Are conservatives boycotting Disney now?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes they’re starting to boycott. I am on some Disney groups and they’re not explicitly saying they are, because of group rules, but it’s political.


Also, I didn’t know they were tax exempt!

Disney isn’t tax exempt.

(The second) 10:37 here And I didn’t think they were which is why I was surprised when OP said they were. Either way, in my Disney groups there are people who are boycotting/not patronizing Disney. That’s fine, it’s completely their right. The same way some people don’t patronize Chick-fil-A. Less crowds is always better!

OP is confused. When Disney World was being planned, Walt Disney made an agreement with Florida to essentially create his own jurisdiction, called Reedy Creek Improvement District. In doing so, he was able to do things like build new rides, hotels, etc. without having to get everything approved by Orange and Osceola County Boards (the two counties in which Disney World is located). In return, Walt Disney Company provides for its own trash collection, fire protection, road maintenance, etc.

This doesn’t mean Disney doesn’t pay taxes. Of course they do. Having their own improvement district just means they take on the cost of running things within that district, in return for more efficient operations (since they don’t need to go through local approval processes for new buildings).

DeSantis wants to revoke Reedy Creek Improvement District, which will actually raise the cost for local Florida residents of having Disney World there, since they’ll have to pay for all of those services. The counties will also have to deal with approving new rides, hotels, etc. It’s a terrible deal for Florida.

OP here and yes sorry, I was confused! Thank you for the detailed explanation!

And yeah, I’m really tempted to just pull out of this but I’m letting DH deal with his family. At least early on it sounded like this trip was important to his parents, who are getting older and likely won’t be up for it for much longer, so the whole 180 is just bizarre.

PP here — no worries. It’s a really idiosyncratic arrangement that Disney figured out for itself (but one that makes a huge amount of sense for a corporation with a ton of money and a desire for maximum control over its operations).

When they started building the park the local government was not capable of providing the services.

I would argue the local government is still not capable of providing the services, and they will certainly be at a worse level than what Disney provides for itself now - and very expensive for taxpayers. Seems like a great way to s***w everyone here.

I struggle to see what the end game is here for these maroon Republicans. What do they think happens after Disney loses its private government? Is this just a horse head in the bed for other corporations?

If Republicans stop providing corporate handouts, I, as a democrat, would be thrilled.

Also, did you really star out "screw." Seriously? Your definition of profanity is . . . aggressive.

It's not remotely a corporate handout. You really misunderstand the situation if you think that's what this is.

And yes I starred it out - Jeff's google ads monitor has an expansive definition of profanity.

Of course it is. Perhaps not in the traditional tax break sense, but do you really think the company would have requested it, and that it would have been maintained for so many years, if it wasn't in Disney's interests to keep it?

Disney benefits enormously from not having to comply with the same local regulations that other businesses do. If you don't think this is the way Disney prefers it, and that this arrangement actually burdens Disney, I'm not the one who has misunderstood.

Or do you think this is some scheme dreamed up by Disney, with Desantis's unwitting participation, to rid itself of the dreaded improvement district?

What are the building regulations for a Castle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope every single conservative in this country boycotts Disney. The lines would be gloriously short for the rest of us!

Lol one or two people living in a compound in Oregon will not have an impact of Disney.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes they’re starting to boycott. I am on some Disney groups and they’re not explicitly saying they are, because of group rules, but it’s political.


Also, I didn’t know they were tax exempt!

Disney isn’t tax exempt.

(The second) 10:37 here And I didn’t think they were which is why I was surprised when OP said they were. Either way, in my Disney groups there are people who are boycotting/not patronizing Disney. That’s fine, it’s completely their right. The same way some people don’t patronize Chick-fil-A. Less crowds is always better!

OP is confused. When Disney World was being planned, Walt Disney made an agreement with Florida to essentially create his own jurisdiction, called Reedy Creek Improvement District. In doing so, he was able to do things like build new rides, hotels, etc. without having to get everything approved by Orange and Osceola County Boards (the two counties in which Disney World is located). In return, Walt Disney Company provides for its own trash collection, fire protection, road maintenance, etc.

This doesn’t mean Disney doesn’t pay taxes. Of course they do. Having their own improvement district just means they take on the cost of running things within that district, in return for more efficient operations (since they don’t need to go through local approval processes for new buildings).

DeSantis wants to revoke Reedy Creek Improvement District, which will actually raise the cost for local Florida residents of having Disney World there, since they’ll have to pay for all of those services. The counties will also have to deal with approving new rides, hotels, etc. It’s a terrible deal for Florida.

