A longtime Florida Gov. ally, Ron DeSantis, has been appointed administrator of the newly created borough that includes Disney World and given sweeping powers to wreak havoc at the theme park.
Glen Gilzean’s appointment was approved by the Board of Directors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District on Wednesday. The district was created in February to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District – a self-governing zone established in 1967 but dissolved due to DeSantis’ attack on Disney’s “Woke” policy.
Gilzean will be the state of Florida’s litigation with Disney.
Disney has strongly opposed DeSantis’ attempts to exercise control of the company.
On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger told shareholders in a phone call that DeSantis was threatening $17 billion in investments and putting 13,000 jobs at risk.
Glen Gilzean (left) is seen with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Gilzean has been appointed administrator of the new district, which controls the lands on which Disney’s theme parks are located
Gilzean will be able to close rides at Disney’s theme parks – including Magic Kingdom
Gilzean was given powers to shut down rides at the theme parks — including Magic Kingdom and Epcot — and to fine Disney $500 a day for unspecified “code violations.”
Gilzean will hire law enforcement officers who will report to him.
Rick Foglesong, a Walt Disney World historian, told The Orlando Sentinel that Disney should be concerned about the newly created role.
“One would think so [Disney] “I would see a threat here,” he said.
Gilzean is well paid for his services, receiving a salary of $400,000.
He is currently President and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League – a social and economic justice group whose goal is “to end generational poverty by empowering Central Florida residents to be social leaders through education, employment and entrepreneurship.” and to achieve economic equality”.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District was formed in 1967. He was downed in February and replaced by the DeSantis team
The Reedy Creek Improvement District covers nearly 40 square miles and encompasses the entire Walt Disney World Resort. As part of DeSantis’ new bill, it was renamed the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District” — which Iger called unjustified “retaliation.”
He is also the chair of the Florida Ethics Committee, a role delegated to him by DeSantis.
In 2020, DeSantis gave him an additional role on the pandemic-era business development committee, the Re-Open Florida Task Force.
In April, Disney sued DeSantis over the additional taxes levied by the new county.
The entertainment giant has been at odds since opposing DeSantis’ Don’t Say Gay law, which bans the mention of homosexuality or LGBTQ issues in front of young people in schools.
Disney said in its lawsuit in court, “A targeted government retaliation campaign — orchestrated at every turn by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech — now threatens Disney’s operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region and violates its constitutional rights.”
On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger fired the final shot in the escalating war between the $185 billion theme park company and the Republican governor, who is expected to announce a presidential campaign in the next few months.
In a phone call with the company’s shareholders on Wednesday, Iger didn’t mention DeSantis by name or say outright that Disney was reconsidering the investment.
But his warnings were clear in his tone and words.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has warned the company may reconsider its plans for $17 billion in investments and 13,000 new jobs at Disney World – Above, Iger is with actress Halle Bailey at the premiere of Little Girl this week Mermaid” to see
Iger said Florida was being unfair and asked shareholders, “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?”
He said he’s “looking closely at where future investment in Disney’s theme parks makes sense.”
“Given the relationship we have had with the state for 50 years, we certainly never expected to have to defend our business interests in federal court,” Iger said.
DeSantis has not yet directly responded to Iger’s threat, but has shown no hesitation in acquiring the company in the past, saying “Disney has no right to corporate welfare.”
Neither Iger, the 72-year-old longtime Disney CEO, nor DeSantis, the 44-year-old Republican governor with presidential aspirations, show any sign of backing down in their war.
Instead, each side has tried to outdo the other.
Disney sued Florida and the state countersued.
Both have issued threats, including from DeSantis, that include raising hotel taxes and road tolls, and building a prison on the state’s property near the Disney theme park.
The governor’s fights against Disney have raised his profile nationwide ahead of speculation that he will announce a presidential candidacy in the spring.
He’s also made it part of his “War on Woke,” making the culture wars a core part of his strategy.
Ron DeSantis is expected to announce a candidacy for president in the coming months
The Disney CEO reiterated his argument that his company faced retaliation for his comments.
“There was no concrete effort to dismantle Reedy Creek until we commented on legislation,” Iger said Wednesday.
“This is clearly retaliation.”
Before DeSantis’ allies took over Disney World’s governorate, the old board — controlled by Disney supporters — reached an agreement with the company in February to ban a long list of companies from ever operating near its property.
These included tattoo parlors, liquor stores, adult entertainment, oil refineries, and trailer parks.
But they did not include prisons.
The agreement, which also gave Disney control over the design and construction of the theme park resort, is at the center of the litigation.
It’s also the target of a new bill the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed last week that aims to overturn the deal.
Disney made $7.4 billion from its parks in the final quarter of fiscal 2022
Disney sues Florida; Florida sues Disney as war rages on
Disney made $7.4 billion from its parks in the final quarter of fiscal 2022 — up 70 percent year-on-year as the company recovered from COVID closures.
The theme park now charges for some of its formerly free features, including the Genie+ app ($15) and parking ($30). Even the price of his iconic Mickey Mouse ears has increased by more than a third since 2021, from $29.99 to $39.99.
The company averaged 18 million annual visitors to Disney World before the pandemic — a room at the park’s budget hotel, Pop Century, costs about $168 today — more than $70 more than it did in 2013, when a room at the resort Cost $95. That’s an increase of more than 77 percent.
Ticket prices at the park — now over $100 — have risen about twice as fast as inflation compared to the 2010s.
According to the Themed Entertainment Association, Disney World is the largest employer in Central Florida with nearly 75,000 employees and attracted 36.2 million visitors in 2021.
Wednesday’s earnings call wasn’t the first time Iger used the platform to attack the governor.
During an April 3 call, he criticized DeSantis for being “very upset” with the company’s position and described his actions as “anti-Florida.”
Disney used similar language in its lawsuit.
“Governor DeSantis and his allies clearly have no intention of moderating their retaliatory campaign anytime soon,” Disney noted in its addenda to its lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. district court in Tallahassee.
The DeSantis office said Disney’s lawsuit was “desperate.”
“Development agreements, as creations of state law, are clearly subject to revocation by subsequently enacted state law,” Taryn Fenske, the governor’s communications director, said in a statement.
“Disney’s latest move is yet another desperate attempt to uphold their special privileges and ignore the will of Floridians as expressed through their duly elected representatives.”
“Disney should accept that it has to live by the same rules as everyone else,” she added.