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110 Disney Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Disney has been a beloved entertainment company for generations, creating magical stories and characters that have captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. From classic animated films to modern blockbusters, Disney has a vast array of topics that can be explored in essays. If you're a Disney fan looking for some inspiration for your next essay, look no further! Here are 110 Disney essay topic ideas and examples to get you started:

The evolution of Disney princesses from Snow White to Moana

The impact of Disney's animated films on childhood development

The role of Disney in shaping cultural perceptions of beauty and gender roles

The controversy surrounding Disney's portrayal of race and ethnicity in films like "Dumbo" and "The Jungle Book"

The influence of Disney theme parks on the tourism industry

The importance of music in Disney films, from "Beauty and the Beast" to "Frozen"

The success of Disney's live-action remakes of animated classics

The cultural significance of Disney's first LGBTQ+ character in "Onward"

The rise of Disney's streaming service, Disney+

The impact of Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox on the film industry

The portrayal of mental health in Disney films, from "Inside Out" to "Frozen II"

The role of animals in Disney films and their representation of human characteristics

The use of magic and fantasy in Disney films to explore complex themes

The legacy of Walt Disney and his impact on the entertainment industry

The controversy surrounding Disney's portrayal of indigenous cultures in films like "Pocahontas" and "Moana"

The success of Disney's Pixar Animation Studios and their innovative storytelling techniques

The representation of disability in Disney films, from "Finding Nemo" to "The Little Mermaid"

The impact of Disney's environmental messages in films like "The Lion King" and "WALL-E"

The influence of Disney's princess merchandise on young girls' self-esteem and body image

The cultural appropriation in Disney's use of non-Western cultures in films like "Aladdin" and "Mulan"

The portrayal of strong female characters in Disney films, from Mulan to Elsa

The representation of LGBTQ+ characters in Disney films and their impact on audiences

The role of villains in Disney films and their influence on storytelling

The success of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe and its impact on the superhero genre

The use of humor in Disney films to appeal to audiences of all ages

The portrayal of family dynamics in Disney films, from "The Lion King" to "Coco"

The role of sidekicks in Disney films and their importance in storytelling

The impact of Disney's theme park attractions on popular culture

The portrayal of mental illness in Disney films, from "Alice in Wonderland" to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

The representation of different cultures and customs in Disney films, from "Lilo & Stitch" to "The Princess and the Frog"

The use of music in Disney films to enhance storytelling and emotional impact

The impact of Disney's fairy tale adaptations on popular culture

The representation of gender roles in Disney films and their influence on young audiences

The success of Disney's animated shorts and their impact on the industry

The portrayal of mental health in Disney films, from "Inside Out" to "Ratatouille"

The influence of Disney's theme parks on the entertainment industry

The impact of Disney's acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios on the animation industry

The representation of diversity in Disney films and its impact on audiences

The use of animals in Disney films to explore complex themes and emotions

The role of music in Disney films and its impact on storytelling

The success of Disney's live-action adaptations of animated classics

The portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in Disney films and their impact on audiences

The representation of mental illness in Disney films and its impact on young viewers

The evolution of Disney princesses and their influence on popular culture

The impact of Disney's theme parks on the tourism industry

The portrayal of animals in Disney films and their representation of human characteristics

The success of Disney's Pixar Animation Studios and its impact on the animation industry

The representation of different cultures in Disney films and their influence on audiences

The role of magic and fantasy in Disney films and their impact on storytelling

The portrayal of strong female characters in Disney films and their influence on young audiences

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Tourist Attractions — Disneyland

Essays on Disneyland

Disneyland: the happiest place on earth, why is disneyland better than sixflags, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

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A Reflection of My Experience of Riding The Tower of Terror in Disney Land

The major factors that contributed to eurodisney’s poor performance, investments and finance of hong kong disneyland, successes and challenges of disneyland in europe, state california: disneyland and yosemite national park, relevant topics.

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5 Myths Critics Get Wrong About Bob Iger’s Performance at Disney

A s Disney’s closely watched proxy fight barrels toward the finish line with shareholders casting their votes on April 3, critics of CEO Bob Iger have launched a fuselage of attacks , criticizing Iger’s track record and his plans for turning around Disney. But amidst widespread interest from non-business audiences, these criticisms often drown out the facts and fail to see the whole story before them.

Here are five persistent but false myths about Iger’s track record and plans for resurrecting Disney, debunked.

