Gov. DeSantis on Disney: ‘They Are Reedy Creek,’ ‘They’re Going to Pay Their Debts’

“I am not comfortable having one company with their own government and special privileges, when that company has pledged itself to attacking the parents in my state.” — FL. Gov. Ron DeSantis

In a special town hall meeting on Thursday, April 28, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addressed some of the lingering concerns surrounding his government’s fight with The Walt Disney Company and their decision to terminate the special Walt Disney World district, the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Watch the town hall here:

“It just simply ends with them being treated the same as every other company in Florida. They’re going to follow laws. They’re not going to have their own government. They’re going to pay their debts, pay their taxes,” the Florida governor said.

Related: From a Floridian: Perspective on ‘Disney vs. DeSantis’

The Governor assured Floridians that they would not be forced to take on any of the debt bonds currently outstanding that were issued by Reedy Creek. He emphasized that Disney has benefited greatly from the ability to issue government bonds, but now Disney will pay all of them.

“They are Reedy Creek. It’s a fiction. They are paying money to run their operations … they will continue paying money to run their operations, and that will be true if the state is in charge of a district, if it’s dissolved to the locals, it doesn’t matter. That is going to continue to happen,” he continued.

DeSantis further attacked the cronyism that Disney has established in The Sunshine State, setting all terms in the Reedy Creek District, saying, “I am not comfortable having one company with their own government and special privileges, when that company has pledged itself to attacking the parents in my state.”

When the “Parental Rights in Education” legislation was passed in Tallahassee–intended to put parents back in charge of their children’s education–Disney openly said they were going to use their corporate influence and money to have the law overturned.

Soon after leaked footage of an internal meeting showed high-level executives at Disney discussing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and the desire to put more gay, pansexual, and other LGBTQ+ characters into their children’s content.

Related: DeSantis Strikes Twice: Signed Bill Could Prohibit ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’ at Disney World

“When that company has very high up people talking about injecting pansexualism into programing for young kids, it’s wrong. Walt Disney would not want that. And so get back to the mission,” DeSantis said.

“Do what you did great. That’s why people love the company, and you’ve lost your way. Maybe this will be the wakeup call that they need to get back on track.”

In the aftermath of the terminating legislation, The Reedy Creek Improvement District issued a statement stating that all outstanding debt will default to the county and state-level governments to take care of. It appears that Gov. DeSantis is well aware of that and he appears very confident that he and his government can still end Reedy Creek without sticking the citizens of Orange County and Osceola County with the bill.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to monitor this and other Disney World Stories and will update our readers as more developments come to light.