In the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area -- which includes Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties -- Disney employs 12.1 percent of the work force in the region and represents 8.8 percent of the gross regional product.
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Florida's largest employer, The Walt Disney Company, and Governor Ron DeSantis are currently embroiled in a never-ending, no-win dispute.
If the area no longer had Disney, Testa said, the result would be “an economic nuclear winter.” “The city would survive, but plenty of people would leave,” he said. “Those who remain would need to rebuild the economy.”
The Burbank entertainment giant had planned to relocate 2,000 jobs — mostly from California — to a sprawling office complex near Orlando International Airport, which serves as a tourist portal to Walt Disney World. Executives explained the move by touting Florida's business-friendly policies.
While Disney could pick up and move some of its businesses from Orlando to another state, Disney World and its other theme parks aren't going anywhere. Moving all the infrastructure, including hotels, restaurants and shops as well as transportation to move guests around, just wouldn't be feasible.
With space in California limited by the surrounding city, Disney bought a much larger parcel of land in Florida in 1965. Ringing in at a total of 43 square miles — or 27,520 acres — Walt Disney World is substantially larger than its older sibling. The park also has grown and it now covers 47 square miles.