The Right's War Against Disney

[Cartmann99]

 

[fraurosena]

If you have the time, watch Rachel on where these pedophile accusations originate.

 

[Cartmann99]

The person trying to turn Mickey Mouse into "maga" Mouse is just sad.

[fraurosena]

Of course Ted Cruz is in on the anti-Disney hate.

 

[Alisamer]

Every episode of WHAT, Ted? And why would it be on Cinemax? (Which, granted, we used to jokingly call "Skinemax" because of their hilarious late-night b-grade racy stuff.)

Like I do think there is a current-ish cartoon thing with Mickey in it (a strange but cute new pie-eyed version of Mickey and Minnie), but the vast majority of things featuring Mickey Mouse are several decades old. And there has never to my knowledge been any cartoon showing a Disney character "going at it" with anyone. Like to the point hardly any of the characters even have children or parents. Also Pluto is a pet dog, Goofy or Donald would be a more likely partner for Mickey. And why wouldn't it be Minnie and Daisy having a fling?

Ted be dumb. 

This whole mess is stupid.

And frankly, I think Disney doesn't much care if these randos decide to protest and not go there or buy their products. These are the people who are pains in the ass when they are there, and being too stupid to know even which entrance is the main one (not that one), probably don't know whether they are watching Disney stuff unless it has "Disney" specifically emblazoned on it anyway. 

Walt Disney World is still, barely, doable by a middle-class family with some careful research and saving. But they really seem to be courting the families like one I spoke to in line for the Skyliner one night at Epcot - dad is a well-paid doctor, mom is Pinterest-perfect, kids match, they stay in a deluxe resort, don't bother to carefully plan, and are willing to spend extra for their own convenience. These people had paid for a VIP day, where a cast member takes them around and gets them on rides just like they do for celebrities. Disney likes people like my sisters and I, who go as cheap as we can but as often as we can, but they really love the ones paying $15,000+ for a week at the parks who actually end up doing less and using fewer resources overall. 

[Cartmann99]

Related to @fraurosena's last post:

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

3 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

The person trying to turn Mickey Mouse into "maga" Mouse is just sad.

I don’t understand the guy’s shirt. His head on Mickey Mouse’s back viewed body? If he’s trying to say Disney has its head on backwards the shirt would have Mickey’s head. Instead he appears to suggest he has his own head on backwards, or that he has decapitated Mickey, skinned him, and sewn the back part of his skin onto the front of his shirt Buffalo Bill style. I would wager their sad little group convinced exactly zero people to turn around and not enter the park the day that picture was taken, so any money spent on the shirts, signs, and costumes only benefits those of us who get to enjoy the show. 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Alisamer]

15 hours ago, AlmostSavedAtTacoBell said:

I don’t understand the guy’s shirt. His head on Mickey Mouse’s back viewed body? If he’s trying to say Disney has its head on backwards the shirt would have Mickey’s head. Instead he appears to suggest he has his own head on backwards, or that he has decapitated Mickey, skinned him, and sewn the back part of his skin onto the front of his shirt Buffalo Bill style. I would wager their sad little group convinced exactly zero people to turn around and not enter the park the day that picture was taken, so any money spent on the shirts, signs, and costumes only benefits those of us who get to enjoy the show. 

That's Mickey's front. His buttons are on the front of his shorts, I think. Though I'm sure the back of the shirt has Mickey's back on it. AND... I'm reasonably certain that's an actual Disney branded shirt, from the parks, though not recent. You're meant to wear it with a Mickey ear hat. 

And they definitely didn't convince anyone to turn around and not enter the park(s) - there are SIX of them, if you count the water parks - because that's a minor back entrance nearest to the shopping district, Disney Springs. One of several entrances to that shopping district. It's likely mostly used by cast members and locals, and possibly tourists staying off-site. The thousands upon thousands of guests staying in Disney resort hotels would never have even seen them. 

11 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 

Hey, somebody found one of the main entrance areas! Good for you, dude. 

Sadly he's stupid, deluded, idiotic, backward, behind the times, and, luckily for the rest of us, likely to get banned from Disney property forever.

Why are all these white people, mostly men TBH, so threatened by the fact that gay people exist? Like, they exist. They always have. They always will. And statistically many of them have decent amounts of expendable income, so of course businesses are going to court them. And not only that, they have families who they want to take to the happiest place on earth! (And there are and have for a long time been lots of gay Disney fans.)

Do people like this dude really think that their paltry numbers are enough to cause Disney to go "broke"? Or that they'll convince anyone who isn't already a MAGA-moron to stop going to Disney parks? Or that anyone who has planned and paid for their possibly once-in-a-lifetime special amazing family vacation months in advance is going to be driving up to the entrance and see one of the many signs covered by a DeSantis flag and go "Oh no! Sorry kids! Disney doesn't exist anymore, we have to go home."

