Disney has escalated its battle with Governor Ron DeSantis, but DeSantis isn’t sitting on the sidelines.
The feud has been going on for a while and has ultimately led to the new board of the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) declaring some Disney agreements as void, while Disney has filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the board for various actions it considers to be retaliatory. And now DeSantis has chimed in.
According to Variety, a DeSantis spokesperson has commented on the federal lawsuit Disney recently filed against DeSantis and members of the District board.
Taryn Fenske, the spokesperson said, “We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state…This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”
Just what has Disney sued DeSantis over? Well, Disney has argued that the Florida Governor “has waged a relentless campaign to weaponize government power over the company.”
Disney argues that the campaign of “retaliation” has been orchestrated by DeSantis every step of the way and “now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
Disney is asking the court to determine that the board’s actions were unlawful, the contracts remain in effect, and other changes impacting Reedy Creek essentially be undone.
We’ll keep an eye out for updates and let you know what we find. Stay tuned for the latest news.
Learn more about the board’s recent actions here
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While yes, I agree that self-government is generally a bad thing, they did have a signed contract with the then government of Florida which granted those rights. And it’s also not a unique situation. There are something like 50 of these contracts still active in Florida today.
If it’s all about how evil these contracts are why doesn’t the law cover them all?
Since it doesn’t then it’s blatantly obvious that it’s retribution on Disney. There’s just no question they’re being singled out and targeted.
Of course, Florida will find some Trump-appointed judge to rule in their favor and in doing so the court will hand bobble-head DeSantis the power to effectively nullify any contract made with the state of Florida at any time, for any reason, and leave no recourse under the law for the other party to the contract.
It’s a bigger battle than just Disney’s constitutional rights as a corporation. Which I might add, was guaranteed to them by a conservative Supreme Court ruling.
It’s about basic,agreed upon(for hundreds of years now),contract law.
And as we’ve seen with dead states,monkey see, monkey do.
So basically a win for Florida will spell doom for any contract with any republican controlled legislature.
Addressing some of these insane comments- Disney doesn’t have a 99 year lease, they straight up own the land. They purchased 45 sq miles for about 5 Million dollars and then spent Billions to develop the property over 50 years. The reason they dont ‘get up and leave’ is because there is no way they will abandon that development nor would they get a continuous plot of land of that size at that low of a cost.
No company should have the power to – approve its own development zoning with zero public input
– safety oversight of its own rides!
– public safety. In which it has not grown its personnel (firefigthers) since the 1990s yet the resort has expanded significantly.
– build an airport and nuclear plant
If any other profitable company had even one of these powers, people would be screaming and chanting and whining.
Right. Now it’s a problem. Been cool for decades until they went woke. Now f em. Get the pitchforks. Bite the hand that feeds. Etc. Keep drinking your koolaid dimwit. This is only an issue you ever knew about because DeSantis threw a hissy fit. The only insanity here is a conservative going after a big business to “flex”.
“The will of the Florida voters,” DeSantis claims? What a joke he is. His behavior and actions are clearly retaliation or else he would have acted against Disney years ago.
I swear Dictator Desantis is a psychopath. He feels nothing for what he is doing or who he is affecting here. And despite what he say’s about Disney trying to get by without taxes, they do pay taxes to the district.
The entire reason for the Reedy Creek district was to prevent the burden of putting the cost of building the infrastructure for Disney on the taxpayers, because there was no infrastructure at all in the swamps where Disney World was built. Reedy Creek existed to shoulder the burden of building a power plant, a water plant, a sewage plant, and all the roads and such that’s in the district. It also now includes the solar farms on Disney property, pest control, and the Reedy Creek Fire Department. All of that is because Disney pays taxes to Reedy Creek. The Reedy Creek district also allowed Disney freedom to develop the property nearly at will without the intrusion of governmental “red tape” slowing things up. Reedy Creek has absolutely nothing to do with avoiding taxes as nearly every corporation already get’s tax write-off’s provided to them by the state government. The very same government Desantis is a part of.
I wish they would stop saying DeSantis is doing this for the will of the Florida voters. I am a Florida voter and i want Disney to win yhis battle. I don’t think the majority of florida voters care or approve of what he is trying to do yo Disney.
Disney is a business and needs to follow the regulation as all other businesses.
Sounds like they want to sue so De Santis so he will have a criminal charge like they are trying to do to Trump so they can’t run for the president job.
