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

[cranbiz]

If RCID is dissolved, Orange County will assume any debts in Orange County and Osceola County the same. Somehow, I don't think OC really wants to assume responsibility for the debt on the DS parking garages.

As far as emergency services, OCSD already provides police services under a contract, that probably won't change but it could as far as on the public ways. RC Fire and Rescue would be merged with OC Fire and Rescue. They already have mutual aid agreements. The biggest hassle will be the Firefighter contracts but as far as services, there won't be any gaps in coverage.

 

[mgf]

Disneyland enjoys no such privileges and, I'd argue, offers a better experience.

Disney doesn't need self-governance to operate. It was a sweetheart deal right from the start, and it merits scrutiny no matter the pretext.

But this isn't scrutiny - that is what study commissions are for. This is a knee jerk political move during a special session. There is nothing serious about the process.

It is a shame we don't value governance.

 

[mikejs78]

Disneyland enjoys no such privileges and, I'd argue, offers a better experience.

Disney doesn't need self-governance to operate. It was a sweetheart deal right from the start, and it merits scrutiny no matter the pretext.

The pretext actually matters a lot. Retaliation for someone speaking out on a piece of legislation falls a lot higher on the hierarchy of rights than whether RCID is a sweetheart deal or not. (I can easily debate that it wasn't - but that's not the point. Debate it on the merits, fine. But not in retaliation for expressing a political opinion. )

 

[mikejs78]

And again, I'm still baffled at how only Disney stepped in this mess.

All the other big players in the Florida tourism market are untouched by this ongoing PR disaster; Universal Studios, Sea World, Legoland, Hilton, Marriott, Delta Airlines, Darden Restaurants...

But not Disney, not Bob Chapek.

And now Reedy Creek is up for dissolution because of that?

I don't think any American corporation in the 21st century should have self-governance rights. But if a corporation does enjoy self-governance grandfathered in from the 1960's, they should probably want to stick to exactly that and not be stupid enough to inject themselves into shifting political spheres.

I'm sorry, but this is just blaming the victim here. Yes, the way it was done was inartful and poor (as Chapek is really bad at this). But just the idea that any person or company can be the subject of retaliation for expressing a political opinion is just chilling and against everything that this nation was founded on.

Free speech is overused as a defense to say anything. There are of course limits to speech. But the one thing that the first amendment was set up to do was to prevent government from suppressing **political** speech. And that should be sacrosanct in this country, regardless of your political persuasion.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Disagreements over the national anthem, protests at private events, or the sanctity of legacy records are issues concerning "acting in the interest of the public"?? *rolleyes*

The issue is the same. The cause is just flavor of the week.

In the case of steroids in MLB, the public interest is that the league was effectively teaching kids that using illegal drugs to cheat is okay as long as you make money doing it. The league was essentially complicit in the distribution and use of illegal drugs because it was aware that it was happening in clubhouses but took no steps to stop it. did you ever hear the story about Bud Selig calling the DEA to report the drug deals going down in MLB locker rooms? Of course not, because he never did anything resembling that.

If any politician threatened any league's anti-trust exemption over player protests, then that's just as bad as what FL is doing here. To the best of my knowledge (doesn't mean I'm correct, just not aware of and/or forgetting something), the NFL does not have the same antitrust status that MLB enjoys, so I'm not sure what any member of Congress could have realistically threatened them with (and player protests during the National Anthem weren't nearly as prevalent in MLB as they were in the NFL and NBA).

 

[JohnD]

Live stream of Special District bill found here: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/VideoPlayer.aspx?eventID=8085

Now in debate. Fascinating discussion about Disney at the state legislative level. (I'm a political science major and a policy junkie on this kind of thing. I did my Senior Research Paper on Disney and its government. The title couldn't be more apt: "Changing Attitudes Over a Growing Mouse".)

 

[mkt]

And again, I'm still baffled at how only Disney stepped in this mess.

