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

[starlite_]

True, the article doesn't say if they (it states two people from the CIA) were former or current. It's still a very sordid history, and not exactly something for Disney to be proud of.

it's literally in their own documentaries. They aren't hiding it.

 

[lowlight]

it's literally in their own documentaries. They aren't hiding it.

Ok, I didn’t realize they talked about the undue influence they put on lawmakers and the fact that Walt admitted he never intended to set up communities with residents that would have a say in their governance in their documentaries. It’s not something to be proud of, is all I’m saying.

 

[pens4821]

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.

This is why I think companies/celebrities should stay out of politics. They are going to offend somebody one way or another no matter what they say. And is it really going to change anything (especially peoples beliefs)?

 

[PortMickey]

A main reason Reedy Creek Improvement District was set up in Florida was to avoid all the problems the California Parks have with the local Anaheim government. It's the approval process. The Anaheim city council actually has veto power over a lot of things Disney can do in Anaheim. In Florida they have their own city government, they can do whatever they want, even build a nuclear power plant if they want. If they lose Reedy Creek, it would be like Anaheim. Reedy Creek only has and EMT and Fire Depts. They have always relied on Orange County and Osceola county for police. Universal seems to do fine without it.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

A main reason Reedy Creek Improvement District was set up in Florida was to avoid all the problems the California Parks have with the local Anaheim government. It's the approval process. The Anaheim city council actually has veto power over a lot of things Disney can do in Anaheim. In Florida they have their own city government, they can do whatever they want, even build a nuclear power plant if they want. If they lose Reedy Creek, it would be like Anaheim. Reedy Creek only has and EMT and Fire Depts. They have always relied on Orange County and Osceola county for police. Universal seems to do fine without it.

There is more to Reedy Creek improvement District than EMT and Fire..

From their site…
The District is responsible to oversee land use and environmental protections within the District, and provide essential public services (e.g. fire protection, emergency medical services, potable water production, treatment, storage, pumping & distribution, reclaimed water distribution, chilled and hot water systems, wastewater services, drainage and flood control, electric power generation & distribution, and solid waste and recyclables collection & disposal); regulate the EPCOT Building Code; and operate and maintain all public roadways & bridges. The District operates on a fiscal year, beginning on October 1st and ending on September 30th; and funds its operations, services, and capital improvements by assessing taxes and fees to the District’s landowners and lessees, and by issuing ad valorem and utility revenue bonds.

 

[bbeagle]

Ok, I didn’t realize they talked about the undue influence they put on lawmakers and the fact that Walt admitted he never intended to set up communities with residents that would have a say in their governance in their documentaries. It’s not something to be proud of, is all I’m saying.

Omg. why are you here? You don’t understand anything that went on, but you're super giddy to jump on Disney and trash them regardless of facts.

 

[k5xs]

This is why I think companies/celebrities should stay out of politics. They are going to offend somebody one way or another no matter what they say. And is it really going to change anything (especially peoples beliefs)?

Reedy Creek Improvement District is an excellent example of why companies DO involve themselves in politics and why they likely always will.

RCID would never have happened had Disney _not_ engaged politically.

Companies lobby and donate (and speak out on issues) when they think it’s in their corporate interests to do so.

As for WDC speaking out on Don’t Say Gay, Chapek has suddenly “gotten religion” because he’s seeing gross discontent in his already discontented workforce.

 

[Kestryl]

I’m just going to jump in now because I’m already seeing this play out a bit more elsewhere- there’s a lot of surprise over Disney having the option to build a nuclear power plant. Disney could hypothetically build a nuclear power plant. But anyone who thinks they would- at least with current large-scale designs- doesn’t have experience with power plants or the NRC.

 

[CdnDrake]

Florida did not make these decisions based on their overwhelming adoration for Figment. It’s because both sides benefit greatly. i See this as a lot of hot political air that will blow over as soon as something else grabs the public attention.

 

[BK2014]

Florida easily has the upper hand in this, its not like they are going to up and move the theme parks. Florida will win no matter what.

Disney might not be able to up and move the theme parks, but the State of Florida cannot afford to upend the operations of its largest employer and driver of tourism. Disney and Florida are currently in a very toxic but interdependent relationship. If RCID was disbanded, or whatever the appropriate term would be, how would Orange and Osceola Counties be expected to fund and provide the services that RCID provides? While the majority of WDW property is in Orange County, parts are in Osceola County.

 

[Nabas]

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

Except that Universal has no such special law and yet has successfully built theme parks and hotels over the last few decades, with construction for a third Universal theme park well under way.

When the RCID was created in 1967, central Florida was mostly backcountry. It had little infrastructure. In 1960, Orange County had a population of 263,000. (Compared to 1.4 million today.)

The 1960s central Floridia government was not equipped to handle the overhead and paperwork associated with a project the size of Walt Disney World. That's simply not true today.

