Disney’s courtroom winning streak continues in Central Florida. Walt Disney World has prevailed in another property tax lawsuit against the Orange County Property Appraiser, this time securing a reduction in the value of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort for tax years 2015 through 2018.
A Roughly 3 Percent Reduction Each Year
According to Blog Mickey, the judgment revises only the just value of the resort, the underlying market valuation used to calculate a tax bill, while the assessed value for each year remains unchanged. Each of the four tax years landed at almost exactly the same percentage cut, roughly 3 percent, trimming nearly $34 million in total from the resort’s original valuations. The Tax Collector will now recalculate what Disney owes or should be refunded for those years.
The win adds to a growing pile of judgments in Disney’s favor. In 2024, Disney won a years-long lawsuit over the Yacht and Beach Club Resort, where a judge ruled the prior Property Appraiser’s assessment method was illegal under Florida law. Just last month, the company secured roughly $44 million in value reductions for Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. Disney files an annual round of lawsuits contesting assessments across dozens of buildings and resorts, paying its full tax bills first and then litigating the values as Florida law requires.
Unions Turn Up The Pressure
The litigation has drawn increasing pushback from Cast Member unions. UNITE HERE and the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association have been holding town halls and delivering petitions calling on Disney to drop the lawsuits, arguing the refunds hurt public schools. Orange County Public Schools has set aside $119 million so far in case refunds are owed. Union canvassers have reportedly knocked on more than 42,000 doors across Orange County, though the county Tax Collector has noted Disney represents only about half of the large property owner litigation working through the courts.
Disney has not commented publicly on the unions’ position. The legal wins come during a season of change at the resort, where Walt Disney World is also testing AI-powered search on its website and app.
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