The ongoing case between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was brought to national attention when Disney recently filed a lawsuit against Governor DeSantis (and members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District). The battle started when Disney released a statement against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law (what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill), and Governor Ron DeSantis responded by attacking Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
For context, the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now referred to as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) is a special district in Osceola and Orange Counties created in 1967 by the Florida State Legislature. This special district was created to manage all municipal services for the land within and around the Walt Disney World Resort. The district was responsible for paying to provide the municipal services necessary to maintain the Walt Disney World Resort, including fire protection, water management, maintaining the roads, and power. Now, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has voted to take away some of Disney’s independent power.
In the past, the Reedy Creek Improvement District gave Disney the ability to make its own decisions without outside government approval. Shortly before the DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board of Supervisors took over, Disney entered into some key agreements in an attempt to give Disney power over development decisions in the District for several years going forward. These agreements:
- Prohibit the District from “using the Disney name without the corporation’s approval or ‘fanciful characters such as Mickey Mouse”
- “Bars the board from regulating the height of buildings, which would be solely under the purview of the Federal Aviation Administration”
Click here to read more about the agreements Disney entered into with the old board
After the new board took over, they discovered those previous agreements Disney made with the old Reedy Creek Improvement District Board, and the new board of supervisors called for legal action against Disney.
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
Disney responded by stating that all of the agreements between Disney and the old District were appropriate and discussed in open, noticed public forums.
Magic Kingdom Train Station
In March 2023, Senate Bill 1604: Land Use and Development Regulations was filed in the Florida Senate (there is a related bill in the Florida House of Representatives known as House Bill 439: Land Use and Development Regulations).
Magic Kingdom
Senate Bill 1604 describes plans to revise the planning periods included in a comprehensive plan, require local governments to determine if plan amendments are necessary, require local governments to evaluate and update comprehensive plans to reflect changes in location conditions, and more. In short, the bill aims to take away the Development Agreement between Disney World and the Reedy Creek Improvement District. This change would give the Florida government the ability to impose taxes and make land decisions relating to roadways and more.
Welcome to Florida
On April 26th, 2023, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board declared Disney’s Development Agreement void, and later that same day, the Florida Senate passed Senate Bill 1604. From there, the bill will head to the Florida House.
The bill passed with its recent amendment, which prevents independent special districts from complying with any development agreement if that agreement was entered within 3 months before the effective date of a law that changes how the special district selects its governing body. Note that Disney’s Development Agreement was entered within the timeframe specified in the amendment.
Click here to read more about Senate Bill 1604
©Visit Florida
If the bill passes the Florida House of Representatives and is signed by the Governor, the board would have the ability to review Disney’s previous Agreement and decide if they would like to take action or not.
Reedy Creek
We will continue to look for updates on the battle between Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company. Stay tuned for more.
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Disney’s legal team is going to clean-up the floor with DeSantis. They wouldn’t file a suit unless they are confident of being on the winning end of this situation. Florida truly has become the example to the rest of the country of what not to be.
I guess DeSantis knew what he was doing after all. No matter the size of the corporation, it cannot outsmart and overpower the government of the state. I hope this settles the matter once and for all.