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Disney World suing Orange County over property taxes

Disney World suing Orange County over property taxes Orange County

Taxes! Taxes! Beautiful, lovely taxes!

Those who watched Disney’s animated Robin Hood movie might remember this particular Prince John quote. Unfortunately, taxes are something Disney is not excited about these days. The Walt Disney Company is suing Orange County’s Property Appraiser, Rick Singh, over their Walt Disney World property taxes. Disney argues that their 2019 property tax appraisals are too high.

In the past week, Disney filed a dozen lawsuits in the Orange Circuit Court over the property tax assessments for their theme parks, resorts, employee buildings and other structures on its sprawling property. However, Beth Watson, spokeswoman for Rick Singh’s office, disagrees with Disney’s complaints. Her office believes that Walt Disney World Resort was previously undervalued for decades by property appraisers.

“Again this year, the Disney organization has chosen use the court system to dispute the value of its property in Orange County and thereby pay reduced property taxes that would benefit area infrastructure and public schools,” Watson said. “The Orange County Property Appraiser looks forward to defending these values in court on behalf of the citizens of Orange County, so that Disney’s responsibility to the community is upheld.”

According to the Orange County appraisers, the assessed value for the four theme parks includes:

  • Magic Kingdom – $504 million
  • Epcot – $539 million
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios – $394 million
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom – $435 million

Even though Disney argues that the assessed property values are excessive, the company hasn’t stated what they believe the true values should be for the Orlando area theme parks. It’ll take time before any determination is made regarding the disputed property taxes and assessed values.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

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Filed Under: Disney & Co, Parks & Resorts, Walt Disney World, Disney Orlando News, Disney Parks, Disney World, Orange County, Walt Disney World Resort

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Drone pilot received tresspassing warning for trying to get photos of Disney World

Drone

Looks like Dumbo and Peter Pan are not the only ones flying in the sky above Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Last month, Disney security observed a drone the size of a frisbee flying within 100 feet of Cinderella Castle. It surprised the Disney workers when they witnessed an unauthorized drone passing through Walt Disney World Resort. The incident happened on May 20th, 2020.

According to the incident report, the man who owned the drone was issued a trespass warning. An off-duty Orange County deputy found the 40-year old Minneola man piloting the drone from the parking lot of an apartment complex. The name of the drone pilot has not been released since he wasn’t charged with a crime. Several sheriffs cars arrived on the scene when they found the drone pilot near Reams Road. He didn’t live at the apartment complex, but he traveled there so he could get close enough to pilot his drone. The man thought there would be no harm in him filming. Since then, he deleted the footage he filmed and apologized for his actions.

“I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong,” he said. “I don’t want to get into more trouble with Disney.”

Walt Disney World Resort does not permit unauthorized drones, and the FAA authorizes a no-fly zone for the property. The good news is that no harm came from this incident, but it is a reminder that Disney security is looking out for the safety of guests on the resort premises.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

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Filed Under: Disney & Co, News, Parks & Resorts, Walt Disney World, Disney Orlando News, Drone, Magic a Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort