The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Meets for the First Time
March 8th, 2023, signifies a historic date in Walt Disney World history.
For the first time ever, the former Reedy Creek Improvement District’s board met with a group of members selected by someone other than Disney.
Photo:newsbreak.com
Yes, the new Reedy Creek Board has met for the first time. How did it go? Here’s what we just learned.
About the New District and Board
Photo: aclout.net
When Bob Chapek, the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, feuded with Florida politicians regarding the Don’t Say Gay bill, retribution occurred.
Without relitigating the legality of the move, let’s just say that legislators intended to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Photo: CBS Miami
They filed the paperwork to do so, only to learn soon afterward that this move would help rather than hurt Disney.
So, earlier in 2023, Florida politicians acted tough while admitting their previous failures. They rewrote Reedy Creek as a new entity.
I described the situation as an unwilling re-theming, and the choices for this new entity proved the point.
The new governmental body goes by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), and it consists of political allies of Florida’s governor.
As a reminder, the five members of the new board are:
- Brian Aungst
- Martin Garcia
- Ron Peri
- Michael Sasso
- Bridget Ziegler
Several of these new members, most notably Peri, have made headlines for some of their odd opinions about innocuous things like tap water.
Image: Disney
Notably, Peri claims the best track record of any board member, as he is at least a trained engineer.
The list also consists of two lawyers and the wife of the head of Florida’s Republican Party.
Photo: D23
Florida’s new legislation specifically precludes anyone with recent theme park experience from working on the CFTOD board, which is a weird request.
Obviously, the first meeting of the new member came with plenty of curiosity and intrigue.
Photo: Disney
Would wholly unqualified board members make for good ones? Anything is possible. Here’s what just happened.
Let’s Talk About the First Meeting of the CFTOD
Photo: The Business Journal
Today’s meeting lasted for more than two hours, making it one of the longest ones of the 21st century at the former Reedy Creek.
Obviously, you’re wondering about the explanation for such a long meeting.
Photo: Spectrum News 13
I’m happy to report that the issue wasn’t political grandstanding, although there was certainly some of that.
Instead, the previous participants of Reedy Creek had to explain the job duties to the new board members.
Photo: The Business Journal
You can think of parts of this meeting as a training session wherein the five participants of CFTOD’s panel learned that they’d need to do actual work.
When they agreed to the job, these people fantasized about having power over Disney and an opportunity to raise their political and social profiles in Florida.
Today, they learned the hard truth about the grueling realities of keeping the trains running on time in a local government. That’s their job now.
If anything happens in the former Reedy Creek from this point forward, it’s the new board’s fault, although they’ll do everything they can to throw Disney under the bus.
Photo: reedycreek.org
Speaking of which, a significant portion of today’s meeting involved Reedy Creek firefighters. Several of these essential workers and family members appeared.
That’s not a surprise as Florida’s governor is allied with the Florida Professional Firefighters and has had at least one Reedy Creek firefighter speak on his behalf.
Image: Disney
The prevailing belief is that Florida will garner headlines by rewarding firefighters to emphasize the new board cares more about safety than Disney did.
Obviously, that’s a ludicrous claim, but it was the narrative on display today.
The Firefight Complaints and Requests
Image: Disney
We should explore the firefighter criticisms, as they represent the crux of today’s meeting.
These Reedy Creek employees suggested that their training manuals and practices had remained the same since 2005.
Photo: Fox Business
While some would argue, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” firefighter frustration was on display.
The current firefighters who appeared, admittedly a small minority, complained that Disney had understaffed the department for years.
Photo Credit: Facebook – Reedy Creek Fire and Rescue Department Emergency Medical Services
Also, these individuals feel underpaid. So, they lack training, resources, wages, and proper staffing.
You should expect the new board to not only increase pay and resources but to emphasize this point publicly to make Disney sound bad.
Photo: Reedy Creek
One firefighter stated: “Right now it’s still the early stage of that relationship, but we’re looking forward to it very optimistically and think it’s going to better the district as a whole, better the lives of first responders and retirees.”
Also, one widow of a firefighter called for justice. Nearly six years ago, Lt. James Franklin Dorminy died in a swimming pool after a shift.
Dorminy had performed a theme park ride evacuation and an attempted rescue of someone suffering cardiac arrest that day.
His widow cried as she recounted the difficulties in receiving his governmental death benefits.
The new panel promised to get “involved personally in the contract negotiations.”
Image Credit: Disney
Other big takeaways involve two cities, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista. The new board considers them “essentially fictitious” and may eliminate them.
Also, at least one board member seeks to force Disney to end any pandemic-related measures.
NFL superstar Tom Brady visits Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (Matt Stroshane, photographer)
Finally, the new board will consider hiring special counsel. That’s a logical, proactive move if it intends to act against Disney’s best interests.
Disney hasn’t sued yet but easily could if the new board tries to block future projects.
Disney Comments
Photo: orlandothemeparkzone.com
Once the meeting ended, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro released the following official statement:
“The Reedy Creek Improvement District created and maintained the highest standards for the infrastructure for the Walt Disney World Resort.
Photo: MiceChat
We are hopeful the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District will continue this excellent work and the new board will share our commitment to helping the local economy continue to flourish and support the ongoing growth of the resort and Florida’s tourism industry.”
Photo: Disney (Chairman; Disney Parks, Experiences and Products)
Disney continues to take the high road with its approach. We’ll see whether the new CFTOD allows that or attempts to bait Disney in an attempt to score political points.
