As I have been reading the news about Disney and Florida, including the situation with Reedy Creek, I have been amazed at the level of misinformation that is being generated. Some of that misinformation is the honest result of a commentary class just not knowing what is actually going on. Some of the misinformation is purposeful partisan propaganda. Consider that on this one topic I’m able to straighten out much of this — so thank goodness for this site: That Park Place. However, if misinformation is this bad on other topics we just can’t investigate every time, then all I can say is we’re not getting much truthfulness.
As a quick primer, here’s where we’re at:
Florida passed a law that prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender theory for kindergartners through third grade. The vast majority of the law dealing with this is about parental rights. Conservatives generally support the law, liberals generally do not. Liberals mostly believe that the law is discriminatory and harmful, especially to those who identify as LGBTQIA+. The law was negatively termed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by liberals, which has been falsely used in news reports as the actual name — those news sources are supposed to be unbiased. Conservatives call it the “anti-groomer” bill, but this is almost never seen in any news article. This partisan reporting in authoritative sources has led to people being severely misinformed about the law. Disney originally did not publicly comment on the law, but eventually changed that position after the law was passed. Disney publicly condemned the law, promised to seek legal action against the law, and went after similar legislation in other states such as a Texas law that would, in part, forbid chemical castration and double mastectomies on minors. Florida conservatives have now struck back with measures intended to revoke Disney’s one-of-a-kind status as a self-governing body that controls two cities (and sort of three) with essentially no residents.
For more information, I recommend searching That Park Place for articles on: Disney Walkout, Reedy Creek, Bob Chapek, and Susan Arnold. Likewise, I recommend watching my interview with Valliant Renegade on the Disney Civil War:
Alright, let’s get to the misinformation, which I will take piece by piece:
1.Disney is being unfairly persecuted and targeted by Republicans.
In reality, Florida cannot unfairly target or persecute any company. That is illegal. What is actually happening is that Disney World features a one-of-a-kind deal with the state of Florida that has always given Disney incredible marketplace advantage over all competition. Disney has the power to more or less run three cities inside its giant Disney World borders, self-govern via a special district, avoid taxation, inspect their own rides, control their own zoning, and essentially act as their own local government. No other theme park in Florida has this special privilege. Florida Republicans may be taking action in what you deem as unfair, but they’re not making anything harder on Disney in comparison to other companies. What they are doing is attempting to remove special powers granted to Disney that exist nowhere else in the world.
2. If Reedy Creek Improvement District were to be dissolved, the counties would assume all of its assets and liabilities on June 1, 2023.
This could be true, but only if the legal system decided in this direction. More likely is that two cities inside Disney World would take on the massive debt of Reedy Creek, which might then cause the two cities to fold. If that were the case, the local counties (or Florida) might sue Disney for poor financial management of Reedy Creek. All of this is incredibly complicated, messy, and not certain. News sites should make sure to clarify just how uncertain all of this is. Also, if this were a huge blunder for conservatives with Disney being the beneficiary of a stupid decision that unloads a billion dollars of debt onto someone else, you’d see Disney come out in favor of this legal action. Disney and its shareholders are very, very against all of this, which tells you everything you need to know when sites report that this actually would harm locals rather than Disney.
3. The backlash against Disney is based on homophobia.
Disney waited until a hateful law against LGBTQ+ people was passed to say it was wrong which then angered the right causing them to launch a homophobic smear campaign & since then Disney has remained silent so they're doing a great job making EVERYONE angry, not just homophobes.
— @benjaminjs.bsky.social (@BenjaminJS) April 20, 2022
The above is an example of partisan propaganda. The law in Florida prohibits all discussions of sexual orientation and gender fluidity for grades K-3. That means heterosexuality is just as off-limits as homosexuality or any other type of sexuality. Little kids are not available for classroom instruction on sexuality of any kind.
4. Property taxes will soar if Reedy Creek is dissolved.
If this passes the House tomorrow, this will be one of the WORST things to happen to Central Florida.
