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Colorado Eyes Up Major Disney World Move

colorado mountains
Credit: ABC

Will Walt Disney World be moving soon?

The Walt Disney Company and Florida have been battling in an ongoing feud that’s featured threats, lawsuits, and satires, a feud that is now heading to court.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been fighting Mickey Mouse in a roller coaster saga that escalated in recent weeks to both sides filing lawsuits against the other.

With rumors circling that Disney is looking to relocate out of Florida, the Colorado Governor has weighed on the conversation.

Cinderella Castle

Credit: Disney

The headline battle stemmed from a political boycott of The Walt Disney Company due to former Disney CEO Bob Chapek criticizing the Florida Parental Rights in Education law (otherwise called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill).

Florida Governor DeSantis threatened to remove Walt Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District. Since 1967, the Walt Disney World Resort had been able to reside in Florida unregulated. Reedy Creek allowed Disney to act with the same authority as a county government. Local taxpayers – residents of Orange County and Osceola County – did not have to pay for building or maintaining Disney’s essential services.

A new board appointed by Ron DeSantis to oversee government services at Walt Disney World voted on April 26 to nullify two agreements that gave Disney control over the 25,000-acre property. How did Disney respond? Well, Disney filed a lawsuit suing Ron DeSantis, claiming “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.”

Disney then shocked everyone with the announcement it is pulling its new Imagineering campus out of its Central Florida hub. Now, Colorado’s governor has barged into the feud between DeSantis and Disney.

jared polis colorado governor

Credit: ABC

Many have been speculating that Disney CEO Bob Iger will move the Walt Disney World Resort out of Florida state due to DeSantis’ continued “targeted retaliation” and threats against the company.

Obviously to relolate an entire theme park resort, complete with Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, 2 water parks, Disney Springs, and over 25 Resort Hotels, would be expensive (and probably impossible), but Colorado certainly seems open to bringing in Walt Disney World to the Rocky Mountains.

Democrat Colorado Governor Jared Polis tweeted a “wager” to the Republican governor of Florida that if the Denver Nuggets basketball team beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, Disney World would move to Colorado:

“Calling @GovRonDeSantis and @Disney on a friendly wager. If the @nuggets win the finals against the @MiamiHEAT, Disney World will move to Colorado, the ACTUAL happiest place on earth to do business, have fun, and be free #ColoradoForAll”

We’re not sure if Disney World would actually move to Colorado if the Nuggets do win the NBA finals, but the Denver mountains would add a whole new meaning to Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain.

 

Last year, Polis had previously offered Disney a place to build a theme park resort, saying that Florida’s “authoritarian socialist attacks on the private sector were driving businesses away” and that Colorado does not “meddle in the affairs of companies.”

denver nuggets nba

Credit: ABC

“We’re ready for a Mountain Disneyland,” Polis said. We certainly would love to see a Disney Park with mountains as the backdrop. Maybe the attractions could include a Colorado version of the Matterhorn, a mining ride, and even something based on cult ice hockey movie Miracle (2004)? Toy Story (1995) and The Santa Clause (1994) actor Tim Allen is famously from Colorado, born in Denver.

United States President Joe Biden was recently in Colorado Springs for the Air Force Academy graduation, which featured a flyover of the Thunderbirds.

The best-of-seven NBA Finals began Thursday, June 1 with the Nuggets beating the Heat in Game 1 at Ball Arena in Denver. The next game is scheduled for Sunday, June 4 in Denver.

About Melissa Cannioto

Melissa is an author, adventurer, and chatterbox, who has worked at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Adventures by Disney! A British native, she has traveled the world seeking new experiences, and now resides in Florida with her husband, an Air Force pilot. Find her children's book at @bear.hug.book