Complete And Total Reversal, Florida Bill Would End DeSantis Disney District

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been nine months since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stripped Walt Disney World of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and replaced it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. In those nine months, it’s fair to say that the new District and its Board of DeSantis appointees have run into trouble overseeing a District the size and scope of Reedy Creek.

Related: Disney Wants to Remind Florida That It’s More Valuable to the State Than Ron DeSantis

It started the day the new Board took over and realized that Disney had struck a deal with the Reedy Creek Board before its dissolution, stripping the new Board of its power. What would become known as the “King Charles III” clause turned the new Board into a laughing stock as they were thoroughly outsmarted by the Walt Disney Company even before they took over.

But not all of the problems with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District were created by Disney; most of them were self-inflicted. The Board encountered issues with the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters when they completed negotiations on a new contract and then asked to reopen the talks. The Board then cut perks for District employees, including firefighters, that gave them Disney World season passes and discounts on merchandise, food, and hotel rooms at the Parks. The Board has since agreed to provide employees with $3,000, but most have yet to receive it, and that figure does not cover the cost of a season pass at Disney World for a family.

And while we’re discussing the Reedy Creek employees, 40 have left the District since the new Board took over. In their exit interviews, some have raised concerns over the new Board that it was “political” and that the District was “no longer functional.” And just this week, the Board fired two senior employees and replaced them with politically connected allies of Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. 

Related: New Report Shows DeSantis Had Bigger Plans to Punish Disney But Feared Hurting His Lucrative Donors

After all that, one Florida politician has seen enough. State Sen. Linda Stewart (D) is preparing to introduce a bill to return control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District to Disney World. Stewart, who represents Orlando in the state legislature, said that she plans on meeting with the Orange County delegation after Thanksgiving to discuss the bill that would repeal the law that Governor DeSantis passed stripping Disney of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and replacing it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Stewart told the Orlando Sentinel:

I am looking at every avenue possible to get this overturned. We are going to try to get people to vote and see how many people still believe in how they voted the first time.

Despite her enthusiasm for the bill, Stewart faces an uphill battle in the Florida Legislature, which Republicans control. But there may be an opening. When the bill was passed, most Florida Republicans believed that Ron DeSantis would run for President and that he had a good chance of winning the nomination. DeSantis decided to run, but he is currently getting trounced in the polls by former president Donald Trump and has called behind former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.

Related: Disney Just Lost 45 Percent of the Country Over DeSantis Feud

With DeSantis out of office in 2026, many are looking around the room to realize that Walt Disney World will still be in Florida long after he is gone, and they have a long memory. State Sen. Gruters, R-Sarasota, told the Sentinel that he would be open to voting for such a bill should Stewart introduce it.

This could be the opening that the Walt Disney Co. needs to get its special District back, and it could be the same lawmakers that took it away that may give it back to them.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.