Myth: Disney stock has languished under Bob Iger’s leadership

The facts clearly show that Disney stock has significantly outperformed virtually all its pure play media and entertainment peers during both of Iger’s stints as CEO. Disney’s 579% total shareholder returns during Iger’s first term as CEO, from 2005 to 2020, far outpaced that of key rivals Warner Brothers’ 244%, Fox’s 104%, and Paramount’s 49% during that same timeframe. And since Iger returned for his second stint as CEO in November 2022, Disney’s 27% total shareholder returns have far outpaced all its major media rivals who are in the red, with Warner Brothers Discovery’s -22%, Fox’s -6%, and Paramount’s -40% returns. No media and entertainment peer CEO can boast of such consistent outperformance across two decades.

Disney critics point out that the company’s stock has fallen about 40% from its peak levels of nearly $200 in 2021, ignoring the fact that Bob Chapek, not Iger, was the CEO in 2021. It was Chapek who oversaw the collapse of Disney stock from $200 to $85 when he was removed in November 2022. Furthermore, Disney critics point out that Disney stock has underperformed big tech platform companies such as Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Netflix, but they disregard the fact that much of these companies’ value derives from their non-media businesses and that Disney has not, and will never be, a pure play big tech company.

Myth: Bob Iger overpaid in major Disney acquisitions

Critics protest that Iger overpays every time a deal is struck and insist that his failed M&A track record is a reason to depose Iger as CEO. But not only is there zero financial evidence to suggest this is true, a careful analysis of the facts suggest Iger’s deals and capital allocation decisions have been rewarded many times over. Consider the payoff from each of his four big deals:

In his first big deal after taking over as CEO, Iger purchased Pixar for $7.4 billion dollars in May 2006. Although media analysts pounced, declaring “ Investors, Beware: Disney is Paying Too Much for Pixar ,” Disney has reaped over $40 billion in direct revenues from Pixar, not even counting derivative revenue streams such as park attractions and synergies with other Disney franchises. Following this up, three years later in December 2009, Iger purchased Marvel for $4 billion sparking the same cries that Disney overpaid . But in the time since, Marvel has reaped over $13 billion in direct revenues for Disney, again excluding derivative revenue streams and synergies which may amount to many billions more. Iger then made his third deal in December 2012 when he purchased Lucasfilm for $4 billion , with the same “ overpay ” criticisms abounding. In the time since, Disney has reaped approximately $12 billion in direct revenues from the Star Wars franchise.

For his fourth deal, and perhaps the most controversial today, Iger purchased 21st Century Fox from Rupert Murdoch for $71 billion in 2018 . Although critics continue to argue Iger overpaid, and while it is still early, this critique does not stack up to basic math . The deal cost Disney significantly less than $71 billion, and closer to $45 billion when all was said and done, since Disney immediately divested several assets at their peak valuation , including selling the regional sports network to Sinclar for $11 billion; selling Sky to Comcast for $15 billion; selling 50% of A&E Networks to Hearst; and selling TeleColombia to Paramount. Disney picked up several key assets in the deal, including a 30% stake in Hulu; a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, and a Star India/Hotstar stake, all of which are worth $12 billion. If one puts a highly conservative 6x multiple on $6 billion in immediate earnings, cost cuts, and synergies, including $2 billion from the Avatar movie alone, then we believe the Fox deal paid for itself within the first year.

Myth: Bob Iger has lost his magic touch on movie making

Critics point to the fact Disney has lost money on its last five movies— but each of those money-losing films were either greenlit or largely produced under the watch of predecessor Bob Chapek, who had little creative experience and whose tendency to alienate creative talent was well documented . In fact, during Chapek’s entire tenure as CEO, not a single Disney movie released under his watch crossed $1 billion in gross box office revenues, with high-budget  misses such as Black Widow , Encanto , Thor: Love and Thunder , Pinocchio , and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever underperforming at the box office. In contrast, Iger had seven films cross $1 billion in box office profits in his last full year as CEO alone in 2019, and Iger has produced 8 of the top 10 and 13 of the top 20 biggest box office openings of all time. Bob Iger has acknowledged that Disney’s creative engine “ lost its way ”, and is now prioritizing quality over quantity after clearing the cluttered content pipeline, canceling at least a dozen projects greenlit by Chapek.

