Boycotting Florida but not WDW, a moral conundrum

[kaetra]

I don't want to contribute any money to Florida's economy because of the way they are collectively behaving as citizens and the actions of their government that far too many of their voters support wholeheartedly.

I want to support Disney World though. They're just about the only big business that's stood up to the shameful behavior of the Florida government.

If I stay in the WDW bubble, I'm still contributing to the Florida economy at least to the tune of 6.5% of sales tax on my trip package.

How do people here feel about this? I feel like maybe certain people are boycotting Florida because of their politics and other people are boycotting Disney world because of their politics and now Disney world is getting the shaft on both sides. I'm reading in different places that their attendance has definitely been affected this year.

Is Disneyland the only valid ethical choice? Is WDW completely off the table for you and your family right now?

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I feel your pain, I won’t go to the west coast at all. Way to much crime, no police protection, etc….


However, you ll be contributing 100 percent of what you spend in Florida to the economy of Florida…

 

[OKW Lover]

Since I live in FL I really have no choice in the matter. All I can do is try to defeat the incumbents that are pushing a distasteful agenda. Fortunately most of those in the Central FL area are fairly progressive. Much of the sales tax that you are paying when you visit WDW goes to the local community so by visiting your support does help.

 

[fla4fun]

As a resident, I know that not everyone in Florida agrees with what has been happening in Florida. Orange County, where the bulk of WDW is located, supports diversity and inclusion. If I were looking to visit WDW, knowing that the Orange County sales tax is going to a county that is supportive would be a plus. The All Star resorts and WWoS are located in Osceola County (with a slightly higher tax rate), which is also one of the more diverse and inclusive counties in central Florida. Many WDW workers live in Osceola county.

 

[kaetra]

As a resident, I know that not everyone in Florida agrees with what has been happening in Florida. Orange County, where the bulk of WDW is located, supports diversity and inclusion. If I were looking to visit WDW, knowing that the Orange County sales tax is going to a county that is supportive would be a plus. The All Star resorts and WWoS are located in Osceola County (with a slightly higher tax rate), which is also one of the more diverse and inclusive counties in central Florida. Many WDW workers live in Osceola county.

Thank you for this, I did not look at it from this angle.

 

[kaetra]

Since I live in FL I really have no choice in the matter. All I can do is try to defeat the incumbents that are pushing a distasteful agenda. Fortunately most of those in the Central FL area are fairly progressive. Much of the sales tax that you are paying when you visit WDW goes to the local community so by visiting your support does help.

Thanks for the info, I did not realize that most of the sales tax goes towards the local community. I assumed most of it went to the Florida state's government and only a tiny portion went to the local county.

I don't want to be a person that uses ethical gymnastics to find a loophole that gets me what I want, but I guess that's exactly what I'm doing.

I'm trying to plan a vacation, but everything else I'm looking at is coming up short on my expectations. Isn't it funny how WDW can do that to a person? I was watching Hawaii travel videos for "things to do" and I swear everything looked underwhelming. "Visit a blowhole" video was where I decided that Hawaii is not for me. I've read how they're encouraging travel to Hawaii to help their economy in wake of the fire and thought it would be the perfect time for an "ethical Hawaii trip".

 

[Jason_V]

Since I live in FL I really have no choice in the matter. All I can do is try to defeat the incumbents that are pushing a distasteful agenda. Fortunately most of those in the Central FL area are fairly progressive. Much of the sales tax that you are paying when you visit WDW goes to the local community so by visiting your support does help.

Same. We live about 45 minutes from the parks. We don't have a big choice in spending money here or paying taxes or whatever else. We vote for the candidates which will forward what we want.

That being said, we're well aware there were people who did not attend our wedding in May because we had it in Florida. Kind of a double-edged sword for us.

 

[SteveH]

Reality is that any money spend filters into the economy either direct or indirect as @Robbie Cottam said. Plus, if you don't go, somebody else will book that room. Even the California lawmakers have voted to end their various travel bans. Do what makes YOU happy.

