You would burn up a calculator trying to count the billions of dollars Disney World generated for Florida since it opened in 1971.
Sure, the Mouse put plenty of those billions into the pockets of its employees and executives, but it didn’t stop there. Disney made Orlando an international destination, which required more hotels and restaurants. That led to the expansion of the Orlando International Airport.
The Disney cruises out of Miami and Port Canaveral pumped more money into the local economy. In turn, Disney execs gave large sums of cash to Tallahassee politicians to make sure the company got pretty much whatever it wanted.
That’s what makes the sudden fissure between Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis over the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill so fascinating.
Under pressure from employees to take a more aggressive stance against the new law, Disney CEO Bob Chapek began speaking out against the measure. DeSantis didn’t like that, but that was mild compared to his reaction after a tweet from Disney urged the Legislature to repeal the bill.
