Dictator DeSantis?

[Hermit]

Reedy Creek repeal could mean a huge tax increase for Orange County

The move many say was intended to punish Disney, punishes the people of Orange County as well, according to Orange County tax collector Scott Randolph.

www.wesh.com

Would the counties now just tax Disney?

What incentive is there for Disney to stay in Florida?

Protecting billions of dollars it has invested in building the park on 39 square miles since 1967. Disney can't just pull the pegs on it and move it elsewhere.

They can, however, pull the pegs on their political support and throw some massive weight behind ousting Florida Republicans at the polls.

The question was: "What incentive is there for Disney to stay in Florida?"

 

[Jarhyn]

Reedy Creek repeal could mean a huge tax increase for Orange County

The move many say was intended to punish Disney, punishes the people of Orange County as well, according to Orange County tax collector Scott Randolph.

www.wesh.com

Would the counties now just tax Disney?

What incentive is there for Disney to stay in Florida?

Protecting billions of dollars it has invested in building the park on 39 square miles since 1967. Disney can't just pull the pegs on it and move it elsewhere.

They can, however, pull the pegs on their political support and throw some massive weight behind ousting Florida Republicans at the polls.

The question was: "What incentive is there for Disney to stay in Florida?"

As if it wasn't obvious, and as if I didn't also bring that up.

However if push comes to shove, I expect that Disney is large enough that they could rebuild Disney World somewhere else at this point.

 

[Patooka]

However if push comes to shove, I expect that Disney is large enough that they could rebuild Disney World somewhere else at this point.

Disney is so large I wouldn't be surprised if they bought the Roman Catholic Church.

 

[Hermit]

Protecting billions of dollars it has invested in building the park on 39 square miles since 1967. Disney can't just pull the pegs on it and move it elsewhere.

De Santis has given them two very unappealing choices. Stay and be at the mercy of local governments with their shitty infrastructure and utilities (I seriously doubt any county would budget as much as Disney does in those areas), or make a deal with a different state. Disney will do which one is more profitable im the long term and I'm not sure which of the two choices is.

Agreed

It's hardly a unique situation; in Australia the F1 moved from NSW to Victoria and I suspect Disney has even more resources than the F1 (which isn't insignificant in their own right).

Excuse this nitpick: F1 moved from SA to Victoria.

The situation is unique because staging the F1 event is nowhere near as expensive as the billions of dollars in permanent structures on 39 square miles of land. The F1 races in South Australia and Victoria always took place on temporary courses using temporary facilities. They were designed to be erected and pulled down again in a matter of a few weeks.

Either way this is a clear message to American Businesses to stay the fuck out of Florida as the Government can't be trusted to honour their agreements.

This applies to businesses that rely on special agreements. I doubt the governor's shenanigan would affect someone considering to open a KFC franchise in Sarasota.

 

[Patooka]

This applies to businesses that rely on special agreements. I doubt the governor's shenanigan would affect someone considering to open a KFC franchise in Sarasota.

True, but anything larger... I don't see any more amusement parks, national sporting events or corporate headquarters appearing in Florida any time soon. And considering how much of a charming individual De Santis is, I don't see his flexing to be limited only to Disney. The thin point of the wedge if you will.

Excuse this nitpick: F1 moved from SA to Victoria.

That's right. Brainfart on my part.

 

[Hermit]

However if push comes to shove, I expect that Disney is large enough that they could rebuild Disney World somewhere else at this point.

Disney is so large I wouldn't be surprised if they bought the Roman Catholic Church.

The net worth of the Vatican and its 221,700 parishes is not nearly as much as people imagine, so purchase price is not a problem. The difficulty lies elsewhere. As of April 2022 Walt Disney has a market cap of $227.99 Billion. That money is tied up in shares. It is not a liquid asset that can be easily used to buy the Catholic Church.

 

[Hermit]

This applies to businesses that rely on special agreements. I doubt the governor's shenanigan would affect someone considering to open a KFC franchise in Sarasota.

