Disney Settles Six Years of Monorail Resort Tax Suits, Cutting Grand Floridian and Polynesian Values by $767 Million

On paper, the Grand Floridian is worth a lot less than Orange County's property appraiser first said. Disney has resolved six years of tax suits covering its three Magic Kingdom monorail resorts, and the agreed numbers knock about $693.5 million off the Grand Floridian's just value and another $74.1 million off the Polynesian's, roughly $767.5 million combined across tax years 2015 through 2020.

According to Blog Mickey, Judge Margaret H. Schreiber signed off on all six judgments this week, plus orders ending five more Disney tax cases. The Contemporary is the odd one out: its values stay exactly where the Orange County Property Appraiser set them.

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, with a monorail gliding past. Image via Blog Mickey

Six lawsuits, one a year

Disney filed one suit per tax year, starting in June 2016 for tax year 2015 and ending in June 2021 for tax year 2020, each naming the same three resorts. Disney had already paid those tax bills in full. Its argument, per Blog Mickey, was that the appraiser had priced the resorts above market and wrongly folded intangible property into the numbers, the same theory behind Disney's 2024 Yacht & Beach Club win.

The Grand Floridian took the biggest hit

Blog Mickey lined up the values cited in Disney's original complaints with the figures in the final judgments. Here is the Grand Floridian, year by year:

• 2015: $531.8 million down to $356.3 million (33%)
• 2016: $554.5 million down to $371.5 million (33%)
• 2017: $520.2 million down to $395.3 million (24%)
• 2018: $463.9 million down to $371.2 million (20%)
• 2019: $489.4 million down to $416.0 million (15%)
• 2020: $439.3 million down to $395.4 million (10%)

That is about $3.0 billion in original Grand Floridian just value across six years, settled at about $2.3 billion. The Polynesian's cut is a flat 7% every single year, from $1.06 billion in total to $984.4 million.

Those neat round percentages caught Blog Mickey's eye: "Percentages that tidy point to a negotiated formula instead of six fresh appraisals." The outlet says its earlier coverage showed the same approach in other Disney settlements, with cuts of roughly 10% at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge and roughly 3% at Art of Animation.

The Polynesian Village Resort's entrance, photographed in December 2025. Photo: WDW News Today

So how much does Disney save?

Outside Disney and the county, nobody knows yet, and the public may never find out. Every judgment leaves the assessed value unchanged, and the tax bill is built on assessed value, not just value. Blog Mickey notes that the recalculated bills may even match what Disney already paid, and that a settled dollar figure is unlikely to be made public. County disclosures on refund amounts are probably the best shot at an answer.

Next comes the paperwork. WDW News Today lays out the next steps: Property Appraiser Amy Mercado has 30 days to issue a Certificate of Correction, then the Tax Collector and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District recalculate what Disney owes. If Disney owes more, it gets a revised bill and 30 days to pay without penalty. If it is owed a refund, a check goes to its attorney.

Disney's Contemporary Resort, whose values the settlements leave unchanged. Photo: WDW News Today

Five more cases gone for good

The same morning, five other Disney tax cases were dismissed with prejudice, which means they cannot be refiled. WDW News Today reports Disney dismissed them voluntarily. Blog Mickey says the case numbers show they were filed between 2022 and 2024 and that the orders do not name the properties; WDW News Today reports they covered all three resorts for tax years 2021 through 2023, and only the Grand Floridian and Contemporary for 2024. In those five cases, each side pays its own legal fees.

This does not end the fight. Neither side admits fault in the settlements, which cannot be used as evidence of value in any other tax year or lawsuit, and Blog Mickey points out that more than a dozen suits Disney brought in December 2025, challenging upward of $5.4 billion in assessed values, are untouched, and many have no court dates until 2027.

Why teachers are watching

Orange County Public Schools had reserved $119 million in case it has to pay refunds. In July, the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association joined cast members from UNITE HERE to deliver petitions urging Disney to drop the lawsuits, and WDW News Today notes that superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez has said whatever the district does not end up paying out could go toward teacher pay.

Is Disney right to fight values it says ran above market, or should it drop the suits as teachers and cast members have asked? Tell us where you land.

Sources

• Blog Mickey, "Disney Wins Property Tax Litigation for Magic Kingdom Resorts" (October 30, 2026)
• WDW News Today, "Disney Settles & Dismisses 11 Property Tax Lawsuits With Orange County Appraiser" (October 30, 2026)
• Parks Magic, July 6, 2026: Cast member unions and teachers deliver petitions urging Disney to drop its tax suits

Image credits: Blog Mickey (Grand Floridian aerial); WDW News Today (Polynesian and Contemporary photos).