
his campaign soon I think this will
continue to be a centerpiece of that
that has the backbone to stand up to
even if this uh the company as powerful
as Disney and see it through to the end
so I don't think we've heard the end of
this on either side Anthony thank you so
much really interesting stuff thanks
Anthony Zurcher the uh around the world
and across the UK this is BBC News
