food IS a theme park
It’s officially hurricane season, and you know what that means.
Don’t underestimate hurricane season!
We try to stay up to date on potential tropical storms and hurricanes headed toward Florida. We’ve been at Disney World during several hurricanes, and we’ve told you how to prepare for hurricane season at the resort. Well, now we’ve got a tropical storm to keep an eye on, and so far, 33 Florida counties are now under a state of emergency due to the weather.
The DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Board is not backing down from its fight against Disney, according to new details revealed at the recent meeting.
©Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board Livestream
The board is engaged in legal battles against The Walt Disney Company — they announced a lawsuit against Disney in May of this year, and Disney recently filed a countersuit against the board. These lawsuits don’t come cheap, as is evident in the Board’s budget plan for fiscal year 2024.
2023 has been the year of ups, downs, and lots of changes for Disney, and even Orlando.
Reedy Creek Improvement District
Earlier this year, the Reedy Creek Improvement District underwent a lengthy battle with Florida Governor Ron Desantis, which resulted in the District being restructured to become the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The new District consisted of a Board of Supervisors hand-appointed by Governor Desantis himself.
The battle between Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) continues, and this latest development adds one more layer to the mix.
Reedy Creek Improvement District
Disney is already facing off with the District in two different lawsuits — one filed by Disney against members of the District Board of Supervisors and Governor Ron DeSantis in Federal Court, and another filed against Disney by the District Board in State Court. And now the State Court case has seen an important update.
UPDATE: According to WESH 2 News, Glen Gilzean resigned from his position on the Florida Commission on Ethics in favor of keeping his job as the District Administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District).
Disney World went through some big changes this year.
Walt Disney World
Following a battle with Governor Ron Desantis, the Reedy Creek District was transformed into the current Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, whose Board of Supervisors has been appointed by Desantis himself. But now, one member of the oversight district might have to resign, according to a statement made by an ethics lawyer today.
The Walt Disney Company has been dragged into the political campaign sphere despite not actually being able to hold public office.
Disney vs. DeSantis
In early 2023, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, arguing that Disney’s constitutional rights had been violated. The company has alleged DeSantis waged a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against it to punish it for speaking out. But now, DeSantis seems to have “moved on” from the conflict overnight.
The battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (formerly Reedy Creek Improvement District), and Disney continues — and there have been some NEW developments.
Disney vs. DeSantis
Earlier in 2023, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and members of the board of the District arguing that there has been a violation of Disney’s federal rights. Basically, Disney has alleged that DeSantis has waged a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against Disney to punish them for their political views. We’ve seen a number of actions taken in the federal case over the last few months, but now there’s something NEW to tackle.
Disney is involved in a variety of lawsuits right now — on everything from Park Passes to the Reedy Creek Improvement District — but we’ve got a big update on one important one.
Reedy Creek Improvement District
A lawsuit was previously filed by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (the new name for the Reedy Creek Improvement District) against Disney in state court in Florida. This lawsuit claims that certain agreements Disney entered into with the old Board (which the new Board claims stripped them of their power) are null and void. The Board is suing to ask the Court to declare the old agreements invalid. Disney previously filed a motion to dismiss this lawsuit (essentially get it thrown out of court) for a variety of reasons and now we’ve got an update as to what will happen next.
There’s been all kinds of news about change coming to the Disney Company recently — but more important updates could be on the way.
Reedy Creek Improvement District
Bob Iger is sticking around as CEO for longer than originally expected, linear networks like ABC could be heading in a different direction in the future, and we’ve seen Iger go from “hero” to “villain” in just a few hours. But there’s more to come — this time related to the former Reedy Creek Improvement District (now Central Florida Tourism Oversight District). Just what’s next for this District and what does July 26th have to do with it? Let’s break it all down.
The Walt Disney Company is no stranger to criticism, but recently CEO Bob Iger participated in an interview on CNBC with David Faber to address a variety of recent topics that have been making headlines.
Magic Kingdom
During the interview on July 13th, Iger commented on The Walt Disney Company’s plans for the future and addressed some recent news, including the fact that Bob Iger is set to remain CEO through 2026. Here’s what Bob Iger had to say.
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