Property taxes will soar and basically make it impossible for most cast members to live nearby and work at Disney. Leading to an exodus of the workforce and talent. https://t.co/fVce6bb9OL
— DSNY Newscast (@DSNYNewscast) April 20, 2022
I really enjoy DSNY Newscast and recommend people follow the service. Good stuff both on Twitter and on YouTube. In this case, however, this one just isn’t true. I can’t see any reason that Central Florida property taxes would change if the Reedy Creek Improvement District is dissolved. It appears that two Disney quasi-cities with populations of less than 100 would take on the Reedy Creek debt (Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake). That would ultimately be devastating to Disney as the two cities are inside Walt Disney World’s twice-the-size-of-Manhattan borders. In this regard its easiest to think of Disney World as a sort of giant Vatican City inside Central Florida which itself holds three cities. The third city, Celebration, would not take on the debt as it resides in a separate county.
How much debt would those two quasi-cities take on? Approximately $1 billion. But again, those exist inside Disney. If they were to fold and the two counties (Orange and Osceola) took on the liabilities, Florida and the counties might take legal action against Disney for the financial mismanagement (that’s likely what they would claim, not that it is an objective fact). Also, in a very complicated situation, Disney actually has sole control over Reedy Creek via a land ownership clause… so Disney might be the sole target of any claims of financial malfeasance should everything fall apart.
5. If the Florida House Approves the Proposed Legislation, Disney Immediately Loses Its Self-Governance.
This is the propaganda you’re hearing out of the conservative side. Right-wing news, in an effort to prop up DeSantis, is really playing up that Disney’s days are numbered.
Yeah, not so much. In reality, this law wouldn’t take effect until 2023 and could be reversed up until its enforcement. Furthermore, Disney and Florida would almost certainly wind up in a long-term legal battle that would make its way through multiple layers of the court system. You could expect a variety of lawsuits and counter suits. Given the complexity and unique nature of the Disney World powers, these legal battles would likely end up at the Florida Supreme Court… maybe more than once. Meanwhile the various court rulings could create a chaotic environment in which Disney’s ability to develop and plan for Disney World would be severely hampered. All of this is to say that the Board of Directors has a fiduciary responsibility to stockholders to avoid this scenario if at all possible.
6. Disney should just move Disney World somewhere else.
Dear @Disney,
Please consider relocating Disney World to a new state that isn't actively crusading against LGBTQ people! I am sure other states would be more than thrilled to have your tourism dollars and employment opportunities. Make an example out of DeathSantis!
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) April 19, 2022
Walt Disney World covers about 40 square miles, features three cities, has four major theme parks, two water parks, suburbs, campgrounds, and multiple interstate exits. You’re going to need one heck of a plane to move it. I commend the creativity you’ll come up with for that one.
7. Florida needs Disney more than Disney needs Florida.
Walt Disney World is the number one tourist attraction in the entire world. Cinderella Castle is the most photographed building on Earth. WDW’s revenues and profit dwarf every other Disney owned theme park or resort… and not by a little. It can’t be moved. Yes, it would damage Florida’s economy majorly to lose Disney, the number one employer in the state. But Florida would still have beaches, Miami, St. Augustine, the Keys, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and many other reasons for tourism. Even in the impossible event that Disney stopped operating Disney World, they’d have to sell it to someone else.
8. Disney has not been damaged by their political activist decisions in the past month.
In the past month alone, Disney’s stock has dropped by more than 10%. Its latest Pixar film, Turning Red, opened only on Disney+ yet had just 77% of the viewership of Encanto — a movie that had already been seen by tens of millions in theaters.
Image Courtesy of Google
That’s where I’m going to stop for this evening. I’m getting close to 1,500 words and that doesn’t always make for great Google News results. However, there’s such a huge amount of misinformation that I may cover all of this in more detail in a follow-up article. Be watching for it. I still expect to return to my series on the Reimagine Tomorrow situation, especially about how certain claims against employees are supposed to now be handled. Just be patient as I get through all of this — we’re at a point where the news about Disney is exceeding sometimes what we can cover in a single day.
All of that said, you know where to find the absolute best information on all things Disney: That Park Place. Feel free to let me know examples of outlandish claims in the comments below. The best ones will make it into the follow-up.
