News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

[lazyboy97o]

Disney has some unique architectural elements though that aren't found elsewhere.

They’re generally not as unique as they look. It’s also not a generally accepted practice that inspectors have to be employees of the supervising agencies. Florida itself requires large Assembly buildings, called threshold buildings, to utilize a private inspector paid by the contractor but responsible to the building authority.

 

[lazyboy97o]

True but that's a bit simplistic. Some % of people in those counties voted for DeSantis in 2018. It wasn't 100% for the Democratic candidate. If he loses some of those people it could be trouble for him.

There is this narrative that DeSantis is actually this hugely popular politician who rode a wave of support into the governor’s mansion. He didn’t even receive 50% of the vote and won by less than 40,000 votes.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I didn’t have any luck either until it got close to the 24 hour cancellation deadline, and that’s when they started coming. Make sure you have searches for the restaurant and the lounge, too. Hope it works out for you!

Yeah…not surprising.

I think slot of people have it booked for the and have no idea on the price. And I personally always cancel ressies on trips when the food coma starts to set in

 

[mikejs78]

Yeah…not surprising.

I think slot of people have it booked for the and have no idea on the price. And I personally always cancel ressies on trips when the food coma starts to set in

I started seeing reservations pop up about a week before my (cancelled) trip.

 

[GoofGoof]

You know…you had to remind me that Morgan Stanley still existed

Totally forgot. Morgan Stanley was started with seed money from Granddad JP Morgan…but that was long ago

We still trade with Morgan Stanley‘s commodities shop a lot. It was JP that merged with Chase and Merrill Lynch with BoA and Lehman Bros just went under.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m Gonna give a pass on “Orlando county” for Orange…and Osceola

Pretty easy mistake to make

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I started seeing reservations pop up about a week before my (cancelled) trip.

…someday, big guy

 

[mikejs78]

…someday, big guy

We were supposed to be there this week.. Kids got the flu two days before we were scheduled to fly out. Postponed until June (after this trip was postponed twice from 2021...). We'll see.

 

[GoofGoof]

Well, an argument could be made that WDW’s size is irrelevant.

It’s my understanding that special districts were (are?) intended for residents, not companies.

And Orlando County does not run WDW, it only governs it.

RCID’s budget is only $165M, a fraction of Orlando County’s $5 plus billion dollar budget.

This is not a reason to dissolve RCID, only a suggestion that Orange County is capable of governing it.

Orange County could absolutely absorb managing the services for WDW. It’s a county of 1.4M residents not a handful of swamp people living there like 50+ years ago when RCID was established.

At the end of the day it comes back to the same question, just because they could absorb it is that in the best interest for the people of FL to do? It seems pretty clear cut that with RCID Disney is still paying taxes to OC for services they really don’t receive and the cost of the services are paid for by Disney through taxes paid to RCID. For Orange County they are absolutely better off if RCID stays in place. Disney gets the benefit of autonomy and also the off balance sheet financing but that has no negative impact on anyone living in FL. So what’s the gain of dissolving? Punishing Disney. That’s about it, but the main benefit Disney gets has no detrimental impact on the citizens of FL. There is an attempt to craft a narrative that somehow Disney is getting a benefit at the cost of taxpayers that will be removed. It’s simply not true.

 

[GoofGoof]

RCID is a form of government with its own employees.

RCID assets transfer to Orange County.

Any idea if the employees do as well?

The devil is in the details on how that gets done. I would assume for something like the first responders they would want to keep the people with the experience and knowledge of facilities and unique equipment but they would roll under the existing Orange County management structure. I would hope they bridge their time for pensions and time of service. I cannot imagine a guy who is a few years short of vesting in a full pension would be made to start over. That would be harsh.

 

[Disstevefan1]

True but that's a bit simplistic. Some % of people in those counties voted for DeSantis in 2018. It wasn't 100% for the Democratic candidate. If he loses some of those people it could be trouble for him.

Agreed. That's why I said possibly.

Putting all Floridians aside, DeSantis only does or does not do things that he thinks will help HIMSELF politically.

Time will tell if he did the right thing for HIMSELF.

Whatever happens with WDW or the Florida taxpayers is of no matter to HIM.

 

[mikejs78]

The devil is in the details on how that gets done. I would assume for something like the first responders they would want to keep the people with the experience and knowledge of facilities and unique equipment but they would roll under the existing Orange County management structure. I would hope they bridge their time for pensions and time of service. I cannot imagine a guy who is a few years short of vesting in a full pension would be made to start over. That would be harsh.

How does that work though from the perspective that there are two counties involved?

 

[mmascari]

The devil is in the details on how that gets done. I would assume for something like the first responders they would want to keep the people with the experience and knowledge of facilities and unique equipment but they would roll under the existing Orange County management structure. I would hope they bridge their time for pensions and time of service. I cannot imagine a guy who is a few years short of vesting in a full pension would be made to start over. That would be harsh.

It's all in the details and takes time to work out. That's why people keep saying the impacts start now not in a year. All that planning takes time.

I worked with guy once where his department was outsourced. They rebadged him to work for the outsource contractor, and he got to bring his years of service with him. A few years go by, and the department was brought back in house. They rebadged him again, back to an employee. For the change back, he lost the years of service for the time he worked for the outsourcer. So, I worked with him for like 10 years, but he only had like 7 years of service. He lost the 3 while doing the exact same job but being paid by the outsourcer. Anything that was years of service based was impacted. Things like vacation time. He went from one company plan to anther and back but at a reduced grant all while doing the exact same job.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It's all in the details and takes time to work out. That's why people keep saying the impacts start now not in a year. All that planning takes time.

