Republicans Thwart Chance to End DeSantis’ Disney District

In February 2023, the heated battle between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reached a new low when the controversial governor officially dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The RCID had been in place since 1967 — four years before the Walt Disney World Resort opened. Its dissolution came after ex-Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against a bill that Governor DeSantis championed.

After the governor dissolved Reedy Creek, he created the Central Tourism Oversight District — complete with board members all appointed by the governor. And not one of them had any experience working with or in the theme park industry.

It has been less than one year since the CFTOD board took over, and things have reportedly gone from bad to worse. The board revoked job perks that those who worked in the district had for years. They are also dealing with record numbers of employees quitting and calling the people on the board “unqualified and incompetent.”

Related: Disney Defenders Demand Return of Reedy Creek

Eventually, some Florida legislators got fed up with the way things were going. At the end of November, State Senator Linda Stewart said that she would be introducing a bill that would terminate the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and reinstate Reedy Creek. The bill would also terminate the position of all CFTOD board members.

Stewart had planned to introduce the bill and try to get it passed when the state legislature met at the end of November. Unfortunately, Republican legislators had no interest in bringing Reedy Creek back.

According to The Orlando Sentinel, when Ms. Stewart attempted to introduce the bill and bring it to a vote, multiple Republican lawmakers walked out of the room. That meant that there were not enough people present to constitute a quorum, so any vote that took place would not be considered valid:

Their departure caused the delegation to lose its quorum. They didn’t mention the Disney bill before leaving but said they were upset with the delegation’s rules for picking leaders.

The remaining Democrats voted 7-0 to advance the bill, but they later discovered they didn’t have enough members present. As a result, the vote was invalid and will need to be redone, said Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, who chairs the delegation.

“It’s disrespectful to the staff who spent hours preparing for this meeting and to the more than 100 members of the public who signed up to speak,” she said of the walkout. “I can only assume this was less about delegation rules and more about Republican lawmakers not wanting to take a vote on restoring Reedy Creek.”

Related: Legal Experts: Ron DeSantis Will Lose to Disney

Since the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, things have not gotten better between Disney and the state of Florida. In fact, they have gotten worse.

Disney is currently suing both the CFTOD and the controversial Florida Governor. Disney is suing the governor for violating its First Amendment right to free speech when he started punishing the company for speaking out against the state’s Parental Rights in Education Bill. Governor DeSantis has admitted to going after Disney because of what they said, even saying so in his new book.

However, he has also repeatedly said that he has “won” the battle with Disney, even though the lawsuit has not been settled yet. He tried to get the lawsuit thrown out, claiming legislative immunity, but that claim was dismissed.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board is being sued by the House of Mouse for Breach of Contract, violations of the Florida Constitution, and more. The board had filed to have the lawsuit against them dismissed.

Would you like to see Reedy Creek return to run Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments!