Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney seems like a tale as old as time to Floridians who have been riding the yearlong rollercoaster full of twists and turns. The latest of which is a rumor that the House of Mouse would be packing its bags and heading to Georgia.
The rumor sparked after an April 8 satire story reported that the Walt Disney Company announced that it would be relocating its Disney World theme park after it purchased a 1,000-acre parcel of land in Atlanta, Georgia.
The story also indicated that the new park would include many of the original’s iconic attractions plus new ones “tailored” to the Atlanta area like a new “Gone with the Wind” ride, a Coca-Cola World exhibit and an Atlanta Braves baseball experience.
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Never mind that Disney World is spread out over 39 square miles, nearly 25 times larger than the 1,000-acre parcel the company allegedly purchased, the story went on to say that a groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for August 2023.
The story was published on Medium, an online publishing platform founded by Twitter and Blogger co-founder Evan Williams that allows anyone — amateurs and professionals alike — to self-publish writings and other documents.
So, is Disney leaving Florida for Georgia? Put succinctly: No. The story making its rounds on Twitter and other social media platforms is satire.
What many sharing the story failed to see was the “Parody” tag label at the bottom of the 300-word story. According to the author’s bio, Matt Ryan Allen is a screenwriter, producer and amateur futurist known for the comedy “Four Christmases” and “Block Party.”
Fact-checking website Snopes also pointed out that Disney has made no such announcement, and if it had, the announcement’s seismic impact would send ripples impossible to ignore via reputable news reports, the inevitable social media frenzy and — of course — fans.
Why is DeSantis fighting Disney?
The feud between DeSantis and Disney began in March 2022 after he signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, also dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents.
The bill prohibited instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms. It originally targeted kindergarten through third grade, limiting similar discussions in higher grades to what is “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
However, the Florida State Board of Education on April 19 voted to expand the law to all grades.
Soon after, Disney, who is one of Florida’s top employers, came under fire from the Florida Democratic Party and its LGBTQ employees who staged a walkout due to the company’s silence on the issue.
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Disney relented and became a target after then-CEO Bob Chapek began to lobby against the legislation.
“I called Governor DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if legislation becomes law it could be used to target gay, lesbian, nonbinary and transgender kids and families,” Chapek told Disney shareholders in a March 2022 meeting.
Afterward, DeSantis lashed out at Disney to a group of supporters in a video obtained by Fox News Digital. “You have companies like a Disney that are gonna say and criticize…
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