Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office called out the Walt Disney Company for “corporate propaganda” by its announcement of the cancellation of a $1 billion Lake Nona campus plan in Orlando to “distract” from the closure of one of their resorts.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, which opened on March 1, 2022, will close in late September of this year. It will have only operated for around 18 months.
The resort is one of the most costly options for families looking to stay at Walt Disney World in Central Florida, clocking in at nearly $5,000 per couple and around $6,000 for a family of four.
“This entire story was just corporate propaganda to distract from their failed $6000 two-night Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser experiment,” Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for DeSantis, said.
“Who would have thought that $6000 for a two-night stay was unaffordable for most families?” he said.
Redfern also responded to criticisms that business is on a downturn in Florida in comparison to New York.
“How business is going in Florida – 7% increase in total nonfarm employees since Jan 2020. How it’s going in NY and NYC: 1.3% decrease and 0.6% decrease in total nonfarm employees since Jan 2020, respectively,” Redfern said.
“Net domestic migration 2021-2022- Florida: +318,855 NY: -299,557.”
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings blamed the lack of an “inclusive” environment for the cancellation.
“It is unfortunate that Disney will not be moving forward with construction of the Lake Nona campus,” Demings, a Democrat, said. “However, these are the consequences when there isn’t an inclusive and collaborative work environment between the state of Florida and the business community.”
“We will continue to work closely with our valued partners at Disney,” Demings said.
DeSantis’ office responded to the news, saying the “possibility” of the project was brought up two years ago, and “nothing ever came” of it.
“The state was unsure whether it would come to fruition,” they said.
“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.”
The actions were limited to the Lake Nona campus, which would also have relocated Californian employees, and a Disney official noted that plans for $17 billion of investments in Walt Disney World remain.
Ongoing lawsuits with Disney and DeSantis are over Florida’s nullification of the company’s last-minute, far-reaching agreements that granted them considerable power over the district.
Disney alleged that the governor-appointed board is engaging in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” that would threaten “Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
They described the board’s vote to commence nullification of Disney’s far-reaching agreements that occurred before the new board was appointed, as the “last strike.”
DeSantis’ office previously responded to the lawsuit, saying Disney has no “legal right” to “operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state.”