I worked with guy once where his department was outsourced. They rebadged him to work for the outsource contractor, and he got to bring his years of service with him. A few years go by, and the department was brought back in house. They rebadged him again, back to an employee. For the change back, he lost the years of service for the time he worked for the outsourcer. So, I worked with him for like 10 years, but he only had like 7 years of service. He lost the 3 while doing the exact same job but being paid by the outsourcer. Anything that was years of service based was impacted. Things like vacation time. He went from one company plan to anther and back but at a reduced grant all while doing the exact same job.

The WDW cast members, WDW guests, Orange and Osceola taxpayers are just pawns in the game between Disney and DeSantis.
Just expendable pawns..

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The WDW cast members, WDW guests, Orange and Osceola taxpayers are just pawns in the game between Disney and DeSantis.
Just expendable pawns..

If it ever gets that far… I still think this is all political theater and nothing will likely change.

 

[lazyboy97o]

If it ever gets that far… I still think this is all political theater and nothing will likely change.

It is not just theater. A law was passed. The expense of a special session was incurred. The counties now having to assume the responsibilities of the districts to be dissolved have to start figuring things out right now. People have to decide if they need to start looking for work. This is real and it’s impact on people has started.

 

[GoofGoof]

How does that work though from the perspective that there are two counties involved?

Valid question. Its easier for roads and utilities since thats just based on what is in each county though the centralized power and water treatment would need to go one way or the other. For emergency services it’s possible they would have to split services between the counties so if there’s a fire or an EMS call for world of sports or the All Stars it’s routed to Osceola county but a call to MK goes to Orange County.

It’s also possible they keep RCID police and fire as an independent subcontracted agency and both counties just pay into the cost with Orange taking most of the cost since they have the much larger area.

Nobody knows but what we do know is it’s an unnecessary mess created for the wrong reasons. These are real people who have no idea the impact on their actual lives. My dad was a Philly firefighter for 30+ years so it hits home a little harder. There’s no way this petty, political nonsense should cause a first responder to not know if they have a job. It’s sad to see so many people so twisted by political agendas that they don’t care about the impact. Just punish the mouse since the CEO dared to speak his mind. Pathetic.

 

[Goofyernmost]

There is absolutely nothing misleading about discussing the situation as it exists right now. Presenting hypotheticals with no indication of their occurrence as fact is absolutely misleading.

County officials have to work with the laws that exist right now. Right now they are facing an increased financial burden, that is fact. Any legislative solution is nothing but hope. It does not exist nor is it in process. The legislature is not working right now, so they are not working on a solution. The idea that county officials cannot criticize the situation that exists now, the situation they must deal with, a situation that was concealed from them and created without their input, is laughable. The idea that county officials cannot criticize the situation that exists right now and are instead supposed to take on the work of those who created the situation, which they do not control, to make those who created the situation look better and somehow be “fair,” is even more ridiculous.

How many hypotheticals does one have to create before it is acceptable to criticize the situation that exists? Should county officials not start working on the situation that exists? Should they do nothing and keep quiet until the end of April in the hope that a solution appears by the end of the next session?

A slight reminder/clarification needs to jump in this discussion. The main one being it takes affect JUNE 2023. Not June 2022!

 

[lazyboy97o]

It’s my understanding that Osceola County already started evaluating the impact.

This creates a lot of extra work for something that’s probably not going to happen.

Money that the local tax payers will have to cover, regardless of what happens.

And it’s not just Osceola and Orange counties that are going to be impacted. What about the other districts set to be dissolved? Do they have the resources to study the issue? To absorb the district? Are the landowners or residents organized enough to properly negotiate a new district? Is there any chance that legal battles end with some districts still being dissolved?

 

[mmascari]

If RCID was dissolved some of that spend on needed infrastructure projects will come out TWDC capital spend budget and that could mean less spend on actual attractions. A few pages back I posted the example of the overpass project near MK park. If Disney still wanted to go forward with that project but RCID had been dissolved 5 years ago that spending could have replaced the Tron coaster or something else for the parks. Instead they got RCID to finance the road project through municipal bonds and it’s paid for over years in tax payments so no debt on the books of TWDC.

I used World Drive as an example earlier too, to show the big benefit Disney gets. Before everyone plowed on with taxes instead.

There's a third option besides Disney finance vs RCID finance, and having the choose the roadway vs an attraction. The roadway intersection redesign could have just not been done.

At the county level, the county deciding to redesign the intersection and all the roads to the West of MK. The county could just conclude that they're good enough for what's there now. That there was no need to redesign the interchange at all.

If that meant that the parking lot access had to deal with operational issues, too bad. If that means that a 15 year plan Disney has to build another resort on that side doesn't have needed infrastructure ahead of time, too bad. (Even if it's always 15 years from now, never closer.) This priority setting without having to publish an entire strategy. The ability to blur the line between what's an RCID vs private Disney road. Those are the real advantages Disney get's from RCID.

It's something only needed because of the size, and it definitely has an extra cost to have it. We've got no idea how much Disney values this benefit vs the cost. Presumably enough, or they would have tried to dissolve the district before.