Disneyland kicked off three nights of its new Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite event with a special guest in the house - California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The governor just posted several photos to his official social media accounts, including one of him posing for selfies with other guests on Main Street USA,
with Disneyland cast members in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge,
and with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro.
Newsom wrote, "Our inclusivity & acceptance attract talent & ideas that drive our economic growth & make us a hotspot for world-leading companies like @disney to grow & prosper. All are welcome here."
Leaving aside the obvious multi-party trolling of the State of Florida here, let us not overlook that Iger and D'Amaro are posing with Newsom in front of Disneyland's concept art for its proposed DisneylandForward initiative. That's the proposal that asks the City of Anaheim to change its planning and zoning agreement with the Disneyland Resort to allow Disney to develop attractions on land currently reserved for use as parking.
Getting Newsom to implicitly endorse DisneylandForward should be a solid get for Disney as it navigates the Anaheim political scene, where what opposition Disneyland has encountered in the past typically has come from the left and not from conservatives.
Of course, a wide coalition of Californians eagerly will come together when it comes to trolling Florida, where Disney is no longer developing plans to move the headquarters for its Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment, including Walt Disney Imagineering, opting instead to remain at their existing offices in Burbank and Glendale.
Florida, as Theme Park Insiders following the news know, has been trying to wrest control of Walt Disney World's planning and development oversight from the company, in a battle over Disney's late-to-the-game opposition to the state's anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. That's an Adam McKay script in the making, with the California governor's willingness to make an apparent show of supporting Disney having greater control over its development future in California the latest plot twist.
But that's just a side plot. The "A" story here is and remains Pride, with top leaders from both California and Disney taking a public stand to continue to support the LGBTQ+ community's annual campaign to reject being dismissed into the margins of society.
Pride Nite continues after hours tonight and tomorrow at Disneyland.
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We can only hope that this means the bad blood that developed between Newsom and Disney as a result of the COVID shutdowns has tempered.
And who says that Robert Niles doesn't respect the wishes of the TPI community by closing off the Comments on the more political main page articles?
Pass the popcorn, MlkeW.
I'd never herd of Newsom until Tim so nice to see more about him. He sounds like he might be next in line to replace Biden?
Newsome obviously wants to run for president in 2028 but I think the way he handled the pandemic would really hurt his electability. He had businesses closed for what was seemingly way longer than most other states and got caught several times having illegal gatherings for himself with no one wearing masks. The Democrats were smart, when Bernie and Elizabeth Warren were getting popular the party pushed them to the side and said we're going with Biden because they knew a moderate had a better chance of winning. The Republicans are going with people on the far right and they have been losing like crazy the past 4 years.
Actually, Harris is next in line but possible Newsome may want a shot in 2028 with heat from his pandemic decisions cooled down.
"All are welcome here."
Yeah! Proud to be Californian, and proud of the Governor for setting the example.
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*Gets popcorn for coming discussion*