True, but anything larger... I don't see any more amusement parks, national sporting events or corporate headquarters appearing in Florida any time soon. And considering how much of a charming individual De Santis is, I don't see his flexing to be limited only to Disney. The thin point of the wedge if you will.

Oh yes. Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot. He has done so in a fit of pique based on ideological grounds. The Republican Party has become a fucking nightmare.

 

[SigmatheZeta]

Back during the real estate bust, North Carolina and Virginia and some parts of Tennessee had a torrent of what we called "half-backers," which were Yankee types that had gotten tired of Florida but, for some reason, only made it halfway back.

We have a lot of them in a town we call the Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.

What I suggest to anyone in Florida that has any amount of common sense whatsoever is to get the heck out of that pisspot while the getting is good.

 

[Trausti]

Washington Post. 1993.

DISNEY'S PECULIAR NOTION OF DEMOCRACY ...

 

[Trausti]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

 

[Jarhyn]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

You say that, but... The reality is that they can. They have theme parks the world over, as well as studios elsewhere than florida, and enough money to relocate their Florida studios and all the employees they can. They can go anywhere, and the effort will be generally welcomed in... Well, damn near anywhere they decide to go.

They probably already made plans before this happened.

 

[SLD]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

You say that, but... The reality is that they can. They have theme parks the world over, as well as studios elsewhere than florida, and enough money to relocate their Florida studios and all the employees they can. They can go anywhere, and the effort will be generally welcomed in... Well, damn near anywhere they decide to go.

They probably already made plans before this happened.

They’d have to dismantle their entire theme parks, including rides and other attractions. They’d have to find a suitable place to rebuild them too. They’ve already got a park in california, thus where? It needs to be warm so it can operate year round. Maybe Louisiana?

But how quickly could it be done? Would they shut down operations in Florida first? If so, how much revenue would they lose? Their stock price would take a huge cut.

There’s a far simpler way for Disney to get revenge. It generates something like 70-80 billion in revenue. It spends tens of milllions just in state lobbying. It has the states most powerful lobbyists by far. Politicians listen to that money. They need only turn off the coffers to the Republican candidates and give it all to the Democratic candidates, and I suspect they’ll come howling back.

And it isn’t just Disney, it’s every associated business with it. They control the lobbying efforts of many affiliated entities. You do business with Disney, you do what they say.

 

[Patooka]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

"How"? Disney's revenue for 2021 was $72 billion. If Disney was a nation, that's a GDP higher than Luxemberg and 119 other nations in the world. Leaving would be expensive, but not impossible. And if De Santis wants to continue being a cunt, pulling up tent pegs and moving would be beneficial long term.

And whilst that would be a most satisfying two middle fingers to Joffrey 2.0, the more likely scenario will be spending 0.0001% of what it would cost to move on lawyers and sue De Santis and his government into oblivion. And as SLD pointed out, they can budget all their donations to Democrats in Florida. And turn each and every one of their TV shows into what every right wing troll was crying over with regards to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Disney has options and I'm curious what its reaction will be to the Free Market Frankenstein Party that allowed it to be so powerful.

 

[Hermit]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

Correct. Disney cannot just pick up an leave, but if the park becomes less profitable, which the abolition of the Reedy Creek Improvement Act by Florida's governor Ron DeSantis definitely will, Disney will downsize the operation, meaning it will lay off a proportion of its 77,000+ employees. This is going to have flow-on effects, one of which will be a reduction of tourists spending their money in the state. The park has attracted an average annual attendance of more than 58 million.

A worse case scenario would be a decision by the company to scrap the park altogether because it deems it to be no longer a viable business in the long run, write it off as a dead loss, and focus on its other operations. Corporations close subsidiaries and branches that bleed money all the time. It will be a setback for Disney, but it won't go broke. Florida will of course also continue to exist, but thanks to its governor's decision it will also cop a major economic hit.

