Even as Disney spars with Gov. Ron DeSantis, it plans to invest $17 billion into central Florida's Walt Disney World Resort over the next decade, CNBC reported.
The renovations outlined by Disney CEO Bob Iger and Parks, Experiences, and Products head Josh D'Amaro over the last few months include the potential creation of 13,000 jobs in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.
But a massive impediment for the company has been DeSantis' reorganization of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, displacing its board members and removing tax incentives and land allotments for Disney.
DeSantis spearheaded the change in response to Disney's vocal opposition to the state's Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits discussing sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.
In response, Disney tabled its planned $1 billion investment for a new employee campus in Lake Nona that would have relocated 2,000 California-based employees to Florida.
Disney also filed a lawsuit in April, accusing DeSantis and the CFTOD of carrying out a campaign of political retribution, according to CNN.
"We never wanted, and we certainly never expected, to be in the position of having to defend our business interests in federal court, particularly having such a terrific relationship with the state as we've had for more than 50 years," Iger said this month.
Still, D'Amaro parroted Iger's optimism in Florida at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference earlier this week, highlighting the parks, which saw a $5.5 billion revenue increase last quarter.
It comes as DeSantis officially announced his candidacy Wednesday for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
During an interview on Newsmax's "Eric Bolling The Balance," DeSantis accused Trump of taking Disney's side in the ongoing dispute to slight him.
Trump in 2016 "was a hard-charger, leaning in on all the issues — very edgy on conservative issues, and it was part of the reason he did so well," DeSantis said.
"But when he's taking Disney's side against me, I just kind of wonder. OK, I get that he wants to hit me, but don't take the side of a multinational corporation that wants to sexualize kids."
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