Either Disney Wins Or Everyone Loses In Battle With DeSantis

The right-wing Florida Gov. has made Disney World's 'woke" policies a political talking point but a win over the Mouse House would be a major loss.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis likes to make large, grandstanding political points no matter what the consequences are to his constituents. 

He fought against covid-mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and pandemic-related closures because it played well with his political base.

Never mind the science, the age of the population in Florida, or the state's overcrowded hospitals, DeSantis makes decisions based on political optics. (Keep in mind that he seems to be running for president even if he hasn't yet said so.)

That's not a specific knock on the Sunshine State's CEO -- you could accuse many on the left of doing the exact same thing -- but DeSantis seems to have picked a fight with Walt Disney (DIS) - Get Free Report where he'd lose if he wins.

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Disney has always leaned left. That's not really a choice when your business employs so many creative people, but Disney and Florida, a right-leaning state, have always sort of ignored the politics. That's because Disney World is not only the largest single-site employer in the state, it's a driver of billions of dollars in revenue.

When people fly to Orlando for a Disney vacation, they spend money inside and outside the company's theme parks, generating billions in tax revenue for the state.. Disney also spends tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of dollars each year to entice people to visit Florida.

That makes it odd that DeSantis -- who could use dozens of other companies that are as publicly woke as Disney is to make his political points -- has chosen this particular target. Yes, Disney has criticized his so-called "Don't Say Gay" educational policies as have pretty much all liberals.

DeSantis could have ignored Disney's actions and picked any other company that spoke up about the law. Starbucks (SBUX) - Get Free Report, for example, publicly came out against the bill, and had the governor gone after the coffee company instead of Disney, everyone would have understood including his followers.

Starbucks has a lot of locations in Florida, but nobody visits Florida to go to Starbucks. If DeSantis gets into a fight with Starbucks, he checks off all the same political boxes with no financial risk to his state. It just makes a lot more sense than biting the proverbial hand that feeds you.

How Might DeSantis's Disney War Hurt Florida?

Disney World won't be leaving Florida for North Carolina or any other state. Any stories that suggest that that might happen ignore the fact that the massive theme-park complex isn't a traveling circus that can be packed up and taken on the road.

The Disney theme park covers more than 43 miles of land. It offers four theme parks, two water parks, the Disney Springs shopping area, dozens of hotels, an ESPN sports complex, two world-class minigolf courses, and a lot more. You can fit roughly 51 Disneylands inside Disney World, so even with a really good deal from Pods, Disney isn't moving its signature theme park.

So, DeSantis can accomplish a few things in his war with Disney.

• He could gain control over the former Reedy Creek District and make it harder for Disney to build things at Disney World. That doesn't seem like a win for the governor because nobody lives in the district aside from a handful of Disney executives. Making the Mouse House jump through hoops to get things done might be satisfying for DeSantis, but at best it's annoying for the company and at worst Disney decides to spend some of its budget at its other theme parks.
•  DeSantis could harass Disney into spending less money in Florida and maybe could even talk some of his supporters nationwide out of visiting the park. Again, it's hard to see how DeSantis wins there because it's not as if those tourists will flock to other Florida locations.

It's hard to see what DeSantis gets out of his battle with Disney. If he wins, he hurts his state, maybe in a way meaningful enough that costs some of his supporters their jobs. If he loses, that's a political loss of face, which makes him look weak to his constituents, which in turn won't help his national political aspirations.

Disney Takes the Battle to Court

Disney really has nothing to lose in its battle with DeSantis other than customers. The situation has reached the courts, where Disney is challenging DeSantis's effort -- via a new board he appointed -- to eliminate what has been its ability to effectively govern and determine what to do with the theme-park region.

The problem for the Republican governor is that Disney products aren't Bud Light, a low-end beer that can be easily replaced. It's hard to imagine conservative DeSantis supporters keeping their kids away from Disney's intellectual property.

Yes, many DeSantis supporters may not love Disney's support for LGBTQ+ causes or its efforts to make its films and TV shows more diverse. But their little kids probably love Lightning McQueen, the Little Mermaid and countless other Disney characters. 

Older kids are probably not going dislike Marvel or Star Wars because their parents are worried that a male Wookie might have a crush on a male Gungan (although those same adults really won't like learning that Hutts change genders multiple times in their lives).   

Like Thanos, Disney is inevitable. Forget left or right, woke or unwoke: DeSantis picked a fight where he loses for winning.