CFTOD calls the Disney and Reedy Creek relationship 'one of the greatest examples of corporate cronyism in modern American history'

Sep 13, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

Posted: Wednesday September 13, 2023 6:06pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Speaking at the conclusion of today's Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, board chairman Martin Garcia spoke about the recent developments in one of the lawsuits between the district and the Walt Disney Company.

Garcia said the Walt Disney Corporation withdrew parts of its lawsuit against the Central Florida tourism oversight district in federal court last week. According to Garcia, this move by Disney is viewed as significant in the legal realm, as it suggests an acknowledgment by the corporation that its claims might have been unfounded.

He continued, "federal charges against this board were bogus and more over that the filing of them constituted a publicity stunt, not to mention a repugnant one."

In closing, Garcia said, "The Reedy Creek improvement district could have been described as a quote, public-private partnership close quote. In reality, in terms of scope and scale, it became one of the greatest examples of corporate cronyism in modern American history."

Here is a full transcript of Garcia's comments.

The Walt Disney Corporation eliminated components of its own litigation against the Central Florida tourism oversight district in federal court. Those who have not been following this matter could be could be forgiven for not immediately grasping the import of Disney's action. But that action in the legal world constitutes, if not an earthquake, at least a major tremor. This was indeed an extraordinary concession on the part of Disney Disney backtrack, effectively conceding, conceding that it never should have filed the for federal positive action against this board in federal court. To be clear, and I want to be clear on this because I've spoken to this before.
The dispute between Disney and the board only involves contracts, contracts that the corporation Disney entered into with our predecessor, the Reedy Creek improvement district, as such, it has nothing to do with the dispute between Disney and governor Governor DeSantis over legislation. Disney knew full well that these are two independent matters, but having suddenly found itself on its heels this past spring, it desperately desired a national form to lash out and turn and drag this board in the federal court in Tallahassee. That decision was not only an insult to the people of Florida, but also to the taxpayers of this district, who are incurring the legal costs of that unnecessary battle. In retrospect, Disney's retraction has proven a mockery of the legal system. It is a noteworthy event when lawyers voluntarily dismissed causes of action against defendants, which is what Disney did with respect to this board last week. In doing so, Disney has all been admitted. It knew that the federal charges against his board were bogus and more over that the filing of them constituted a publicity stunt, not to mention a repugnant one that took place at the expense of both the integrity of the legal system and of the economic interest of the taxpayers in this district. This board is also fully confident when all is said and done. The 11th hour agreements will fall by the same way side is their dismissed federal compliance.
It's worth quickly reminding the public how we arrived at this point. Disney exploited the generosity of the people of Florida over the years through the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act. What worked in the early years to spark economic development in Central Florida later proved to be an urban planning quagmire. With horrific governance practices.
A light was finally shined on the problem and Disney got caught. Disney used the 1967 act to establish footing in Central Florida to minimize if not eliminate all hurdles in its campaign to mow the district to serve the best interests of Disney Disney at the expense of the public. Good all along the way and seize control of the local government through a variety of unsavory means, politely and I say politely. The Reedy Creek improvement district could have been described as a quote, public private partnership close quote. In reality, in terms of scope and scale, it became one of the greatest examples of corporate cronyism in modern American history.
After the establishment of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in April, this board has acted swiftly and effectively to make sure that the operations of the district are promoting the public good. One of our focuses has been to institute transparency and appropriate governance practices, which were sorely lacking in the governance of this district. By the old Reedy Creek board for more than half a century. We as a board are tremendously proud of what we have accomplished in a short period of time. And we are eager to continue our work on behalf of residents, employees, tourists, and all of our constituents to function as an independent government.

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josiah mazelin14 days ago

I said basically. You just listed two rides at each park. My point is proven

Goofyernmost14 days ago

With the kind of promotion that they once were famous for were to be used, they can get all the hype they need and spend a hell of a lot less to do it. They have to make what they have be exciting and not worry about what others might be doing. They stayed on top for about 60 years doing that and then, I assume to give bigger bonuses to the executives, they stopped producing those things and even if they don't admit it, they are running scared at the moment, in spite of increased profits. They have to make that dominance last, but I don't see them doing that unless they fill up those empty buildings and put something good in them and promote, promote, promote. That is second only to location, location, location.

