Disney leadership thought the company out-maneuvered Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this year after a last-minute agreement with local officials gave the theme park virtually unlimited developmental power. But sources tell The Federalist that Disney’s corporate lawyers missed the fine print in Florida statute governing tourist districts.
In February, supervisors running the Reedy Creek Improvement District signed an 11th-hour resolution to hand Disney maximum authority over the company’s 27,000 acres in central Florida. The late agreement effectively left the DeSantis-appointed successors on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board — which replaced the Reedy Creek board — powerless to govern Disney in their own state.
“This essentially makes Disney the government,” said Ron Peri, one of the new board members appointed by the governor, at a Feb. 27 meeting. “This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.”
In early April, DeSantis ordered an investigation into Disney’s last-minute power grab. A source familiar with the investigation revealed to The Federalist that Disney skipped key steps when amending its developmental agreement, rendering the resolution null and void.
According to Florida statute, local governments — in this case, the Reedy Creek board — are required to take three steps when making changes to special district agreements such as the one that established Disney’s quasi-governmental status. They must hold two public hearings, advertise those hearings in a local newspaper, and offer notice by mail to “all affected