All the other big players in the Florida tourism market are untouched by this ongoing PR disaster; Universal Studios, Sea World, Legoland, Hilton, Marriott, Delta Airlines, Darden Restaurants...

Not a single one of those companies is as large and iconic as Disney, nor controls as much of the media and content the world consumes.

 

[ctrlaltdel]

This is such an extremely dumb and nakedly political move. I almost admire DeSantis' cojones here. But it is not well thought out at all. What do you expect from ideologues who only can only see the day's controversy right in front of them, with no thought or care to the long-term impact of their actions? Disney will be fine, I'm certain they will outlast DeSantis or any of the politicians who are currently debating this matter in Florida.

 

[TP2000]

I'm sorry, but this is just blaming the victim here. Yes, the way it was done was inartful and poor (as Chapek is really bad at this). But just the idea that any person or company can be the subject of retaliation for expressing a political opinion is just chilling and against everything that this nation was founded on.

Free speech is overused as a defense to say anything. There are of course limits to speech. But the one thing that the first amendment was set up to do was to prevent government from suppressing **political** speech. And that should be sacrosanct in this country, regardless of your political persuasion.

So how does NBC Comcast Universal get off with a free pass here?

Comcast has the exact same corporate framework as Disney, with a major Florida presence; multiple movie studios, national TV networks, Florida theme parks, streaming services, merchandising, etc.

And yet only Disney is in the news for this? How did Billionaire Brian Roberts keep his massive entertainment empire out of the news, while Bob Chapek didn't?

 

[LAKid53]

It will be interesting to see how the g'vnr and legislature plan on getting around the provision that to remove an operating district you need the vote of more than half the people in the district. Easy to create hard to remove
My guess it is just one more item for him to campaign on.

Guess how many people live in RCID....and who they all work for?

 

[LAKid53]

Well...Twitter is not a private company. It is publicly traded. But here is the article for those interested I guess.

Florida considers action as a Twitter stakeholder after Elon Musk’s takeover bid rejected, DeSantis says

Twitter has dropped a major roadblock in front of Elon Musk’s effort to take over the company, leaving investors to wonder about the mercurial Tesla CEO’s next move.

www.news4jax.com

Twitter isn't government.

 

[ctrlaltdel]

So how does NBC Comcast Universal get off with a free pass here?

Comcast has the exact same corporate framework as Disney, with a major Florida presence; multiple movie studios, national TV networks, Florida theme parks, streaming services, merchandising, etc.

And yet only Disney is in the news for this? How did Billionaire Brian Roberts keep his massive entertainment empire out of the news, while Bob Chapek didn't?

I think you can and should easily blame Chapek for the whole mess. The whole episode should be taught as a case study in college media relations classes for what not to do in a PR crisis situation. Every move was too late and/or not forceful enough. Disney somehow managed to off everyone when they should have glided by. Says a lot about the leadership at the company that this got so out of hand.

Obviously now the state legislature/governor are going way too far and may regret their actions down the line as well.

 

[ABQ]

One simple private phone call between Disney and Desantis a couple months ago would have done wonders to keep things from getting to where they are now.

 

[TP2000]

Not a single one of those companies is as large and iconic as Disney, nor controls as much of the media and content the world consumes.

Disney is huge, to be sure. Especially after Iger's 2010's acquisitions of Marvel and Lucas.

But Comcast NBC/Universal is not exactly the Orlando Fun Spot.

Current Market Capitalization:
Comcast = $250 Billion
Disney = $343 Billion

 

[ctrlaltdel]

Well...Twitter is not a private company. It is publicly traded. But here is the article for those interested I guess.

Florida considers action as a Twitter stakeholder after Elon Musk’s takeover bid rejected, DeSantis says

Twitter has dropped a major roadblock in front of Elon Musk’s effort to take over the company, leaving investors to wonder about the mercurial Tesla CEO’s next move.

www.news4jax.com

Do you not know that a publicly traded company is still a private entity?

