Thread by @Matt_Fleming321

Thread 🧵

1/ Disney pulls billion dollar investment from Lake Nona Town Square development in South East Orlando, completely upending East Central Florida's regional development plans.

Stay with me on this one, it covers a lot of ground and is a HUGE deal.

2/ Full Article from @nytimes

"The project, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, was supposed to involve the relocation of more than 1,000 employees from Southern California, including most of a department known as 'Imagineering'."

nytimes.com/2023/05/18/bus…

3/ Lake Nona is a massive planned development area in SE greater Orlando, and Tavistock is one of the lead developers spearheading the rapid growth and investment in the area.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1516153286788849666?t=nc3tYhSiPTg4sXkYlR1slQ

4/ Its a multi-billion dollar planned community, with thousands of investors and stakeholders, and numerous projects already underway or completed.

tavistockdevelopment.com/project/lake-n…

5/ Its location makes it a stepping stone to an even larger development in East Central FL on Deseret Ranch. Owned by the Mormon church, their 50 yr plan is to develop it into a spralwing self-contained community of 500k ppl, which includes building a new toll road to the coast.

6/ Last year, environmental protections were gutted for a protected area of conservation land called #SplitOak in order to make way for the part of that new toll road connecting Lake Nona to Kissimmee.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1516127765497528321?t=PX9Ce95NltIkmzqcaRGifA

7/ Disney pulling its investment comes on the heels of an explosive exposé of the Mormon Church's investment practices, as whistleblower allegations accuse the church of funneling non-profit money into private ventures via a "clandestine hedge fund".

https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1657885488101949443?t=hPOgkD1014lr1lYCzGT81A

8/ Most ppl think this started last year when Disney pulled political donations from Florida over Republicans passing a bigoted and unconstitutional law called "Dont Say Gay".

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1517915469042364417?t=9iiaq6nklq74apVnRA6ilQ&s=19

9/ But in reality, whats happening in Florida with Disney has everything to do with global Casino interests wanting to open up shop here, and turn our state into a new Las Vegas.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1651337170089652225?t=9iiaq6nklq74apVnRA6ilQ

10/ Seriously.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1526235396581036032?t=9iiaq6nklq74apVnRA6ilQ

11/ Bob Iger recently said, "I do not view this as a going to mattresses situation for us" responding to a question of whether he would meet with DeSantis.

12/ He also said he's ok with ESPN getting into the sports betting business. But that was a month ago...

time.com/6269006/bob-ig…

13/ ...And about ten days later, ABC/ESPN got rid of Nate Silver, founder of the analytics company Five Thirty Eight.

nytimes.com/2023/04/25/bus…

14/ Its speculative to say, but its likely Silver was let go bc Bob Iger genuinely believes that Disney and Gambling are not a good fit. Which is smart. Because they aren't.

thegruelingtruth.com/basketball/nba…

15/ Just don't be fooled into thinking it was magnanimous of Trump to suggest Disney move to North Carolina....he might be a failed casino guy, but thats who he is.

16/ And definitely don't be fooled into thinking Disney World is gonna close up shop and leave. "Specifically, Iger said that Disney is “currently planning now to invest over $17 billion in Walt Disney World over the next 10 years."

disneytouristblog.com/bob-iger-revea…

17/ #BrevardCounty's leaders all endorsed DeSantis yesterday, and today Disney pulled its investment. That development out there is very much tied to long-term development plans here...which they're all expecting to get rich off of. Lol.

@CoastRocket
thespacecoastrocket.com/every-brevard-…

18/ Randy's now-infamous "kick the bees nest" remarks about Disney are pretty ironic and hilarious in hindsight. Probably, the local real estate ppl are all going to blame him for this. As they should.

floridapolitics.com/archives/51757…

19/ For a lot more on Brevard, which is the large coastal county just east of Orlando, and home to America's Kennedy Space Center, our local political scene is a nightmare, but its connections to national politics, frauds, and insurrection are many.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1608223747093467136?t=gnbEcY_eLeK-HXoGOnFGHA

20/ Brevard County is literally where Moms For Liberty and George Santos came from.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fleming321/status/1608190881810497536?t=gnbEcY_eLeK-HXoGOnFGHA

21/ But its my home, and its a beautiful place filled with good ppl. Definitely worth fighting for.

#SpaceCoast
#BrevardIsBeautiful
#SaveTheMidReach