Florida Governor DeSantis requests trial delay in Disney case until after the presidential election

Jun 28, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Reedy Creek Improvement District overview

Posted: Wednesday June 28, 2023 11:18am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The court schedule for Disney's federal lawsuit against Ron DeSantis has been released, with details on proposed trial dates from both parties.

Disney is asking for a July 2024 court date, with DeSantis defendants asking for it to begin in August 2025, after the November 2024 presidential election.

Disney's federal April 26, 2023 lawsuit was filed in response to Governor DeSantis' attempts to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District with his own hand-picked board. Disney's lawsuit says that DeSantis' actions violated its First Amendment and other constitutional rights, alleging they were motivated by retaliation due to the company's opposition to the so-called "don't say gay" law related to parental rights in schools.

Disney's lawsuit against Ron DeSantis will begin in July 2024 at the earliest

In addition to the trail date proposals, the schedule also reveals other key dates:

Plaintiff proposes the following schedule:

Fact discovery completed by January 15, 2024.
Expert disclosures made no later than January 15, 2024, and expert discovery completed by March 15, 2024.
Summary Judgment and Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings shall be due April 1, 2024.

Defendant proposes the following schedule:

Fact discovery completed by January 3, 2025.
Expert disclosures made no later than January 3, 2025, and expert discovery completed by March 14, 2025.
Summary Judgment due by April 1, 2025.

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MagicHappens197120 hours ago

Most likely not. Disney isn't building it because it was a Chapek plan that Iger didn't like, they used the guise of the political issues they were having to justify not building it.

rogerrabbitfan920 hours ago

I would imagine that any long term office use plans from that long ago are based on very different assumptions than would be made today.

Goofyernmost1 day ago

I looked at it, when they cancelled that project, it was more of a convenient way of getting out of it. There was a lot of backlash from the Imagineering department about uprooting and heading for the less than liberal thinking area called Florida. They were about to lose a lot of very creative people. They might still attempt to be the developer of that property if they still own it, but they won't be investing more money into it in my opinion.

eddie1041 day ago

I don’t believe they have.

Comped1 day ago

To my knowledge, Disney still hasn't sold off the land?

eddie1041 day ago

I wonder once the dust settles on this will this revive their plans for an East Coast division HQ in Florida?

BrianLo2 days ago

It's nice to get the funding commitment tied up into this. Obviously they've given themselves an out in case of an 'event', much like they have for Disneyland Forward. But an out doesn't mean zero investment. It also sort of again concedes their figures aren't just purely political or Wall Street talking points. Not that I've doubted they are, but the company clearly intends (at this juncture) to still spend this 17 billion over ten years.

BrianLo2 days ago

From what Len posted it would seem to be maybe a two-ish year project finishing mid or late 2027. World Drive being done in 2026.

JoeCamel2 days ago

Or when they spend other people's money

Dr.GrantSeeker2 days ago

Really excited about the widening of Western Way. Is there a timeline on that? It needs to happen sooner than later.

mkt2 days ago

It’s amazing what will get done when the board is forced to act in good faith

Tom P.2 days ago

It's a discussion forum. That's the whole point. Why would you want to be in a discussion on a discussion forum and just say "eh, let's stop talking about this" and expect everyone to just drop it?

GoneViral2 days ago

Agreed!

lazyboy97o2 days ago

No… there are people who genuinely believe that Disney is a bunch of groomers. Just because DeSantis dropped the attacks doesn’t means others have. Disney is hoping people in Florida will run interference if people at the federal level want to target Disney.