Things are changing in a big way for the Walt Disney Company.

Bob Iger and the Board of Directors are on the hunt for the next CEO, the Disney100 Celebration is underway, and there are even some huge fireworks changes happening soon. But specifically in Orlando, things have changed in a big way when it comes to the District that manages the land on which Disney World sits.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District has “died” and been renamed to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. It’s governed by a board selected entirely by the Florida Governor (all of whom must be approved by the Florida Senate) and that board has some ideas of just how the District could change in the future.

The Board met for the first time back in early March and revealed some key things about what could be coming and just how this Board will be different than the previous one.

Change 1 — The Dissolution of 2 Cities

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (the “District”) is the overarching managing entity for the land on which Disney World sits in Orlando, but there are also 2 cities within the District — Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.

Interestingly, one individual (Chad Emerson the writer behind “Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World”) previously indicated that these two cities could be a sort of loophole for Disney, allowing them to keep some self-governing powers despite the changes that took place with Reedy Creek.

According to Emerson, the cities actually delegated government powers to the RCID. But they could “conceivably” take them back, should Disney want them to do so. Emerson shared, “the cities could elect to disengage from the district…They knew what they were doing in 1968, and they definitely had contingencies.”

Disney controls these cities as company towns. They’re not large — at a population of just 53 people made of workers or retirees from Disney or Reedy Creek (usually). The town residents elect a “city council and mayor, all of whom are friendly to Disney.”

While these cities had often been ignored before, one of the new Board members seems to be keenly aware of them. According to the Orlando Business Journal, Brian Aungst Jr. — one of the new Board Members — alluded to the possibility that the Board could ask the Florida legislature to dissolve those 2 Disney cities entirely. He shared, “Whether or not those two cities are legally necessary is an important question.”

Whether that’ll actually happen remains a mystery, but for now, Aungst has indicated that he wants the District to watch over those cities’ law enforcement contracts. He has also said that he wants the Board to ensure those cities can’t supersede the planning powers of the District or the District’s building codes.

Could a key loophole that gave Disney some continued sense of power in that area soon be closed? How would dissolving these cities impact things in the District? That remains to be seen, but we’ll be on the lookout for updates.

Click here to learn about all of the new Board members

Change 2 — COVID-19 Policies

During earlier parts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney implemented its own rules and regulations regarding mask-wearing, temperature checks, and more. Sometimes these exceeded the requirements of local counties or other theme parks in the area. There was also a vaccine requirement for Disney Cast Members but that was paused. Much of the COVID-19 policies have disappeared from Disney World over the past few years, but one Board member wants to take a careful look at these.

Bridget Ziegler said that she’d want COVID-19 restrictions, including mask-wearing and vaccine requirements, to be made similar to statewide law. The Orlando Business Journal points out that “Florida law already prohibits requiring masks or Covid vaccines.” According to WFTV 9, what Ziegler essentially would want is to impose a “ban on mask and vaccine mandates within the district.”

She indicated, “I believe the role of government is to be limited. I believe that also no corporation should have benefits over private citizens.”

According to WFTV 9, this proposal seemed to throw off some other board members. They dodged the matter by saying they’d have to consult with attorneys on some procedural matters.

When Ziegler was asked by WFTV if her focus would be on business or politics she responded, “Moving forward, onward and upward…There will be other items we’ll be discussing to bring this district to the next level.”

Click here to see current news and information about travel to Disney World

Change 3 — A Different Focus for the Board

Another change one of the new Board members pointed out is a reported change in focus (at least when it comes to who the Board is “serving”). Martin Garcia — the Board’s new chairman — said that many changes may be made by this new Board in the future but that such changes were not to be interpreted as an indication that the previous Board did a bad job. Instead, he indicated that the difference between the Boards comes from a change in management.

According to Garcia, the new Board’s “constituency group is everyone who works and plays in the district and lives in the district and lives in the state of Florida. You all didn’t elect us. But the people of Florida elected a governor who appointed us. There will be a broader representation.”