[Cartmann99]

 

Ron DeSantis plan to go after Disney could massively backfire -- and leave taxpayers footing the bill: reporter

Quote

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has laid out as one of his goals for the Florida legislature's special session a bill to abolish the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special taxing zone that essentially allows the Walt Disney World resort complex to act as its own local government. The move is intended to punish the Disney corporation for criticizing his infamous "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits the ability of teachers to discuss the existence of sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom.

But according to Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald, there's a bit of a snag in the proposal: abolishing the district involves paying Disney's $2 billion worth of bond debt from building the resorts — and to do that, families in Orange and Osceola Counties would have to pay thousands of dollars.

In other words, this bill intended to punish Disney would actually be a huge transfer of money to the company, at taxpayer expense.

The special district bill, alongside a Republican gerrymandering proposal that would wipe out half the Black congressional districts in the state, come as Republicans escalate a culture war panic nationwide, introducing bills limiting classroom information on race and sexuality, and even seeking to purge books from libraries.

The rest of Klas' Twitter thread is under the spoiler:

Spoiler

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[formergothardite]

I have no doubt Disney is going to win in the end. Maybe this will inspire them to using their political donations to rid America of these crazy people.

[WiseGirl]

I'm hoping DeSantis won't be able to buy any election ads on Disney owned media. You know little networks like ESPN, ABC, Disney anything, 21st Century Fox, Hulu to name a few.  It's a dream that I hope comes true.

Those poor Floridians that are going to end up paying for this.  Actually they voted this asshole in so maybe they get what they voted for?  https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/21/disney-special-district-florida-taxpayers-could-face-a-1-billion-debt-bomb-if-dissolved.html "Legislators and tax experts warn the bill creates an even larger potential problem for taxpayers in the form of bonds totaling more than $1 billion."

[Cartmann99]

 

[sndral]

The irony of this whole thing is that Chapek (Disney’s beleaguered CEO) probably only said something against the Florida legislation because his employees were up in arms about his not opposing it, so he finally said something & later said they were pausing their campaign contributions in Florida. Which triggered DeSantis to push through this last minute retaliatory disbanding of the RCID special district as an afterthought. RCID was created in 1967 after Walt Disney bought up a bunch of swamp land in the middle of Florida as a way to finance the infrastructure that would be needed for Disney to build a theme park in the middle of said swamp.

So basically Chapek exercised his constitutional first amendment right to free speech & DeSantis & the Florida legislature enacted special legislation to punish him. I knew Florida was corrupt - after all there was the hanging chads debacle over 20 years ago. & we’re hearing all of the right’s dog whistles - homophobia, false accusations, etc.. DeSantis grabs his national headlines using the right’s increasingly authoritarian tactics appealing to the right wing masses as he positions himself for a run for the Whitehouse. He’ll have to take on Trump, though - I hope they destroy each other.

As far as the right wing calling for a boycott of Disney - sounds good to me, shorter lines for the rest of us & the fewer entitled right wing nut jobs I encounter on my annual visits to WDW the better IMO.

Edited April 22, 2022 by sndral

[front hugs > duggs]

15 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

I'm hoping DeSantis won't be able to buy any election ads on Disney owned media. You know little networks like ESPN, ABC, Disney anything, 21st Century Fox, Hulu to name a few.  It's a dream that I hope comes true.

Those poor Floridians that are going to end up paying for this.  Actually they voted this asshole in so maybe they get what they voted for?  https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/21/disney-special-district-florida-taxpayers-could-face-a-1-billion-debt-bomb-if-dissolved.html "Legislators and tax experts warn the bill creates an even larger potential problem for taxpayers in the form of bonds totaling more than $1 billion."

The only thing is - Orange County voters did NOT vote DeSantis, and they are unfortunately going to be the ones stuck with the tax bill. But the governor wouldn't care about that anyway because we aren't his voters.

[Alisamer]

10 minutes ago, front hugs > duggs said:

The only thing is - Orange County voters did NOT vote DeSantis, and they are unfortunately going to be the ones stuck with the tax bill. But the governor wouldn't care about that anyway because we aren't his voters.

I also wonder about the long term financial implications of forcing the county or state to take on the governance of Disney's property. Doesn't that mean that now, the resort will be basically the same as all other areas? So the county or state will be responsible for it's fire, police, road maintenance, infrastructure, etc? Can they really afford to take on an area roughly the size of San Francisco that has heavy regular traffic, 300000+ people on it daily - most of them not Floridians, huge areas of protected wetlands, and essentially NO residences? It's not like annexing a new subdivision into the city limits or something.