A lawsuit isn’t a criminal charge.
No. It sounds like DeSantis decided to pull this prank at the right time to get some cred to make a run at president. He doesn’t give a hoot about how his reckless rambling and posturing may affect everyday Floridians.
My friends and I had great hopes for “D” at the outset. A fellow Floridian, young, sensible…Then he decided seemingly overnight to an extreme right wing activist. Doesn’t he realize that to win the presidential election, he’ll need more than the Oathkeepers’ votes? He needs the middle and, after putting up with Trump and Biden, America deserves a president that actually represents mainstream America!
So every special district in Florida has To be eliminated. Right?
They should be as they governor should not play favorites for all butt one.
Disney is not a special case. They need to be treated like any other business in the state.
The governor originally said he did not like Disney being woke for his original decision. Now he’s claiming he is treating them like every other business. His original decision was not based on any government regulations. He violated their first amendment rights. He will lose.
The Governor needs to stop! This whole thing is absurd. Kids and families love going there and he has made this about him more than anything.This Florida/Disney crap is ridiculous. Think it is for his own political gain’
Disney creates a lot of jobs and is good for Florida, so I am not sure why he is keeping this stupid fued ongoing. I think Disney needs to move out of there and go to where they do not have to deal with a State/Governor that is causing this constant senseless issue for his own political gain.
Frivolous lawsuit they will lose . Just like their fight against parental rights 😂
He’s a insane person who should not be in the governor’s office let alone president
How can the DeSantis team say override the will of the voters. There was no vote on what DeSantis is doing and if there was the odds are against him
Can you imagine this man leading the country? Some military contractor annoys him and all our nukes are gone. This man is more of a threat to our fragile democracy than Trump or Biden combined!
Disney and associated entertainment places in Florida have resulted in a vast source of money for our state. Without them, we may be forced topY state income tax.
“pudding fingers”just woke up a sleeping cricket 🦗 he’s going to regret tangling in the Land of magic kingdoms.
I never voted to go against Disney. DeSantis has made a very big mistake by continuing this feud it shows he is a bully and has a temper. The governor of Florida should now be tackling the insurance issues for the property owners in our state Insurance has become so expensive.
. The Fort Lauderdale Hollywood area recently flooded. He never addressed that he’s too busy and the education system is in turmoil. All he is doing now is. Running around the country trying to sell a book and run for president and go after Disney. He’s a loser.
All of this is because Disney disagreed with him. You are right they are not part of his yes men. Just like The Donald you are not suppose to disagree with him. If you do, all claws are comes out. If Disney were to shut down Central Florida will be F’ed up. Sad to see.
“Will of the voters” ?
Nobody voted but you little Mousolinni. You seem to have an issue when things don’t go your way or an opposing view is held. Time to take your ball and go home. Stop wasting tax payers money on your ridiculous culture wars. We’ve had enough.
DeathSantis is going to learn that his temper tantrums designed to make the MAGA base vote for him in the Presidential primaries are not legal arguments in court and that Disney has better lawyers than his yes men.
I’m with you Phil DeSantis Ego is bigger then his brain at this point. I thought they had a 99 years lease on that land to start with. Walt Disney and the Florida Goverment sign a contract to that fact. DeSantis can’t Govern the state of Florida so he’s Trying to Govern a park that has the legal right to Govern that land that they put Billions of Dollars into. Disney World Loose’s there law suit they will pack up and Leave Florida. DeSantis can use tax payers money to redirect the land. Parks do not have much employment for people. Just more Gators
its says an attempt to undermine the will of the florida voters,but have the people of florida voted on this i have not read anything to that effect.
The guy to left of Desantis (in the photo) has the look of “we have taken this too far and it is not going to end well for Ronnie”. Plus he has to go back to home to his kids and grandkids and explain why he is involved with the man who is hassling the mouse.
This guy wants to run for president who’s dumb enough to vote him .
Companies need to run the companies companies are not here to mandate their views what their employees think move doesn’t bother me one bit
Ron Desantis is trying to make a name for himself. Because I never seem someone in office trying to destroy Disney’s Land before. Were all the little kids dream of going some day. Shame on him and his staff. Keep going little ones and have a wonderful time. God Bless. 😅😅😇😇🥰
I can’t figure out why Disney doesn’t just shut down and move on