Disney has had a very busy week.
It’s been a whirlwind of a week for Disney World fans everywhere. On the one hand, the magic-making theme park is officially able to offer hugs between visitors and Mickey Mouse again, after a two-year hiatus brought on by the pandemic. On the other hand, a lot of the behind-the-scenes work that makes Disney World, well, Disney World, might change a whole lot in the year to come. That is, if Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has his way with things.
In a bombshell news conference on Tuesday, the same day that Florida lawmakers were set to finalize new congressional maps for the state, DeSantis made a surprise announcement. He said that he had asked these lawmakers to consider “termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968, and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District.”
The Reedy Creek Improvement District might not ring any bells for you, but here’s why it’s important: This is actually Disney World’s self-governing district. Disney could lose a whole lot of power over how it runs its flagship Orlando theme park if it loses this special distinction.
Why Disney World’s Reedy Creek District is so special
In 1967, Florida passed the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, in part to help create Disney World. This has allowed Disney World to operate as a slightly separate district from the rest of the districts in Florida, giving it the ability to carry out its own municipal functions. But what are those functions, exactly?
According to CNN, this special designation allows Disney to do things like manage the land within the park and provide its own public services, including fire and police stations. It also allows Disney to make independent decisions about land use and infrastructure without having to engage with the state the way that a regular Florida district might have to do. The Los Angeles Times further reports that Disney has the right to levy certain taxes, thanks to this special distinction.
This latest statement by DeSantis was quickly carried into action on Tuesday. Per CNN, following DeSantis’ briefing, a Republican lawmaker immediately submitted a bill that would dissolve Disney’s special district status on June 1, 2023 if DeSantis’ request were approved after the official review.
A timeline of the feud between Disney and DeSantis
Tensions have been rising between DeSantis and the Disney corporation for over a month. It started when DeSantis began to push for his controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would forbid any mention of gender identity or sexual orientation in public school classrooms up to the third grade. At first, Disney remained silent on the rising controversy. However, as weeks passed and criticism mounted in the wake of Disney’s silence (some employees even staged walkouts), the corporation finally came out against the bill publicly.
“We were opposed to the bill from the outset, but we chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind the scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek told investors. “We were hopeful that our long-standing relationships with those lawmakers would enable use to achieve a better outcome, but despite weeks of effort we were ultimately unsuccessful.”
Chapek went on to confirm that Disney would be donating funds to organizations that protect LGBTQ rights.
The tension was ratcheted even higher the week after DeSantis signed the bill into law. First, Disney released another statement, claiming that the “goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts.”
Then, in an appearance on Fox & Friends, the Florida governor launched a tirade against Disney, saying in part, “The left is upset at them. Everyone else is upset at them. They’ve lost a lot of the pull that they used to have. Honestly, I think that’s a good thing for the state.”
He continued, “To have them almost govern themselves, that was probably never appropriate to start. It’s certainly not appropriate now at this point.”
It appears that DeSantis has followed through on this belief, as this new effort would take away Disney’s 55-year history of relative self-governance.