[front hugs > duggs]

15 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

I also wonder about the long term financial implications of forcing the county or state to take on the governance of Disney's property. Doesn't that mean that now, the resort will be basically the same as all other areas? So the county or state will be responsible for it's fire, police, road maintenance, infrastructure, etc? Can they really afford to take on an area roughly the size of San Francisco that has heavy regular traffic, 300000+ people on it daily - most of them not Floridians, huge areas of protected wetlands, and essentially NO residences? It's not like annexing a new subdivision into the city limits or something.

Yes, all true, and this actually affects a few other districts in more rural parts of the state that are facing the same struggles. A good example that actually happens somewhat frequently are small fires in the parks- Disney having their own fire station helps with those obviously, which is a major safety thing! 
 

I’m also not convinced this will all go through. But again the legislative fight will cost us taxpayers.
 

Shockingly *not* this has zero affect on The Villages! 

[Alisamer]

5 minutes ago, front hugs > duggs said:

Yes, all true, and this actually affects a few other districts in more rural parts of the state that are facing the same struggles. A good example that actually happens somewhat frequently are small fires in the parks- Disney having their own fire station helps with those obviously, which is a major safety thing! 
 

I’m also not convinced this will all go through. But again the legislative fight will cost us taxpayers.
 

Shockingly *not* this has zero affect on The Villages! 

Oh, true, Disney has fireworks every night essentially - tiny fires are not the least bit uncommon even with the sprinklers they have to douse the roofs in Fantasyland before/during the fireworks. Just recently there was a slightly bigger fire in Epcot from a wayward firework, but a cast member was able to take care of it quickly. 

To me, one of the best parts of Walt Disney World is that it IS it's own entity. It's pretty much a world of it's own, outside of reality, while you are there. Everything is clean, orchestrated carefully, everything you see and hear is planned ahead as much as possible. It's immersive. When you are in Pandora, it FEELS like you are there. When you are in Galaxy's Edge, it FEELS like you have stepped into a backwater outpost on another planet. When you are in Magic Kingdom, there's no television, no news, each area is themed from visuals to plants to music. In areas like Galaxy's Edge there IS news you might hear on a radio playing in a certain area - but it's podrace results and interviews with a new intergalactic music sensation, and things like that. The areas outside the actual parks are somewhat less themed, but still manicured for the most part. It'll suck if suddenly there are potholes because Disney isn't allowed to fix their own roads, or there are delays in firefighting putting guests in danger, etc.

It sucks bad enough that Disney lost their protected airspace status recently. It used to be a strange occurrance to see an airplane overhead, even at like 30,000 feet. Now there are tourist helicopters buzzing around constantly breaking the immersion sometimes. 

I hope this doesn't go through. Partly because I could see it having a negative affect on guest experiences at the parks, and I like going to the parks. And partly because it seems like theater - it'll keep DeSantis in the news, but have basically no effect on Disney's response to the bill in question, and will be financially bad for Floridians. 

I'm not even sure what the desired result of all this grandstanding is. Like what exactly do they want Disney to do? Come out and say "OK, we're sorry we pointed out that gay people actually exist and it's ridiculous to make it illegal for teachers to so much as acknowledge if a child has two moms or two dads."?

They want Disney to not be "woke" but what does that actually mean? Stop hiring gay people? Cut the tiny fractional bit of gay representation out of all their media? Pretend that gay and trans people don't exist? Refuse to rent rooms to non-related people of the same gender? 

This is just political theater I think, just like all the rest of the hot-button issues that Republicans like to rile their followers up with. No substance, just a meaningless buzzword they've manage to make people fear.

[front hugs > duggs]

Yes, definitely political theatre, and a distraction away from his extreme racist gerrymandering currently going through the Florida legislature. Another big issue this would cause for the WDW- because of their special status, they don't have to go through either Orange or Osceola county for any permitting for new structures/refurbishment/design/etc. and can get things done more quickly and efficiently. As Orange County, FL is one of the fastest growing regions in the country with crazy amounts of development happening, our permit resources are already stretched thin (it took us about 2 months to get the permit for our pool, where as it used to take only weeks before pandemic + massive growth). If all WDW permits have to go through the county, that would be detrimental to both WDW and the OC residents.

Sorry for the long rants, this is extremely close to home for me. I thought I could be a new blue voter in this state when I got here a couple years ago. However, all this stuff is exploding like crazy, I can't fathom how someone who won by 32k votes is having such a significant impact on the steep downward trajectory of this place.

If anyone is interested, Anna Eskamani, a local rep, is an amazing source of information :

Spoiler

on all the happenings

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by front hugs > duggs
spoiler

[Cartmann99]

This article goes into some of the financial ramifications for Orange and Osceola County residents.

End of Reedy Creek: Disney won’t pay more taxes, but you will

Quote

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One of the biggest myths circulating on the internet is that the end of Reedy Creek will finally force Disney to pay its fair share of taxes, boosting the economies of Florida and the counties its resorts are located in.

