Are there any lawyers willing to speculate?

[WonderlandisReality]

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...ntroduce-superior-authority-to-one-up-disney/

Not a legal expert, and this whole situation has me Alice-In-Wonderland levels of curiosity and confusion. The people who explained the King Charles III thing were super-helpful. Anyone want to take a shot at explaining this for us common-folk?

 

[bbeagle]

This new 'Resolution 639' is coming from a board - with very little powers - exclaiming that 'here is a resolution that says we have ALL the powers now'.

A board can’t just add new powers. It’s like a school PTO saying 'we now have the authority to fire teachers', They can pass that resolution, then when they try to fire a teacher, the teacher/union will ignore them.

I'd imagine the same thing here. They will declare that they have power over Disney installing a lemonade stand in Hollywood Studios without their permission, Disney will do so, they’ll complain, Disney will ignore them. DeSantis will eventually sue.

 

[bcla]

This new 'Resolution 639' is coming from a board - with very little powers - exclaiming that 'here is a resolution that says we have ALL the powers now'.

A board can’t just add new powers. It’s like a school PTO saying 'we now have the authority to fire teachers', They can pass that resolution, then when they try to fire a teacher, the teacher/union will ignore them.

I'd imagine the same thing here. They will declare that they have power over Disney installing a lemonade stand in Hollywood Studios without their permission, Disney will do so, they’ll complain, Disney will ignore them. DeSantis will eventually sue.

I suspect that Disney's attorneys have made sure that they attended every single meeting and scoured the Orlando Sentinel for meeting notices.

Here's an article on it:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/pol...0230411-qk4cgc5k5zgrtenjag4ko65eta-story.html​

The board and Disney have been in a power struggle over who will have authority over future growth in the special district that provides government services to Disney World.​

​

The two cities within the district, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, have a combined population of only 53 people, all of whom are believed to have close ties to Disney. The cities have elected city councils and mayors.​

​

Some Disney experts have speculated the entertainment giant could use the two cities it controls to maintain autonomy over its resorts and theme parks. The Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom are inside the city limits of Bay Lake, while Disney Springs is in Lake Buena Vista.​

​

Central Florida Tourism Oversight officials and Disney did not respond to requests for comment. Efforts to reach the mayors of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista also were unsuccessful.​

​

But the resolution proclaims that the new state law gives the power to the five members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Board of Supervisors — not the two Disney-run cities.​

But a simple declaration probably isn't going to make it so if they don't necessarily have the power they want in the enabling legislation. The establishment of Reedy Creek Improvement District was created to give it most of the powers that both the city and county would have, but there's been talk that by law certain powers could just revert to the cities, where the only residents are Disney employees or retirees.

Here's a map that shows clear city and county boundaries. Most of WDW is within Bay Lake. Some of the resorts are in Lake Buena Vista. Not sure what the unincorporated part of Orange County has. ESPN Wide World of Sports and the All-Star resorts are in unincorporated Osceola County. If Disney could somehow assert that the cities have superior rights to the new board, that would cover most of WDW but not everything (the lavender areas).

 

[bcla]

Here's the kicker from the Orlando Sentinel article:

The latest proposal could set the stage for yet another battle between the DeSantis-appointed board and Disney, said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor who wrote “Married to the Mouse,” a book on Disney World’s origin story.​

​

“These two cities are, in fact, general-purpose local governments with the same status in law as the city of Orlando ... As this legal matter moves forward, a key question will be whether a board created by the Legislature and appointed by the governor can rescind the constitutionally granted authority of democratically elected local governments,” Foglesong said in an email.​

​

In the past, the Reedy Creek Improvement District and the cities shared authority over development, he said.​

​

At the new board’s first meeting in March, board member Brian Aungst Jr. said he wanted the board to discuss taking over the “essentially fictitious” cities of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, including assuming their oversight of law enforcement contracts and eventually eliminating the cities.​

 

[WonderlandisReality]

I suspect that Disney's attorneys have made sure that they attended every single meeting and scoured the Orlando Sentinel for meeting notices.

