The Reedy Creek Battle Could Affect Disney Springs. Here’s How.

While the battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney is often described as just that — a battle between the Mouse and the Florida Governor — some are now making a point to clarify that the feud affects SO much more.

DeSantis previously threatened Disney with hotel tax changes and tolls for theme park roads, and now business owners in the area have spoken up as to just how those threats could seriously impact them.

On April 26th, the DeSantis-appointed board of supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (the new name for the Reedy Creek Improvement District) held a meeting on various topics — you can see our summary of some key things from the meeting here.

At the start of the meeting was a section for public comments, which allowed local businesses and others to voice their concerns regarding the future of the District. Various leaders from restaurants within Disney Springs and other areas in Disney World took the opportunity to make their voices heard.

First up was Steven Schussler, who founded Rainforest Cafe, T-REX Cafe, Yak & Yeti, and The BOATHOUSE in Disney World. Schussler shared that he is passionate about what he’s done and has invested in his staff and employees. He then noted how his employees have expressed concerns over what’s happening with Reedy Creek. Schussler emphasized that his employees work hard and people’s lives are on the line.

Schussler suggested the creation of an advisory board where operating participants could have their voices heard and not just be on the outside. The board later addressed this (somewhat) in discussing potential action to clarify ways for the public to contact the board and express concerns.

Steve Lombardo, CEO of Gibson Restaurant Group, which operates THE BOATHOUSE in Disney Springs, came to the podium as well.

Lombardo pointed out that they are NOT Disney, but rather just a tenant of Disney’s. He went on to explain that last year, the restaurant paid $3.9 million in taxes and other costs. He touched on the fact that restaurants already run on very tight margins, and talked about the hit that the restaurant industry took due to the global pandemic, coupled with inflation and increased costs.

Lombardo shared, “The discussion of additional taxes…has been very concerning for us… Please understand that when you make these decisions, that it impacts far more than just Disney.”

The board’s chairman (Martin Garcia) thanked Lombardo for his comments, stating that one of the main reasons the new board was appointed was to ensure that the District performs better for more people in the District, and noted that they are sensitive to the issues of small businesses.

But that’s not all — the board also heard from Mark Gibson, who operates Splitsville, Homecomin’, and Everglazed. Gibson talked about how the focus of some of these battles has been on Disney but pointed out that the parks, hotels, and most of Disney Springs are (at least in part) made up of small businesses and “regular” people.

Gibson pointed out that the dispute (which has continued for more than a year) has brought a lot of negative publicity that they’ve had to deal with when it comes to their customers and guests. He pointed out that his employees don’t work for Disney — they work for 3 small businesses.

Gibson talked about how they couldn’t have asked for a better partner than Disney during the pandemic. He argued that Disney is committed to excellence and that they keep their parks and Disney Springs clean, safe, and relevant.

He pointed out his concern that Disney’s plans to invest more in Disney World might suffer from the increased taxes and regulations (threatened by DeSantis and the Board). He noted that Disney and the board could be a powerful coalition and urged the team at Disney, the Governor’s office, and the board to work to find a solution that’s good for everyone.

Board chairman Garcia insisted that they’d be taking these comments “to heart.”

Next, George Miliotes and his wife appeared before the board to discuss their concerns. Miliotes and his wife (Leanne) are the owners of Wine Bar George in Disney Springs. He shared that what has really made a difference in their business is the 90 families employed by their restaurant. He said that a change in the business climate can really impact those people.

Leanne explained that there were many struggles during COVID, and have to deal with high food costs, high labor costs, and more. She called it a constant battle to determine how much they can raise prices. And according to Leanne, they’re at the point where they feel like they’ve raised their prices as much as they can. She said they’re hoping additional costs will level out at this point.

Leanne noted that any initiatives the board considers that make things more costly and difficult could have a significant impact on their business and their employees.

Then the board heard from the team behind Basin. Shawna Heninger (president of the Company) spoke and emphasized that regulations and increased taxes could negatively impact them. She also sang the praises of Disney, saying “Disney has been the best landlord and partner we’ve ever worked with.”

Heninger specifically mentioned the threat of tolls on the roads to Disney (which is something DeSantis had previously mentioned but later seemed to back off from in another press conference). According to Heninger, if that were done, her employees wouldn’t be able to continue to work or she’d have to pay them more to really make it work — she warned that things like that could cripple their business. She implored the board to think about her business, other businesses that operate there, and their employees when making decisions on taxes and regulation matters.

Finally, the board heard from Richard Debler, the CEO of Palmas Restaurant Group. This group has been working with Disney for years (since the 1980s) and operates a restaurant at Disney Springs, the Mexico pavilion in EPCOT, and more.

He noted that this could be a good opportunity to really bring back the collaboration between the Governor and Disney World, and echoed the statements of the other leaders (in terms of being concerned about increased costs that could result from the board’s actions).

The bottom line? These businesses essentially all came to make it clear that the fight between DeSantis and Disney impacts so much more than the Walt Disney Company and the Governor — it also impacts local businesses that operate in Disney World and their employees. The board’s chairman (Garcia) repeated time and time again that the board was thankful for these comments and would be taking them to heart.

But, at another point of the meeting, he also made a point to direct some comments to these small business leaders about the board’s relationship with Disney. According to Garcia, the board met with a Disney VP and thought that they were off to a good start. But they later discovered the agreements Disney had entered into with the prior board (which the board has since declared invalid) and felt like that was an indication that Disney was not really working together with the new board.

He said, “Disney picked the fight with this board.” And according to Garcia, because they’ve had to hire lawyers to evaluate Disney’s agreements, that will cost the District money and they’re going to have to raise taxes.

So it seems that despite the business’ concerns, taxes could be increasing soon. Following this latest board meeting, Disney filed suit against DeSantis and the board for essentially retaliating against them in response to Disney’s statement on the Parental Rights in Education bill, and DeSantis has since issued a response.

We’ll continue to update you all with DeSantis and Disney news, so make sure to follow along.