Disney World may lose its own government

Florida Gov. DeSantis wants to abolish the special rules that run Disney World

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has asked state legislators to review a law that lets the Walt Disney World resort to act as a type of local government. The news was confirmed by his office in an official declaration on Monday morning.

Without naming Disney explicitly, the declaration submitted to legislators mentions “independent special districts… established prior to November 5, 1968” and notes that Florida’s constitution, revised in 1968, “prohibits special laws granting privileges to private corporations,” but that its earlier incarnation contained no such prohibition.

Reedy Creek Improvement District was developed by means of a private-public partnership launched in 1967 between the Walt Disney Company and the State of Florida. The partnership conferred to Disney the same authority and responsibilities as a “county government” to develop the nearly 40-square-mile fiefdom of “largely uninhabited pasture and swamp land” ten miles or more from the nearest power and water lines, according to the district’s website. In the following decades, Disney built and maintained 134 miles of roadways and 67 of waterways and achieved a 6-8 minute response time for fire and emergency medical services. It logs 250,000 “daily guests” and “2,000 vendors, suppliers and contractors used to provide high-quality services for visitors.” 

The move comes amid the governor’s weeks-long feud with the Walt Disney Company, one of the state’s largest employers, over Disney’s vow to pressure Florida lawmakers and “work to repeal” the Parental Rights in Education Act, which opponents criticize as anti-LGBTQ.

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Pressure from employees, LGBTQ activists and “woke” allies led Disney to reverse its initial aloofness and denounce the legislation. The company has since halted campaign donations to legislators behind the bill, saying it “never should have happened.” This came on March 28, the same day Florida Gov. DeSantis had signed the bill into law. 

Appearing on Tucker Carlson on March 30, DeSantis delivered a scathing rebuke to the Disney leadership, who “don’t run this state” and “will never run this state as long as I’m governor,” he vowed.

On the same day, Florida lawmaker and DeSantis ally Spencer Roach tweeted that Florida legislators had already met at least twice to discuss the prospect of dismantling the district that lets Disney “act as its own government.”

“If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting they should be regulated by Orange County,” he said.