ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – During a shareholders meeting on Monday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said his company plans to spend several billions of dollars during the next 10 years in Florida.
Despite a rift with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the company’s political messaging, Iger said The Walt Disney Company has always valued their relationship with the state of Florida.
“About 50 million visitors will go through our gates this year alone, about 8 million of them from outside the U.S., and we are the largest taxpayer in the state,” Iger said.
When discussing Disney’s recent dispute with DeSantis, Iger noted that the company may not have handled its position against the Parental Rights in Education Act very well, but he stated that some of the recent behaviors displayed by the governor’s office seemed to be “anti-business.”
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“Our point on this is that any action that supports those efforts simply to retaliate for a position the company took sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida, and I’ll just leave it at that,” Iger said.
Iger said his company plans to invest $17 billion in additional investment into its Florida properties, creating more than 13,000 jobs.
Len Testa, co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, said that according the public records, Disney is investing billions each year to maintain and update its current properties Florida.
Testa said Disney’s investment will continue to produce more jobs in Florida.
“They’ve promised to invest at least $300 million dollars in road projects. I don’t think that’s getting enough attention because that’s a lot of road building right here where we live,” Testa said.
Regarding rumors of a fifth park at Walt Disney World, Testa said Disney will most likely expand current parks before creating a new one, citing parking and infrastructure costs.
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