The Walt Disney Co. plans to move most Southern California-based jobs not fully dedicated to Disneyland in its Parks, Experiences and Products Division to a new regional facility in central Florida, it announced on Thursday.
“I want to share news about an exciting project that has been in various stages of planning since 2019,” wrote Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Division, in a letter to staff that was obtained by Deadline. “This new project will create a dynamic environment to support our expanding business – a brand-new regional campus which will be built in the vibrant Lake Nona community of Orlando, Florida.”
“In addition to Florida’s business-friendly climate, this new regional campus gives us the opportunity to consolidate our teams and be more collaborative and impactful both from a creative and operational standpoint,” he wrote.
Initially, the new campus will be home to “more than 2,000 Cast, Imagineers and employees,” according to D’Amaro’s letter – “driving further collaboration and creativity and allowing us to better integrate our business and functional teams.”
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The new facility in Florida will be located near Orlando International Airport, about 20 miles east of the Walt Disney World resort. While the California-based company is still determining which employees to relocate D’Amaro wrote, “we expect most Southern California-based DPEP (Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products) professional roles that are not fully dedicated to Disneyland or, in some cases, the international parks businesses will be asked to relocate to this new Florida campus.”
The move is expected to take 18 months and affected employees will be offered moving assistance, according to D’Amaro. He also emphasized that Disney remains committed to California, “including continued investment in Disneyland Resort.”
The decision comes after the company announced last winter that it was terminating approximately 32,000 employees primarily at Parks, Experiences and Products, “Due to the current climate, including COVID-19 impacts, and changing environment.”
City News Service contributed to this report.