Disney provides numbers and facts to refute Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' rationale for his attempted hostile takeover of Reedy Creek Improvement District

Apr 17, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Reedy Creek Improvement District overview

Posted: Monday April 17, 2023 5:50pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney is yet to comment on today's press conference by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this morning, but the company has been in contact with local news outlets to provide some numbers that appear to refute the Florida Governor's main talking points used to support his botched takeover of Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke today at Reedy Creek HQ near Disney Springs at Walt Disney World

Speaking at the Reedy Creek Improvement District headquarters near Disney Springs today, DeSantis frequently talked about Disney not paying its fair share of taxes and how that will change under his new district management. Disney points out that in 2022, it paid $1.146 billion in state and local taxes, making the Walt Disney Company the largest single taxpayer in Central Florida.

Referring to the governor's comment that Disney appraises its own property, Disney says, "All property in the district, including all Disney property is assessed annually by the Orange County tax assessor or the Osceola County tax assessor, as applicable."

Walt Disney World Announces Location, Developer for Affordable and Attainable Housing Initiative concept art

DeSantis continued that his new board would consider adding affordable housing on Reedy Creek land. Disney is already heavily invested in an Affordable and Attainable Housing Initiative, announcing last year that it would build more than 1300 affordable housing units on 80 acres of land near Walt Disney World.

Other information Walt Disney World provided today:

- WDW is the largest single-site employer in the U.S.
- WDW paid & collected $1.146B in state and local taxes during 2022
- $30.4M in donations throughout 2022 to support the community
— Alex Farnworth (@AlexFarnworth) April 17, 2023

Sounding more like a political rally and an appeal to his base to support his presidential bid, DeSantis said today he expects to nullify Disney's last-minute deal with Reedy Creek Improvement District, continuing to retaliate against Disney for its public opposition to the so-called "Don't Say Gay Bill."

You can watch the full press conference below.

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MagicHappens197118 hours ago

Most likely not. Disney isn't building it because it was a Chapek plan that Iger didn't like, they used the guise of the political issues they were having to justify not building it.

rogerrabbitfan918 hours ago

I would imagine that any long term office use plans from that long ago are based on very different assumptions than would be made today.

Goofyernmost22 hours ago

I looked at it, when they cancelled that project, it was more of a convenient way of getting out of it. There was a lot of backlash from the Imagineering department about uprooting and heading for the less than liberal thinking area called Florida. They were about to lose a lot of very creative people. They might still attempt to be the developer of that property if they still own it, but they won't be investing more money into it in my opinion.

eddie1041 day ago

I don’t believe they have.

Comped1 day ago

To my knowledge, Disney still hasn't sold off the land?

eddie1041 day ago

I wonder once the dust settles on this will this revive their plans for an East Coast division HQ in Florida?

BrianLo2 days ago

It's nice to get the funding commitment tied up into this. Obviously they've given themselves an out in case of an 'event', much like they have for Disneyland Forward. But an out doesn't mean zero investment. It also sort of again concedes their figures aren't just purely political or Wall Street talking points. Not that I've doubted they are, but the company clearly intends (at this juncture) to still spend this 17 billion over ten years.

BrianLo2 days ago

From what Len posted it would seem to be maybe a two-ish year project finishing mid or late 2027. World Drive being done in 2026.

JoeCamel2 days ago

Or when they spend other people's money

Dr.GrantSeeker2 days ago

Really excited about the widening of Western Way. Is there a timeline on that? It needs to happen sooner than later.

mkt2 days ago

It’s amazing what will get done when the board is forced to act in good faith

Tom P.2 days ago

It's a discussion forum. That's the whole point. Why would you want to be in a discussion on a discussion forum and just say "eh, let's stop talking about this" and expect everyone to just drop it?

GoneViral2 days ago

Agreed!

lazyboy97o2 days ago

No… there are people who genuinely believe that Disney is a bunch of groomers. Just because DeSantis dropped the attacks doesn’t means others have. Disney is hoping people in Florida will run interference if people at the federal level want to target Disney.