Disney launches new website 'The Value of Disney Reedy Creek to Florida'

Apr 20, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

Posted: Thursday April 20, 2023 4:22pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has launched a new webpage this afternoon that provides a history of Reedy Creek Improvement District and its impact on Florida and the Walt Disney World Resort.

With Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continuing his retaliation against Disney for its opposition to his Parental Rights bill with a hostile takeover of Reedy Creek, Disney is setting the record straight on the exact purpose of the special district.

The Reedy Creek HQ near Disney Springs

The page explains why the district was created, how taxes are paid, and how it helped drive economic prosperity in Florida. Continue reading The Value of Reedy Creek to Florida.

In 1967, the Florida State Legislature established a special taxing district in Orange and Osceola Counties known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (previously known as Reedy Creek Improvement District or RCID). Encompassing 25,000 acres, this special taxing district provides and manages municipal services for the 47-square miles of the Walt Disney World Resort.
More than five decades later, the special taxing district continues fulfilling its legislative intent as outlined in the charter – the advancement of economic progress and well-being of the people of Florida by facilitating the development of a world-class tourist destination.
The special taxing district has long served as a catalyst for economic prosperity in Florida by helping Walt Disney World Resort welcome millions of visitors to the region, and it has historically championed efforts to protect Florida’s natural environment for all Floridians and visitors to enjoy.

Continue reading The Value of Reedy Creek to Florida.

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MR.Dis8 days ago

To give an example, I am retired from JP Morgan Chase, the provider of Disney Visa charge cards. I was eligible to purchase WDW and Disneyland tickets thru a portal for 20% off the rack rate. I do not know if that is still the case. While I was an annual pass holder purchasing thru DVC, I would purchase tickets for my kids when they visited WDW with their families. It was a significant savings.

flyakite8 days ago

Should anyone be interested and would like to attend:

michmousefan21 days ago

cranbiz22 days ago

Not really a distortion of facts. Yes, RCID was a legally a separate entity from TWDC. In reality, it was controlled by WDW, which is why DeSantis had a hard on for getting revenge on TWDC for "don't say gay" and other woke policies by trying to revoke the district. He couldn't do that for many reasons so he got the law changed to appoint his own governing board. As we know, that really did fail miserably and there is now a board that is not antagonistic towards Disney. There is a charge for those benefits to the third party entities in some way, shape or form. WDW doesn't give anything away for free. RCID (and many third party operating participants) pay for those benefits (usually at a very reduced rate). So, in the case of RCID, Disney paid for those benefits through it's tax assessments because RCID has no income of it's own except for income received from it's taxpayers (of which TWDC is it's largest and majority taxpayer). So, what I said was true. WDW paid for the benefits granted by RCID to it's employees and RCID, by granting those benefits paid WDW back for them. This keeps everything legal. Yes, CFTOD wanted to stick it to Disney by refusing to pay WDW for those benefits, which in turn stuck it to the employees. RCID and CFTOD employees were never WDW Cast Members, they were employees of RCID or are/were employees of CFTOD.

LAKid5322 days ago

It takes little time to release a completed report. Unless that report didn't say exactly what you wanted it to say....

LAKid5322 days ago

Governor's office receives a FOIA (govt in the Sunshine) request... "What's sunshine?" 🙄

LAKid5322 days ago

🤫

LAKid5322 days ago

Florida statute says state records are open to the public. It doesn't say how quickly agencies have to provide the info. When I worked for various state agencies, we tried getting the requested info as quickly as possible. If it was a state legislator or governor's office, yesterday wasn't fast enough. 😉

LAKid5322 days ago

Bingo

Chi8422 days ago

So they had to ferret it out as opposed to the government releasing it to the news agencies. That’s understandable. Those requests can take a surprisingly long time to fulfill.

Stripes22 days ago

WKMG submitted a public records request. That request was just recently fulfilled and the document released. WKMG hasn’t said when they submitted the request.

Unbanshee22 days ago

Lol, you must be new here. The state doesn't like to "live in the sunshine" when it comes to matters that the esteemed governor finds personally difficult

Chi8422 days ago

The memo is dated June 21. Reporting on it the day after Christmas seems to be the definition of “old news.” Although it could be that Florida dragged its feet releasing it for some reason.