If Florida repeals "The Reedy Creek Improvement Charter", how does that change Disney going forward?

[DSLRuser]

Over 50+ years, Disney has done a lot of development with very little oversight from Florida. If Florida decides to repeal the charter, I wonder if all the road changes and other small infrastructure changes will continue?

If Disney ever decides to build a 5th gate, not having the charter in their pocket makes things a lot more difficult and expensive.

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, I really don't know what the impact will be. I doubt it will actually happen though. This is a little tiff for sure, but in the end Disney will figure out a way to keep it in place. It's all a lot of bluster right now to whip up the voters.

 

[umichigan10]

I don’t think it will happen purely because of the complete nightmare it would cause to the bureaucracy on both sides. I don’t think the people meddling with this even understand what repealing it would entail

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Hope it's just the political saber-rattling we've gotten used to over the years. Seems like a really stupid move for the state of Florida to cut the legs out from one of the biggest tourist attractions (and money-makers) in the entire world. I agree with umichigan10 - the people bringing up the topic have no clue of the overall impact of what they are even proposing.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I don’t think it will happen purely because of the complete nightmare it would cause to the bureaucracy on both sides. I don’t think the people meddling with this even understand what repealing it would entail

I think this is a good point. Its not the brightest bulbs supporting this bad idea. Even Desantis (who I am not a fan of at all, but seems to be an intelligent person) isn't raising this issue. He voiced frustration with carving out Disney from a deplatforming regulation (even though his office negotiated the carve out with Disney) and has said they shoudn;t receive special treatment moving forward. But he hasn't stated any support for reversing the improvement district status. It would be a legal nightmare if they ever did it unilaterally.

I spent a significant portion of my life working in politics in DC and elsewhere. Everything you are hearing now is out of an old playbook used by all sides. The governor rattles his sabre because it plays well politically with his base and gives him a lot of free press for his future ambitions. But little to nothing will actually come of it because there is too much intersection between corporate interests and entrenched political/governmental interests.

 

[umichigan10]

I think this is a good point. Its not the brightest bulbs supporting this bad idea. Even Desantis (who I am not a fan of at all, but seems to be an intelligent person) isn't raising this issue. He voiced frustration with carving out Disney from a deplatforming regulation (even though his office negotiated the carve out with Disney) and has said they shoudn;t receive special treatment moving forward. But he hasn't stated any support for reversing the improvement district status. It would be a legal nightmare if they ever did it unilaterally.

I spent a significant portion of my life working in politics in DC and elsewhere. Everything you are hearing now is out of an old playbook used by all sides. The governor rattles his sabre because it plays well politically with his base and gives him a lot of free press for his future ambitions. But little to nothing will actually come of it because there is too much intersection between corporate interests and entrenched political/governmental interests.

I think there’s incredibly valid criticism that Disney ever got this kind of power to begin with. But 50 years down the road, the horse is kinda out of the barn and no one has ever had to deal with a world where this doesn’t exist

 

[Carol_]

If it went through, wouldn’t it basically just put WDW under the auspices of Orange County, like Universal? I understand the mountains of paperwork it would create, but what real issues would arise? Would safety go down? Would DVC lose property value? Or gain it? What are the specifics not being discussed here for those of us regular people?

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I think there’s incredibly valid criticism that Disney ever got this kind of power to begin with. But 50 years down the road, the horse is kinda out of the barn and no one has ever had to deal with a world where this doesn’t exist

Oh sure, no disagreement here. But that's an entirely different topic. I mean, there's a lot of hypocrisy (from politicians! shocker!!!!) by the politicians saying Disney, a private business, shouldn't get special treatment. But even if you believe that, the horse left the barn before most of these politicians were born. Plus its hypocritical because those same politicians favor other private businesses and give them advantages when it suits them. Like I said, nothing we are seeing now is in any way new. And I assume Disney pays enough high powered lobbyists to smooth things over. This issue will be a non story before the end of the year

 

[umichigan10]

If it went through, wouldn’t it basically just put WDW under the auspices of Orange County, like Universal? I understand the mountains of paperwork it would create, but what real issues would arise? Would safety go down? Would DVC lose property value? Or gain it? What are the specifics not being discussed here for those of us regular people?