Myth: Bob Iger is failing to turn around Disney

Although Disney stock is up 27% since Iger returned in Nov. 2022, and is the top performing stock in the Dow Jones Index this year, critics continue to suggest Iger is not doing enough. In fact, Iger’s performance during his second run as CEO already far exceeds those of peers who returned to the CEO job after a successful first run. Starbucks stock was down nearly 50% a year after Howard Schultz returned to Starbucks in 2008, but after three years had returned 63%. Similarly, after Michael Dell returned to Dell in 2007, the stock fell 17.3% a year into his tenure before multiplying by several times over the next decade. Even Apple, under founder Steve Jobs, took three years to pull off its stunning stock rebound of 403% after his 1997 return as CEO. (Iger served on that board under Jobs.)

Iger’s plan for fixing Disney is well underway and paying dividends already. After a year spent fixing inherited issues, Disney’s flywheel is now firing on all cylinders , with free cash flow inflecting eightfold from $1 billion in 2022 before Iger returned, to well over $8 billion expected this year.

Myth: The Disney board is unduly deferential to Bob Iger and dropping the ball on leadership succession

Disney’s board is one of the most impressive boards in modern corporate America, with strong, independent, qualified CEO peers of Iger including GM CEO Mary Barra; Oracle CEO Safra Catz; Morgan Stanley Chair James Gorman; Former Nike CEO Mark Parker; and Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald; not to mention top executives from Cisco, Meta, Sky, CVS, and JPMorgan—all of whom are independent directors and do not have any personal ties to Iger.

Furthermore, with a new special subcommittee of the Board focused on leadership succession led by Mark Parker and James Gorman, both of whom oversaw seamless succession processes at Nike and Morgan Stanley respectively, Iger continues to cultivate a strong team of key deputies including Disney Entertainment Co-Chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman; Parks Chair Josh D’Amaro, and ESPN Chair Jimmy Pitaro, who have driven revenue growth and $8 billion in cost cuts after Iger restored authority to these key creative leaders.

Plus, Iger surprised the media world by attracting back to the team two past CEO candidates, Tom Staggs, the former CEO of Disney Parks and Resorts as well as former Chief Operating Officer of Disney and Kevin Mayer who led Walt Disney Direct to Consumer and International businesses. Finally, the consumer products and financial worlds were impressed when highly respected PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston left to join Iger as well.

Read More: Bob Iger Outsmarting Ron DeSantis Is a Master Class in Taking on Bullies

As we’ve shown, these five myths about Iger’s track record and plans for resurrecting Disney are not grounded in factual reality. While it is true that some media monarchs cling to power past their peak, clearly, the facts suggest Iger deserves to complete his second decade at the helm of Disney. But above all, under Iger’s impressive stewardship, his plans for turning around Disney are already reaping massive rewards.

As film critic Roger Ebert once said, “no good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough!” Despite the length of Iger’s career, perhaps it is still not long enough. The drama surrounding Disney has become a triumphant saga under Iger’s leadership, which should play on.

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What to expect at Disneyland’s Pixar Fest 2024

T he Pixar Fest seasonal event coming to the Disneyland resort this spring brings back a fan-favorite fireworks show along with a somewhat “new” parade that promise to unleash a heavy dose of Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Coco and Cars characters.

Pixar Fest returns to Disney California Adventure and Disneyland on April 26 through Aug. 4 with the new Better Together parade and the returning “Together Forever” fireworks show .

The new Pixar-centric Better Together parade debuting at DCA will feature a red panda version of Mei Lee, her girlfriends Miriam, Abby and Priya along with the 4*Town boy band from “Turning Red.” Disney describes the dreamy chart-toppers from the early 2000s as regular guys who “keep it real by staying humble and always being true to their fans.”

The new Better Together parade could draw upon elements from the Pixar Play Parade that had a decade-long run at Disney California Adventure before moving over to Disneyland during Pixar Fest in 2018.

The new Better Together parade will have a Luxo Jr. lead unit just like the Pixar Play Parade, which featured a float lineup that included Monsters Inc., Incredibles, Ratatouille, Inside Out, Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, Up, Toy Story and Cars characters.

The new parade could add units featuring characters from some of the latest Pixar films like “Coco,” “Onward,” “Soul” and “Luca.” Disneyland has already announced Ember and Wade from “Elemental” will take part in Pixar Fest.

The “Together Forever” fireworks and projection show returns to Disneyland with a few new scenes as part of Pixar Fest 2024.

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The “Together Forever” fireworks show in 2018 featured projection mapping throughout Disneyland and Buzz Lightyear flying over Sleeping Beauty Castle in place of Tinker Bell. The nighttime spectacular’s backstory recounts how friendships unfold in Pixar films — from first encounters and forging bonds to adventures and adversities.

