The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has filed 15 lawsuits over what it calls “excessive” property tax assessments for its four Florida theme parks, its failed Star Wars hotel and other properties from its real estate portfolio in Orange County.
Florida Politics reports the lawsuits filed late last week in Orange Circuit Court seek to cancel the original 2025 tax bills, which will be replaced with new ones for reassessed amounts. The company also demands reimbursement for the legal fees involved in contesting the property taxes.
The lawsuits claim the office of Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado did not use “professionally accepted appraisal practices,” adding that its “assessments do not represent the just value of the Subject Property as of the lien date because they exceed the market value and therefore violates article VII, section 4 of the Florida Constitution.”
Disney claimed the Magic Kingdom’s assessed value was at about $622 million, with Epcot at $795 million, Hollywood Studios at $639 million and Animal Kingdom at $495 million. The now-defunct Star Wars: Galactic Cruiser hotel was assessed at $38 million this year; Disney plans to turn the property, which was closed in 2023, into office space.
Other Disney properties cited in the lawsuits include the Grand Floridian Resort, accessed at $333 million, the Contemporary, at $243 million, and Coronado Springs, at $350 million.
Mercado’s office did not comment on the story.
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