A lawsuit that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight district filed against Disney should be dismissed or put on hold until a separate federal suit is resolved, lawyers for the entertainment giant told an Orange County circuit judge Friday.

Judge Margaret H. Schreiber heard arguments about whether the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s lawsuit should proceed before Disney’s litigation against the state, the latest turn in a nationally watched battle between DeSantis and Disney.

Without asking questions of the lawyers, the judge said she would issue a decision at a later date and requested both sides submit proposed written orders by Wednesday.

Daniel M. Petrocelli, a lawyer for Disney, told the judge a new state law rendered the district’s legal action moot and that Disney’s separate federal lawsuit filed against DeSantis and other state officials should take priority.

“There’s nothing that this court can do with this case that will have any practical effect whatsoever since the Legislature has already provided CFTOD [the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District] with the precise relief they seek in this case,” he said.

At issue are development agreements approved by the previous Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District that allowed the theme park giant to retain control over growth and development in Florida.

When the new DeSantis-appointed board took over in March, it declared the agreements null and void. The district’s lawyers want the judge to uphold the board’s assessment.

“What we believe we’ll prove when the court hears this case is that those agreements were not valid because the procedures that were required under Florida law were not followed,” said Alan Lawson, a lawyer representing the tourism district.

The Legislature also passed a law targeting the development agreements and granting the tourism district with the power to undo them. That law made the legal questions in the district’s lawsuit moot, Petrocelli told the judge.

The two sides disagreed over which lawsuit had been served first. Disney’s lawyers said they served the legal papers in their federal lawsuit on May 1 with a district employee. But Lawson said Disney didn’t follow the proper procedures, and the state’s lawsuit was actually served first on May 12.

The legal jockeying comes after more than a year of back-and-forth between DeSantis and Disney.

The fight started when Disney opposed legislation in 2022 known by critics as the “don’t say gay” law, which limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

Disney stopped its political donations in Florida and vowed to get the law overturned, while DeSantis blasted Disney as a “woke” corporation.

As the quarrel intensified, the DeSantis-allied Florida Legislature voted to overhaul Reedy Creek, the special district Disney effectively used to self-govern its theme parks and resorts in Florida.

The Legislature changed the name of Reedy Creek to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and put DeSantis in charge of appointing the district’s board members. Now in control of the district, DeSantis removed the Disney-friendly board members and replaced them with five Republicans.

But when the new board members took over in March, they discovered the previous board had approved the agreements preserving Disney’s control over development.

The new board declared the agreements void. Disney then sued in federal court, alleging DeSantis and state officials had engaged in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” The DeSantis-aligned tourism district filed its own lawsuit in state court, seeking to uphold the decision to void the agreements.

The two sides have assembled a sizable roster of lawyers. A court document shows 11 lawyers representing the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District while Disney has six.

The dispute also continues to have political implications both for DeSantis as he campaigns for president and Disney CEO Bob Iger.

In an interview this week with CNBC, Iger disputed DeSantis’ allegations that Disney is “sexualizing” children. Iger, whose contract was extended until 2026, said the company is focused on telling “wonderful stories and have a positive impact on the world,” not culture war issues.