Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at Walt Disney World signs bill to end Disney's self-governing status signaling the end of Reedy Creek

Feb 27, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Ron DeSantis at Reedy Creek Improvement District

Posted: Monday February 27, 2023 10:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in Disney's own backyard at Walt Disney World to bring sweeping changes to Disney's self-governing status and Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Ron DeSantis at Reedy Creek Improvement District

The bill that DeSantis has signed today replaces the governing body's board with five members appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In addition, the Reedy Creek Improvement District will be renamed "Central Florida Tourism Oversight District." Disney will be responsible for paying hundreds of millions in outstanding Reedy Creek debt.

Reedy Creek Improvement District HQ near Disney Springs

The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 allowed Disney the luxury of establishing its own independent government that handles many aspects of the Walt Disney World property, including emergency services, infrastructure, and construction permitting.

Ron DeSantis at Reedy Creek Improvement District

The action by DeSantis comes in retaliation to Disney's public opposition to the Parental Bill of Right law, which took place under ex-Disney CEO Bob Chapek. Speaking today, DeSantis said that Disney's opposition to the Parents Bill of Rights bill was a "mild annoyance," but that the state of Florida will no longer be "joined at the hip with one California-based company."

Today's press conference, held at Reedy Creek Fire Station 4 near Disney Springs, featured chosen speakers to rant against Disney in a political rally-style atmosphere. Topics included vaccination misinformation, Disney's mask requirements, park reservations, and Disney's support of LGBTQIA+.

In signing the bill, DeSantis said, "the corporate kingdom finally came to an end." Following the signing, the Governor said he wants "Disney to be what Walt envisioned."

You can watch the press conference below.

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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:

michmousefan20 days ago

cranbiz21 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.