A report from the nypost claims that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is ready to announce his next move in an ongoing fight against Disney. DeSantis will reportedly unveil plans later today to void a contract between the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board (formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District) and Walt Disney World. The development contract, which was agreed upon before DeSantis’ hand-picked Board Members could take over, basically signs off certain development rights to Walt Disney World for decades to come.
The now-popular “King Charles Clause” was introduced with the prior Board that allows, among other things, Disney World to develop and utilize land owned by Reedy Creek Improvement District such as the Disney Springs parking garages. The move angered DeSantis and his new rubber-stamp Board, but Disney was quick to point out that its actions were legal:
All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.
The new measures introduced by DeSantis will reportedly be run through the State Legislature, which is majority Republican and happy to do the bidding of the Governor. In addition to action to void the development agreement contract, the report says that the State could introduce new inspections for public transportation such as the monorail system and even attractions within the theme parks. There has been a longstanding Florida statute that exempts Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and other “permanent facilities” from state inspections provided that they employ at least 1,000 workers and “maintain full-time, in-house safety inspectors”. It’s possible that DeSantis could target that exemption to get state inspectors into Walt Disney World to determine if rides are safe to operate.
Today’s announcement comes at a time when the Florida Governor is taking a beating in the press and even from former President Donald Trump, who said that DeSantis was “outplayed, outsmarted, and embarrassed by Mickey Mouse and Disney”.
DeSantis has largely been fighting a one-sided war with Disney of late. While Disney CEO Bob Iger did say that DeSantis had retaliated against the company, he said that he would be glad to sit down with DeSantis to figure this all out. Iger said that Disney plans on spending $17 billion at Walt Disney World over the next decade, but has said that DeSantis’ actions are “anti-business” and “anti-Florida”.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!