Here are the Top 10 Most Read Disney stories of 2022 – Orlando Sentinel

Walt Disney World had been in the news a lot in 2022.

The company vocal during the conversation around the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, drew criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and faced the dissolution of Reedy Creek.

It’s not easy covering the House of Mouse but Orlando Sentinel reporters covered everything from the company’s financials to new rides.

Here are the Orlando Sentinel’s Top 10 Most Read Disney stories for 2022:

State legislators’ plan to dissolve a special district that has governed Central Florida lands owned by the Walt Disney Co. for over half a century would be “catastrophic” for Orange County’s budget and taxpayers, who’d shoulder the burden of providing public safety and other services for the entertainment giant’s properties, Mayor Jerry Demings said Thursday.

Amid the feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis over the so-called “don’t say gay” law, the Walt Disney Co. has delayed for more than three years plans to move about 2,000 high-paying jobs to Orlando from California.

After a three-year coronavirus-induced hiatus, Gay Days returns to Orlando today as Pride Month begins nationwide and debate continues over the Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay” law.

Many Florida legislative races are dull as dirt. But this year, the two big parties are waging an intense war over one little district in southwest Orange County with a particularly valuable prize — Disney World.

Dear Disney,

Hi. How are you? Probably not great.

You have more GOP politicians gunning for you these days than those Dalmatians had puppies.

Not only that, people on Fox News and inside the governor’s office are trying to portray you as pedophiles. I’m guessing nobody in the Burbank or Orlando C-suites had that on their 2022 bingo card.

The state will likely assume control of Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, rather than local governments absorbing it, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.

Escalating his culture war with the Walt Disney Co., Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded the special session of the Legislature that started Tuesday to consider eliminating the Reedy Creek Improvement District that independently governs much of Walt Disney World.

For decades, Disney and Florida politicians have had a symbiotic relationship — kind of like dung beetles and skunk cabbage.

Much like the beetles pollinate the foul-smelling plants, Disney would fertilize the politicians’ campaign accounts with cash — top it off with free hotel rooms and park passes — and then the politicians would do whatever Disney wanted.

Responding to pressure to condemn the “don’t say gay” bill in the Florida Legislature, the Walt Disney Co. issued a statement this week saying it understood the issue’s importance to employees and customers — without taking a stance against the legislation.

Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed his support Thursday for ending Disney’s “special privileges” in Florida, saying the entertainment giant’s political sway is waning.

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