Posted on 06/15/2022 5:12:06 PM PDT by spacejunkie2001
The Walt Disney Co.'s relocation timeline to Central Florida appears to be on the rocks.
Reports from various blogs and sites indicate Disney's (NYSE: DIS) plans to move 2,000 jobs from California to Orlando's Lake Nona community are being pushed back to 2026 — a move of at least three years.
Disney Spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler confirmed to OBJ that the plans have shifted. "While a growing number of our employees, who ultimately will work at the campus, already have made the move to Central Florida, we also want to continue to provide flexibility to those relocating, especially given the anticipated completion date of the campus is now in 2026. Therefore, where possible, we are aligning the relocation period with the campus completion."
Executives Tavistock Development Co., the owner/developer of Lake Nona, were not available for comment.
WDW News Today, a theme park blog with insider knowledge, reported the news came during a Disney meeting. "This announcement came at an all-hands-on-deck meeting today. Some employees were already searching for homes and are understandably upset about the delay because they had already sold their California homes," said the post.
Last July, Disney confirmed plans to invest $864 million in a campus to build and grow its presence in Central Florida. The Disney campus would be home to imagineers and other professionals. Early timelines were for the move to occur in 2023, yet some job listings showed the move might have been by late 2024.
This latest development comes amid an ongoing feud between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the status of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a governing entity of the land encompassing Walt Disney World. Disney said the Lake Nona delay is not related to the situation with DeSantis.
In April, DeSantis signed a bill into law that would dissolve various special districts including the Reedy Creek district. The purpose behind the new law, said DeSantis during several public appearances, was to get rid of Disney's special governing powers that are held by no other business in Florida.
However, some reports tie the sudden legislation to an ongoing feud between DeSantis and Disney over the controversial "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which many opponents have called the "Don't Say Gay" bill due to it banning teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.
That feud did not have any effect on an incentive plan for Disney's move, a DeSantis spokesman previously told Orlando Business Journal.
"The governor has not taken a position against this tax credit, because it isn’t a special privilege reserved for one corporation. It is open to all companies with prospective relocation plans of similar size. In addition to Disney, many other corporations have successfully applied and qualified for the CITC program," Bryan Griffin, the governor's spokesman previously told OBJ.
Nevertheless, this delay in the relocation dampens a major win for the region that had its largest employer ready to grow its footprint and bring many new high-wage jobs.
Walt Disney Co.'s Walt Disney World — the nation's largest single-site employer, with nearly 70,000 Orlando workers — has four local theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Walt Disney World alone is the top generator for visitation to Orlando, with more than 50 million people going through its turnstiles in previous years — many of those repeat visitors.
RECOMMENDED Disney also owns two area water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, as well as several themed hotels, golf courses, a camping resort, timeshare properties, ESPN Wide World of Sports and the Disney Springs dining/shopping/entertainment district.
I commented that if FL doesn’t want more Disney people there they shouldn’t offer them tax credits to relocate.
Seems pretty straightforward but I guess anything can be misunderstood.
And culturally right now, pro-Disney is pro-pervert.
States always want more skilled jobs like this. More economic growth equals more opportunities for their citizens and more tax revenue for the gov.
You know nothing of what is happening in Florida, particularly related to Disney.
“why do you call this a big win?”
Because children in the area will be safer, for a least a few more years.
Confusing article. Disney is a failed company. “50 million people going through its turnstiles in previous years.” Whatever. Orlando gets about five million visitors a year, less than the 6 million to Los Angeles and the 7 million to Las Vegas.
Exactly
I lived there longer than you know. You’re just blithering in ignorance because you don’t have a viable point.
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