Disney World Continues To Thrive Despite DeSantis Feud

According to the chairman of Disney’s Parks, Experiences, and Products unit, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ attacks against Disney World and the Walt Disney Company have not affected the Park’s business at all.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis looking upset — Credit: Rolling Stone

Governor Ron DeSantis has been battling “Woke” Disney ever since former CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill passed by the Florida Legislature. Since then, DeSantis has repeatedly spoken out against the company, taken control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and passed numerous laws that solely affect Walt Disney World Resort. This has led to multiple Republicans, including Donald Trump and Chris Christie, to speak out against the Governor’s actions.

However, it seems that the Walt Disney Company, now under the leadership of Bob Iger, has been able to counter almost every single one of Governor DeSantis’ moves. Not only is Disney suing the Florida Governor for violating their First Amendment rights, but they’ve continued to find loopholes around his moves and even made some threats of their own.

Naturally, many people would assume that this would still hurt business for Disney World, especially since there are plenty of DeSantis supporters in the world. But according to Josh D’amaro, it’s actually been the opposite.

D’amaro Says DeSantis Feud Has Not Hurt Disney World’s Business

Josh D'Amaro in front of Cinderella Castle — Credit: Orlando Business Journal

During an appearance at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference, Josh D’amaro, the chairman of Disney’s Parks, Experiences, and Products unit, answered a question from the mediator about how the feud with Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney has affected business in Florida.

“It has not. As you’ve seen in our results, the progress we’ve made coming out of Covid has been exceptionally strong.” And D’amaro is correct, especially since the recent quarterly earnings call revealed that Disney Parks have been one of the biggest financial successes so far.

josh d'amaro in the galactic starcruiser bridge — Credit: D23

Instead, he credits current Disney CEO Bob Iger, saying that “a lot has changed.” D’amaro continued, “We have new leadership in place, And No. 2, business conditions have changed pretty significantly, so taking that all into account, we said at this point in time we’re going to reverse that decision.”

While Josh D’amaro agrees that not everything has been perfect, specifically lamenting the “sunsetting” of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, he still anticipates that the Disney Parks will continue to succeed, going so far as to say that the company still plans to spend $17 billion in Florida despite their battle with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

Have Governor Ron DeSantis’ statements affected your opinions of Disney? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!