Late last week, Disney announced its plan to relocate its Imagineering Department from California to Florida was being cancelled. The project, which was rumored to cost over a billion dollars, would have included all the necessary construction projects to accommodate thousands of Mouse House employees moving to Laka Nona, but now, it appears it’s no longer going to happen. In the wake of the announcement, many pointed the finger at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and claimed his ongoing fight with Disney was the culprit, but not surprisingly, he has a very different take.
The politician, who many think has White House aspirations, instead turned that finger toward Disney’s financial situation. In a new statement from his Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern, the Governor’s Office claimed the move to Florida was an “unsuccessful” venture that was shelved due to the company’s “financial straits.” You can read the longer statement below, per Deadline…
Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition. Given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures.
In the aftermath of Disney’s decision, two competing narratives have emerged. The first places the blame on the cancelled Florida expansion at Governor DeSantis’ feet. Over the last year, he’s been at war with executives over a variety of issues, most specifically Walt Disney World’s ability to regulate itself through the Reedy Creek Improvement District. He’s been systematically adding more oversight over the company since its decision to publish a statement criticizing Florida Republicans for their so-called Don’t Say Gay Bill. The case is currently playing out in a courtroom via legal maneuvers trolling each other, and now that Disney is no longer shifting employees to Florida, some are blaming the Governor for the lost revenue, claiming he’s the reason the move was halted.
The second narrative is much closer to what Governor DeSantis is pushing in this statement. It claims Disney, which recently did a round of layoffs, is having financial problems and doesn’t want to spend the money it would cost to move to Florida. The plan was enacted under the company’s old CEO, and all this tension with DeSantis was the perfect cover for moving on, which new CEO Bob Iger was likely planning to do anyway.
Ultimately, those of us outside the board room will likely never know how much of the cancellation is a response to the political situation in Florida and how much is a response to the financial situation in Burbank. It’s likely some of both, really. Moving an entire division, plus additional employees, all the way across the country is extremely expensive, and also, is the type of thing that creates a low of blowback with many of those actual employees who may not want to move. That being said, if you were a Disney executive and were in the middle of an extended war of words and multiple lawsuits with the State of Florida, would you want to move more of your future there?
I have no idea how this mess between Florida and Disney will play out, but expect there to be a lot more public back-and-forths before it all gets sorted.