 

[Disney Analyst]

So how does NBC Comcast Universal get off with a free pass here?

Comcast has the exact same corporate framework as Disney, with a major Florida presence; multiple movie studios, national TV networks, Florida theme parks, streaming services, merchandising, etc.

And yet only Disney is in the news for this? How did Billionaire Brian Roberts keep his massive entertainment empire out of the news, while Bob Chapek didn't?

I think the truth is, this is what always happens.

It also happened early in covid days when Disney didn’t act quickly, they got the heat, Universal was ignored.

Disney is held to a higher standard, and makes the news cycle far easier then Universal, which seems to come down to how people view the companies and how the GP responds.

Basically I think it’s a case of Disney being seen as the A-lister, and then rest are still seen as B through D list, which never gets as much attention.

All other major Florida parks and companies avoided the heat, said nothing, and were not held to account by guests or staff, while they’ll profit off pride merch come this summer.

 

[mikejs78]

Now in debate. Fascinating discussion about Disney at the state legislative level. (I'm a political science major and a policy junkie on this kind of thing. I did my Senior Research Paper on Disney and its government. The title couldn't be more apt: "Changing Attitudes Over a Growing Mouse".)

What's the crux of the debate?

 

[OceanBlue]

Florida's primary unit of local government is the county. A municipal carve-out for an individual corporation reeks of cronyism (because it is, clearly).

I don't think that's what cronyism means. TWDC wasn't an unqualified friend of the Florida Government in 1967. It was a well established American company with a hugely successful theme park known for innovation. The creation of the carve-out was in the mutual interest of the development in that part of Central Florida for tourism and it succeeded widely beyond any person's imagination. There was practically nothing there and they developed it and helped create a massive employment base and tourism machine. For DeSantis to go after them in a special session over a decades long arrangement that has seemed to only benefit the state, as a result of the company stating opposition to a single, unrelated bill is not in the interest of Florida and seems frankly reckless.

 

[TP2000]

I'm sorry, but this is just blaming the victim here. Yes, the way it was done was inartful and poor (as Chapek is really bad at this). But just the idea that any person or company can be the subject of retaliation for expressing a political opinion is just chilling and against everything that this nation was founded on.

Free speech is overused as a defense to say anything. There are of course limits to speech. But the one thing that the first amendment was set up to do was to prevent government from suppressing **political** speech. And that should be sacrosanct in this country, regardless of your political persuasion.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District was something that could have only happened in the 1960's, especially with Walt's inherent charm involved to woo the local politicians.

I don't think any massive corporation should have self-governance in the 21st century. But if I was in charge of a massive corporation that enjoyed the luxury and profitability of self-governance grandfathered in since the 1960's, I sure as heck wouldn't put any of that at risk by publicly opposing the current government's popular legislation. (Don't forget, even 52% of Florida Democrats support the Parental Rights bill!)

Somehow, Universal Studios, Darden Corporation and any other number of big players in Florida get a free pass on this one. Only Bob Chapek and Burbank leadership got into this mess. Why is that?

 

[mikejs78]

The Reedy Creek Improvement District was something that could have only happened in the 1960's, especially with Walt's inherent charm involved to woo the local politicians.

I don't think any massive corporation should have self-governance in the 21st century. But if I was in charge of a massive corporation that enjoyed the luxury and profitability of self-governance grandfathered in since the 1960's, I sure as heck wouldn't put any of that at risk by publicly opposing the current government's popular legislation. (Don't forget, even 52% of Florida Democrats support the Parental Rights bill!)

Somehow, Universal Studios, Darden Corporation and any other number of big players in Florida get a free pass on this one. Only Bob Chapek and Burbank leadership got into this mess. Why is that?

Because Disney employees started doing walkouts. Other companies employees did not.

Regardless I think you're missing my key point. It shouldn't matter how bad Chapek handled this. I completely agree that he handled this horribly. But a government should not retaliate against speech, full stop. Everything else is secondary.