Really, there is no reason for RCID to exist anymore. The current Orange County government has demonstrated that it can oversea Universal's building requirements, and today's Orange County is up to handling WDW's requirements too.

 

[jerry557]

They probably wont repeal it. But what this talk amounts to is a shot across the bow by the legislature. (You also got members of Congress threatening not to renew Mickey's copyright protection.)

Basically the politicians are warning Chapek, and Disney shareholders, this feud the company got itself into is ill-advised, and it can get ugly if the company continues to accelerate down this path. This is not a war Disney can win. Florida has the political and legal upper hand. And WDW can't pick up and leave the state. I'm not really sure what Disney is hoping to accomplish. The politics in the state is not going to change anytime soon. In fact, these threats of Disney losing copyrights and legal advantages may be more than enough to ultimately force Chapek out of his job.

 

[xipotec]

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.

Well look at the guy running things, and you have some idea of why its stupid.

 

[bcla]

Florida easily has the upper hand in this, its not like they are going to up and move the theme parks. Florida will win no matter what.

Disney has a lot of office jobs in Florida that could easily be moved elsewhere if they feel there’s some sort of retribution against their public stances on social issues. If their ability to build new buildings and attractions is affected, that means less revenue going to Florida. Disney has been willing to up and leave for any number of reasons. Mostly it has to do with money and business climate. If they feel that their business is being sabotaged due to a vendetta, they can certainly reduce their business footprint in Florida.

But this isn’t going to happen. There’s no real appetite in the legislature to do it. The discussion is really just one man’s blabbering, which he can’t carry out without a lot of help.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...uss-repealing-disneys-reedy-creek-government/

 

[TheDailyMoo]

You have to admit no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on...this is all turning into a mess.
The deeper Disney digs in, the deeper the enemies they've made will dig in. Like many here I've studied up on Disney's storied history and save for a few dark years with bad cartoons there has never been this kind of toxicity surrounding the company. We can all bury our heads in the sand and pretend it's all going to go away and everyone will be holding hands at Disney World singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah like it's a commercial from the Eisner era but let's get real...it's not. And a polarized fanbase is not what Disney needs right now or ever. But once the toothpaste is out of the tube there's no putting it back in is there.

 

[sethschroeder]

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.

Why?

What exactly is Disney going to do to draw more people to Orlando? They are already over crowded 365 coming out of the pandemic.

a private business, shouldn't get special treatment.

There is a difference between special treatment and a unquestionable control over a whole area of the state with basically no oversight in perpetuity. What should occur is the district shouldn't be removed but placed on a review cycle potentially of 8-10 years at the very least.

Its terrible for citizens to have corporations have so much control.

I bet Disney wishes they weren't moving all of those employees/Imagineers from California to Florida now.

This is laughable. Disney knows most of the FL stuff is talk and the GOP in FL knows most of what Disney is doing is talk as well.

What is not talk? Record number of corporations leaving California, tax breaks from FL, better taxes (even without special treatment in FL), and Universal already being in FL having moved 20 years ago with Universal Creative.

Florida easily has the upper hand in this, its not like they are going to up and move the theme parks. Florida will win no matter what.

Bingo and I love how some are "oh the State is going to realize how much it costs to maintain the area to Disney standards".

Disney standards mean nothing to a local municipality that would take over these areas. Their goal will be to balance budgets and maintain control. This will result in more hoops for Disney and Disney still paying for the infrastructure. Additionally the "Disney Standard" of upkeep will be tossed out the window more than likely as well as a way to reduce costs.

 

[sethschroeder]

Reedy Creek Improvement District is an excellent example of why companies DO involve themselves in politics and why they likely always will.

RCID would never have happened had Disney _not_ engaged politically.

Companies lobby and donate (and speak out on issues) when they think it’s in their corporate interests to do so.

As for WDC speaking out on Don’t Say Gay, Chapek has suddenly “gotten religion” because he’s seeing gross discontent in his already discontented workforce.

There is a difference between Reedy Creek and HB 1557 "Dont Say Gay Bill" regarding what they specifically stand for in society.

You don't need to agree or disagree with either of them. In the end one of them is zoning, taxes, and policy applies to a corporation. The other is rules, guidelines, and laws regarding how to act in society (or in this case specific to schools).

What is interesting is how people are willing to fight against big corporations and their spending to get what they want until it aligns with their personal belief then they forget all about anything else.

I have brought this up but if Reedy Creek was suggested today for Disney people would be losing it over the idea of Disney basically self governing an area of central FL. Heck people lose it over a manufacturing plants having tax breaks even.

 

[Jrb1979]

You have to admit no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on...this is all turning into a mess.
The deeper Disney digs in, the deeper the enemies they've made will dig in. Like many here I've studied up on Disney's storied history and save for a few dark years with bad cartoons there has never been this kind of toxicity surrounding the company. We can all bury our heads in the sand and pretend it's all going to go away and everyone will be holding hands at Disney World singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah like it's a commercial from the Eisner era but let's get real...it's not. And a polarized fanbase is not what Disney needs right now or ever. But once the toothpaste is out of the tube there's no putting it back in is there.

