Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the state will likely take control of Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District

Posted: Monday May 16, 2022 1:04pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

At an event in Sanford this morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that the state would likely take control of Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Since the Governor signed the bill dissolving Reedy Creek Improvement District last month, many questions have been raised about how dissolving the district will be achieved in practice and if any debt will be passed onto the local Orange and Osceola counties.

He said today, "The path forward is, Disney will not control its own government in the state of Florida. Disney will have to follow the same laws that every other company has to follow in the state of Florida. They will pay their share of taxes, and they will be responsible for paying the debts."

Despite his comments this morning, DeSantis has still not laid out a clear plan to dissolve Reedy Creek. He said today that his plan would be presented to the legislature after the November 2022 elections, which leaves very little time before the June 1 2023 termination date.

The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 allowed Disney the luxury of establishing its own independent government that handles many aspects of the Walt Disney World property, including emergency services, infrastructure, and construction permitting.

These latest developments follow escalating tensions between DeSantis and Disney CEO Bob Chapek regarding Disney's opposition to Florida's HB 1557, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill.

Disney's Bob Chapek has yet to make any public comments on the situation regarding Reedy Creek Improvement District.

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Stripes8 minutes ago

Many of those terminations have been blocked too. An executive order revoking the FCC license for any station would be one of the clearest examples of an unconstitutional action.

flynnibus17 minutes ago

That's what all the federal employees thought too...

Stripes19 minutes ago

An executive order stating otherwise would be quickly blocked by a judge. There is little, if any, risk to the company here. Carr is just trying to look like he’s doing something without actually doing anything.

lazyboy97o35 minutes ago

Until an executive order says otherwise. Iger has repeatedly caved to illegal actions. No reason to expect he won’t do so again.

Stripes39 minutes ago

None of the FCC licenses for Disney owned ABC stations expire until after the end of the Trump administration.

lazyboy97o1 hour ago

Bob Iger is a coward who has been unable to actually buy protection. https://www.yahoo.com/news/fcc-investigate-disney-over-dei-151311359.html

DCBaker1 day 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.GrantSeeker3 days ago

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

castlecake2.03 days ago

lentesta3 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.

LAKid533 days ago

What more can be done?

Dr.GrantSeeker4 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!

LAKid534 days ago

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

LAKid534 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.