Ever since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law to dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, Florida residents and Disney fans alike have wondered what will really happen in June 2023 when that law goes into effect.

Gov. DeSantis has not given much information about what the dissolution of the special district will look like, generally stating that more details will come soon. Now, we have another update on this controversial topic.

In case you’re not familiar with the Reedy Creek Dissolution drama, let us get you caught up. The Reedy Creek Improvement District is a special governing body that operates only on Disney World’s land. It was created for Disney World in 1968 and has operated since then essentially as a county government. It has its own fire department, has special taxing laws, and contracts law enforcement from the surrounding area.

Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that will dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, effective in June 2023. At the time, DeSantis did not give a plan for what would happen once the district was dissolved. Some people have worried that the tax burden (including almost $1 billion in bond debt) would fall on the county residents. This has resulted in civilian lawsuits against the governor (some of which have been dismissed).

Although many have speculated about what could replace the district once it’s dissolved, there have been no concrete announcements about the solution moving forward.

Not long before this law was created, DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education law, which has been referred to by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Disney issued a statement following the bill’s passing, saying, “Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.” Because this occurred shortly before DeSantis signed the law to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, some have accused him of acting in retaliation to Disney’s response.

Whatever Desantis’ motives, the law to dissolve Disney World’s district will go into effect next year. So when will we hear the plan for what will happen when it’s dissolved? According to Rep. Daniel Perez (R-Miami), we may get an update soon.

Perez said, “The one thing that I can tell the audience is that the conversations of Reedy Creek have always been there, and they’re still continuing today. We’ll try to put a bow to that conversation in the near future … As for the timetable on that, it’s still uncertain. But the conversations have continued. There is some progress to be made, but we will definitely, I think, we’ll reach a solution sometime soon” (Orlando Business Journal).

One possible solution to the dissolution of Reedy Creek could be a successor district, which has been mentioned by some Florida lawmakers. A successor district would transfer the governing powers to legislators, and the debt would also be transferred to the new district (and would not remain Disney’s responsibility).

However, some experts have stated that the dissolution is not a good idea for Florida. Chad Emerson (author of “Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World”) told the Orlando Business Journal that “There really isn’t a good solution to the problem that the Legislature and state leadership created for everyone. The best solution for the citizens, workers and businesses of Florida is to keep the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and its decades of success intact.”

We’ll continue to watch for more updates about the dissolution of Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, so keep following DFB for all the latest news.

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What do you think about the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District? Let us know in the comments.

The post Major Update on the Dissolution of Disney World’s Reedy Creek District Could Come Soon first appeared on the disney food blog.