The jury is out on that one. I think in other forums or places it is important to have a dialog. People discover if they have been lied to…which currently is an important discovery.
Given that the district was created five decades ago and has functioned ever since, I would think it hard to argue it is illegitimate, but we will see. But it’s worth noting there are other similar districts across the country, not perfectly identical maybe, but close:
The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) is a unique self-governing district in Florida that was created specifically for the development of Walt Disney World Resort. While there may not be many districts exactly like Reedy Creek, there are other special districts in the United States that have similar characteristics.For example, Celebration, Florida is a planned community near Walt Disney World that is managed by a special district called the Celebration Community Development District (CCDD). The CCDD is responsible for providing services such as landscaping, road maintenance, and infrastructure improvements.
Similarly, The Woodlands Township is a special district located near Houston, Texas that provides municipal services to residents of The Woodlands master-planned community. The Woodlands Township is governed by a board of directors that is elected by residents and is responsible for services such as parks and recreation, public safety, and waste management.
Another example is Columbia Association, which is a non-profit community services corporation that manages and operates many of the recreational amenities and community services in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland.
Overall, while there may not be many districts exactly like Reedy Creek, there are other examples of self-governing districts in the United States that have been established for the purpose of providing specific services to their communities.
Thank you nChatGPT.
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A third party should have been involved to prevent “King Charles’ descendants”, “finders keepers”, and “ha ha, you suck, DeSantis” from getting into the final language of the new district.*
*exaggerating just slightly
I don’t believe that is correct.
What the current district board is trying to do is invalidate the long term development agreement that the previous board signed with Disney shortly before that board was to be replaced with one appointed by the Governor.
That agreement turns over much of the powers of the special district directly to Disney (which is where the powers have actually been for the last 50+ years.)
Such agreements are also not without precedent - they have often been used to assure businesses of their long term ability to develop their property so they are willing to invest significant funds for that long term development.
Whether you agree with Disney or not, Disney has spent a large amount of money to create the Disneyworld resort in Florida. It is simply not possible to uproot that and move it to some other state (much to the chagrin of South Carolina). Disney sought the special district (which became the Reedy Creek Improvement District) back when Disneyworld was still in the planning stages in the 1960s. This new development agreement is Disney’s attempt to remain in control of their own destiny in the same way they have been since the district was formed.
Getting back to my initial question, I don’t think one case has to be dealt with before the other. They both can proceed at the same time.
–Peter
You can read a bit more about the current board’s suit against Disney here:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/01/politics/reedy-creek-board-sues-disney/index.html
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Did Disney have a choice? The new board members (who had not yet been seated) said publicly they wanted to use their power to dictate the contents of Disney’s movies and other media. In other words, if Disney did not provide government propaganda the government would harm Disney financially.
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And, now, there is another issue. Campaign signs for the Gov’s prospective run for POTUS are using the same font as the Disney logo, a registered trademark.
Another threat to companies in Shiny-land that dare think for themselves, rather than toe the line being dictated, threatening rights to intellectual property.
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If CA extends and offer Disney will leave Florida. Twice as many tourists visits to CA than to FL every year.
Well, a lot of folks do associate him with certain Disney characters…
Pete
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Disney won’t leave Florida, they have too much already invested. Florida’s governor is limited to two consecutive terms. He’s gone in eight years, Disney will still be there.
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It would take longer than 8 years to find a new site, secretly buy properties to prevent over paying, get infrastructure improvements in place (roads, utilities etc) and build even one half-built park and surrounding resort hotels, etc.
Mike
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Walt started thinking about a 2nd park in 1959, just four years after Disneyland opened. It took him several years of planning and scouting, another two years of acquiring land in secret, and another two years to build the park. It finally opened in 1971, 12 years after he first had the thought.
Other parks in other countries have come faster, but those have had substantial governmental assistance, often in the form of land-taking and infrastructure improvements, things which were not common in the US in the 1950s/60s for amusement parks.
In any event, there is a zero percent possibility that Disney would depart Florida for California. The entire point of building on the opposite coast was to be within easier travel time of a substantial part of the population. Walt would have liked to locate farther north, but he needed to site it in an “all weather” area because, well, obvious.
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I wondered about the rising sea level, but it seems Disney World is likely safe, might need a boat to get there, but… From Wiki:
*Magic Kingdom was built over a series of tunnels called utilidors of utility and corridor, allowing employees (called “cast members”) or VIP guests to move through the park out of sight. *
Because of Florida’s high water table, the tunnels could not be put underground, so they were built at the existing grade, meaning the park is built on the second story, giving the Magic Kingdom an elevation of 108 feet (33 m).
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Syke,
You are probably right because of how entrenched such a plant is.
That said the plant is depreciated long ago.
Disney Land is ancient. Investing in CA with incentives might mean a third Disney park in the US. That is feasible. It also might be important to hedge the bets.
Remembering some clown in TX before Abbott. Things dont get better. Florida wont get better. It is called mismanagement.
Yeah it is harder to get to CA. That is why roughly 280 million people per year go to CA while 140 million people go to FL as tourist in 2019 or so. The numbers have slightly risen since.
In other words tourists who are the mainstay of the parks go to CA by a factor of 2:1. Yet the smaller older park is in CA. No point in doing anything about this situation. No profiting more of tourists. Not Disney’s thing.
Disneyland (CA) - 19M per year
Disneyworld (FL) - 58M per year
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There is probably a reason for that:
“Disneyland is just 500 acres — that means about 51 Disneylands can fit inside Disney World. Inside those 500 acres, Disneyland hosts two distinct parks: Disney California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park.”
JimA
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Yep, that’s the other reason there is no way Disney can leave FL for CA (or pretty much anywhere). Because there is no affordable multi-thousand acre space available anywhere in CA near a large populated area with a large international airport.
Mark,
Where are your stats from? That 58 million I have never seen before. I keep seeing some 20 million as of a few years ago.
Most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide 2021 | Statista.
Mark,
I see your mistake, you are taking Disney World as all the theme parks in that area under that umbrella. The magic kingdom is only 21 million or so visitors per year. That is just more proof a build out in CA is worthwhile.
Your link has the same stats roughly.
Disneyworld (FL) = Magic Kingdom + Hollywood Studios + EPCOT + Animal Kingdom + Typhoon Lagoon + Blizzard Beach
Disneyland (CA) = Disneyland Park + California Adventure Park
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Did Disney have a choice?
Corporations always have a choice about getting into political battles with local politicians. It has previously been considered a generally bad idea, which is what the PR guy Disney employed for 4 weeks last year told them. On the other side, the most activist exec at Disney, who was most vocal about Florida, was recently fired. So Disney probably realizes they need to deescalate.
However, if the governor is going to keep at this he has effectively tied himself to this issue, which means he won’t be leaving Florida. This has turned into a long term battle, which is bad for both sides. Public opinion is digging in, and both sides are moving toward a permanently divided audience and a limited upside. Losing half your audience (in the long run, if they keep it up) can’t possibly be a good move.