The “Pixar Pals Playtime Party” show in the Fantasyland Theatre at Disneyland combines dance, play and games with a screening of Pixar short films.

The Club Pixar dance party will take over DCA’s Hollywood Backlot at night with DJ music, live shows and Pixar-themed games, food and drinks.

A Pixar-inspired food festival starting May 10 will feature six marketplaces booths each representing an animated film.

• The Elemental Table (“Elemental”)
• Gusteau’s To-Go (“Ratatouille”)
• Hanger Management (“Inside Out”)
• Portorosso Pasta (“Luca”)
• The Spark (“Soul”)
• 4*Town Fav*4*ites (“Turning Red”)

The food lineup will include a Pixar-inspired menu at Troubadour Tavern and Pixar Fest cake at the Plaza Inn in Disneyland as well as a “Coco”-inspired menu at DCA’s Paradise Garden Grill.

The reimagined Paradise Pier Hotel that became the Pixar Place Hotel in January will give fans a chance to add an extra dose of Pixar to the 10-week festival this spring.

©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit ocregister.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Amna Khalid says institutions need to rethink DEI initiatives.

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Pushing back on DEI ‘orthodoxy’

Panelists support diversity efforts but worry that current model is too narrow, denying institutions the benefit of other voices, ideas

Nikki Rojas

Harvard Staff Writer

It’s time to take a harder look at the role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in higher education.

That was the overall theme of a searing panel discussion at Smith Campus Center on Thursday. Titled “Academic Freedom, DEI, & the Future of Higher Education,” the event featured scholars specializing in law, history, politics, and diversity.

“The power of diversity for learning is irreplaceable,” said panelist Amna Khalid, associate professor of history at Carleton College in Minnesota. “It is incredible, and it is a value that I strongly believe in as someone who is the product of various educational systems.”

However, Khalid shared that she often finds herself at odds with the approach DEI practitioners take in higher education — an approach she termed “DEI Inc.”

Khalid wrote an opinion piece with Carlton colleague Jeffrey Aaron Snyder last year for the Chronicle of Higher Education. The essay, titled “ Yes, DEI Can Erode Academic Freedom. Let’s Not Pretend Otherwise ,” argues that under the logic of the prevailing DEI model, “Education is a product, students are consumers, and campus diversity is a customer-service issue that needs to be administered from the top down.”

All too often, Khalid said at the event, practitioners implement a “model underscored by a notion of harm and that students somehow need to be protected from harm.”

Jeannie Suk Gersen, John H. Watson, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, agreed with that assessment and said that people who object to DEI do not often equate it to the idea of diversity.

“It’s, in fact, a set of ideas that have become very narrowed to one specific orthodoxy about what diversity means, what equity and inclusion mean, so that it shuts out a whole bunch of other ideas about what diversity, equity, and inclusion may be,” Suk Gersen said.

The lone voice to advocate for a professionalized and accountable DEI workforce was Stacy Hawkins, a Rutgers University law professor and scholar of DEI.

“Perhaps it’s simply just the introduction of diversity into our institutions that’s going to create discomfort — that’s going to make it harder to have the same conversations, to do the same things, to say and behave in the same ways that we used to,” said Hawkins, who underscored the challenge of welcoming diverse students without diverse faculty. “But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a worthwhile exercise to try.”

Panelists also fielded questions on academic freedom and free speech, and whether DEI infringes on those rights.

DEI is “almost always wrong in the sense that it subverts classical liberal principles of the academic mission of open inquiry, truth seeking, knowledge creation, research, and debating ideas,” responded panelist Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute.

He went on to quote Hanna Holborn Gray, former president of the University of Chicago, who once said: “Education should not be intended to make people comfortable; it is meant to make them think.”

Shapiro proved the only panelist to argue for the total elimination of university DEI offices without replacing them with other structures designed to achieve diversity goals. Instead, he said that student affairs, compliance officers, and admissions should assume any responsibilities related to diversity.

Last week’s discussion was sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Civil Discourse Initiative , the Harvard College Intellectual Vitality Initiative , and the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics .

Also discussed were social media and the distorted views it surfaces on DEI.

