When you say "Spring Break," it brings up certain images in your mind. At best, it's college kids on a beach maybe having a beer or dancing to some music. At worst, it's drunken shenanigans, nudity, and crowds of young people ignoring the rules.
It's a scene that MTV elevated/exploited in the 1990s when it brought its crew of VJs and associated celebrities to various Spring Break locations to throw an even bigger party. The MTV version showed the good times, the crowds, and maybe a little more skin than the basic cable channel normally allowed.
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It did not show the darker side of Spring Break where excessive drinking — some of it underage — led to fights, property destruction, and other problems. Cities like Daytona Beach, which had courted the Spring Break crowd by essentially promising a "look the other way" atmosphere began to reconsider and tone down, or even stop their Spring Break festivities.
For Florida beach towns, spring break was always about filling hotel rooms, restaurants, bars, and clubs at a time that's just outside the snowbird season. In March, a lot of older folks head back north and that leaves a period where for many businesses traffic slows down meaningfully.
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Spring Break means revenue
Spring Break brought crowds and revenue, along with all the problems associated with college-age kids letting loose. Most of the crowd just wanted to party or even to relax on the beach, but enough would take things too far that many cities reconsidered being as welcoming to Spring Breakers.
Florida has generally found ways in recent years to use curfews, and enhanced enforcement to control the crowds. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains engaged in a war with Disney World, his state's largest driver of tourism, also wants to send a message to the Spring Break crowd.
“Florida may be popular for spring break, but it is inhospitable to criminal activity,” said DeSantis in a press release. “Florida does not tolerate lawlessness and chaos. I am directing state law enforcement agencies to provide additional personnel and assets to local entities to ensure that they have the resources they need to keep the peace over spring break."
And, while some of anything DeSantis does has to be taken as posturing, in this case, he's making state resources available to cities that very much want them.
"So far, 17 law enforcement agencies have requested a total of 140 state troopers to be deployed to their jurisdictions to assist with spring break. FHP will also activate 24 Quick Response Troopers in Bay, Volusia, Broward, and Dade counties for immediate response to incidents requiring additional law enforcement personnel," the governor's office shared.
Many areas of the state welcome tourists during the Spring Break period but want them to be under control. Miami Beach, for example, plans to use curfews, security searches, bag checks, and early beach closures. The city will also step up DUI checks and have uniformed officers patrolling in vehicles, ATVs, bicycles, and on foot.
DeSantis still fighting with Disney, took on Bud Light
DeSantis has made being a thorn in Disney's side a top priority since former CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against his so-called "Don't Say Gay" legislation that has since become Florida law. The governor responded to that by disbanding the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), the Disney-controlled governing body that controlled the land Disney World sits on.
Disney CEO Bob Iger made it clear during his company's second-quarter earnings call. He made it clear that DeSantis' decision to replace the RCID with a board packed with his political cronies was political and not about protecting public interests.
"Also, this is not about special privileges or a level playing field or Disney in any way using its leverage around the state of Florida. But since there’s been a lot said about special districts and the arrangement that we have I want to set the record straight on that too. There are about 2,000 special districts in Florida. Most are established to foster investor development — we were one of them," he said.
Iger has, in the past, threatened to divert spending from Florida and did pull a $1 billion headquarters project from Florida. It seems unlikely, however, that Disney would curtail investments at Disney World given that rival Comcast's (CMCSA) Universal Studios has been building a third theme park to better challenge Disney World for weeklong vacations.
DeSantis also tried to insert himself into the right-wing boycott of Bud Light. He had his state investigate the Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) brand after it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
He alleged that the company had ignored its responsibilities to shareholders in making a marketing deal to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community.