Like I said in another thread this looks good on them. IMO by the time Disney figures it out and fixes things it will probably too late. I'm not saying they will go bankrupt or anything but the days of them being the top of the theme park food chain maybe ending.

Personally I don't feel bad about it. As someone who loves all amusement/theme parks my hope is maybe the Disney fans that are down on the product will give some of these other parks a chance.

 

[Jwaire]

Florida easily has the upper hand in this, its not like they are going to up and move the theme parks. Florida will win no matter what.

I fail to see how.

First of all, I doubt this will even happen but if it did Disney will fight this with every dollar they have. It'll be tied up in the court systems for years, spanning multiple administrations and legislatures costing the state millions of dollars. And most sensible legislators know this.

In the end, all this saber rattling is going to do is hurt the parks. Chapek and Disney's Board has been focused for years on digital content. They're trying to move the company toward that goal.

The Parks are a legacy product. It's only about 1/4 of the company's revenue. They'll be some at Disney that will look at this and say, you know what? Forget the 5th park. Forget the expansions. Forget the new hotels. We'll just spend our money on Disney+, the metaverse (whatever that is), sports betting or [insert trending Wallstreet idea here].

The only park that's made any money for them in the last few years is Walt Disney World. Disneyland, typically an OK moneymaker, was closed for a year. Shanghai had huge cost overruns but was doing well until COVID and now it's a bust. Hong Kong has never made money and Paris has had maybe a handful of positive quarters in its entire history.

They could easily let the domestic parks stagnate and sell them off years from now. Maybe they'll go ahead and keep Disneyland for giggles? The one advantage to the Florida property is they've been able to use it as collateral to acquire additional lines of credit.

This just gives those park dissenters in the company more clout.

Reedy Creek Improvement District is an excellent example of why companies DO involve themselves in politics and why they likely always will.

RCID would never have happened had Disney _not_ engaged politically.

RCID was primarily put in place because of the promise of EPCOT. Walt Disney intended to build a city of the future. There was nothing but swamp there. He needed that authority to make it happen. Like Nabas says below...

Politics or not, I don't think anything like RCID would happen again today.

Except that Universal has no such special law and yet has successfully built theme parks and hotels over the last few decades, with construction for a third Universal theme park well under way.

When the RCID was created in 1967, central Florida was mostly backcountry. It had little infrastructure. In 1960, Orange County had a population of 263,000. (Compared to 1.4 million today.)

The 1960s central Floridia government was not equipped to handle the overhead and paperwork associated with a project the size of Walt Disney World. That's simply not true today.

Really, there is no reason for RCID to exist anymore. The current Orange County government has demonstrated that it can oversea Universal's building requirements, and today's Orange County is up to handling WDW's requirements too.

The only thing I would disagree with is Orange and Oceola County's ability to regulate. They would have to expand their underfunded local governments to regulate Disney. It's much bigger than Universal. It would be a huge undertaking to regulate all utilities, roads, building structures, multiple hotel and restaurants, etc. with little or no cooperation from RCID.

I really doubt they're interested. They get most of the property tax money anyway for doing very little.

Disney has a lot of office jobs in Florida that could easily be moved elsewhere if they feel there’s some sort of retribution against their public stances on social issues. If their ability to build new buildings and attractions is affected, that means less revenue going to Florida. Disney has been willing to up and leave for any number of reasons. Mostly it has to do with money and business climate. If they feel that their business is being sabotaged due to a vendetta, they can certainly reduce their business footprint in Florida.

But this isn’t going to happen. There’s no real appetite in the legislature to do it. The discussion is really just one man’s blabbering, which he can’t carry out without a lot of help.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...uss-repealing-disneys-reedy-creek-government/

This is why I think this is such a huge mistake for Florida lawmakers. Forget Disney. You have every Fortune 100 company watching this. Florida has spent decades trying to promote itself as THE pro-business state.

You don't like California's taxes, laws or big government? Come to Florida! Now, you're going to retaliate against your biggest employer because they spoke out against your targeted, yet purposely ambiguous, parental rights bill. How's that look? The future of Florida's economy isn't Publix, it's Google, Amazon and Apple.

Look at this list:

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/...s-to-oppose-anti-lgbtq-legislation-in-florida

You may not like those company's politics, but jobs are more important to constituents than divisive stands on "social issues."

I'd be careful to not overplay my hand. Political "heroes" and their campaigns come and go, it's a lot harder to repair ramifications from disastrous policy decisions.

 

[Carol_]

NO, NO, NO--the CIA Never helped Disney buy the land in Florida. I read the book that the article referred to, I FORMER CIA employee did indeed help Disney. But he was not working with the CIA at the time.


Isn’t that kind of like saying “former Marine”?