Disney sues Florida Gov. DeSantis over elimination of Reedy Creek

Bob Iger has decided to go to the mattresses after all in his feud with Ron DeSantis.

The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday escalated its war with the Florida governor by suing the Republican lawmaker in federal court over the elimination of the company’s special tax district.

The House of Mouse accused DeSantis, his five-member board that oversees the now-defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District, and other state officials of launching “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” against the company, according to a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Florida.

Two weeks ago, the Disney boss had said he did not view the scrum over the district “as a going-to-mattresses situation for us.”

But on Wednesday, Disney filed the suit minutes after the DeSantis-picked oversight board struck down last-minute agreements made between Disney and the board that rules the 25,000-acre resort complex in Orlando.

“Today’s action is the latest strike: At the Governor’s bidding, the State’s oversight board has purported to ‘void’ publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs,” Disney said in the court filing.

“A targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech — now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights,” the company alleged in a court filing.

Disney cited several statements by DeSantis, including his vow to “void the development agreement” as well as “to look at things like taxes on the hotels,” “tolls on the roads,” “developing some of the property that the district owns” with “more amusement parks,” and even putting a “state prison” next to Walt Disney World.”

“This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional,” Disney said.

“But the Governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop.”

DeSantis yanked Disney’s long-time control of the district after the company spoke out against his “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans the teaching of sex and gender-based education to most elementary school students.

A spokesman for DeSantis called Disney’s lawsuit an “unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of Florida voters.”

The board of supervisors which runs the newly christened Central Florida Tourism Oversight District operates as a self-governing authority over issues like taxation and maintenance of public works in and around the Disney theme parks.

Just a day before the February vote, RCID struck a deal that essentially gave Disney the authority to oversee zoning and development in the district for the next three decades.

DeSantis blasted Disney for the move and vowed to nullify it.

Last week, the five-member board handpicked by DeSantis vowed to undo the “sweetheart” development deal.

“Regardless of your politics, nobody should favor outdated legislation that elevates a corporation above the public good,” Martin Garcia, the chairman of Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said.

“In seeking to improve the functioning of the district, nothing is off the table for us.”

Garcia also claimed that the new board had “wanted to work with Disney, but Disney decided they didn’t want to work with us. It was Disney’s way or the highway.” 

The Post has sought comment from Disney.

Florida legislators are also mulling a transportation bill that would mandate state oversight of the monorail system that serves visitors to Walt Disney World, WFLA-TV reported.

An amendment to the proposed law would require the Department of Transportation to oversee the monorail and other fixed-guideway transportation systems “located within an independent special district created by a local act which has boundaries within two contiguous counties.”

The bill, which does not mention Disney or its monorail, would also give the state power to shut down the systems “to ensure safety and welfare of inspectors and the traveling public.”

DeSantis has signaled that he supports the measure.

“They exempted the monorail from any safety standards or inspections so they’re gonna go and make sure that the monorail is subject to oversight just like everything else would be in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said last week.

DeSantis, who is said to be weighing a run for the GOP nomination for president in 2024, has been feuding with Disney since Iger’s predecessor Bob Chapek opposed the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,005 US adults finds that nearly half of Republican respondents — 44% — held a more positive view of the Florida governor over his stance toward Disney.

Iger, who returned to take over Disney last November, recently hit out at DeSantis, calling his actions toward the company “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”

But in an interview with Time, Iger said he’d be willing to discuss the situation.

“If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that,” Iger said.

“You know, I’m one that typically has respected our elected officials and the responsibility that they have, and there would be no reason why I wouldn’t do that.”

Shares of Disney were down by some 0.1% as of 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.