The body responsible for the development of Disney theme parks in Florida has approved a 15-year agreement with the entertainment giant, a few weeks after the two parties ended a legal dispute, several American media reported on Wednesday.
As part of this agreement, Disney will invest up to $17 billion over the next ten to twenty years to develop its huge hotel complexes and theme parks in the Orlando area, specifies CNN.
The deal also provides for the creation of a fifth “major” theme park in the region.
Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis and Disney, a major employer in the region with its Disney World theme park in Orlando, have been engaged in a legal standoff since 2022.
Disney had attracted the wrath of the very conservative governor by denouncing his bill aimed at restricting the teaching of subjects related to sexual orientation in Florida primary schools.
In response, the governor removed Disney’s special status in his state, putting an end to the advantages the amusement park had enjoyed since the 1960s.
This special status granted numerous advantages to Disney: administrative facilities, self-management of the site, advantageous loans, in particular.
In 2023, by decision of Ron DeSantis, the State of Florida also took over the management of Disney theme parks carried out for decades by an organization set up by the group. A panel appointed by DeSantis was thus responsible for managing the land hosting the Walt Disney World Resort.
The group reached a settlement with the state of Florida in March, ending litigation between them in courts across Florida.
Disney employs tens of thousands of people at its theme park and headquarters in the Orlando area.
A figure of the American hard right, Ron DeSantis, who withdrew from the Republican presidential primaries in January, made himself known by multiplying ultraconservative measures on education, immigration and LGBT+ issues.
