Disney's battle against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just got a little more interesting after the theme park operator's rival Universal Orlando Resort was awarded a special benefit that was taken away from Disney World.
The Disney/DeSantis conflict began when DeSantis declared a "woke" war against the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) -) after former CEO Bob Chapek on March 9, 2022, spoke out against the governor's Parental Rights in Education law, HB 1557, or the "Don't Say Gay" law. The Florida law prohibits teachers from instructing or discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in schools in grades kindergarten through third grade.
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DeSantis escalated the conflict in May 2022 when the governor signed a bill that revoked Disney World's Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special district created in 1967 that allowed Disney World to regulate infrastructure and development on its 25,000-acre property. The revocation of the special district was the governor's answer to Disney's opposition to his "Don't Say Gay" law.
Disney has since filed a lawsuit against DeSantis alleging that the governor retaliated against Disney for exercising its right to free speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The House of Mouse may have obtained some ammunition in its battle against DeSantis as the theme park operator's rival Comcast's (CMCSA) -) Universal Orlando Resort was just awarded a special taxing district by a Florida county governing board.
Image source: Universal Studios
Universal Orlando gets a new special district
The Orange County (Fla.) Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 10 voted unanimously to create the Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District, a special taxing district proposed by the Universal Orlando Resort, that includes 719 acres and encompasses Universal's new Epic Universe theme park that's under construction and 13 acres for a new SunRail train station on Destination Parkway, WDW News Today reported. Epic Universe is expected to be completed in 2025.
The special district reportedly will use $174 million in bond proceeds to fund public infrastructure, including $129 million for the SunRail station on the Sunshine Corridor connecting Orlando International Airport to the Orlando Convention Center near Universal's new park. The funding includes $40 million for odor control improvements at South Water Reclamation Facility and $8 million for improvements to Epic Boulevard leading to Epic Universe. County commissioners would need to vote to authorize construction of these projects.
Taxes and fees assessed on the landowners in the district are earmarked to fund the district. The only landowners within the Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District are Universal Orlando and Rida Development Corp., which owns the Hilton Orlando.
“Today marks a step forward and we thank the mayor and county commissioners for approving our petition to establish a community development district that can help realize the vision for expanded SunRail connectivity from the airport to the convention center,” said John Sprouls, chief administrative officer of Universal Destinations & Experiences, in a statement. “With just a single stop and a new convention center station, we can get 125,000-plus residents to their jobs and millions of visitors to our area’s world-class attractions.”
Universal employees hold all district board seats
The special district's board of supervisors are all Universal employees, including Bradley Goeb, Bryan Julian, Erica Klostermeier, John Hanebrink and Teresa Crews. The former Reedy Creek Improvement District's board of supervisors were all Disney employees, similar to Universal's special district board.
The creation of the Shingle Creek special district with all Universal employees governing land owned mostly by Universal could provide support for Disney as it pursues its lawsuit against DeSantis. Special taxing districts are common in Florida as the state has over 1,800 special districts, ABC Tampa Bay affiliate WFTS reported. DeSantis publicly called the revocation of the Reedy Creek special district as an attempt to take special privileges away from Disney.
However, DeSantis has not done anything to the nearly 2,000 other special districts in his state. DeSantis replaced the Reedy Creek board with a new board, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, consisting of his handpicked political cronies.
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