Yo,
Happy Friday, I hope y’all had a great week. One person in particular had an extremely busy week, and it’s that guy: Disney.
Well, maybe not him, but his company.
Also, fun fact, when I was living in Chicago his childhood home was only a few blocks away from me, so I went to check it out. Here it is:
And yes, someone actually lives there.
Disney vs. DeSantis
There’s a new mayor in town, quite literally.
Florida Governor DeSantis singed a bill that gives the state control over Disney’s self-governing district. This was in response to Disney’s opposition the the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Now the creation of this self-governing district is actaully fairly interesting. Who knew a creative could be so business savvy?
Here’s how it went down:
- Walt Disney picked Orlando because it was hugely underdeveloped, yet had so many highways and large scale infrastructure surrounding it (AKA: easy to get to).
- He bought a bunch of land using shell companies and the profits he made in California (all of these shell companies are actaully the names they put on the buildings on Main Street USA, which is cool)
- He combined the land and incorporated a Drainage District. Ah yes, his first smell of independence
- Then he pitched the State on EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) which they approved. At the time, he actaully wanted to develop the future of living and “New Urbanism” there.
- This plan was scrapped, and the amusement park was born.
- Voila, Reedy Creek Improvement District was born.
This new district would conduct it’s own services like land use regulation and planning, building codes, surface water control, drainage, waste treatment, utilities, roads, bridges, fire protection, emergency medical services, and environmental services.
The only areas where the district had to submit to the county and state would be property taxes and elevator inspections.
This was originally just so they could keep the park cleaner and better looking than the surrounding areas, but was quickly used for tax benefits and the autonomy of having self government.
Disney handpicks the 5 board members who run the district, who conveniently all work for Disney.
Taking it even further, the Reedy Creek District was upheld by the Supreme Court and deemed exempt from from all state land use regulation laws.
That is, until Monday. DeSantis has essentially “reclaimed” the district and appointed Tampa attorney Martin Garcia in charge. I don’t really know the true impact, maybe it’s just more for show as DeSantis prepares to announce a presidential bid.
I mean Florida already has low taxes, so not a huge loss.
Disney kid? Meet Disney adult
On top of all that, we have this guy who just broke a record for going to Disneyland everyday for 2,995 days straight. That’s 8 years, 3 months and 13 days.
Claim to be a Disney kid? Think again, cause this guy puts nearly all visitors to shame. The average day pass is $150, which means that he would’ve spent $449,250. But he’s smarter than that and bought the annual passes. So, he likely only spent around $12,591. This guy must be a sucker for a good deal.
He’s so committed that they should just make him chairman of the new district.
But wait, there’s Mando
And just when you thought it was over, Season 3 of The Mandalorian starring Pedro Pascal came out on Wednesday. Which means a whole lot more of this guy.
Perhaps the most successful spinoff, The Mandalorian has a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and is a huge driver for Disney+ growth and retention.
Tansky Toyota Sawmill
There’s no better place to go than Tansky Toyota. Car dealers can be slimy sometimes, but not Tansky, they gave a detailed run down of the car and its features, as well as a full tank of gas when I left. Go check them out, ask for Malik Patel, and tell them Matt sent ya. #ad
Let’s call it a tie
Some good news, some bad news so we’ll chalk it up as just an ok week for Disney.
It will be interesting to hear exactly how this new district will impact the company when it comes to taxes, zoning laws, etc. Usually when we see companies get singled out or new legislation that’s not friendly to these big conglomerates, we just see them up and leave. Like Tesla moving to Austin and several banks moving to Florida.
But Disney can’t really do that because they literally have an immovable amusement park accounting for 30% their business.
Let’s have ourselves a weekend!
from, matt
