Yesterday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill for the State of Florida to assume control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The bill, which is vastly different than a 2022 effort to fully dismantle the District, seeks to rename the District and allow the Governor to appoint five people to the Board of Directors. The appointments would need to pass the Florida Senate to be confirmed, but that seems like a formality given the political mix of the legislature at the moment. DeSantis has appointed donors and loyalists and it is expected that they won’t face any major difficulties in being confirmed to the Board.
In a question and answer session following the signing of the bill, DeSantis shed some light on his hopes for the new Board of Directors for the renamed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. When talking about Disney’s history with the state, DeSantis turned his attention to the future and signaled that he hoped that the Board of Directors would somehow be able to shape Disney’s content.
When you lose your way, you’ve got to have people that are going to tell you the truth. So we hope they can get back on, but I think all of these board members very much would like to see the type of entertainment that all families can appreciate.
Of course, the Board of Directors won’t have a say in what type of shows and movies The Walt Disney Company creates, but they will have some amount of say in how infrastructure projects and other spending takes place within the district’s boundaries, which mostly contain Walt Disney World property.
The comment from DeSantis followed nearly 45 minutes of complaining from DeSantis and other speakers about perceived injustices and “woke” content from The Walt Disney Company. You can watch the full press conference below.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
How are his statements on this not text book first amendment violations? They literally named their bill to stop woke stuff and have in-person on-record said it is to punish them for their wokeness. Now he has explicitly said this is about the government shaping content…this is all just too stunning, how is this being allowed to happen?
DeSantis needs to be impeached and banned from running from office. He’s appointed a homophobe to the board. Being a gay guy who loves Disney World, this makes me very upset.
Maybe he can get a theme park built in Hungary
His actions against Disney is beyond disgusting.
The tail is trying to wag the dog! Maybe the economy that was built on the Disney tourism dollars will shut him up, if it all suddenly went away. Disney could shut down for a ” total refurbishment.” It could lay off everybody, except essential employees. No hotel guests! No tourists! No tax revenues! The welcome sign could say ” Sorry! We’re Closed!” What a pompous ass. Sure, Disney would lose revenue, but it will also cut its operating costs. It could step back and regroup. Maybe this so called governor thinks that such a thing is impossible. Bob Iger is not someone who can be pushed around. Wake up Florida! The shit is about to hit the fan! Toll roads? To where?