As for your comments about Hawai’i...
I left Disney due to their clear and obvious cash grab mentality, and as of now we have zero desire to return. It was actually Disney's actions that caused us to go to skip the 50th Anniversary trip we had planned and instead go Hawai’i for the 1st time visiting the islands Maui and Hawai’i, we had so much fun exploring those two islands we came home and booked another trip this time to Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Having visited some of the Islands amazing national parks, up close with manta rays, ATVing and so much more we both agreed we had more fun and a whole lot less stress then any recent Disney trip. Best of all we're not feeding a corporation who's new philosophy changed "It's all about the Money" instead we support local businesses owners. We're going back, this time 2 weeks in Maui in December we've already got 3 days we'll be spending helping various community groups as well as exploring more of Maui. So don't discount a trip away from Disney.

 

[RedHead0186]

Everyone has a slightly different ethical 'threshold,' if you will. You'll have to decide what you can make peace with.

I'm from the Midwest, but own a vacation home down here. It kills me that some of my property taxes go to the state, lol (though I'm in Osceola County, which, as a PP pointed out, is a county that I'm more okay with getting my tax dollars). When I come to visit, I go to Disney, and that's it. So I try to spend as little of my money outside the bubble as possible.

Though, to think about it another way: boycotting FL businesses actually hurts the businesses more than the state. My company is having our annual conference in Orlando next year, and that's caused a lot of uproar. Our CEO explained that 1) if we cancelled now, we'd be out a ton of money (that the hotel would still collect on, and therefore some taxes still going to the state) and 2) cancelling would hurt the hotel, workers, etc., and wouldn't actually make a dent at the state level. So, they've decided to go ahead and keep it there. Of course, if everyone boycotted having conferences in Florida, then overall state tourism might take a hit. But then DeStantis would probably blame it on all the lame companies that were too scared to come to Florida (or some such nonsense, lol).

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Everyone has a slightly different ethical 'threshold,' if you will. You'll have to decide what you can make peace with.

I'm from the Midwest, but own a vacation home down here. It kills me that some of my property taxes go to the state, lol (though I'm in Osceola County, which, as a PP pointed out, is a county that I'm more okay with getting my tax dollars). When I come to visit, I go to Disney, and that's it. So I try to spend as little of my money outside the bubble as possible.

Though, to think about it another way: boycotting FL businesses actually hurts the businesses more than the state. My company is having our annual conference in Orlando next year, and that's caused a lot of uproar. Our CEO explained that 1) if we cancelled now, we'd be out a ton of money (that the hotel would still collect on, and therefore some taxes still going to the state) and 2) cancelling would hurt the hotel, workers, etc., and wouldn't actually make a dent at the state level. So, they've decided to go ahead and keep it there. Of course, if everyone boycotted having conferences in Florida, then overall state tourism might take a hit. But then DeStantis would probably blame it on all the lame companies that were too scared to come to Florida (or some such nonsense, lol).

This Florida V. Disney is nothing new, it is at least 2 years old.

Your CEO didn't know about this brew ha ha when he scheduled the annual conference in Orlando? Or does he know his employees are naive?

You'll never see "everyone" boycott" Florida. Remember, Bud Light has proven at least 30 percent of the country agrees with the position Florida has taken.....

I think you'll find that about 40 percent of the county doesn't really care and will just be happy the lines are shorter at Disney....

And then you'll have the last 30 percent that thinks Florida is the devil .....

In the long run, all a Boycott will do is hurt Disney, the employees who need Disney to earn a paycheck, and all the other surrounding businesses and their employees that live off Disney's crumbs.


I have heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face, but ultimately this is an attack on Disney....

Ultimately, It would look like you have boycotted Disney BECAUSE of their policies....

Sending the opposite message of what has been posted here...

 

[Minnie1222]

I feel your pain, I won’t go to the west coast at all. Way to much crime, no police protection, etc….

Wow, when was the last time you visited the west coast? There will always be seedy places somewhere on the planet as long as humans exist. Stay away from the unsafe areas and you'll have a marvelous time.