 

[Jarhyn]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

You say that, but... The reality is that they can. They have theme parks the world over, as well as studios elsewhere than florida, and enough money to relocate their Florida studios and all the employees they can. They can go anywhere, and the effort will be generally welcomed in... Well, damn near anywhere they decide to go.

They probably already made plans before this happened.

They’d have to dismantle their entire theme parks, including rides and other attractions. They’d have to find a suitable place to rebuild them too. They’ve already got a park in california, thus where? It needs to be warm so it can operate year round. Maybe Louisiana?

But how quickly could it be done? Would they shut down operations in Florida first? If so, how much revenue would they lose? Their stock price would take a huge cut.

There’s a far simpler way for Disney to get revenge. It generates something like 70-80 billion in revenue. It spends tens of milllions just in state lobbying. It has the states most powerful lobbyists by far. Politicians listen to that money. They need only turn off the coffers to the Republican candidates and give it all to the Democratic candidates, and I suspect they’ll come howling back.

And it isn’t just Disney, it’s every associated business with it. They control the lobbying efforts of many affiliated entities. You do business with Disney, you do what they say.

Their stock price taking a cut will not kill them.

It's not like they would be leaving a vacuum either. It's not like they would have to stop making media, selling merch, or stop running theme parks. It just means they get to unveil their next Disney park a little early.

They wouldn't even have to dismantle the park. They could make the grand gesture of letting the whole thing become a rotting ruin that Florida has no way to keep alive.

It's a piece of history, true, and it would be a shame to see such a piece of history end up in the middle of "DeSantistan", but the fact is, it wouldn't be much unlike Egypt at that point: a home to certain antiquities, and so much corruption that the number one suggestion tourists have about going there is still "don't."

They CAN leave. They are not yet to that point, but they absolutely can.

Or as a particular song about Shia LeBouf discusses, sometimes you have to gnaw off your own leg and chop off Actual Cannibal Shia LeBouf's head if you are to survive the night. It sucks, and nothing will ever be the same, but that's better than the alternative.

 

[ZiprHead]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

You say that, but... The reality is that they can. They have theme parks the world over, as well as studios elsewhere than florida, and enough money to relocate their Florida studios and all the employees they can. They can go anywhere, and the effort will be generally welcomed in... Well, damn near anywhere they decide to go.

They probably already made plans before this happened.

As I understand it, Disney has already purchased a huge chunk of land in Georgia. Georgia is very friendly to the entertainment industry. I'm sure they'd get tax breaks galore.

 

[Politesse]

They can, however, pull the pegs on their political support and throw some massive weight behind ousting Florida Republicans at the polls.

My husband and I HAD a Disney trip planned this fall, but I'm not so sure I want to have to go through DeSantistan to get there, or be in DeSantistan at all, really.

Just go to the other Disneyland. You still have to pass through the gauntlet of Orange County, but just for a few miles of freeway, then you're in the clear.

 

[Politesse]

They CAN leave. They are not yet to that point, but they absolutely can.

If they're losing the corrupt deal that gave them so much unnatural license in the first place is being rescinded, why not? The infrastructure of the park could probably use an update, anyway. This isn't really a country that is kind to "legacies", much though we talk them up when asked; we're always sad when they go extinct, but our dollars and labor are always aimed at the newest, best, and biggest.

 

[ZiprHead]

Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.

How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.

You say that, but... The reality is that they can. They have theme parks the world over, as well as studios elsewhere than florida, and enough money to relocate their Florida studios and all the employees they can. They can go anywhere, and the effort will be generally welcomed in... Well, damn near anywhere they decide to go.

They probably already made plans before this happened.

As I understand it, Disney has already purchased a huge chunk of land in Georgia. Georgia is very friendly to the entertainment industry. I'm sure they'd get tax breaks galore.

 

[ZiprHead]

Now, who is it that is indoctrinating our K-3 kids?

Students hold anti-critical race theory signs at Mater Academy Charter Middle-High School in Hialeah Gardens on April 22, 2022. (WTVJ)