Hawkins noted that DEI takes a real beating on the platforms, all while cancel culture is the true driver behind most modern outrage. “There is this heightened sense of awareness,” she said. “There’s this heightened sense of accountability. There is this heightened sense of threat. And this heightened sense of punitive action, all surrounding a larger cultural phenomenon that has nothing to do with diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

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AT&T Resets Millions of Passcodes After Customer Records Are Leaked

Nearly eight million customers and 65.4 million former account holders were affected by the data breach, the company said.

By Aimee Ortiz

The telecommunications giant AT&T announced on Saturday that it had reset the passcodes of 7.6 million customers after it determined that compromised customer data was “released on the dark web.”

“Our internal teams are working with external cybersecurity experts to analyze the situation,” AT&T said . “To the best of our knowledge, the compromised data appears to be from 2019 or earlier and does not contain personal financial information or call history.”

The company said that “information varied by customer and account,” but that it may have included a person’s full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, Social Security number, date of birth, AT&T account number and passcode.

In addition to those 7.6 million customers, 65.4 million former account holders were also affected.

The company said it would be “reaching out to individuals with compromised sensitive personal information separately and offering complimentary identity theft and credit monitoring services.”

AT&T said it reset the passcodes for those affected and directed customers to a site with details about how to reset them. It also said that it was starting a “robust investigation supported by internal and external cybersecurity experts.”

A company representative did not address specific questions about how the breach happened or why it went unnoticed for so long.

TechCrunch, which first reported on the passcode reset , said it informed AT&T on Monday that “the leaked data contained encrypted passcodes that could be used to access AT&T customer accounts.”

TechCrunch said it delayed publishing its article until the company “could begin resetting customer account passcodes.”

In its report, TechCrunch said that “this is the first time that AT&T has acknowledged that the leaked data belongs to its customers, some three years after a hacker claimed the theft of 73 million AT&T customer records.”

AT&T had previously denied a breach of its systems but how the leak happened was unclear, TechCrunch reported.

AT&T said that it did not know whether the leaked data “originated from AT&T or one of its vendors” and that it “does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in theft of the data set.”

The episode comes after AT&T customers experienced a widespread outage last month that temporarily cut off connections for users across the United States for several hours. The Feb. 22 outage affected customer in cities including Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

At its peak, there were around 70,000 reports of disrupted service for the wireless carrier, according to Downdetector.com , which tracks user reports of telecommunication and internet disruptions.

A few days later, AT&T offered customers affected by the outage a $5 credit in an effort to “make it right.”

Aimee Ortiz covers breaking news and other topics. More about Aimee Ortiz

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• The Buzz on Florida Politics

Are Disney and DeSantis making up? Both look ready to work together.

• Skyler Swisher Orlando Sentinel (TNS)

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney are moving into a new chapter of a dramatic political story that captured the nation’s attention, one that could see better relations between the two.

Lawsuits have been settled, and now, both sides are striking a collaborative tone. A lot of money is at stake. Disney is planning to  invest billions of dollars into its theme parks  over the next decade.

Florida stands to benefit with new jobs, more tourists and huge economic investments. Disney needs to compete with  Universal Studios’ fourth theme park , Epic Universe, opening in 2025. Working with Florida politicians will be key to success.

“(Disney) went sideways with politics, but when it comes to business, we should work together,” said Republican state Rep. Randy Fine, one of the most vocal Disney critics who sponsored legislation that ended the corporation’s control of the Disney World governing district. “I hope that is what happens now.”

Walt Disney World Resort president Jeff Vahle echoed a similar sentiment. He spoke of “constructive engagement” with Florida officials that would enable continued investment and thousands of new jobs.

Asked about the settlement, DeSantis noted his problems stemmed from executives at Disney’s corporate headquarters in Burbank, California, not those in Orlando. Florida wants to see Disney World expand, he said.

“We would like to see more development in that area. … If Universal is doing this Epic Universe, Disney is probably going to have to answer that with something,” DeSantis said Thursday. “I think the board we have in place would be willing to negotiate that.”

It appears Disney and DeSantis are making peace, political and industry analysts said.

On Wednesday, the two sides  settled litigation over who would control a special district  that provides government services to Disney World. The bottom line of that settlement: Disney will now have to work with a governor-appointed board on planning, zoning and other government-related issues involving its Central Florida theme parks and resorts.

“They both called uncle,” said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor who wrote the book “Married to the Mouse” about Disney World’s origin story. “The imbroglio between the two of them had become self-defeating. It was in their mutual interest to come up with a compromise.”

“Raised the white flag”

Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida, sees the political dynamics somewhat differently. State officials prevailed in the courts, and DeSantis succeeded in both reforming Disney’s special district and boosting his political profile with conservative voters by making Disney into a national issue, he said.

