When the battle for Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) began, few could have predicted that the king of England would get involved.
Walt and Mickey
The new, governor-appointed board members of the District have held a few meetings, and it appears as though they’re not ready to give up the fight just yet. Before Governor DeSantis signed the bill putting Reedy Creek in the hands of a new board, Disney stripped the District of its powers by getting King Charles III involved.
On February 8th, before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill that changed key aspects of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the board’s previous members and Disney struck up a development agreement that stripped Reedy Creek of all its power.
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
Now, the new board is considering challenging these agreements that were approved before the takeover. The developer agreement “set in stone” Disney’s rights over the next 30 years, regardless of what the new board says or does.
The new board has hired multiple law firms to look into “potential legal challenges for matters involving the District that occurred under the prior board of supervisors and that may involve the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiary and related entities.”
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
Legal counsel hired by the new board indicated they only recently found out about these agreements, despite them being approved in public meetings. Counsel continued by calling the agreements “unusual,” “suspect,” and “unlawful.”
©Disney | Walt Disney Company Headquarters
Disney later shared a statement that read:
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.”
Florida’s Sunshine Law states all meetings of a municipal agency board or commission must be public along with the records for such meetings.
Walt Disney Company Headquarters ©LA Times
The agreements made between Disney and the former board include a clause that declares them valid until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England,” but why?
Many states, including Florida, have the Rule Against Perpetuities. It states that no person can put terms in a deed or will that would affect ownership of private property after the person has died. It’s designed to prevent a landowner from having control of private property “in perpetuity” or forever.
©CNBC
In Florida, the Rule Against Perpetuities only allows contingencies to be put on ownership for “life plus twenty-one years.” But, Disney has gotten around this rule by adding a royal lives clause to the agreement. In this case, the agreement will be valid until 21 years after King Charles’ last remaining descendant dies.
Disney
While the fight may be far from over, we’ll be keeping an eye on updates from Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — so stay tuned to DFB for more.
New Reedy Creek Board Discusses Potential Lawsuit Against Disney
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Someone needed to stand up against DeSantis. His over reach I feel he’s over stepping on what power’s he has. DeSantis is destroying everything good and putting his evil in place of the good. DeSantis being governor has went to his head. Thank you for being smarter than him. Good luck ?
I think what Disney did was genius!! Best of Luck in keeping it enforced.
Love the push back. Desantis is an egotistical bully. It looks good on him
There is no such person as the “King Of England”, King Charles III is King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Jane your reply is brilliant! And Disney would have been closed for the entire covid period if it wasn’t for DeSantis. We were going to Disney when Northern States were stuck in their houses:). And ironically, everyone is visiting and moving to Florida in DROVES…guess there are a lot who do not think badly of him…?!
Dry lawyer fact: We haven’t used Royal Lives clauses in the UK since the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964 came into effect.