The conflict between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney over the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board) is far from over.

We’ve been keeping an eye out for news on actions from the District itself, things related to the various lawsuits between the groups, and more. But just what has been happening in recent weeks? We’ve got a COMPLETE update here!

Changes Within the District

Regarding changes within the District itself, we already shared how one member of the Board of Supervisors left his position while another was appointed by DeSantis. But in terms of other updates, the Board’s next meeting is scheduled for June 21st and the meeting agenda is up on the site, giving us a clue into their future actions.

At this meeting, the Board appears to be focused on appointing the members of the Pollution Control Board. That is an existing advisory board but it seems some new appointments could hit that board soon.

In addition, the board will get reports from the fire department battalion chief, the director of procurement, and their acting general counsel.

The Board is also set to review resolution number 644, which will have the District adopt a “whistleblower policy for District employees.”

When it comes to the fire department within the District, it seems changes are on the way. The existing Chief, Chief LePere, previously announced his retirement and the new District Administrator (Glenton Gilzean Jr) has announced the search for their next fire chief.

According to a press release on the District website, this will be a “nationwide search” and they are looking for someone “with a strong track record of leadership in running a department that successfully implements industry-leading fire management techniques.”

The cities within the District — Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista — are set to have their next meetings on July 12th, so we’ll look for updates from that and from the June meeting of the District’s Board of Supervisors.

Lawsuit Updates

Disney vs. DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board (Federal Lawsuit)

First up, we’ve got some updates from the federal court case Disney filed against DeSantis and members of the Board of Supervisors for the District (No. 4:23-cv-00163-MW-MAF). 

In mid-May of 2023, a motion was filed by DeSantis’ team to disqualify the Judge appointed to the case — Mark E. Walker. Ultimately, the motion was denied, but the Judge disqualified himself for other reasons — you can read more about it here. The case has since been sent to Judge Allen C. Windsor, who will handle all case matters moving forward.

But there’s more. In early June, an order regarding the upcoming schedule of the case was entered. It reveals some critical dates that’ll be coming up soon. Specifically, the deadline for DeSantis and the other defendants to file a motion to dismiss the case is June 26th, 2023 — just a few days away — so we could get some big updates there soon.

Disney will then have the ability to respond to the motion to dismiss until July 26th, 2023. And the Defendants can then reply no later than August 9th, 2023. After that, we could get a hearing date and court order that’ll determine just how the case will move forward.

The parties must also have a specific conference pursuant to one of the rules of civil procedure by June 20th, and submit a report following that meeting by June 27th, 2023. So things should start moving forward with this lawsuit very soon — we’ll be sure to look for updates!

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board vs. Disney (State Court Lawsuit)

The legal conflicts continue with the state court lawsuit filed by the District against Disney in state court (Case no. 2023-CA-011818-O). The key thing that has been filed here recently is a motion to dismiss — it was filed by Disney back in mid-May 2023.

Essentially, Disney argues that after expressing its view on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill, Governor DeSantis “unleashed a campaign of retaliation, weaponizing the power of government to punish Disney for its protected speech.” In an attempt to protect itself, Disney entered into some development contracts with the existing Reedy Creek District.

The new board discovered these agreements later (despite Disney arguing that they had been publicly noticed and approved) and DeSantis promised that the new Board would declare the contracts void, plus the state would pass a law to revoke Disney’s contracts with the old District board.

Both things did happen, or, as Disney puts it “The Governor made good on his threats.” The new Board declared the contracts void, which led Disney to file its lawsuit in federal court (discussed above). Then, the Board filed its lawsuit in state court which asks the court to declare that Disney’s contracts with the old board are void.

But Disney argues that the state court lawsuit is now irrelevant. Why? Well because shortly after the Board declared Disney’s agreements with the old board to be invalid, the Governor signed a bill (that had been passed by the legislature) that effectively voids Disney’s contracts by prohibiting the Board from complying with the terms of those contracts.

According to Disney, “That legislation renders Plaintiff’s complaint moot because it makes any order this Court could issue—in either party’s favor—legally irrelevant.”

Disney argues that if the court decides that the Board is wrong and the contracts complied with state law, the Board would still not be able to enforce them because of the new law that has been passed in Florida. And if the Court, on the other hand, finds that the Board is right and the contracts are invalid, it wouldn’t matter anyway because the new state law already has made them void.

In the alternative to just dismissing the case, Disney has asked that the state lawsuit at least be stayed (a.k.a. put on pause) until the federal lawsuit is fully resolved since it involves overlapping issues.

As of the latest updates to this post, the Board has not filed a response to Disney’s motion to dismiss. But the matter has been set for a 60-minute in-person hearing on July 14th, 2023 (at 2PM EDT) before Judge Margaret H. Schreiber, so we could see updates before then and ultimately hear (after that July hearing) what will happen to this case.

Abigail Disney Speaks Out

In other news, Abigail Disney — the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney (brother to Walt Disney) — has commented about some recent things that have taken place near Disney related to DeSantis.

Specifically, in mid-June, a group of individuals gathered outside of Disney World in a spot where protestors can sometimes be spotted. These people displayed Nazi insignia while some displayed messages supporting DeSantis, according to USA Today.

Florida Representative Anna Eskamani shared some photos that had been sent to her.

Abigail Disney responded to the matter by reposting the video from Eskamani and saying “My grandfather is spinning in his grave.”

My grandfather is spinning in his grave. https://t.co/Qb5lV9ChbF

— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) June 12, 2023

Governor of Florida vs. Governor of California

And finally, we have an update on a recent event that took place at Disneyland. In mid-June, Disneyland held its first EVER After Dark Pride Nite. The event was meant to “celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and allies.”

California Governor, Gavin Newsom, actually attended the event and shared that it was “great” to be there.

Great to be at Disneyland’s first ever Pride Night. pic.twitter.com/MW3eHMDemO

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 14, 2023

The entire situation marked a stark contrast between Disney’s current relationship with the California governor compared to its current relationship with Governor DeSantis in Florida. It also comes amid Newsom’s own “public feud with DeSantis,” which has been going on for a while, as noted by KTLA 5.

Disney’s relationship with Newsom wasn’t always exceedingly positive though. During the initial reopening period following the COVID-19-related closures, Disneyland opened at a slower pace than Disney World and there were struggles between Disney and Newsom over certain reopening guidelines.

But Disney’s relationships with the governors of Florida and California have changed substantially since then. Disney has even canceled its major project to build another campus in Florida for its employees, which some argue was motivated by the feud with DeSantis (while others point out a number of additional reasons why this change may have happened).

Regardless, it’s interesting to see Newsom at Disneyland celebrating Pride Nite while in Florida Disney is battling DeSantis with lawsuits.

That’s all the updates for now but we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for more updates in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned for more news related to Disney, DeSantis, Reedy Creek, and more.

Click here to learn more about the federal judge’s disqualification from one of the Disney lawsuits