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

[UNCgolf]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

Of course it's Disney news. It can have a significant effect on theme park operations.

That said, I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that this site is "against RDS". Everything posted in the news blurbs is simple facts; there's no political opinion in them.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

One single post... Claiming Disney news isn't Disney news... and in defense of the indefensible.

 

[flynnibus]

Well to all the former CMs... and Disney employees... did you have a separate taxable benefit listed on your W-2 each year for your main pass perks, etc? I ask, because it can help establish what the 'value' of the perk is, and if Disney offers said participation at the cost of the other party.. there could be some equivalancy.

I don't know the accounting, but I know companies, even gov, are able to give benefits that don't necessarily fall under the gift or taxable benefits stuff. One of the big lines is someone externally giving you something when it comes to ethics policies. But if the employer is paying for the perk and it's for all employees, it's different.

I never got taxed on my perks programs like discounted hotels, gym memberships, etc.

 

[MrPromey]

I do feel for the CFTOD employees.

RCID employees had, in a word, awesome, perks related to WDW parks and resorts.

I never realized WDW billed the district about 2 Million a quarter for these perks.

In my mind, WDW "gave" RCID the perks. Silly me.

I remember my family member, (a retired RCID employee) saying every year, "you never know, they could take perks away at any time."

He was right.

If Disney did give them away, that would be a conflict of interests. The fact that they charged and the RCID paid and that it was all done in the open is what makes it all above-board despite how the current board wants to paint it.

 

[GrumpyFan]

There's no way for Disney to make this up and return the employees back to the higher compensation level, since they are not employees of Disney. There's all kinds of reasons Disney couldn't make direct payments to government employees.

Perhaps not, but I still think Disney could (should?) create a discount program for them and it wouldn't violate any kind of legal, benefit s policies or ethics programs. Many companies offer these for specific sectors of employment including government, teachers, first responders, residents, etc.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

To be fair - there are a lot of other threads with news about WDW but you picked this one for your first and only post. Why?

 

[Nevermore525]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

 

[MrPromey]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

You joined this forum 12 minutes ago to let us all know you're deleting your account?

... Your pithy and insightful posts will be missed.

 

[disneyC97]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

Technically Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, so you're in the wrong part of the forums. WDW is the most magical place on earth...despite what this new board is trying to do

 

[Asilgrass1]

To be fair - there are a lot of other threads with news about WDW but you picked this one for your first and only post. Why?

I’ve had this app for about six years. I don’t care about this forum. I never come here to the forum because I don’t care about this. But I open the WDWMAGIC app to see news about rides, hotels and menus and 6 out of the last 12 headlines in 2 days have been on this topic. That is what I’m leaving. The app.

 

[trmiv]

Disney World firefighters speak out against DeSantis' CFTOD stripping employees and retirees of their Disney annual pass benefits​

Disney World firefighters speak out against DeSantis' CFTOD stripping employees and retirees of their Disney annual pass benefits

Disney World firefighters speak out against DeSantis' CFTOD stripping employees and retirees of their Disney annual pass benefits

www.wdwmagic.com

We never thought the leopards would eat OUR faces!

A discount isn't the same as a gift, and is allowed under most guidelines and policies.

Also, Govx, which is a major outlet for listing discounts for government employees has hundreds of discounts listed for hotels, theme parks, and all kinds of things for government employees, military, and first responders. I couldn't find Disney parks and resorts on it though.

yea my wife gets a free Florida teacher pass (essentially a bronze pass) to Seaworld as a Florida teacher done through Govx.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Well to all the former CMs... and Disney employees... did you have a separate taxable benefit listed on your W-2 each year for your main pass perks, etc? I ask, because it can help establish what the 'value' of the perk is, and if Disney offers said participation at the cost of the other party.. there could be some equivalancy.

I don't know the accounting, but I know companies, even gov, are able to give benefits that don't necessarily fall under the gift or taxable benefits stuff. One of the big lines is someone externally giving you something when it comes to ethics policies. But if the employer is paying for the perk and it's for all employees, it's different.

I never got taxed on my perks programs like discounted hotels, gym memberships, etc.

I had two kids that went thru the DCP, and I did their taxes. I went back and looked at their W2s and there wasn't any special benefits noted on them that would account for it. I assume it's just a non-taxable perk/benefit that's given to their employees.

 

[Nevermore525]

I’ve had this app for about six years. I don’t care about this forum. I never come here to the forum because I don’t care about this. But I open the WDWMAGIC app to see news about rides, hotels and menus and 6 out of the last 12 headlines in 2 days have been on this topic. That is what I’m leaving. The app.

The new board has been the headline of the last 2 days. Hard to ignore it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Why wouldn't they? The negotiations with Disney were stalled. They were hoping they would get a better deal. I don't fault them in that. It's like kids in an ugly divorce, they're going to pick the parent that they think will treat them best.

They chose poorly.

From the prophet files...

So, they think the Florida government would be more accommodating to a union than Disney would.

Interesting.

 

[Horizons '83]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

How often do you come to this site? Odd statement considering you are new to this site as of 30 minutes ago.

 

[The Mom]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

No offense (but actually yes) there are hundreds of threads to see news about the happiest place on earth. The fact is many posters do not consider this change to be good news .

Posts are being edited or deleted when they become TOO political (accepting that the whole issue is political) and posts that "attack" the Governor are weeded out - eventually.

Sorry I was busy for a couple of hours cleaning house so I couldn't clean the forum. It has happened before, and will happen again. The fact that a post is not deleted doesn't mean it is acceptable - most of the time it means I just haven't seen it yet.

 

[Stripes]

By law, the new board is not accountable to anyone but the governor of Florida. They have no incentive to care about responsible spending or reasonable tax rates. They are simply on a vindictive mission to harm Disney. Everything they do is oriented towards that objective. In this case, the firefighters and RCID employees were collateral damage. Not to say that Disney cares one bit about the heavily discounted benefits RCID was receiving. $2.5 million per year is nothing to Disney.

 

[Unbanshee]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news

Please don't delete wdwmagic.com

 

[Figgy1]

If Disney did give them away, that would be a conflict of interests. The fact that they charged and the RCID paid and that it was all done in the open is what makes it all above-board despite how the current board wants to paint it.

How did it take the board this long to figure out what in their employees compensation package. Sometimes I think they're phoning it in, we know one is

 

[mmascari]

Perhaps not, but I still think Disney could (should?) create a discount program for them and it wouldn't violate any kind of legal, benefit s policies or ethics programs. Many companies offer these for specific sectors of employment including government, teachers, first responders, residents, etc.

A discount program would never have the same value as the benefit being removed. They could try to craft it to fill the gap between what was lost and any cash value employees are getting instead. But, it all sounds silly. Disney has a program to allow employers to provide this benefit. CFTOD is choosing not to.

Beyond that, they would need to craft who a new discount program is available too. Creating one that's specifically for "CFTOD Employees" and nobody else would likely run into the same direct employee gifting issues.

Available to anyone who works in the district? - That's going to include lots of other people and compete with the existing program.
Available to only government employees that work within the district? - Maybe. It would at least reduce the total number of employees. But, it still opens it up to lots more.

For instance, how would you generically describe a group that includes all the CFTOD employees but not the Orange County Tax Assessor? I'm sure Disney is plenty happy to sell the existing plan to Orange County if they want to provide passes as a benefit. But, do they really want a discount program that seems to target that guy? They don't even like that guy.