 

[gmi3804]

One way to support Disney and not contribute (directly, at least) to the FL economy, is to go to Aulani and/or DLR. I've been treating my DVC holdings as our Hawaii timeshare over the last year and a half (our third trip in a year is coming up next month). I also have a VGC contract which I use exclusively in California, and we're looking forward to our four days coming up in December.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Wow, when was the last time you visited the west coast? There will always be seedy places somewhere on the planet as long as humans exist. Stay away from the unsafe areas and you'll have a marvelous time.

Last fall,

Yes, Cali is the "seedy unsafe areas I'm staying away from" I have a marvelous time in Florida

SFO, parked to have lunch, in a very high end, "safe" part of town.... and someone smashed the window out of the rental to get my backpack.....

apparently, people that make places "seedy" travel to nice places to conduct "business"

Cops wouldn't come to do a police report.

I had to go to them,

They were "understaffed and too busy". their words, not mine

Took almost 8 weeks to get a police report back...

 

[Smugpugmug]

I have family in Florida so I visit here often but I do not blame anyone for not wanting to give the state their money. Do whatever is the best for you. It's similar to people who boycott Universal due to JK Rowling's presence in the park (she's gross too so I get it).

Disneyland is wonderful and IMO many of the attractions are significantly better than the WDW counterparts anyway!

 

[Minnie1222]

Last fall,

Yes, Cali is the "seedy unsafe areas I'm staying away from" I have a marvelous time in Florida

SFO, parked to have lunch, in a very high end, "safe" park of town.... and someone smashed the window out of the rental to get my back pack.....

apprentely, people that make places "seedy" travel to nice places to conduct "business"

Cops wouldn't come to do a police report.

I had to go to them,

They were "understaffed and too busy"

Took almost 8 weeks to get a police report back...

Sorry about the awful experience. Fortunately, we do not have the same bad luck.

 

[RedHead0186]

This Florida V. Disney is nothing new, it is at least 2 years old.

Your CEO didn't know about this brew ha ha when he scheduled the annual conference in Orlando? Or does he know his employees are naive?

You'll never see "everyone" boycott" Florida. Remember, Bud Light has proven at least 30 percent of the country agrees with the position Florida has taken.....

I think you'll find that about 40 percent of the county doesn't really care and will just be happy the lines are shorter at Disney....

And then you'll have the last 30 percent that thinks Florida is the devil .....

In the long run, all a Boycott will do is hurt Disney, the employees who need Disney to earn a paycheck, and all the other surrounding businesses and their employees that live off Disney's crumbs.


I have heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face, but ultimately this is an attack on Disney....

Ultimately, It would look like you have boycotted Disney BECAUSE of their policies....

Sending the opposite message of what has been posted here...

We book for locations for our annual conferences several years out. As of right now we have locations booked at least through 2029. So the 2024 location was booked well before the Disney vs. DeStanis thing started.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

We book for locations for our annual conferences several years out. As of right now we have locations booked at least through 2029. So the 2024 location was booked well before the Disney vs. DeStanis thing started.

I'm sure it was

 

[starlite_]

So many ppl going to Hawai'i for an "ethical" vacation, like locals haven't been asking ppl to stop going because they cannot afford the rising costs of living there for years.

 

[kaetra]

So many ppl going to Hawai'i for an "ethical" vacation, like locals haven't been asking ppl to stop going because they cannot afford the rising costs of living there for years.

I get it, I really do. I never want to travel where I'm not wanted by the locals.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I understand your thinking. But, I can not personally abide by it. I love WDW too much and than I lose out. I also have a family member who moved there 5 years ago and I want to visit them, and I will! WDW employs a very large amount of persons who also need those jobs!! Up until 2016, I didn't pay much attention to politics. I always voted how I did and didn't concern myself with much else. THAT ALL CHANGED. I do pay attention more.
BUT PEOPLE CAN"T UP AND MOVE just because they don't agree with things. I mean this as: it is not an easy thing to do to leave a state and relocate.