Here's an article on it:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/pol...0230411-qk4cgc5k5zgrtenjag4ko65eta-story.html​

The board and Disney have been in a power struggle over who will have authority over future growth in the special district that provides government services to Disney World.​

​

The two cities within the district, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, have a combined population of only 53 people, all of whom are believed to have close ties to Disney. The cities have elected city councils and mayors.​

​

Some Disney experts have speculated the entertainment giant could use the two cities it controls to maintain autonomy over its resorts and theme parks. The Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom are inside the city limits of Bay Lake, while Disney Springs is in Lake Buena Vista.​

​

Central Florida Tourism Oversight officials and Disney did not respond to requests for comment. Efforts to reach the mayors of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista also were unsuccessful.​

​

But the resolution proclaims that the new state law gives the power to the five members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Board of Supervisors — not the two Disney-run cities.​

But a simple declaration probably isn't going to make it so if they don't necessarily have the power they want in the enabling legislation. The establishment of Reedy Creek Improvement District was created to give it most of the powers that both the city and county would have, but there's been talk that by law certain powers could just revert to the cities, where the only residents are Disney employees or retirees.

Here's a map that shows clear city and county boundaries. Most of WDW is within Bay Lake. Some of the resorts are in Lake Buena Vista. Not sure what the unincorporated part of Orange County has. ESPN Wide World of Sports and the All-Star resorts are in unincorporated Osceola County. If Disney could somehow assert that the cities have superior rights to the new board, that would cover most of WDW but not everything (the lavender areas).

Doesn’t Golden Oak have a substantial amount of homes at this point? Or are they primarily vacant? I live in a part of the country where 53 people in a town is normal but I assumed due to that neighborhood that there would be more, I guess?

 

[HokieRaven5]

First thing I thought of…

 

[bcla]

Doesn’t Golden Oak have a substantial amount of homes at this point? Or are they primarily vacant? I live in a part of the country where 53 people in a town is normal but I assumed due to that neighborhood that there would be more, I guess?

This article says that it’s in unincorporated Orange County. Possibly carved out of Reedy Creek like what was done for Celebration. I mean - Disney would have thought if that. It states there were 262 registered voters.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/i...ors-live-inside-elite-disney-world-community/​

Before Golden Oak was built, the subdivision was de-annexed from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which provides government services to the Disney resort.​

​

All Golden Oak property owners are residents of unincorporated Orange County, making them ineligible to vote on Reedy Creek matters.​

 

[RamblinWreck]

This new 'Resolution 639' is coming from a board - with very little powers - exclaiming that 'here is a resolution that says we have ALL the powers now'.

A board can’t just add new powers. It’s like a school PTO saying 'we now have the authority to fire teachers', They can pass that resolution, then when they try to fire a teacher, the teacher/union will ignore them.

I'd imagine the same thing here. They will declare that they have power over Disney installing a lemonade stand in Hollywood Studios without their permission, Disney will do so, they’ll complain, Disney will ignore them. DeSantis will eventually sue.

Disney probably has just about every existing law on their side.

DeSantis wields so much power in FL he can pretty much rewrite the state constitution if he wants to though. It’s just a matter of what he thinks he can do without turning his current and future voters against him.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

This new 'Resolution 639' is coming from a board - with very little powers - exclaiming that 'here is a resolution that says we have ALL the powers now'.

A board can’t just add new powers. It’s like a school PTO saying 'we now have the authority to fire teachers', They can pass that resolution, then when they try to fire a teacher, the teacher/union will ignore them.

I'd imagine the same thing here. They will declare that they have power over Disney installing a lemonade stand in Hollywood Studios without their permission, Disney will do so, they’ll complain, Disney will ignore them. DeSantis will eventually sue.

I was one of those law talking guys that helped explain the King Charles provision in another (now deleted) thread. So i would take a stab at this question, but no need. The answer from @bbeagle is spot on. As I understand it, the previous iteration of the Board entered into a contract with Disney to give the company final say on various development decisions and authorities (that's why one of the arguments DeSantis floated in the media was that there was no "consideration" for that contract; its a bad legal argument BTW). I remind folks of the contract because passing a resolution doesn't rescind or overrule a contract. Passing the resolution will not change anything legally.

In fact, as an attorney that also had a career in government and politics for a while, I have always advised people that when you see the government or an agency passing a "resolution", just ignore it. Its meaningless and doesn;t have any legal authority (on any subject, not just the ones we are discussing in this thread). From a legal perspective, resolutions are just a waste of time and money. Its simply a statement of an objective, belief, or goal. It doesn't actually do anything, except give politicians and/or appointees a chance to point to it and declare "see, I care about this issue, look at the resolution i supported!"

 

[bcla]

Disney probably has just about every existing law on their side.

DeSantis wields so much power in FL he can pretty much rewrite the state constitution if he wants to though. It’s just a matter of what he thinks he can do without turning his current and future voters against him.