So I’m far from an expert, but I know reedy creek has its own building codes as well as the ability to levy taxes. I think Disney gets away from paying property tax to the counties it resides in, but I’m not 100% sure. I don’t think the average guest would notice a huge difference to be honest

 

[umichigan10]

Oh sure, no disagreement here. But that's an entirely different topic. I mean, there's a lot of hypocrisy (from politicians! shocker!!!!) by the politicians saying Disney, a private business, shouldn't get special treatment. But even if you believe that, the horse left the barn before most of these politicians were born. Plus its hypocritical because those same politicians favor other private businesses and give them advantages when it suits them. Like I said, nothing we are seeing now is in any way new. And I assume Disney pays enough high powered lobbyists to smooth things over. This issue will be a non story before the end of the year

Agreed. It’s all just a bunch of smoke and no fire. The logistical complications kinda interest me though, because reedy creek is such an albatross of a concept

 

[CarolynFH]

I think Disney gets away from paying property tax to the counties it resides in, but I’m not 100% sure.

No, they don't. Part of our DVC dues goes to pay real estate taxes, and in 2018 Disney won a lawsuit against the Orange County Tax Assessor regarding the valuation of one of its resorts (the other resorts were covered by separate suits): https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/own...ns-property-tax-victory-against-orange-county. There's a new tax assessor in office now, and valuations have been reduced.

 

[umichigan10]

No, they don't. Part of our DVC dues goes to pay real estate taxes, and in 2018 Disney won a lawsuit against the Orange County Tax Assessor regarding the valuation of one of its resorts (the other resorts were covered by separate suits): https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/own...ns-property-tax-victory-against-orange-county. There's a new tax assessor in office now, and valuations have been reduced.

Gotcha, thanks for the clarification. The whole thing is so confusing, that it’s really hard to understand what they do/don’t do with the power

 

[fastzebra]

Would be great if they could repeal it.

 

[Princesca]

Just pre-election pandering. I would be surprised if anything comes of it.

 

[soniam]

Seems like it would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I bet Disney wishes they weren't moving all of those employees/Imagineers from California to Florida now. However, I have heard (rumor) that a significant number have quit, so they may not be moving nearly as many as they had thought. Also, there may be more who decide to not move with recent legislation in Florida.

 

[Jennasis]

Feels like retaliation for Disney's stance on the DSG bill. But I have no idea how it would actually affect the parks.

 

[nkosiek]

Well, Orange County would have to integrate the services that Reedy Creek provides to the area into its own bureaucracy, including police and fire. There could be pay or work rule discrepancies that would have to be fixed/worked on. And would OC become liable for any of the bonds, etc that Reedy Creek issued? This would be expensive just merging the two entities, forgetting the logistical nightmares.

 

[NCDisNut]

Chapek seems to be struggling a bit right now. This whole Parental Rights in Education bill has caused him pain. First, it was with the LGBTG community and he reacted to that but his comments offended politicians and now they're the ones reacting.

 

[lowlight]

Until I read this thread, I had no idea this was a thing. I just read an article on The Daily Beast (no idea which side they lean to, but the article was written in 2013) about how the CIA helped Disney secure the land in Florida and how Disney worked with the CIA to provide cover stories and propaganda, and pretty much lied to everyone to skirt state and federal law to build the empire. It actually blew my mind a little bit. Just search for How the CIA helped Disney conquer Florida. I also had no idea the state of Florida has no authority to inspect or shut down rides at Disney World. I knew Disney handled it in house, but I didn't realize Florida couldn't even if they wanted to- a special piece of legislation was carved out for theme parks with over 1k employee's (gee, who does that benefit?).

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

If you are interested you can check out the site. Gives you all the info you need. https://www.rcid.org/