DeSantis points to Universal's Epic Universe as catalyst for Disney's future expansion in Florida

30 days ago in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Posted: Wednesday March 27, 2024 1:48pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In answering questions from reporters this afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis briefly commented on today's settlement agreement between Disney and The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

DeSantis repeated previous talking points that asserting state control over Reedy Creek and nullifying certain covenants are in Florida's best interests and that legal challenges against the state's actions have not succeeded.

DeSantis was notably softer in his language today and shifted the blame to Disney in Burbank, and away from Orlando. When asked how Disney would work with the new CFTOD, he said, "I think it would be good. This is moving beyond moving forward, I think that's what the company wants to do. And, you know, a lot of what happened with parents rights and education, some of that stuff was really driven by Burbank. It was not driven by Orlando, and I think we've always understood that."

DeSantis suggested today that Disney in Burbank was to blame for the dispute, and that "It was not driven by Orlando"

Touching upon future development, DeSantis suggested that other entities like Universal, which is developing Epic Universe, could significantly impact the region and that "Disney can be a part of that."

Universal Epic Universe concept art

Continuing to speak about Epic Universe, DeSantis said, "I think it's just going to be a huge game changer. It's bigger than their other two parks combined. I mean, like, imagine that footprint; that's pretty huge. And so, you know, I got to think that Disney would want to answer that to be able to kind of keep up with the competition.

The Governor even went as far as to suggest that Disney may build another park, saying, "I got to think Disney would have an interest and maybe, maybe offering another one. The district will be ready to negotiate something to be able to be good for the state of Florida be good for jobs and be good for all those things."

Full details of the settlement agreement between Disney and CFTOD can be seen here.

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lazyboy97o1 minute ago

Control of what? A new development agreement, which has to lock in what already exists, still hasn’t even been presented for public review.

mkt2 hours ago

I'll call them pragmatists. Pragmatists with control.

Dcgc2810 hours ago

Not sure you’ve said this enough times since they ended the lawsuit. Perhaps if you type it out 3-4 more times someone will care

lazyboy97o10 hours ago

They don’t have control. They are cowards who are hedging for the near future that they might be targets on a wider scale.

peter1143511 hours ago

Sure. In hindsight they shouldn’t have done it because the state decided to illegally retaliate in response. If I leave my house to go to the store and on the way I get mugged… sure you could say it wouldn’t have happened if I had stayed home. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have gone out or that going out was a mistake. And it would certainly be ridiculous to refer to the situation by saying that me and the mugger both made mistakes.

mkt11 hours ago

It's not a compromise. Disney doesn't actually care about the free speech argument. Disney has quietly restarted political contributions (the true reason behind all of this) and now maintains control over their land with a board that will be friendlier while reserving the right to restart the federal appeal if an unfriendly board re-emerges. At the same time DeSantis can claim he won, and his supporters will not question it. All Disney wanted was control and to stop the damage to their image.

James Alucobond12 hours ago

He was saying it was unwise to do that knowing that they were coexisting with a loose cannon. It was unwise in the same way that walking through a sketchy neighborhood at night is kind of a bad idea, but no reasonable person would say that it was your fault if you got mugged or shot as a result.

LittleBuford13 hours ago

You don’t see a difference between an action that some may not approve of (Disney wading into politics) and an action that flies in the face of established constitutional protections (a government punishing an entity for exercising its right to free speech)? Those both fall under the category of “mistake” in your view?

Tom P.13 hours ago

Bob Iger himself has said that Disney should not have waded into the political issues the way they did under Chapek.

peter1143513 hours ago

Well… they’re not supposed to be able to

Chi8415 hours ago

The only problem with that is that Disney didn’t do anything wrong to justify retaliatory legislation. If the governor made Disney the target of his stump speeches that would have been fine. If the governor told people not to go to Disney that would have been fine. In this country the government cannot use the power we delegate to it to punish political speech.

Dranth15 hours ago

Irony at its best.

peter1143515 hours ago

I see you didn’t answer but I’ll ask again. What “major mistake” did Disney make. I’m not asking you to restate all of the issues with everything that happened… just what major mistake Disney made. That should be easy right?

mmascari15 hours ago

Presumably, it was cheaper. Since Disney was paying the costs for both sides. Disney finding some type of agreement satisfactory enough to resolve the issue for them is not the same as Disney agreeing that they were wrong about anything. Not the same as Disney saying they couldn't win more. It simply Disney saying this solution is "good enough". Not "good", "not preferred", not a "win" or "loss", just "good enough". In fact, didn't they explicitly state if the agreement isn't good enough, they reserve the right to continue to fight it. That's all it tells us. There's no greater meaning in this resolution with insight about any additional details.