Again, it’s not clear how this will impact Disney or the Board’s decisions, but we’ll be on the lookout for updates.

Change 4 — Fire Department Changes

The Reedy Creek Fire Department (or at least some of its members) has been fairly supportive of the changes happening and the move from the old board to the new one. Jon Shirey, President of the Reedy Creek Firefighters Union, previously shared “For many years there has been a blatant disregard and bias against the first responders here and the lack of concern for public safety.”

During the early March meeting of the Board, members of the Reedy Creek Fire Department appeared (along with family members of some first responders who lost their lives in the line of duty). They spoke about “improving access to resources needed to keep up with safety needs.”

Thus far, it hasn’t been revealed just what decisions the new Board could make to change things with the fire department, but we’ll share any updates as they are announced.

Change 5 — Bonds

During the Board meeting, John Classe Jr. — the district administrator — commented on the District’s ad valorem and utility bonds and the rating of those. Ratings agencies had been cautious about these bonds in the past due to the uncertain future of Reedy Creek. But now that the new Board is in place and the new rules governing the District have been determined, things have changed.

As of March 2nd, Moody’s Investors Service reported that the bonds rating outlook had gone back to being stable. On March 9th, Fitch also reported an update on the Reedy Creek bonds, specifically they removed the negative watch on these.

According to Fitch, there are about $78 million in outstanding utility revenue and utility refunding bonds at the moment. Fitch noted that they removed the negative watch because of the bill passed by the state of Florida that clarifies the future of the District and preserves its revenue-raising authority (and other powers related to the outstanding bond obligations).

Interestingly, it seems the structure of the new Board appointments has also helped. Fitch noted that the “legislation’s requirement for a new board of directors free of ties to Disney should reduce governance risk.” Because of that, Fitch removed the additional risk consideration that had existed from the Disney-concentrated governance structure.

But it’s not as though the new Board can do no wrong. Fitch indicated that they’ll be monitoring things to see if there is a successful transition to the new Board. Plus, they’ll be watching the Board’s “strategic direction” and monitoring things to see if they maintain “consistent utility operations and strong credit quality.”

One thing that could impact the bond ratings is the District’s strategy when it comes to energy and power supply. According to Fitch, the old Reedy Creek District had been purchasing increased renewable energy. They note that the new District could change that business strategy, but for now the agency has assumed that the operating risk will remain strong.

If the Board continues to maintain a low leverage ratio and strong fiscal and operating support, that could lead to a positive rating action. But if the Board has a sustained rise in leverage, has a rise in operating costs, or makes “structural shifts that undermine the sustainability of the Walt Disney Company’s theme park business in the district” that could lead to a negative rating action for the bonds.

In other words, the new District must operate carefully if they want to make sure they don’t upset things in the bond world, and that could impact some of their decisions regarding Disney’s focus on renewable energy or other matters.

Change 6 — District’s Attorney

According to WFTV 9, another proposal was made by Aungst when it comes to the district’s attorney. Aungst suggested that they replace the district’s existing attorney with the “law firm that helped write the Reedy Creek bill that resulted in his appointment.”

WFTV 9 points out that this proposal appeared to be a “reward for the firm’s service.” When asked about the suggestion, Aungst acknowledged that view but indicated that the reason behind his suggestion was more “practical.”

According to Aungst, “That firm is board certified in local city and county government while the current firm is not…Having them as special counsel, and having a general counsel to me doesn’t make any sense.”

What Next?

The next meeting of the Board of Supervisors is March 22nd according to the Reedy Creek website, so we’ll be on the lookout for more updates there. Update: It appears the next meeting will now take place on March 29th.

Thus far, not many changes have actually been announced for the District, but if the Board’s comments during their first meeting are any indication, some big changes could be on the way, so stay tuned for the latest updates.

Click here to see 3 BIG problems Bob Iger is facing now