Sirwalterraleigh15 days ago

Galactic spirit Halloween was sorta in that ballpark

Sirwalterraleigh15 days ago

Nah…they’ve crossed the Rubicon on “attracting middle class families”. They’re well past that price point to make any such endeavor turn out to be anything but a “loss” to the stock wonks. That strategy was their philosophy for many years…expansion to create more traffic and sell more product across all business was Eisner 101 - essentially, but they dumped that 15-20 year ago. Limiting investment and all but eliminating expansion to cap overhead and then attempting to make more revenue/profit off what was already paid for. That strategy is incompatible with “expanding/pricing to make it more accessible”

JoeCamel15 days ago

It's non-sensical too, increase your costs to get less money per guest and do huge capital outlays? Bob sez nyet

Tha Realest15 days ago

There’s no evidence 1) this is happening, or 2) they intend to do this.

ChrisFL15 days ago

They had a 5th gate and they closed it..................DisneyQuest :p

Advisable Joseph15 days ago

Disney needs land to expand. Pulling guests from the Magic Kingdom and Epcot (or otherwise unceasing attraction supply for the guests), then lowering prices to increase volume (and income) and accessing middle-class families, while building out the other parks, is the idea. Would you consider a Magic Kingdom Colony across the Lagoon or part of the current parking lot, which guests could access with Magic Kingdom tickets, a "5th gate"? How about parking, so the park can expand into the old parking lot?

gwhb7515 days ago

Agree with this. The only unfortunate thing is that "expanding existing parks" doesn't get the same hype as "a whole new park". Now if we could only have a true expansion of existing parks (i.e. just add new things (like villains land) and not take things away first (like tropical americas in AK)).

JoeCamel15 days ago

I think a lot of the salivating over a new park is fatigue with the same offerings year after year or a dribble of something new. Stale has a stench. Fans have "done" everything in the parks time after time so they want new and "damn the cost it's what I want". Does not have to be logical or make sense it is a want and I need my wants fulfilled ipso facto TDO is going to build me a new park. Seems to point to someone who has never run a business nor cares if that business thrives to feed the stockholders

monothingie15 days ago

Forget the tremendous capital expense to build a new park. The most important thing to Disney is YOY growth. The quarterly earnings mean EVERYTHING to Bob and Wall Street. Key amongst that is that Disney cares tremendously about operational costs and maximizing LL revenue streams. While a new park may be tremendously popular, it also increases operational expenses significantly. It is also very likely that it will cannibalize a large portion of the existing guest base. LL brings in a tremendous amount of revenue for Disney. It works best for Disney with full parks, adding a new park will dilute LL revenue at the existing parks. If a new park was going to justify the build cost and not affect the OI for WDW, then shovels would have been in the ground already. They've done the analysis, and a new park is not financially viable at this point.

lazyboy97o15 days ago

Planning permission and building permission are two separate things. You need planning approval first. Comprehensive Plans (along with Master Plans, Future Land Use Plans and Zoning Plans) are also not set in stone and quite malleable.

Dranth15 days ago

I disagree with him on a number of things, but he isn't wrong on this one. They have underbuilt parks that can absorb a LOT more people if they expand them. Those parks have existing infrastructure which makes it easier and cheaper to develop and build out vs. an entire new park. They understand their main audience has limited vacation time and already know people are unlikely to extend their vacations but instead sacrifice one thing they would have done for something else. They have a strained employee pool that has never recovered from 2020 and staffing new builds in existing parks is WORLDS easier than trying to staff an entire new park. Even an entire parks worth of attractions built over the four current parks would require less staffing than the same number of attractions in a brand-new park once you factor in employees for back of house, support, utilities, security, transportation, etc. Sure, nothing is impossible, and I'll gladly admit to being wrong on this if it does happen, but it would be business malpractice to do so in Florida anytime soon. I would expect most of the other locations around the world with room to get a new gate before Florida.