OP here and yes sorry, I was confused! Thank you for the detailed explanation!

And yeah, I’m really tempted to just pull out of this but I’m letting DH deal with his family. At least early on it sounded like this trip was important to his parents, who are getting older and likely won’t be up for it for much longer, so the whole 180 is just bizarre.

PP here — no worries. It’s a really idiosyncratic arrangement that Disney figured out for itself (but one that makes a huge amount of sense for a corporation with a ton of money and a desire for maximum control over its operations).

When they started building the park the local government was not capable of providing the services.

I would argue the local government is still not capable of providing the services, and they will certainly be at a worse level than what Disney provides for itself now - and very expensive for taxpayers. Seems like a great way to s***w everyone here.

I struggle to see what the end game is here for these maroon Republicans. What do they think happens after Disney loses its private government? Is this just a horse head in the bed for other corporations?

If Republicans stop providing corporate handouts, I, as a democrat, would be thrilled.

Also, did you really star out "screw." Seriously? Your definition of profanity is . . . aggressive.

It's not remotely a corporate handout. You really misunderstand the situation if you think that's what this is.

And yes I starred it out - Jeff's google ads monitor has an expansive definition of profanity.

Of course it is. Perhaps not in the traditional tax break sense, but do you really think the company would have requested it, and that it would have been maintained for so many years, if it wasn't in Disney's interests to keep it?

Disney benefits enormously from not having to comply with the same local regulations that other businesses do. If you don't think this is the way Disney prefers it, and that this arrangement actually burdens Disney, I'm not the one who has misunderstood.

Or do you think this is some scheme dreamed up by Disney, with Desantis's unwitting participation, to rid itself of the dreaded improvement district?

What are the building regulations for a Castle?

That’s something Orange & Osceola Counties now get to figure out!

But sure — this is unabashedly a good thing for taxpayers. Rather than spending their time on issues that matter for their constituents, they’ll need to spend time figuring out the regulations for improvements on a Castle or a new rollercoaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just, to say again: I don't understand what the Republicans are trying to get out of this. I guess some airtime on Fox - maybe that's reward enough? But what are they trying to extract from Disney, with this idiotic gambit?

Republicans writ large? Nothing - in fact, I'm sure many of them are secretly appalled at this blatant attack on corporate interests. Desantis? He's burnishing his culture warrior credentials in preparation for his presidential run. He's hoping to pull those on the MAGA crowd who have enough distaste for Trump as a person that they could be convinced to vote for another candidate who supports the same "principles" but is less personally offensive.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and they’ll need to figure out the exact dividing line within WDW between each county. And if Disney wants to build something that straddles both counties, they’ll need to coordinate on the approval processes (which could vary between the counties).

What fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s about time that Disney pay its fair share of taxes. I find it ironic that they have been getting away with this so long without a peep from the liberal elite. Oh well. Disney World was able to stay open and has moved corporate employees out of CA to FL. They need FL to survive. I hope Disney comes to its senses, sorry libs you are losing.

To the contrary, if DeSantis & company pull the rug out from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, taxpayers will need to pay $1 billion to cover the services that Disney now covers.

And that’s in addition to the $1 billion in bond debt the district currently holds.

Not to mention, it’s almost certain that Orange and Osceola Counties do not currently have the road maintenance crews, fire fighters, police officers, etc. needed to service that area. Currently, Disney has a security crew that provides some law enforcement, while leaving arrests and other matters to local authorities. The counties will have to cover all enforcement now.

Good luck with that!

Well I bet Disney will fire those employees. Maybe the state could hire them…lol! Without security or maintenance Disney will have to close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just, to say again: I don't understand what the Republicans are trying to get out of this. I guess some airtime on Fox - maybe that's reward enough? But what are they trying to extract from Disney, with this idiotic gambit?

They get to own the libs. That’s the only thing that the GOP cares about anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s about time that Disney pay its fair share of taxes. I find it ironic that they have been getting away with this so long without a peep from the liberal elite. Oh well. Disney World was able to stay open and has moved corporate employees out of CA to FL. They need FL to survive. I hope Disney comes to its senses, sorry libs you are losing.

To the contrary, if DeSantis & company pull the rug out from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, taxpayers will need to pay $1 billion to cover the services that Disney now covers.

And that’s in addition to the $1 billion in bond debt the district currently holds.

