Reedy Creek RIP

[BrianL]

I just meant they didn't need $10 million. Just an in for a job that would qualify to rent one of those homes.

Yeah, they appear to be much more modest - I just meant I would LOVE to live there, jsut based on where it is.

 

[Kaleidodad]

It's all so ridiculous really.

Absolutely. Classic case of Florida Man grandstanding for cable-news pundits and donors and political power, without an honest word spoken about it.

 

[HopperFan]

Yeah, the appear to be much more modest - I just meant I would LOVE to live there, jsut based on where it is.

We once were looking at close by condos, shifted gears and bought at beach. BUT I do go back and look every now and then. I've decided I have to have fireworks view so I think they would qualify.

 

[xipotec]

Its a net win for them finacially at least thou right?

 

[lowlight]

Oh man, I, for one, was rooting for the global mega corps. The king is dead, long live the king!

 

[Yarbogash]

Having worked for a City entity as a city planner, this sounds very similar to a Planning Commission and if this is the case, this board has the potential to grind projects to a halt. Don’t like the design? Have issues with content or scope of a project? These people, all of whom will be appointed by the governor and at this point are defined as anyone who has not worked in the theme park industry for the past 3 years, may make park progress, creative design and intellectual property freedoms exceedingly difficult.

Imho it's completely nuts. Doesn't matter what party you support. Having political appointees in these positions is a disaster in the making. This whole crusade by DeSantis is just bizarre and spiteful.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Since we're doing civics lessons, this isn't accurate due to gerrymandering and the fact that only one-third of residents in the state vote. According to current statistics, Florida contains 5.3 million Republicans, 4.9 million Democrats, and 4.3 million voters without a major party affiliation. So, the majority didn't decide this. The minority did.

Welcome to a representative democracy!!!

In either case the dully elected representatives of all Florida residents decided that this was the proper coarse of action for their state.

 

[Wmuflyguy]

I just don't understand why being a conservative is so distasteful in America.

It isn't, this isn't conservatism.

This isn't smaller government. This isn't pro-free speech.

 

[AvidDisReader]

In my opinion the new board will not have any impact on Reedy Creek District. Instead of Disney employees rubber stamping everything, it will be the Gov appointees rubber stamping everything. Disney pays 100's of millions of dollars a year in taxes, does anyone really think the Gov wants to kill the golden goose that is Disney. He huffed and puffed and changed the management team of RICD. Now time to move on, there is a Presidency to win. No time to spend any more time on this issue.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Having worked for a City entity as a city planner, this sounds very similar to a Planning Commission and if this is the case, this board has the potential to grind projects to a halt. Don’t like the design? Have issues with content or scope of a project? These people, all of whom will be appointed by the governor and at this point are defined as anyone who has not worked in the theme park industry for the past 3 years, may make park progress, creative design and intellectual property freedoms exceedingly difficult.

And to what end? The reason Disney created Reedy Creek in the first place was because of what happened in Anaheim (or rather the orange groves that would someday become Anaheim). It wasn't the theme park, it was all the hangers-on that bought property immediately surrounding Disney so they could profit that were the problem. Well, look what happened. Would you rather have the land surrounding Disneyworld to look the way it does now, or would you prefer it to look like Anaheim? And actually, Disney has made significant improvements as of late in Anaheim because they have been able to wrest back some of the worst parcels - it used to be a whole lot seedier. It's taken decades to make even that much progress.

 

[NotUrsula]

I think Disney is choosing to sit tight for a while and see how it goes. If the new board members start overstepping their reach (meddling in personnel policies, etc.), then I can see them choosing to go to court. Honestly, a small part of me thinks that the strategy may be to wait out DeSantis; once he becomes consumed with the Presidential race, his attention to things Floridian is bound to slip.

Last year, when the dissolution was still on the table, this telling verbiage turned up in a story in USAToday (I'm going to just clip in the quotes, and leave out the reporter's explanations. If you want to read the entire story, here's the link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-senate-governor-republicans-vote/7399316001/)

House sponsor Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard, said the special district designation provides an unfair competitive advantage over other tourist attractions. "Universal is building a third theme park. We're not going to create the Woody Woodpecker Improvement District. They have to compete with one hand tied behind their backs," said Fine.

"We provide Disney things that we do not provide to their competitors. And that's fundamentally unfair," said Fine.
... Fine said that gives Disney more than enough time to “consider how they behave,” and seek recodification of Reedy Creek if they want to retain the “special privileges” Florida has given it.

That crack about "consider how they behave" is absolutely chilling. Their "behavior" in this case wasn't something like a fraud or a failure to keep the infrastructure sound; what they did was to disagree with the State government about a very partisan issue that had nothing to do with the operation of Reedy Creek.

The thing about claiming that Disney's "special privilege" is unfair is that it is wholly thanks to Disney's willingness to take a chance and invest an enormous sum of money in infrastructure and advertising to enable the building of what was essentially a citrus grove among swamps into a major metropolitan area with a population of 2.6M people, and a current GDP of over $167M. Yes, Universal doesn't have this local control, but when Universal entered the market it was already a fully-fledged tourism paradise with a guaranteed customer base. Disney's investments in the area earned Reedy Creek's status a thousand times over.

 

[lowlight]

It isn't, this isn't conservatism.

You have activated the self destruct sequence on this thread. There is a thread lock button blinking rapidly red while sirens blare in a hardened bunker somewhere in South Dakota.

 

[Wmuflyguy]

You have activated the self destruct sequence on this thread. There is a thread lock button blinking rapidly red while sirens blare in a hardened bunker somewhere in South Dakota.

It’s probably better that way.

 

[goneviral]

the dully elected representatives

I kinda love this.

 

[sethschroeder]

I just find it interesting that anyone thinks the normal taxpayer has to pony up for this. Why? The state can put in place taxes and tax requirements on Disney as well as dial back services as well as a whole host of fees and fines on Disney if needed.

Could it? Sure

As an example pass a special tax requirement on Disney hotels and tickets and food sold to cover the costs?

I am not paying for a other part of the state business district in my state so why would Florida work like that now instead of taxing that district since Disney isn't going anywhere.