Disney fan sites are covering cupcakes, characters and now, DeSantis
On most days, Disney fan site Laughing Place usually covers breaking news such as updated theme-park signage, construction statuses and the latest Star Wars merchandise.
But on Monday, the site’s Twitter account was delivering real-world news about political and legal battles, sprinkled in with posts about Little Mermaid-themed coffee and potential new Lego sets. The website’s homepage noted the most popular story: a piece about the judge set to preside over the recently filed Disney lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Sites such as the Disney Food Blog, BlogMickey, WDWMagic and AllEars are better known as a place for fans to get updates and weigh in on menus, merchandise and character greetings. Recently, they’ve been wading into choppier waters as the battle between DeSantis and the company has intensified, and writers and commenters have turned into armchair legal correspondents.
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The online Disney bubble, that pixie-dust-sprinkled atmosphere surrounding the world’s most popular theme parks, hasn’t quite burst. But amid culture wars, occasional fan squabbles and escalating legal maneuvers, it has been pierced.
A year after the Florida legislature voted to strip Disney of its long-standing self-governing power, the theme park operator sued the state’s Republican governor in federal court last month, alleging political retaliation. A DeSantis-appointed board overseeing the property on Monday filed its own suit in state court — twists that have been dutifully covered by outlets throughout the broad landscape of Disney-centric news sites.
“It’s bizarre, isn’t it?” said Steve Frearson, the U.K.-based owner of WDWMagic, where a carousel of stories features the Disney-DeSantis battle, updated lighting on the Haunted Mansion ride and the 25th anniversary of Animal Kingdom. “I do sometimes look at this front page and go, ‘What the heck is happening here?’”
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For podcast listeners, political news is also baked in. On the weekly “DIS Unplugged” podcast, a show devoted to vacation planning and Disney park reviews, panelists discussed the ongoing dispute last month. Also on the agenda: hotel upgrades, the Splash Mountain re-theme and a just-announced Pride Nite at Disneyland in California.
“If you are just kind of like, ‘I don’t care either way, I just go there for vacation,’ it’s very important, because this will lay the groundwork for what happens in other states and other major corporations,” one of the hosts said.
Today we start with a Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) meeting to discuss the Disney lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/aDcJBPa7bJ
— LaughingPlace.com (@laughing_place) May 1, 2023And on the April 28 edition of “WDW News Today,” host Tom Corless dug into DeSantis’s response to Disney’s lawsuit, fact-checking and providing historical context.
“I will give you my usual disclaimer that I have no political agenda,” he said.
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Site editors and owners interviewed by The Washington Post say they are dedicated to coverage of the topic because it interests readers — and could directly affect their vacations. DeSantis has tossed around the idea of examining hotel taxes, adding toll roads around the resort and even building a new prison near the “most magical place on earth.” A new bill to require state inspections of Disney’s monorail system just got approved by lawmakers.
“If you try to put your head in the sand and say it’s not happening, you’re not giving the full story,” said Benji Breitbart, assignment editor for Laughing Place. “Our audience wants to know what’s going on.”
Many of the sites say they try to avoid alienating readers and keep their coverage neutral with a just-the-facts approach. AJ Wolfe, owner of Disney Food Blog and AllEars, said two former lawyers are writers on staff and have legal contacts who can help with analysis.
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“It is so controversial, especially with our audience, that you just have to be really careful to get all bias out of there,” she said. Editors will often do extra reads to scan for anything that could be viewed as opinionated — even if just a turn of phrase.
End of carouselPete Werner, whose Disney media holdings includes the “DIS Unplugged” podcast, DISboards discussion forums and WDW Info, said that, as a gay man, he was urged to speak up about the legislation restricting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary school grades that sparked the conflict last year. It cost him subscribers, he said, and he tries to make sure opinions stay out of any coverage of the continuing saga.
“Even people’s passion for Disney doesn’t impact where they stand on the political spectrum,” he said.
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Breitbart, of Laughing Place, said it’s also important for his site, which launched in 1999, to provide the context that is often missing from more mainstream news coverage.
“It’s not our purview to say how this will impact Governor DeSantis’s presidential chances, but we are curious as to how it will impact a Disney vacation,” he said.
The fight is not these sites’ first encounter with legal or political realities. Breitbart recalls covering old disputes between Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim City Council. Internal drama involving the ouster of former CEO Bob Chapek and return of his predecessor, Bob Iger, dominated news late last year. And other lawsuits against Disney — including actress Scarlett Johansson’s in 2021 — have earned headlines on fan sites.
“We’ve covered less-than-magical stuff in the past,” Breitbart said. But he said the recent battles have been different as politicians in Florida have knowingly gone after the very mechanism that allowed the company to grow into a tourism behemoth there.
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“This is bigger in that there’s a concerted effort to punish the Walt Disney Company in a way that goes at one of the foundational principles of Walt Disney World, which was that, in comparison to Disneyland, [it] would have the blessing of size and freedom to dream bigger than you can in the middle of Anaheim,” he said.
Frearson said the pandemic, which forced a shutdown of all parks globally for various lengths of time, was a prime example of the real world forcing its way into Disney fandom.
“All of a sudden it wasn’t just about what rides are coming, what’s the latest cupcake,” said Frearson, a software developer who runs WDWMagic as a hobby. “It became: We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
The topic provided a preview of how political and heated fans could get, which continues now in the community forums on Frearson’s site. One thread following the Reedy Creek drama has more than a million views; new comments are added constantly.
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“It’s been pretty rough going actually, particularly on the forum side,” he said. “There’s a lot of arguing; a lot of people have left.”
Wolfe has also seen people unsubscribe and email her directly when her sites cover controversial political topics.
“This is not what I associate with Disney, and I don’t want to see it,” is the reaction, she said. “I don’t want this to mix with what I consider my happy place.”
While the online world now includes more nods to reality, experts say the park experience in Florida — cocooned in a world of Disney hotels, restaurants, transportation and miles of roadways — is still largely spared.
Frearson, who spoke to The Post this week during a visit to Disney World, said he overhears people discussing the drama occasionally, but usually sarcastically, like, “Oh, if DeSantis lets us have a new fireworks show.”
Werner said there’s a more pressing issue at the theme parks these days: fans who are upset about the escalating cost of a Disney vacation.
“The political issue is not the problem in the parks,” he said. “The money issue is the problem in the parks.”
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