Since Disney came out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay,” law last year, it has found itself embroiled in a feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. This has led to Governor DeSantis making statements like “there’s a new sheriff in town” while attacking the efforts of “woke Disney.” This has evolved into a battle over the district that governs the home of Walt Disney World Resort. Disney CEO Bob Iger has called it “a matter of retaliation” and it appears that in the end, the courts will decide if this is true or not (read about the facts on the feud here).
While this feud continues in the courts along with the local and state government about the future of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, time continues to move forward. With this, both sides continue to move forward with their own priorities. Disney continues to make magic for those who come to the most magical place on Earth. It has also pulled the plug on a $1 billion Lake Nona campus project in Florida, due in part to a change in “business conditions” in Florida. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has put his hat in the ring to be the nominee for the Republican Party for President of the United States. In this new endeavor, he has continued to take swipes at Disney. Disney, for the most part, has remained silent.
As things continue to play out, people have been taking note and the polling company Navigator Research has been researching what the public perception of both Disney and Governor DeSantis is. In a recently released study, Navigator shared how both parties are stacking up to the general public. This adds to other recent polls by Ipsos, Yahoo News/YouGov, and others that give a fairly decent big-picture look at the public perception of both sides of this feud.
Disney
Over a year into this controversy, it appears that from a big-picture view that Disney has not been hurt by this controversy in terms of favorability. According to Navigator Research, 63% of Americans hold a favorable view of the company and 32% hold an unfavorable view. This holds fairly close to an Ipsos poll in May that found 64% of Americans believe that DeSantis is punishing Disney for their exercising their right to free speech. According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll in early May, 53% of Americans look at Disney favorably. In all cases, it appears that Disney has the upper hand in terms of favorability. Looking further back at polls, in November 2022, The Economist/YouGov released a poll with Disney’s favorability also at 55%.
Governor DeSantis
Governor DeSantis is seeing numbers that fluctuate more than Disney’s. In the same Navigator Research poll, the Governor’s numbers were at a favorability of 32%. This was down significantly from where his numbers once stood. While his favorability numbers have gone down, his unfavorables have gone up. They now sit at 48% nationally. As mentioned above, the May Ipsos poll believes that only 36% of Americans believe that Governor DeSantis is on the right side of this feud with Disney over the future of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. According to FiveThirtyEight, Governor DeSantis currently has a nationwide favorability of 38.1% and his unfavorables sit at 44.2%.
Behind The Numbers
While it appears that Disney is winning with the bigger picture nationwide favorability polls, there is more to be found in the numbers inside these polls. By and large, the numbers are divided by party with Republicans siding significantly more with Governor DeSantis and Democrats siding with Disney. Independents, however, see Disney in a favorable light of over 2/3rds.
What does this mean for the future of this feud? Well, for the feud itself, it appears that it means that people will continue to spend money on Disney and its theme parks. When asked specifically about the feud by the Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 28% of Americans took the side of Governor DeSantis. However, digging deeper into the question and subsequent actions of the Governor chips away at those numbers. When it comes down to it, Americans really don’t care about DeSantis’ efforts to go after “woke Disney.”
The Winner
It seems fairly clear that in the battle of public opinion, The Walt Disney Company currently is winning in terms of favorability. At the end of the day, this will be a good thing for Disney and its bottom line. As it continues to adapt to a post-pandemic world with restructuring and $5.5 billion in cost savings, this is a good thing for the company. While Disney is winning the battle of favorability across all Americans currently, Governor DeSantis continues to win that battle inside his own party. Around 2/3rds of the Republican party view the Governor favorably.
Disney and Governor DeSantis both have different definitions of winning in this battle. For Disney, there is a long-term definition that could impact the future of its investments in Walt Disney World Resort and other endeavors in the state of Florida. Quite simply, Disney would like to continue to make money by making magic for those who visit its theme parks and resorts in Florida. All of this while treating all people with dignity, respect, and kindness. Governor DeSantis, on the other hand, has a different perspective on this. He views this conflict as a battle of beliefs that can help elevate him to the White House. With how the Republican party currently views the Governor and his actions, this feud helps more than hurts him in his efforts to get the GOP nomination. If Governor DeSantis wins the nomination and then the presidency, this could change the definition of who won in this feud. However, there is a lot of time between June 2023 and November 2024.
