Reedy Creek Improvement District in Orlando ramps up work despite DeSantis/Disney feud By Richard Bilbao – Digital Producer/Senior Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal Sep 12, 2022

Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District in Orlando, the governing entity of the property that includes Walt Disney World (NYSE: DIS), has kept busy so far in 2022, despite a looming dissolution next year.

As of Sept. 12, the district has filed 25 notices of commencement with Orange County for a variety of projects. Such filings show that work has started on a specific project, and the documents share some, but not all, details on the work.

Projects described in the notices include:

Bridge superstructure replacement on Epcot Center Drive
Central energy plant roof and exhaust fan replacement at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Permanent cable repairs: No details on location were included
Fiber optic expansion Phase One: Maps show this work being done across various segments of the entire Disney property.

The district's notice of commencement activity in 2022 is up 127% from just 11 notices filed for the same timeframe in 2021, according to Orange County records.

Meanwhile, the district also is working on improvements of World Drive North, which is one of the major road arteries connecting the Disney parks and amenities.

The district, at an Aug. 24 meeting, approved various design service contracts regarding the World Drive work that all is designed to streamline traffic, John Classe, district administrator of Reedy Creek, told Orlando Business Journal, at the meeting.

Current paths require more steps, but this work will help make those paths straighter, added Classe. That roadwork will be completed by 2026.

The district's future has been a national topic after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in April that will dissolve Disney's Reedy Creek district by June 2023, which has led to experts speculating on potential tax burdens if the Reedy Creek district — and its nearly $1 billion bond obligations — were to fall on local taxpayers' shoulders.

Reedy Creek Improvement District is the 39-square-mile governing jurisdiction and special taxing district created in 1968 for Walt Disney World Resort's land that acts with the same authority and responsibility as a county government. The district includes two cities — Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista. It also has its own fire department and staff, and contracts law enforcement from local counties.

The sudden decision to dissolve the Reedy Creek district came after DeSantis extended the April legislative special session in Tallahassee to address multiple piece of legislation, as well as the special districts bill. DeSantis, via several public appearances, has alluded to the legislation as a way to get rid of the special governing powers Disney has that is held by no other business in Florida.

However, some reports tie the legislation to an ongoing feud between DeSantis and Disney over the controversial "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which many opponents have called the "Don't Say Gay" bill due to it banning teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.

It's been a saga of more than four months that has raised more questions than answers about what will come from the district's eventual dissolution and what ancillary impacts it may have on businesses and residents.

The Walt Disney Co.'s Walt Disney World — the nation's largest single-site employer, with nearly 70,000 Orlando workers — has four local theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Walt Disney World alone is the top generator for visitation to Orlando, with more than 50 million people going through its turnstiles in previous years — many of those repeat visitors.

Disney also owns two area water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, as well as several themed hotels, golf courses, a camping resort, timeshare properties, ESPN Wide World of Sports and the Disney Springs dining/shopping/entertainment district.

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