The Mouse that need not roar: How Disney World at 50 shapes Florida, wields influence

[Zorro]

The company's lobbyists sit silently while others struggle to persuade policymakers

Fifty years after Disney World opened its doors, it's not such a "small world after all."

Indeed, the Central Florida entertainment empire that Walt built now must deal with big world problems, such as gridlocked highways, a housing shortage and stressed natural resources.

The mystery is why government planners did not follow The Walt Disney Company's lead in land-use planning for counties that straddle the 38-miles along Interstate 4 that Disney used to build “the happiest place on earth,” including the world's No. 1 tourist destination, Walt Disney World.

In the last half-century, Orange and Osceola counties have grown from 370,000 people to 1.8 million. That makes Disney the big mouse in the room, so to speak, when politicians meet to discuss issues affecting workers or decide who pays to accommodate population growth.

The debris from that population explosion clogs I-4 with urban sprawl, but the Reedy Creek Improvement District is exempt from most state regulations and is where the counties have no say. Reedy Creek, created by Disney and lawmakers, has its own police and fire departments, taxing power and building code.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/14/walt-disney-world-remains-florida-biggest-political-power-50-years-later/5919720001/

[Best_man23]

1. There's a saying in Florida Politics

Don't take on the Mouse.

When we were still living in Florida, the Republicant held Florida government passed laws to expand open carry. The draft bill included amusement parks as one of the places where open carry would be permitted. When this part of the bill became public, Disney responded saying they would not permit open carry and to further make the point, they threatened to stop further growth in the state.

Needless to say, the Republicants changed the final bill to exclude amusement parks from the open carry law.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. My family is headed to WDW in December