I doubt Disney has exhausted all their options. They still have the possibility of a federal lawsuit in their back pocket. Kind of a break glass in case of emergency thing if somehow the Florida courts rule that their maneuvering is invalid. They certainly have the benefit of time.

 

[Atlantix2000]

I doubt Disney has exhausted all their options. They still have the possibility of a federal lawsuit in their back pocket. Kind of a break glass in case of emergency thing if somehow the Florida courts rule that their maneuvering is invalid. They certainly have the benefit of time.

Agreed. I'm too lazy to look up if Florida has term limits on their governor but I'm quite certain Disney's lawyers can drag this through the courts far longer than DeSantis will be governor and probably longer than any potential presidential run(s) and/or term(s).

 

[BrianL]

Agreed. I'm too lazy to look up if Florida has term limits on their governor but I'm quite certain Disney's lawyers can drag this through the courts far longer than DeSantis will be governor and probably longer than any potential presidential run(s) and/or term(s).

The current rule in Florida is that there is a limit of two consecutive terms, but after one term out of office, a former governor may run again with no lifetime limit.

 

[soniam]

I also heard from a Floridian that he can’t be governor and run for president. So he may have to step down. I also heard that he is trying to change this law.

 

[Isamar]

Has anyone heard whether the meeting will be televised/streamed anywhere? (I know news stations aren’t generally too interested in local government meetings, but I’m guessing there’ll be plenty of interest now ).

 

[RamblinWreck]

I doubt Disney has exhausted all their options. They still have the possibility of a federal lawsuit in their back pocket. Kind of a break glass in case of emergency thing if somehow the Florida courts rule that their maneuvering is invalid. They certainly have the benefit of time.

I'm sure they have not come close to exhausting all of their options but you have to admit DeSantis has a rather extreme amount of power in the state of Florida right now.

If the situation deteriorated enough, they could always threaten to / actually follow through with indefinitely closing the entire park. It would obviously be very bad for the bottom line in the short run but it would also be bad for the ambitions of any politician trying to brag about the great work he's done in his state.

 

[bcla]

I also heard from a Floridian that he can’t be governor and run for president. So he may have to step down. I also heard that he is trying to change this law.

There have been discussions of modifying that law. I read somewhere that it was changed back 4 years ago. There was a previous change in the law that would have allowed Charlie Crist to run for VP while he was Governor. In the meantime he's not a declared candidate.

 

[bcla]

Bob Iger was interviewed by a Time Magazine reporter. He's quite diplomatic about it, but I suspect in private he's not quite this kind. But his stance is that WDW was good for Florida and the Walt Disney Company and he hopes to keep things that way.

https://time.com/6269006/bob-iger-interview-time100/​

I cannot let this interview finish without asking you about the situation in Florida. Did you checkmate Ron DeSantis?​

Disney World opened just over 50 years ago. It was the vision and the dream of Walt Disney, probably the most ambitious thing he ever did—turning swampland in Central Florida into a business that employs over 75,000 people, that is visited by tens of millions of people every year, that is a major tourist destination in the United States, and for the state of Florida, that creates huge value for our company and its employees, and for the state of Florida itself. Our sole goal in Florida is to continue creating that value for all those constituencies. All we want is a relationship with the state that enables us to continue to do that. We have the wherewithal and we have the desire to continue to invest there to grow that business so that we can hire more people so that we can increase our attendance, and so that we can basically increase more value for the Walt Disney Company and for the state of Florida. It’s that simple.​

 

[Hiitsme]

I don't live in FL but I have family members that do reside there. When he was running for governor I don't ever recall any of these Disney "issues" being part of DeSantis' original platform. He's not going to get his revenge on Disney. He's only doing this to stay in the headlines. Anyone remember what happened to the Burgermeister Meisterburger?

 

[DL1WDW2]

His PR team knows how to keep him on front page…I noticed article at grocery store today as I walked past the news stand next to Publix Guest Service Counter and now
He might not run for President …blah blah keep his name in news no matter what we make up .
I refuse to type the name .

 

[Dcgc28]

The current rule in Florida is that there is a limit of two consecutive terms, but after one term out of office, a former governor may run again with no lifetime limit.

They can keep it in the courts past his years of living. Honestly this will make/break Desantis. I understand he’s capitalizing on conservatives that agree with him socially, which isn’t up for debate here. But he’s risking losing any type of swing/undecided votes he or any conservative need to be a president.