Disney Sends Warning Message to Florida, Threatens Magic Kingdom’s Future

The battle between the state of Florida and Walt Disney World Resort has been a sight to beholden.

The Walt Disney Company came under fire in the last several months by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over its now-dissolved Reedy Creek Improvement District, which has been changed to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. After backlash, Disney spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education bill last year that was passed in Florida. As a result, Gov. DeSantis said he would begin looking into Disney’s self-governance and began the process of stripping Disney of its power.

Before the Reedy Creek Improvement District was replaced, Disney had the officials sign documentation essentially deeming the district powerless. In response, Gov. DeSantis signed a bill allowing the Florida Department of Transportation to inspect the Disney monorails and Disney Skyliner. This drew a lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company, which was then countersued by DeSantis’s Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Now, as the complaints wait to move forward in court, more news has come forward.

Disney announced this week that it would no longer be building its $1 billion Lake Nona campus in Florida. The campus, which was announced more than two years ago, had yet to break ground and was supposed to be home to Walt Disney Imagineering. In a message to its Cast Members, Disney said that the decision was made due to “the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of its project, including new leadership and changing business conditions.”

DeSantis shared in a statement that “the state was unsure if the project would ever come to fruition” before Disney’s announcement.

“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 statement read.

Of course, the most questions surrounding this announcement from Disney– which came the same day as the company announcing it would be closing down the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and removing content from Disney+— are what the future of Walt Disney World Resort will look like.

In Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro’s statement, he shared the next steps for Walt Disney World Resort.

“We have plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next ten years,” D’Amaro said. “I hope we’re able to do so.”

While many have focused on the fact that Disney again shared its plan for the next 10 years, which includes $17 billion of investments, the part that we shouldn’t forget is the ending: “I hope we’re able to do so.”

D’Amaro was the one who announced the next expansion at Magic Kingdom Park at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA last September. The Parks Chairman teased several different concept art options, which included Encanto, Coco, and Disney Villains. With the Lake Nona project already canceled, could the “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” project be the next on the chopping block?

“Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” was expected to be the next major project announced by Walt Disney World Resort, which of course, would occur in Magic Kingdom Park. Many believed the expansion would be announced at Destination D23 this September in Walt Disney World Resort, but it would stand to reason now that Disney might be a little more cautious about moving forward until these disagreements with the state of Florida are settled.

If things do not work out in Disney’s favor, we can almost guarantee that the company will not look to expand its biggest theme park. Instead, we could be looking at a stalemate for many years to come.

Nothing has been confirmed by Disney at this point, but it certainly seems that the future of Magic Kingdom— in terms of expansions and new attractions– is up in the air. Disney is already constructing Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, so there’s no reason to believe that this attraction will fall behind– at least, not for now– but other expansions– none more prominent than “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain– are all in jeopardy.

What do you think the future of Magic Kingdom will look? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!