“Disney has raised the white flag and surrendered over Cinderella’s castle,” Jewett said. “It is pretty clear they just folded, legally speaking.”

Disney likely made a calculation that its chances of winning in court weren’t good, and its financial interests were best served by working with Florida’s GOP leadership, he said.

As of late, DeSantis seems to be backing away from fiery rhetoric slamming Disney, instead focusing on how he reformed the special government district, Jewett said. While some Republicans embraced DeSantis’ battle with Disney, other business-minded and libertarian GOP voters found it off-putting.

“It is an opportunity for him to pivot and for him to revise history a bit and downplay the punishing Disney for speaking out and instead say this was about good governance,” Jewett said.

It appears the DeSantis administration extended an olive branch with the appointments of two new leaders to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the Disney World governing district at the center of the dispute, he said.

New district administrator Stephanie Kopelousos  is a strong DeSantis ally, having worked on his presidential campaign and as his legislative affairs director. But she also has a long resume of government experience, serving as county manager of Clay County and head of the Florida Department of Transportation.

She isn’t known as an outspoken culture warrior, working mostly behind the scenes. She helped to  broker a carveout for Disney  in one piece of legislation targeting Big Tech censorship before the Disney-DeSantis feud.

She is replacing  Glen Gilzean , another DeSantis ally whose resume lacked experience leading a local government.

“It’s a good fit”

Board chairperson Martin Garcia also resigned. He was a vocal Disney critic , calling the company’s previous status in Florida arguably “the most egregious example of corporate cronyism in the history of modern America.”

His replacement is  Craig Mateer , an Orlando entrepreneur who founded the baggage-handling service Bags Inc. A major GOP donor, Mateer made millions through the tourism business, selling Bags Inc. for $275 million in 2018.

In an interview, Mateer said he wants to focus on “growth and investment” in the district, adding that he is excited to join the board.

“I am an ardent supporter of the governor,” he said. “I also know how to work with Disney. I am a long-term Central Florida resident. I think it’s a good fit for all of us.”

The Disney-DeSantis dispute unfolded with political theatrics fit for a Hollywood script, a storyline Florida political analysts didn’t see coming because of the company’s powerful sway with Republicans and Democrats alike in Tallahassee.

It starred a firebrand governor with presidential aspirations and Mickey Mouse, America’s beloved cartoon icon.

The feud started when Disney came out against a contentious 2022 bill that limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill’s official title was Parental Rights in Education, and supporters said it was intended to protect young children from age-inappropriate topics.

Critics, though, dubbed it the Don’t Say Gay bill and blasted it as an attack on the state’s LGBTQ+ community.

Disney spoke out against the bill and paused its political contributions in Florida. DeSantis responded by blasting Disney as a “woke corporation” that was attempting to “sexualize” children, which Disney CEO Bob Iger called “preposterous.”

Reedy Creek in spotlight

As the dispute escalated, attention shifted to a wonky topic: the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The Florida Legislature created that district in 1967 to oversee government services for Disney World. For decades, Disney controlled the district by electing its five board members. It has been likened to a  “Vatican with mouse ears,”  a quasi-private government controlled by Disney.

That  arrangement was upended  last year when state lawmakers gave the governor the power to appoint the members and changed Reedy Creek’s name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. DeSantis removed the Disney loyalists from the board and replaced them with Republican allies.

But when the new board members took over, they  discovered their Disney-friendly predecessors approved agreements  limiting the new board’s authority over development.

That set off a legal battle. Disney sued DeSantis and state officials in federal court accusing them of political retaliation for opposing the law. Then the new DeSantis-backed oversight board sued in state court and asked a judge to declare the development agreements tying its hands void.

Disney suffered a  major setback in January  when a federal judge dismissed the federal suit. Then the company settled the state lawsuits on Wednesday, agreeing the development agreements would be null and void and giving DeSantis another legal victory.

Caught in the dispute were about 400 government employees working for the Disney World special district, which span from firefighters to clerks. Dozens resigned or retired  during the transition. In exit surveys, some employees attributed their decision to a toxic political climate.

News of a settlement was well received, said Jon Shirey, president of the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters, a union that represents about 200 district employees.

“We’re very happy to hear the news of the lawsuits being dropped and excited about the prospects of Disney and the district working together collaboratively,” he said.

©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit at  orlandosentinel.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.

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