No ‘U-Turn’ on Plan to Dissolve Disney’s Special Governing District, Florida Governor Says

People watch a show on stage in front of Cinderella's castle at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., in this file photo. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will not compromise with Walt Disney Co. by scaling back the plan to dismantle the company’s special district, the governor’s office said Friday.

Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for DeSantis, said the governor “does not make U-turns” on the punitive measures against Disney.

“The governor was right to champion removing the extraordinary benefit given to one company through the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” Griffin said in a statement. “We will have an even playing field for businesses in Florida, and the state certainly owes no special favors to one company. Disney’s debts will not fall on the taxpayers of Florida. A plan is in the works and will be released soon.”

The statement comes in response to a report by the Financial Times, which states that Disney’s recent leadership change has prompted Republican lawmakers to consider revising a law that would strip Walt Disney World of its self-governing status.

“State lawmakers are working on a compromise that would allow Disney to keep the arrangement largely in place with a few modifications,” the report reads. “Some believe the return of Bob Iger as CEO last month will help pave [the] way for a resolution, according to people briefed on the plan.”

Specifically, the said compromise might include allowing DeSantis to nominate two members to the Reedy Creek board and prohibiting Disney from building a nuclear power plant or an airport on the property, the Financial Times reported, citing Linda Stewart, a Democrat state senator who represents a part of Orlando.

The original plan, approved by the state legislature and signed into law by DeSantis in April, would dissolve special districts that were enacted in Florida before 1968. That includes Reedy Creek, which was created in 1967 and has since granted Disney near-complete control of zoning, infrastructure, and policing on approximately 25,000 acres of land in Central Florida.

The move, according to DeSantis, is fair to other theme park operators in Florida. Disney’s competitors, such as Universal, SeaWorld, and Legoland, don’t have their own special districts.

“They can do their own nuclear power plant. Is there any other private company in the state that can just build a nuclear power plant on their own?” DeSantis said at a press conference in April. “Having an even playing field for everybody, I think, is much better than to basically allow one company to be a law unto itself.”

Should the legislature not make any changes prior to June 1, 2023, Reedy Creek will be dissolved on that date, with Disney losing the privileges it has enjoyed since the time when Walt Disney expanded the company east from California to Florida.

The punishment came as a result of Disney and Florida’s dispute over an education law targeting age-inappropriate discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms. Branded the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” by its opponents, the law prohibits public school teachers from discussing such topics with students in kindergarten through third grade.

Disney didn’t immediately join other major corporations in condemning the measure. Pressured by a group of vocal pro-LGBTQ activist employees, the company’s executives eventually came out in forthright opposition to the legislation.

“Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” the company said in March, when the legislation became law.