Lots of changes have been made at the Walt Disney Company over the past year.
©The Walt Disney Company
Early last year, Bob Iger stepped down as CEO and is set to step down from his role as chairman at the end of this year. The company also massively restructured some of its business areas to adjust its focus to streaming. Now, more changes are on the way.
Recently, Disney shared a press release and additional information regarding an upcoming change that will be taking place in the company. Today, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, informed Cast Members, Imagineers, and more that Disney is working on developing a new campus based in the Lake Nona area of Orlando, Florida.
We actually shared a bit about Disney’s potential involvement in Lake Nona back in April of this year. At that time, Disney was in early discussion about developing a commercial and residential community in Lake Nona. Now, it seems like we have a better idea of what that involvement in Lake Nona may have been about.
Lake Nona Town Center courtesy of Lake Nona
According to the letter shared by D’Amaro with Cast Members, Disney has secured the location for this new campus, which is a project that has been in development since 2019. D’Amaro has shared that Disney plans to build a “brand-new regional campus” in the Lake Nona community.
D’Amaro noted how many of the Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products team members already work in Central Florida, so expanding the footprint there for their Parks, Experiences, and Products team “makes sense.”
Walt Disney Company Logo
According to D’Amaro, initially the new campus will be home to “more than 2,000 Cast, Imagineers and employees.” D’Amaro shared that they’re still determining exactly which of their team members will be based there. But, Disney expects that most of those working in Parks, Experiences, and Products professional roles who are located in Southern California at the moment and are not fully dedicated to the Disneyland Resort, or the international parks business, will be asked to relocate to the new Florida campus. Certain people in other roles may also be asked to move to this campus.
©Disney
When will all of this take place? According to D’Amaro this move will take place during the next 18 months.
We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more updates on this situation and let you know what we find.
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I hope those Californians relocating here are not going to try to change FL into another CA. I moved from CA to FL to get away from that crazy State.
I feel sorry for any LGBTQ+ Imagineer or family member whose continued employment with the company depends on them being relocated to a state that is openly hostile to their human rights. 🙁