Let’s dispel that rumor right now: not only is it wrong, it’s the opposite that will take effect.

This much is true: the Reedy Creek Improvement District is an extension of Disney that shields the company from oversight others have. The theme park operator taxes itself and gives itself permission to build whatever, wherever so long as it follows building codes and other state and federal laws.

What Reedy Creek isn’t is a replacement for the counties it exists in. Disney still pays the same property taxes levied by the government and the school district that every other landowner pays. Orange County, for example, collected $40 million from the House of Mouse in 2021, Tax Collector Scott Randolph (D) said.

So, how does Reedy Creek operate its own fire and sewer departments? The special tax district status allows Disney to levy an additional tax on itself to pay for those services. The tax, amounting to $105 million per year, is illegal anywhere else in the county, along with the additional $58 million per year the company taxes itself to pay off Reedy Creek’s bond debt.

When the district is dismantled on June 1, 2023, Orange County will begin paying for those services and paying off the debt, without that special status in place.

“The moment that Reedy Creek doesn’t exist is the moment that that those taxes don’t exist,” Randolph said. “Orange County can’t just slap a new taxing district onto that area and recoup the money that was lost.”

Effectively, Disney’s loss of control also hands it a $163 million per year tax break. If the entire state of Florida was responsible for covering the hole, each taxpayer would have to cough up roughly $7.50.

However, this burden will not be shared equally. Despite zero debate or public comment, and the near-total opposition of Central Florida’s delegation to this maneuver, Orange and Osceola County taxpayers will shoulder the hit alone, leaving both counties staring at financial ruin.

Salvaging the budgets won’t be pretty. State law prevents the counties from raising sales taxes or impact fees to cover the costs. They also must tax all areas of the county equally, meaning whatever they enact must apply to everyone.

That leaves one avenue: property taxes, of which Orange County collects approximately $600 million per year right now.

“I don’t see how Orange County doesn’t raise property taxes by 20% to 25%,” Randolph said. “That’s what [the county] would probably have to do to cover this financial situation.”

Normally, such a move would be a political poison pill in an election year and go against the typical Republican promise to never raise taxes.

Most people expect the legislature to backtrack on their plans in January, paring down some of Disney’s unnecessary powers while maintaining Reedy Creek’s taxing abilities, which would solve legitimately held complaints about the district’s broad abilities while preventing the worst effects of this past week.

However, Randolph said some damage was already done. For one, county and Disney staff will spend the next nine months or more meeting to discuss how to dissolve the district and transfer responsibility to the counties.

The second effect: making businesses think twice about moving jobs to Florida, knowing the state could change the rules overnight if an executive has a different opinion than a politician.

“They’re dissolving something the size of the city of Orlando in 72 hours,” Randolph said. “This is not the way to run a state.”

 

[Cartmann99]

Disney government dissolution bill signed by DeSantis

Quote

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill to dissolve Walt Disney World’s private government, after the entertainment giant opposed a new state law critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”

The law would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the 55-year-old Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure does allow for the districts to be reestablished, leaving an avenue to renegotiate its future.

The move could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks have transformed Orlando into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, and serves to further sour the relationship between the Republican-led government and a major political player in the state.

For DeSantis, the attack on Disney is his latest salvo in a culture war waged over policies involving race, gender and the coronavirus, battles that have made him one of the most popular GOP politicians in the country and a likely 2024 presidential candidate.

The dispute with the company began with Disney’s criticism of a new law barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade as well as instruction that is not “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”

In March, Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state and added that it would in turn support organizations working to oppose the new law. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then lashed out at Disney, and have defended the law as reasonable.

At the bill signing ceremony Friday, DeSantis said Disney lied about the content of the education law but that he viewed the company’s vow to fight the law as unacceptable.

“You’re a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you’re gonna marshal your economic might to attack the parents of my state. We view that as a provocation, and we’re going to fight back against that,” DeSantis said.

 

[formergothardite]

Anyone remember how back in the 90s the religious right tried to wage a war against Disney? It didn’t do much. In the end, Disney is always going to end up winning. The GOP isn’t going to be able to turn America against them and they have they money to buy politicians, which is what I expect will happen. There will be an article in six months to a year saying Disney has been given their governing power back. They seem to be remaining very quiet about all this which makes me think they have already planned out exactly how this will play out. I doubt they are worried a bit.

[TuringMachine]

The whole idea of calling Disney too woke is very funny to me. Especially since their initial response was like, the 5 seconds of gay we put into movies more than makes up for finically supporting anti-gay politicians. They only pivoted after the bill had already passed. If anything DeSantis is helping them overcome that pr disaster.

Also the Republican governor is making anti-business decisions against his state's largest employer? Do republicans have any positions other than we hate minorities anymore?

Edited April 22, 2022 by TuringMachine
typo