Central Florida Tourism Oversight District appointed by Ron DeSantis formally declares Disney's agreements with Reedy Creek to be null and void

Apr 26, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

Posted: Wednesday April 26, 2023 10:30am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board of Supervisors met today and declared the February 8, 2023, Development Agreement and Declaration of Restrictive Covenants entered into by the Reedy Creek Improvement District and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts void and unenforceable.

The Ron DeSantis appointed board met today to nullify Disney and RCID's February 8 agreements

Earlier this week, the board released pages of legislative findings regarding the February 8 agreements that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District say makes them null and void.

Signed into effect on February 8, just as the Florida House passed the legislation to take control of Reedy Creek Improvement District, the new Developer Agreement gave Disney significant control of the RCID land and prevented the new board from making any changes to the agreement.

Chair of the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board Ron Garcia said during the meeting, "Disney picked the fight with his board. We were not looking for a fight." He continued, "Factual and legally, what they created is an absolute legal mess, and it will not work."

Today's vote to approve the findings now directs the litigation counsel to have Disney's agreements with Reedy Creek declared void and unenforceable and stricken from the public records of Orange and Osceola Counties.

Disney has not yet publically commented on these recent developments, and it remains unclear if it will challenge today's decision.

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Sirwalterraleigh29 minutes ago

Breaking news…the “leadership” is awful…only a puppet board keeps it in place. But that management set its employees up for failure by deciding what its mission statement was gonna be in a vaccum Without paying attention to how actually Living humans would react. Just had this conversation about Disney at home yesterday Progress is good…but if you don’t recognize where people are first…you fail and pour gas on the blaze

mkt33 minutes ago

I have to thank this thread. I've wanted to write a substack about this, but shelved it. Now i'm digging through the past few years's worth of notes, and some of my own replies to this thread to put something together.

mkt35 minutes ago

Totally fair. The trust cast members had in leadership five years ago is not what it is today. That shift matters. So yes, Disney is still winning in the corporate sense. But that does not mean everyone came out ahead. That is a separate and valid conversation.

flynnibus44 minutes ago

And imagine being an employee who was lobbying your employer as the biggest in the state to take a stand on your behalf... and what you could assume your company leaders would do 5 years ago.. vs what they will do now. Are you still winning?

flynnibus45 minutes ago

Let's not forget the entire thing that drew Disney into the conflict... Standing up for it's employees in the state of florida. The lawsuits were just specific actions taken, not inclusive of the topic as a whole. And the state acted against the company, and in the grand scheme, Disney capitulated and accepted the new reality that they need to fear retribution.. and will likely influence their behavior going forward. This is bigger than the lawsuits that were filed, mainly because the decision about the state vs fed case effectively lead to the 1A topic never being litigated

Sirwalterraleigh47 minutes ago

In the end…they’re always gonna be “mutual hostages” Florida…especially now…would love to exploit Disney for cheap political donations… But in the end, I think they pay half their sales tax in a place that can’t get it right anyway. So at most…there will be ripples here and there

mkt53 minutes ago

Easy. Disney is still operating as before, while being able to frame the exit from the Lake Nona campus as a consequence of the state’s retaliation. Meanwhile, Florida walked away looking like an unreliable business partner and a political bully. The board fell in line. Permits kept flowing. The billion-dollar development plan moved forward. Disney reopened its donation pipeline. The headlines faded. The federal case was dismissed without prejudice, so the legal pressure is still there if the state tries anything again. Disney kept control and held onto its leverage. If that is what losing looks like, most companies would take it.

Chi841 hour ago

Those don't seem to be particularly effective avenues though.

UNCgolf1 hour ago

I'm baffled that people are trying to spin this as a win for Disney. While I suppose you could call it a win in relative terms compared to a worst case scenario, Florida/the governor got just about everything they wanted. If you had to pick a winner between the state and Disney, it was clearly the state. From a legal standpoint, Disney is in a worse position than they were before, and the potential of the federal lawsuit is not significant leverage to protect their interests. There's no guarantee they would even win (as much as it seems like a blatant "chilling effect" case to this attorney).

Sirwalterraleigh1 hour ago

Aren’t the “residents” like 20 corporate appointees? Pretty sure they backed the rat on this one anyway

lazyboy97o1 hour ago

Speech was not the only avenue open to Disney. They could have encouraged more action on the part of the bond holders. The residents of the cities could have challenged the “unique” taxing authority or the usurpation of the cities’ home rule.

Chi841 hour ago

Don't be too hard on Disney. This was a "chilling effect" case rather than straight censorship, which complicates the matter. Plus, lawsuits are often multi-faceted and are almost always lengthy, expensive and unpredictable. They can protect constitutional rights but are not the best way. Although businesses are now "people," I would argue they are not the best people to protect citizens' constitutional rights. That is for the citizens to do by way of the ballot box. If people don't understand their rights or are okay with government violating their rights as long as they get whatever momentary win they are after, these issues will come up repeatedly.

mkt1 hour ago

Free speech is absolutely a federal issue. That is the entire basis of the original case. It was not dismissed with prejudice, which means those claims are still available if Disney chooses to bring them back. The core argument was that the state restructured the district to punish Disney for protected speech. Any new actions by the board that appear motivated by that same intent can reinforce the original claims. Yes, new actions would require evidence. But Florida’s public records laws make that easier to obtain than most states. Given what has already been said on the record, and what could be uncovered with a records request, proving motive would not be a heavy lift. If they try something, Disney will have more than enough to work with.

Sirwalterraleigh2 hours ago

It’s been like a year…you might want to wait until there is a political advantage to crapping all over Disney again… …it likely won’t take long. Bob is was trying to rebuild his ego then… So capitulation was strategic The good news is he’s still trying to do that now and things look much worse. 🤪