Not to mention, it’s almost certain that Orange and Osceola Counties do not currently have the road maintenance crews, fire fighters, police officers, etc. needed to service that area. Currently, Disney has a security crew that provides some law enforcement, while leaving arrests and other matters to local authorities. The counties will have to cover all enforcement now.

Good luck with that!

Well I bet Disney will fire those employees. Maybe the state could hire them…lol! Without security or maintenance Disney will have to close.

And I’m sure that losing their largest employer will be terrific for the taxpayers of Orlando.

Good job, Republicans! You really stuck it to Disney.

[Anonymous]

Can you imagine hating gay people this much, that you're going to create the actual s***storm that this will create? It boggles my mind how much hatred is wrapped up in everything Desantis does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s about time that Disney pay its fair share of taxes. I find it ironic that they have been getting away with this so long without a peep from the liberal elite. Oh well. Disney World was able to stay open and has moved corporate employees out of CA to FL. They need FL to survive. I hope Disney comes to its senses, sorry libs you are losing.

To the contrary, if DeSantis & company pull the rug out from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, taxpayers will need to pay $1 billion to cover the services that Disney now covers.

And that’s in addition to the $1 billion in bond debt the district currently holds.

Not to mention, it’s almost certain that Orange and Osceola Counties do not currently have the road maintenance crews, fire fighters, police officers, etc. needed to service that area. Currently, Disney has a security crew that provides some law enforcement, while leaving arrests and other matters to local authorities. The counties will have to cover all enforcement now.

Good luck with that!

On the other hand, they can tax the hell out of Disneyland. All of the incentives that local governments have to give in order to land large developments like Disney don't exist and the infrastructure already there is too expensive for Disney to threaten to leave.

[Anonymous]

Disney should relook at buying Fox News. Imagine what would happen if Disney bought Fox News. DeSantis would be on his knees within seconds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s about time that Disney pay its fair share of taxes. I find it ironic that they have been getting away with this so long without a peep from the liberal elite. Oh well. Disney World was able to stay open and has moved corporate employees out of CA to FL. They need FL to survive. I hope Disney comes to its senses, sorry libs you are losing.

To the contrary, if DeSantis & company pull the rug out from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, taxpayers will need to pay $1 billion to cover the services that Disney now covers.

I think you and I are the only people on this thread who understand what Reedy Creek is or what it does, and how it benefits both Disney and the surrounding counties.

😎 And thank you if you were the one who pointed out that Orlando and Osceola are both majority Democratic. I knew that but hadn’t properly applied it to this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you imagine hating gay people this much, that you're going to create the actual s***storm that this will create? It boggles my mind how much hatred is wrapped up in everything Desantis does.

Do you really think he actually hates gay people? Or is just a cynical bastard who sees political benefit in this? (Which is, in some ways, worse than actual hatred.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s about time that Disney pay its fair share of taxes. I find it ironic that they have been getting away with this so long without a peep from the liberal elite. Oh well. Disney World was able to stay open and has moved corporate employees out of CA to FL. They need FL to survive. I hope Disney comes to its senses, sorry libs you are losing.

To the contrary, if DeSantis & company pull the rug out from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, taxpayers will need to pay $1 billion to cover the services that Disney now covers.

And that’s in addition to the $1 billion in bond debt the district currently holds.

Not to mention, it’s almost certain that Orange and Osceola Counties do not currently have the road maintenance crews, fire fighters, police officers, etc. needed to service that area. Currently, Disney has a security crew that provides some law enforcement, while leaving arrests and other matters to local authorities. The counties will have to cover all enforcement now.

Good luck with that!

On the other hand, they can tax the hell out of Disneyland. All of the incentives that local governments have to give in order to land large developments like Disney don't exist and the infrastructure already there is too expensive for Disney to threaten to leave.

Good luck with that. Disney could just shut down for 6 months, not pay any employees and blame the government. How do you think that would go over?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just, to say again: I don't understand what the Republicans are trying to get out of this. I guess some airtime on Fox - maybe that's reward enough? But what are they trying to extract from Disney, with this idiotic gambit?

I don't think many people are mad about internal emails sent to employees denouncing the education bill. Many parents are mad about the video with the producer bragging about adding queerness to children's programming. Disney had built up a lot of trust among parents for producing wholesome entertainment suitable for innocent children. I would imagine they want to send a message about that. I know people who have canceled Disney plus. I never subscribed but at friends' houses I've seen their new stuff and frankly it looks depressing. If I'm putting on a movie for my little children I want it to be joyful.