Disney provides numbers and facts to refute Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' rationale for his attempted hostile takeover of Reedy Creek Improvement District

Apr 17, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

Gallery / 3 Photos
Reedy Creek Improvement District overview

Posted: Monday April 17, 2023 5:50pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney is yet to comment on today's press conference by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this morning, but the company has been in contact with local news outlets to provide some numbers that appear to refute the Florida Governor's main talking points used to support his botched takeover of Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke today at Reedy Creek HQ near Disney Springs at Walt Disney World

Speaking at the Reedy Creek Improvement District headquarters near Disney Springs today, DeSantis frequently talked about Disney not paying its fair share of taxes and how that will change under his new district management. Disney points out that in 2022, it paid $1.146 billion in state and local taxes, making the Walt Disney Company the largest single taxpayer in Central Florida.

Referring to the governor's comment that Disney appraises its own property, Disney says, "All property in the district, including all Disney property is assessed annually by the Orange County tax assessor or the Osceola County tax assessor, as applicable."

Walt Disney World Announces Location, Developer for Affordable and Attainable Housing Initiative concept art

DeSantis continued that his new board would consider adding affordable housing on Reedy Creek land. Disney is already heavily invested in an Affordable and Attainable Housing Initiative, announcing last year that it would build more than 1300 affordable housing units on 80 acres of land near Walt Disney World.

Other information Walt Disney World provided today:

- WDW is the largest single-site employer in the U.S.
- WDW paid & collected $1.146B in state and local taxes during 2022
- $30.4M in donations throughout 2022 to support the community
— Alex Farnworth (@AlexFarnworth) April 17, 2023

Sounding more like a political rally and an appeal to his base to support his presidential bid, DeSantis said today he expects to nullify Disney's last-minute deal with Reedy Creek Improvement District, continuing to retaliate against Disney for its public opposition to the so-called "Don't Say Gay Bill."

You can watch the full press conference below.

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DCBaker8 hours ago

Here's the full packet: https://www.oversightdistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-28-25-BOS-Agenda-packet.pdf Item 7.4 on the Sunshine Corridor PD&E Study:

Dr.GrantSeeker1 day ago

Oof, 2031 is a long ways away! Wonder how long it will actually take if and when they start it. Edit: thanks Len!

castlecake2.02 days ago

lentesta2 days ago

AFAIK the road budget is still in place. IIRC it was a tie-in of Western Way to the east side of property. ETA: Yep. Look at Exhibit D in this doc from the CFTOD boaerd meeting on 2024-06-05.

LAKid532 days ago

What more can be done?

Dr.GrantSeeker2 days ago

I remember RCID approving a bunch of infrastructure work for Western Way and the BV Drive intersection right before they became CFTOD. Do we still know if these improvements are going to happen and when? @lentesta I’m tagging you because i vaguely remember you talking about this a year ago-ish, which is how I learned about it in the first place. Unless my memory is totally wrong (which it could be) so I apologize in advance if you never mentioned these improvements!

LAKid532 days ago

Have you met OC Planning? Their middle name is urban sprawl....

LAKid532 days ago

It is. I laugh everytime I'm GPSed through property on the way back from MCO. And I think the same on the way home from Port Canaveral. I'd rather make a larger loop around than drive Osceola Parkway to LBV Drive to Western Way to Hartzog.

lazyboy97o2 days ago

And instead of real solutions people just double down on the causes of traffic.

castlecake2.02 days ago

The blessing of size lead to urban sprawl on property, the very thing Walt’s EPCOT was trying to fix. One solution could be trying to implement public transit to get Cast living nearby to work, but Orlando’s transit is terrible, and the sprawl across property makes it hard to make an efficient system for moving people. Now with the sprawl surrounding the property, Disney roads are becoming the shortcuts. The isolated feel of entire resort is quickly disappearing.

LAKid532 days ago

State Road 535 (Avalon Road) North from the intersection at Hartzog is now wall to wall apartment complexes up to New Independence. I had to make a detour to get out of Waterleigh due to road resurfacing and the same is going south. The roads in Horizons West currently can't handle the traffic resulting from the increase in developments. Yeah, it's nice that 429 North of the toll before the Turnpike had been widened, but it's a hot mess in the AM & PM up to that spot. The amount of construction since I bought 2.5 years ago is insane. Don't know HOW they'll widen Western Way once you leave property because there's not much space to add another lane under the 429 overpass. Flamingo Crossings area is growing. And the roads can't handle the traffic.

LuvtheGoof2 days ago

Western Way was really bad around 5:30 yesterday. And then a few idiots on the turnpike going north decided to have a 4 car pile up, blocking both lanes in the construction area, and our normal 2 - 2 1/2 hour trip took almost 4 hours last night!

LAKid533 days ago

My GPS sends me THROUGH property on the way back from MCO. But South on 429 to get there.

LAKid533 days ago

Avalon is bad in the mornings & evenings. Now imagine adding a 1400 unit housing project on Hartzog just before the curve to the intersection with Avalon. Which was just widened up to Schofield.