Ron DeSantis teases next moves in Disney battle

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned The Walt Disney Company on Thursday that he has unfinished business with the Mouse House.

The Republican governor reacted to news that Disney’s autonomous board effectively stripped itself of power just a day before state lawmakers gave DeSantis the authority to take over the body.

A secret deal forged between the now-defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Walt Disney Company is now being scrutinized by the DeSantis administration, which is examining whether it is legal.

“There’s a lot of little back and forth going on now with the state control,” DeSantis said during a book stop tour in Smyrna, Ga., on Thursday, where audience members booed at the mention of the Mouse House.

“But rest assured — you ain’t seen nothing yet,” DeSantis said. “There’s more to come in that regard.” 

DeSantis’ office circulated a letter from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office, which is seeking documents, emails, and text messages from former members of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, according to Insider.

Moody is seeking “documents discussing an intention or goal of circumventing, avoiding, frustrating, mitigating, or otherwise attempting” to sidestep Florida law.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District is the Disney-dominated board which manages the company’s theme parks and resorts in and around Orlando.

It was created more than a half century ago as part of efforts to entice Disney, which is one of Florida’s largest private employers, to build attractions that would boost tourism for the Sunshine State.

DeSantis last month signed into law a measure dissolving Reedy Creek Improvement District after Disney declared its opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which puts limits on teaching sex and gender education to youngsters.

The newly created entity, which was rechristened as the Central Florida Tourism District, is under the control of the state.

The new district cannot use the name “Disney” or any characters like Mickey Mouse, symbols or intellectual property associated with the resort under the terms of the agreement, though Disney is still permitted to operate within the district without restrictions.

The board members picked by DeSantis said that they were powerless to exercise any sort of real authority after their predecessors quietly passed a restrictive development agreement just before the new law dissolving Reedy Creek went into effect.

The agreement that was secretly forged between Reedy Creek and Disney gave the company power to develop the 27,000 acres of land that is home to its theme parks and resorts.

The new board of supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism District voted to bring in outside legal help, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

“We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it,” board member Brian Aungst Jr. said.

“It’s a subversion of the will of the voters and the Legislature and the governor. It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern.”