New Report Accuses Disney of Buying Influence With Reedy Creek Board

Back in August, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District paid conservative law professor Donald Kochan to write a report on the history of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and its relationship with Walt Disney World over its 56 years of existence. For his efforts, the Board paid Kochan $115,000. But right from the beginning, Kochan’s report aimed to find any wrongdoings by Disney and legislate those out of existence.

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When he announced the report, Chairman of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Martin Garcia said:

For over 56 years, Disney had their own governmentally controlled kingdom which, while sparking economic growth for central Florida, also produced many negative outcomes for the taxpayers, employees, and citizens of Orange and Osceola Counties. To discover and solve more latent problems, the Board is turning to Professor Kochan to elucidate some of the economic and legal implications the old structure created and provide recommendations to further reform the District to make it more responsive to the citizens of central Florida.

So, when charged to find something, the new report found “something.” According to the latest news, Disney World gave employees and Reedy Creek Board members discounts on merchandise, food, hotel stays, and season passes to Disney World. The report said those “benefits and perks that were akin to bribes.” The report also noted that employees believed it was their job to “serve Disney,” and that Disney had “broad authority” to regulate itself.

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A person familiar with the report told Reuters it would now head to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature to “factor into new legislation.”

But very few of these revelations are new. We have reported for months that Disney World gave Reedy Creek employees discounts at the parks and season passes. When the new Board of DeSantis appointees realized employees were receiving these benefits, they set out to eliminate them. Reedy Creek employees passionately defended them as perks of working for the District. The perks were even extended to retired district employees. Instead of the season passes and discounts, the new Board voted to give each employee $3,000 a year, which does not cover the cost of a family season pass at Disney World.

When reached for comment about the report, a spokesman for Disney said:

This is an exercise in revisionist history. This report is neither objective nor credible, and only seeks to advance (the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s) interests in its wasteful litigation that could derail investment within the district. Further, it does not change the fact that the CFTOD board was appointed by the governor to punish Disney for exercising its Constitutional right to free speech.

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Perhaps the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is not the best institution to be throwing stones at someone for supplying gifts to those in power. The entire Board is comprised of political insiders with close ties to Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, including those who have made significant donations to his political campaigns. The District Administrator, Glen Gilzean, is close to Governor DeSantis and is being paid $400,000 for his services.

The special District has also spent millions on lawyers with close ties to the Republican Governor. The new Board is fighting Disney in State Court over agreements Disney made with the Reedy Creek Board. Disney countersued the CFTOD Board, claiming it violated the Contracts Clause of the Constitution.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.