Nobody expected DeSantis and Disney to play nice.
After years of vicious legal warfare that dominated headlines, most assumed the rift would never heal.
But Ron DeSantis' Disney board just dropped $170 million that changes everything.
Record Infrastructure Funding Signals Major Expansion Coming
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District closed on $170 million in new bonds on November 25, marking one of the strongest financing rounds in years.¹
Deputy District Administrator Mike Crikis revealed that 21 institutional investors placed orders even though more than three times that number tried to secure a stake.
The demand shattered expectations.
Since 2015, the District has secured more than $186 million in bonds and spent roughly $150 million on major infrastructure projects.²
This latest $170 million injection will fund 22 major improvements across water, power, and utility systems.
Categories include long-term asset replacement, capacity maintenance, and system expansions.
Here's what nobody saw coming: the DeSantis-appointed board is now providing the exact infrastructure Disney needs for the largest wave of expansion in decades.
https://twitter.com/Themountainkin1/status/1995477040775000199?s=20
Disney already committed to spending $17 billion in Central Florida over the next decade, but expansion requires more than blueprints.³
Before a single attraction opens, the foundational systems must be in place.
The District just greenlit the first project funded by new bonds: a 50% expansion of the South Central Energy Plant at Disney's Hollywood Studios.⁴
The $7 million project will add a third 1,000-ton chiller and cooling tower to the facility located behind Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
The District described the project as necessary "due to customer expansion." Walt Disney World is the only customer.
While neither Disney nor the District confirmed specifics, the plant sits directly adjacent to the rumored Monstropolis site.
Infrastructure upgrades of this scale only happen when something major is coming.
How Bitter Enemies Became Business Partners
Remember 2022?
DeSantis torched Disney as a "woke corporation" after the company came out against Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act.⁵
He stripped Disney of its self-governing status, dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and installed his own hand-picked board members to run the show.
Disney sued for First Amendment violations.
The DeSantis board fired back with their own lawsuit. Legal experts predicted years of scorched-earth litigation that would cost both sides millions.
Nobody expected what happened next.
https://twitter.com/Aahs_n_Oohs/status/1995292891783295356?s=20
Both sides settled in March 2024.⁶
Disney dropped its federal appeal and state lawsuits.
The District voided last-minute development agreements Disney signed before the takeover.
They agreed to work together on a new comprehensive development plan.
DeSantis replaced vocal Disney critics on the board with supporters from the tourism industry.
The settlement cleared the path for what's happening now: the District enabling Disney's expansion plans while maintaining state oversight.
Walt Disney World contributes more than $1.1 billion in state and local taxes annually and employs tens of thousands of Floridians.⁷
Both sides realized cooperation serves everyone's interests better than endless litigation.
District Vice Chairman Charbel Barakat stated after the settlement: "We are eager to work with Disney and other businesses within Central Florida to make our destination known for world-class attractions and accountable governance."⁸
Recent examples show the District already supporting Disney expansion.
They spent over $1 million extending energy services to the new Disney Lakeshore Lodge rising along Bay Lake.⁹
Early work permits revealed infrastructure hookups for construction trailers supporting the Magic Kingdom expansion.
The District's South Central Energy Plant expansion tells the story.
Major cooling and energy needs only arise when significant development is planned.
Animal Kingdom's Tropical Americas project is already deep into development.
Land clearing around Magic Kingdom hints at the rumored Cars-themed area and Villains land beyond Big Thunder Mountain.¹⁰
Disney hasn't officially announced several blue-sky concepts discussed by Imagineering leadership.
https://twitter.com/DisneyFoodBlog/status/1993729154924019922?s=20
But infrastructure spending patterns always precede official announcements.
The DeSantis board is building the systems Disney needs whether or not they've publicly confirmed what's coming.
What This Means for Florida's Future
This shouldn't work.
A conservative governor who built his presidential campaign attacking Disney shouldn't be enabling the company's largest expansion era in years.
Yet here we are.
The infrastructure development proves that despite political tensions, both parties recognized reality: Disney's success is Florida's success.
The math tells the story DeSantis won't admit out loud.
The District pulled in $190 million last year, and Disney wrote the check for more than 85% of it.¹¹
When Disney builds a new hotel or opens another attraction, the District's tax revenue goes up.
When Disney expands, everybody wins.
DeSantis positioned himself as the anti-woke warrior who would never cave to corporate pressure.
Disney positioned itself as defending constitutional rights against political retaliation.
They both got what they needed from the settlement: DeSantis maintained state oversight through his appointed board, and Disney secured the infrastructure support required for $17 billion in investments.
The Oversight District's "extremely busy" development period over the next five years signals transformation is coming.¹²
Whether it's Monstropolis at Hollywood Studios, Villains land at Magic Kingdom, or projects Disney hasn't announced yet, the foundational work is accelerating.
Institutional investors fighting to secure bonds demonstrates confidence in Disney's Florida future.
The strongest financing round in years wouldn't happen if major development wasn't planned.
Twenty-two infrastructure projects funded by $170 million will reshape Walt Disney World's capacity for growth.
Each new chiller, cooling tower, water system, and electrical upgrade enables expansion that creates jobs and drives tourism.
DeSantis found a way to claim victory over Disney while enabling their success.
Disney secured the infrastructure support they need without admitting defeat.
Somewhere along the way, both sides did the math and realized fighting was expensive and pointless.
Now Disney gets the infrastructure support to pump $17 billion into Florida.
The state maintains oversight through DeSantis' board.
Nobody admits defeat, everybody claims victory, and Central Florida gets thousands of new jobs plus transformative theme park additions over the next decade.
That's how the real world works when adults finally stop posturing and start negotiating.
¹ Emmanuel Detres, "Secret Disney World Expansion Plans Surface—DeSantis' District Confirms the Rumors," Disney Dining, November 26, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Emmanuel Detres, "Ron DeSantis Agrees To Change Disney World Parks: Complete Overhaul Confirmed," Inside the Magic, November 26, 2025.
⁵ Mike Schneider, "Timeline: Disney's long feud with Ron DeSantis," The Washington Post, September 8, 2023.
⁶ Shauneen Miranda, "Disney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reach settlement over special district," Axios, March 27, 2024.
⁷ Tal Barak Harif and Felipe Marques, "Disney Versus DeSantis: A Timeline of the Florida Feud," TIME, April 27, 2023.
⁸ Miranda, "Disney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reach settlement over special district."
⁹ Rick Lye, "DeSantis' Disney Board Pledges Millions to Further Disney World's Expansion Projects," Inside The Magic, June 6, 2025.
¹⁰ Detres, "Ron DeSantis Agrees To Change Disney World Parks."
¹¹ Lye, "DeSantis' Disney Board Pledges Millions."
¹² "Disney Oversight District to Issue $175 Million in New Bonds for 'Extremely Busy' Development at Walt Disney World," Blog Mickey, June 6, 2025.
