food IS a theme park
What do these 12, seemingly random, upcoming dates have in common?
Magic Kingdom
Last year, the former Reedy Creek Improvement District became the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District after Governor Ron Desantis’ state takeover. The District is governed by a five-member Board of Supervisors, who are all appointed by the Governor. Since taking over the District, the Board of Supervisors has made a number of decisions with major impacts on Disney’s operations.
Could we see a reversal of the decision that led to the dissolution of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District at Disney World?
Reedy Creek Improvement District
In between all of the bouncing back and forth between the former RCID entity becoming the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District after Governor Ron Desantis’ state takeover, there have been a lot of controversial opinions formed on its successes and failures. Amid the recent news that employees are now expected to pay out millions of dollars for a once-free perk while employed there, lawmakers are still looking for possibilities to restore the newly reassigned district to its previous version. Could they be successful? [Read more…]
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District) held a board of supervisors meeting on September 13th. During the meeting, board members shared an update on the status of a long-held Reedy Creek District employee benefit that may soon be eliminated.
Walt Disney and Mickey
The issue stems from a previously-created Reedy Creek employee benefit that granted employees free access to the Disney World parks (it was essentially a Disney World Annual Pass). Reportedly, the collective cost of these passes and peks was worth about $2.5 million, according to the Central Florida Torusim Oversign District. As part of the board’s new cost-cutting measures, the CFTOD talked about eliminating this benefit. Now, we’ve got an update.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) held a board of supervisors meeting on August 23rd. During the meeting, members of the district met to express their comments and concerns regarding a long-held Reedy Creek District employee benefit that is set to be taken away under the new board.
Reedy Creek Improvement District
For context, Reedy Creek employees previously received free access to the Disney World parks as an added benefit for working in the district. The collective cost of these passes and peks was worth about $2.5 million, per the Central Florida Torusim Oversign District. In an effort to cut costs and create a 2024 budget for the district, the CFTOD met to discuss its reasoning for eliminating this benefit. Here’s what they had to say.
As the ongoing battle between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues both in the public eye and behind closed doors, many have speculated on what will happen going forward now that Disney has filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s new Board of Supervisors.
Walt Disney World
Following the news of the recent lawsuit, the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board held a meeting on the morning of May 1st, 2023. Let’s talk about what happened.
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.
Both The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been the subject of many headlines since Disney released a statement against the Parental Rights in Education law (what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill). Over the past few months, the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) has undergone some restructuring, with DeSantis imposing a new board to oversee taxes and other regulations within The Walt Disney World zipcode.
Walt Disney World
Thus far, many have focused their attention on the potential impacts that the newly appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board may have on the Disney parks. During a recent Board of Supervisors Meeting, several business owners sought to bring attention to another group impacted by proposed changes.
There’s an ongoing battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company. What started as a reaction to Disney’s opposition to the Florida Parental Rights in Education law (commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics) turned into a larger fight to control the land that’s home to Disney World.
Animal Kingdom
Recently, DeSantis outlined his plan of attack against Disney, which included a bill to nullify agreements between Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District). While we’ve heard a few comments from Disney CEO Bob Iger, Disney hasn’t directly responded to many criticisms regarding its connection to the Reedy Creek Improvement District — until now.
We’ve been following the feud between The Walt Disney Company and Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, and recent times have yielded lots of interesting updates.
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
A new Board of Supervisors appointed by Florida Governor DeSantis has met regarding the future of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) and they’ve recently discovered an agreement that was signed by Disney and the old Board that grants Disney quite a lot of power over certain decisions within the District moving forward. The new Board has threatened legal action and the Florida Governor has ordered an investigation into Disney’s agreements, all while Disney has defended the agreement. And now Disney CEO Bob Iger has commented on the situation.
[Read more…]
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