Disney scraps plans for new Florida campus, mass employee relocation amid DeSantis feud

Disney has abandoned plans to unfastened up a caller worker field successful Lake Nona, Florida, amid rising tensions with the state's governor.

Citing "changing concern conditions" and the instrumentality of CEO Bob Iger, Josh D'Amaro, president of Disney's parks, experiences and products division, penned a memo to employees Thursday, announcing that the institution volition not determination guardant with operation of the field and volition nary longer beryllium asking much than 2,000 California-based employees to relocate to Florida.

"This was not an casual determination to make, but I judge it is the close one," D'Amaro told employees.

Many Disney employees balked astatine the company's relocation plans erstwhile they were archetypal announced successful July 2021 by erstwhile CEO Bob Chapek. While immoderate near the company, oregon transitioned to different posts wrong Disney that would not necessitate a determination to Florida, others held retired anticipation that the program would fizzle retired aft a postponement. The field was primitively slated to unfastened successful 2022-2023, but was aboriginal delayed to 2026.

Disney is headquartered successful Burbank, California, but operates a fig of outer offices crossed the state and the world.

D'Amaro said employees who person already moved to Florida whitethorn beryllium capable to relocate backmost to California.

"It is wide to maine that the powerfulness of this marque comes from our unthinkable people, and we are committed to handling this alteration with attraction and compassion," helium said.

Disney's announcement comes amid a bitter feud betwixt the institution and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The institution filed a suit accusing DeSantis and the caller committee members of its peculiar territory of carrying retired a run of governmental retribution against the amusement giant.

DeSantis targeted Disney's peculiar district, formerly called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, aft the institution publically criticized a arguable Florida measure — dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics — that limits treatment of intersexual predisposition and sex individuality successful classrooms.

The peculiar territory has allowed the amusement elephantine to efficaciously self-govern its Orlando parks' operations for decades. The territory was yet near intact, but its five-member committee was replaced with DeSantis picks and renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Disney filed its suit successful precocious April aft the caller committee voted to undo improvement contracts that the institution said it struck to unafraid its investments. The institution has since updated that suit to see recently passed authorities targeting its monorail strategy as further grounds of retaliation by the governor.

Iger has publically lambasted DeSantis and the Florida government, noting that Disney has created thousands of indirect jobs, brings astir 50 cardinal visitors to Florida each twelvemonth and is the state's largest taxpayer.

Representatives for DeSantis didn't instantly instrumentality petition for remark connected Disney nixing the campus.

D'Amaro reiterated successful his memo that the institution inactive plans to put $17 cardinal successful Florida implicit the adjacent 10 years, including the summation of astir 13,000 jobs. The institution presently employs much than 75,000 radical successful the state.

Disney declined to supply circumstantial updates connected that investment, but has antecedently announced plans to update parkland attractions, grow existing parks and adhd much cruise ships to its fleet successful Florida.

"I stay optimistic astir the absorption of our Walt Disney World business," D'Amaro told employees.