Marta Lavandier and John Raoux/AP
- Disney sued Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, accusing him of trying to "weaponize government power."
- DeSantis has targeted Disney's special self-governing powers in Florida.
- The suit is the latest in the two's yearlong feud. Here's a timeline of the events.
When Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida stripped Disney World of its self-governing status in February, he punctuated a long-simmering feud that has come to define his governorship in the Sunshine State with the declaration, "There's a new sheriff in town."
But the House of Mouse hasn't exactly abided. After a yearlong feud, Disney sued DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging that the Florida governor tried to "weaponize government power" over the company. The move is an escalation after DeSantis threatened new changes to Disney's special tax district and even floated the idea of building a state prison on the park's border.
The feud began after the entertainment giant spoke out last March against a controversial piece of legislation critics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill.
The Parental Rights in Education Act was signed in March 2022 and restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida's K-3 public schools. Florida's Board of Education voted on Wednesday to expand that law to cover grades four to 12.
In response to Disney's criticism, DeSantis called to remove Disney World's self-governing status, which allowed the company to call much of its own shots for the past six decades, most notably when it came to development processes. This has helped Disney World expand with less friction to the 25,000-acre theme-park resort it is today.
Here's a timeline of the events in the increasingly heated battle. Representatives for Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for DeSantis said, in part, "The governor has clearly stated that we want businesses to succeed in Florida. Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, our state has seen record growth in jobs, GDP, and net domestic in-migration. But businesses must be allowed to operate on a level playing field without special privileges or the ability to run their own government."
January 2022: Parental Rights in Education Act introduced
The Parental Rights in Education Act was first introduced to the state senate by Rep. Joe Harding in January 2022.
Under the bill, "a school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels." The bill targets K-3 classrooms, but state officials recently moved to expand the scope of the law to cover grades 4-12.
March 2022: Disney responds
Disney initially refrained from taking a public stance on the issue until after employees and critics demanded the company denounce the bill.
Part of critics' qualms with Disney was that it had previously donated to the bill's sponsors, Harding and Sen. Dennis Baxley.
On March 11, Disney CEO Bob Chapek apologized for not speaking out sooner and said the company would pause all political donations in the state.
"Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was," Chapek said in the statement. "It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights."
Disney released another statement on March 28, saying it would have the law "repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts."
"Florida's HB 1557, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law," the company said.
March 2022: DeSantis and Republican lawmakers plot
DeSantis swiftly responded and said the company "crossed the line" after Disney announced it would work to repeal the law.
"For Disney to come out and put a statement and say that the bill should have never passed and that they are going to actively work to repeal it, I think, one, was fundamentally dishonest but, two, I think that crossed the line," the governor said at a press conference.
Some Republican state lawmakers also began looking into the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which passed in 1967 and granted Walt Disney World the power to essentially act like its own county government. The establishment of the Reedy Creek Improvement District gave Disney flexibility as it expanded its theme park.
Rep. Spencer Roach said on Twitter that lawmakers began meeting to discuss repealing the act.
"Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/ fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government," Roach wrote. "If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County."
April 2022: DeSantis moves to strip Disney of its self-governing status
Republican lawmakers and the governor moved swiftly to revoke Disney's self-governing status.
On April 22, 2022, DeSantis signed a bill that would eliminate the Reedy Creek district and its special governing jurisdiction.
But dissolving the board potentially meant leaving the burden of taxes that maintained roads and services such as the resort's own fire department to taxpayers in the adjacent Orange and Osceola counties. The district also had a massive $1 billion debt.
February 2023: DeSantis adjusts, renames the district, and appoints new board members
Rather than outright eliminating Reedy Creek, Florida lawmakers approved a bill that gave DeSantis control of the special district and allowed the governor to appoint new members to the five-seat board. The district would also be renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
DeSantis' nominations included Bridget Ziegler, the cofounder of the conservative Moms for Liberty group, and Martin Garcia, an attorney whose investment firm donated to DeSantis' election, as chair of the new board.
The Florida House passed a bill on February 9 that the Senate approved the next day. DeSantis signed the bill on February 27.
February 2023: Disney's stealth power grab
On February 8, the outgoing Reedy Creek board members signed an agreement with Disney that essentially gave the company full rein over any development plans or alterations. Garcia, the chairman, also said at a public meeting on Thursday that the board had found another "11th-hour deal" that'd allow a Disney subsidiary to set its own utilities rates until 2032.
The Declaration of Restrictive Covenants was signed with little notice and just a day before the Florida House voted to give the state the power to take over the district.
Newly appointed board members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District decried the move more than a month after the agreement was signed.
"This essentially makes Disney the government," Ron Peri, a board member, said during a meeting on March 29. "This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure."
March and April 2023: DeSantis mulls over a new plan of attack
The Florida governor has since floated a wide range of proposals in response to Disney's quiet power grab.
DeSantis has threatened to build a competing state theme park or a prison. He suggested taxing Disney hotels and placing road tolls around the amusement park. The new district board also is considering more inspection regulations, building workforce affordable housing on land that borders the resort and theme park, and selling the district-owned utilities.
"Who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless," DeSantis said in a press conference Monday.
In addition, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District hired four law firms in hopes to nullify the agreement between Disney and the previous board while they find a legal path forward for their own plans.
April 2023: Allies on the new board and in the legislature move to claw back control from Disney
Florida Republican lawmakers came to DeSantis' aid on April 18 to make the last-minute deal between the outgoing board and Disney void.
Sen. Blaise Ingoglia filed an amendment saying the new district couldn't comply with any development agreement that was "executed within 3 months" before the new board was installed. It's unclear whether the move will work.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District also met April 19 to make the legal case that the board can legally move forward with its own plans for the district despite Disney's power grab maneuver.
April 2023: Disney publicizes pride event and announced affordable-housing plans
Shortly after DeSantis threatened to build a state prison next to Disney World, the company publicized its first LGBTQ event at Disneyland, a new stance after the company's complicated history with LGBTQ issues.
"The first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite is coming to Disneyland during Pride Month in June," the company tweeted Monday afternoon.
The two-night event is scheduled to be held June 13 and 15 at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
Disney also announced affordable-housing development plans on 80 acres of the district land on the same day board members met on April 19. It was the first time the board met since the revelation of the agreement between the prior district board members and Disney.
According to a blog post, Disney plans to build about 1,400 units of affordable housing with a goal completion date of 2026. The number of units goes beyond the initial plans of 1,300 affordable homes.
April 2023: Florida Expands 'Don't Say Gay' law
In the midst of the spat between Disney and DeSantis, the Florida Board of Education moved to expand the controversial law that lies at the center of the feud.
On April 19, the state board approved a ban on classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for all grades, including grades four through 12.
DeSantis previously endorsed the proposal in March.
April 2023: Disney sues DeSantis
Disney escalated its response to DeSantis, suing the governor on April 26. According to the suit, Disney is alleging DeSantis and his office tried to "weaponize government power" over the company.
The suit, filed by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts US, Inc., also alleges that DeSantis and his office have engaged in "a targeted campaign of government retaliation" against Disney that was "orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech."
The suit alleges that DeSantis' ongoing action against Disney "threatens Disney's business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights."
Correction: April 21, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the Florida lawmaker who filed an amendment in reference to the Reedy Creek Improvement District. It is Sen. Blaise Ingoglia. The story has also been updated to include a comment from a DeSantis spokesperson.