Disney expanded its lawsuit against Ron DeSantis Monday after the Republican-controlled legislature nullified the 30-year agreement to develop the theme park around Orlando.
The company accused the Republican governor of a “retaliatory campaign” and used some of DeSantis’ own remarks against him.
The war between the two entities continues to pile up and the stakes are high for both sides. Disney will hold a shareholder call on Wednesday. DeSantis’ is expected to announce his candidacy for president later this summer.
“Governor DeSantis and his allies appear to have no intention of moderating their retaliatory campaign anytime soon,” Disney noted in his additions to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee.
DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Walt Disney Company amends and expands lawsuit against Ron DeSantis
And Disney argued there may be more to come from the Florida governor, pointing to his own words.
DeSantis has made a series of threats against the house Mickey built, including taxes on his hotels, tolls on roads leading to his theme park, and building a state prison on land near the park that the state owns.
“The governor and his allies have made it clear they don’t care and won’t stop. The governor recently stated that his team would not only “nullify the development agreement” — as the state has done twice now — but also intend to “look at things like taxes on the hotels,” “tolls on the roads,” develop some of the real estate the district owns with “more theme parks” and even put a “state prison” next to Walt Disney World. ‘Who knows? I just think the possibilities are endless,” he said,” the complaint noted.
Disney also argued in its amended filing that DeSantis and the state legislature are targeting their theme park’s monorail system, forcing it to undergo state inspections, from which it was previously exempt.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has not conducted inspections of amusement park rides in facilities or parks with more than 1,000 employees and full-time inspectors due to exceptions that the state legislature has now removed.
Opened in 1971, the Disney monorail system spans nearly 15 miles and handles more than 50 million passengers a year, according to the company. The monorail cars were last updated in 1989.
Disney alleges that DeSantis violated the company’s constitutional rights by dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the public entity that oversaw the Florida resort property, and replacing it with a board controlled by the governor after the company opposed DeSantis’ “don’t say gay” law.
“The state’s actions in the past two weeks are the final strikes,” Disney said in its amended complaint. “At the request of the governor, the state oversight board has purported to “nullify” publicly noted and duly agreed development contracts that had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs. Days later, the state legislature enacted and Governor DeSantis signed legislation making these contracts immediately void and unenforceable. These government actions were blatantly retaliatory, blatantly anti-corporate, and blatantly unconstitutional.”
The old board was essentially run by Disney, which opposed DeSantis’ law banning conversation in schools about sexual orientation and gender identity.
But before DeSantis’ Central Florida Tourism Board took over the special tax district where Disney keeps its theme parks, Disney entered into a development agreement with the old administration that gave it autonomy over what is built on its land and surrounding real estate.
Disney and the old board used an obscure legal clause controlling King Charles III by name to secure control – sparking ire from DeSantis who launched a war against the theme park company in response.
Disney accused Florida governor Ron DeSantis of a ‘retaliatory campaign’
Disney argued that DeSantis and the state legislature are targeting their theme park’s monorail system (above)
Last week, the new DeSantis board and subsequently the state legislature decided to nullify that development agreement.
Florida responded to the original lawsuit by challenging Disney in state court.
Meanwhile, DeSantis accused Disney of contracting itself before the state board took over, but said the contract was not valid.
“The legislature here just passed a statue that I’m going to sign soon to nullify that agreement because under Florida law these development agreements can be revoked, so I think they’ve gotten too cute,” he said in an interview with Newsmax.
“I think we will win that fight in the end. Disney shouldn’t be governing themselves, they should absolutely be held accountable.”
Walt Disney World single-handedly transformed the Orlando area after opening in October 1971.
The city of Florida is now one of America’s – and the world’s – top tourist destinations, and Universal Studios is also opening a massive theme park resort nearby.
Disney World is the largest employer in central Florida, with nearly 75,000 employees and 36.2 million visitors by 2021, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.