We’ve got a major update on the ongoing battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney.
Reedy Creek Building
Disney recently filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the new board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (previously known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District). The new board had a meeting to discuss how to move forward on May 1st, 2023, and in that meeting, they announced that the board would be suing Disney. Now, the lawsuit has officially been filed.
As a reminder, Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the new board which alleges that Disney’s First Amendment rights were violated, with Disney claiming the Governor has waged a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney.” In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for DeSantis said that Disney seeks to “undermine the will of the Florida voters.”
Reedy Creek
That brings us to the meeting on May 1st that only had one item on the agenda — “Board discussion and direction to litigation counsel and authorization to defend District officials sued in official capacities.”
DeSantis commented on the lawsuit saying “So first of all, no corporation is above the law and the people of this state. It is wrong for one corporation to basically corrupt the local government, run it as their own fiefdom, be exempt from laws, have all kinds of benefits that nobody else has…and yes, I mean, I think it’s been very disappointing to watch this particular company, what they’ve done by advocating things like the sexualization of children, very close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party…you know that’s all very problematic,” DeSantis said. Read DeSantis’ full comments on the lawsuit here.
Obtained via ClickOrlando Livestream
In this new lawsuit, it begins by saying “Within its fiefdom, Disney wrote the laws that governed itself, chose whether and how to enforce those laws against itself, and set its own tax rate. No other Florida business, large or small, enjoyed those benefits.” The introduction continued, “There is no question that much good came from the special status that the Florida Legislature granted Disney in 1967. But over time Disney used its influence to obtain what must have seemed like permanent exemptions from the democratic checks and balances that apply to all other Florida businesses.”
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
The lawsuit then says, “In an effort to stymie Florida’s elected representatives, Disney covertly cobbled together a series of eleventh-hour deals with its soon-to-be-replaced puppet government.” This is likely referring to the agreement that the old district board created before the new board took over, including the King Charles clause.
The new board recently found the agreement from the old board invalid which is also noted in the lawsuit. “Disney’s deals violate basic principles of Florida constitutional, statutory, and common law. As a result, they are null and void—not even worth the paper they were printed on.”
Reedy Creek Trash Cans
So what is the lawsuit for? Well, according to the document “The District therefore seeks a judicial declaration regarding their invalidity.” It continues saying “Disney sought to limit residents in the District altogether, turning EPCOT into a theme park instead of a residential community and de-annexing the town of Celebration so the town’s inhabitants could not dilute Disney’s control,” and it called the old District board a “puppet Board.”
EPCOT
It then outlines what the District wants out of the lawsuit:
A. Declare that the Development Agreement is void, unenforceable, and/or invalid
B. Declare that the Restrictive Covenants are void, unenforceable, and/or invalid
C. Issue an order enjoining Disney from enforcing the Development Agreement and the Restrictive Covenants
D. Grant such other relief that this Court may deem just and proper.
©Reedy Creek Meeting Livestream
Update: Following the filing of the Complaint, Governor DeSantis signed a bill to VOID Disney’s Development Agreement with the old board. DeSantis later signed into law some legislation that’ll impact the inspection of the monorail system in Disney World.
According to CNBC, Disney filed an amended complaint in early May to “expand” its federal lawsuit to include allegations involving these legislative actions (though, at the time, the bill regarding the monorail had not been signed by the Governor but had been passed by the legislature).
Monorail
In the additions to its complaint, Disney alleged that “Governor DeSantis and his allies have no apparent intent to moderate their retaliatory campaign any time soon.”
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the situation.
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DeSantis is on a dangerous power trip. My family is from Orlando – there was NOTHING there before Disney and definitely no jobs.
Hitler started like this, didn’t he? Last I checked, the reason I served in the military was to protect freedom of speech for EVERYONE, among other things. I read that Ronnie served; must have been in a different military. Will he seize my business or property if I speak out against him? He has put himself into true context, hasn’t he?
Can you imagine what will happen if this reactionary ever gets into the US power seat?
Hey – things are changing in our country, and I don’t care for a lot of the direction, but that’s happened throughout history, hasn’t it? I don’t remember a lot of social upheaval being particularly popular, still here we are.
Ronnie is trying to legislate morality. His morality. How did that work with prohibition? Best I can tell, the main beneficiary of that attempt at enforced morality was organized crime. Sure, we got the start of the FBI from it, but the mob took home the trophy.
What this kind of totalitarianism has done for me is to make me a little more tolerant of some social views that I detest, but I agreed to fight and die if need be, to protect people’s rights to speak their minds. I’ve probably gotten kicked off the response list already, so I’ll stop here!
“Turning EPCOT into a theme park instead of a residential community “, “sexualization of children”, “undermine the will of the Florida voters “!! What planet is he on? Such a narcissist , self absorbed and yes dangerous individual. His interest / tantrum is the only one up for discussion .
“ This is likely referring to the agreement that the old district board created before the new board took over, including the King Charles clause.”
Ya think? LoL
PS. hey Terry, the whole state of Florida was barely surviving at that time and the Republican Renaissance changed all that … I remember not so long ago when Disney wasn’t cutting thousands of Floridian jobs, Universal was a mess and Disney was the happiest place on earth! Many think Disney is on a dangerous power trip. This is only my opinion and I really respect yours, but wanted to give you another opinion. Long live Disney, bring back the Magic!,
Next he will be sued for slander. What utter nonsense.
I laugh at this clown because he calls Florida a free state….LOL! Last I looked this is the United States of America and every state in our country is free until Ronnie has made all these authoritarian laws and bills here that will turn Florida into a state that is no longer free! I have lived in Florida for 50 years and I will say Disney bought a boon to our economy here in Florida that put us on the map. Things were fine here with Disney until this guy got pissed off because Disney dared to speak out against him. Then suddenly because they spoke out, all of a sudden Disney was a problem for this fool. Not too obvious Ronnie!! Get over yourself. You are no match for the Disney Corporation that has been around 100 years now. Generations of us have grown up with Disney. Ronnie you will be lucky if you last more than the rest of your term in office. Stop banning the laws in our beautiful state that are taking us backwards not foward. Move on! Give up this nonsense! It’s gone on for way too long already. Disney will be here for longer than you will thankfully. If he may become president I can’t imagine the havoc he will create with the whole country. I stand with Disney!!