The future of Disney World and the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) is starting to take shape after the board held its first couple of meetings.

The new, Governor DeSantis-appointed board appears to be more focused on fighting Disney rather than working with them, and members have shared that they may need to adopt an “adversarial position” against the company. Now, Disney has responded.

It seems the new board is considering challenging agreements made with Reedy Creek’s old Board that were approved before the takeover. One of those things is a Developer Agreement that “set in stone” Disney’s rights over the next 30 years, regardless of what the new board says or does.

This agreement was unanimously approved by the previous board on February 8th — the day before the Florida House voted on the bill that changed the future of Reedy Creek.

Per the Orlando Sentinel, “The agreement allows Disney to build projects at the highest density and the right to sell or assign those development rights to other district landowners without the board having any say, according to the presentation by the district’s new special legal counsel.”

The new board has hired multiple law firms to look into “potential legal challenges for matters involving the District that occurred under the prior board of supervisors and that may involve the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiary and related entities.”

Legal counsel hired by the new board indicated they only recently found out about these agreements, despite them being approved in public meetings. Counsel continued by calling the agreements “unusual,” “suspect,” and “unlawful.”

Now, according to Bob Hazen with WESH, Disney has responded. The statement reads:

“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.”

Statement from #Disney:
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.” #WESH

— Bob Hazen WESH (@HazenWESH) March 29, 2023

So, while the legal counsel for the new board indicates they didn’t have any idea about the agreements, they were discussed and voted on in a public meeting in accordance with Florida law.

We’ll be keeping an eye on this situation as it seems like Disney could be in for a lengthy legal battle. Stay tuned to DFB for the latest!

New Reedy Creek Board Discusses Potential Lawsuit Against Disney

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What do you think will happen with Disney and Reedy Creek? Tell us in the comments.

The post Disney Comments on Lawsuit Threat from New Reedy Creek Board first appeared on the disney food blog.