Is Walt Disney World Technically A Florida County?

[fiacre68]

When this planet-popular amusement park was on the drawing boards, the Florida state legislature, in order to encourage the Walt Disney Firm to more quickly proceed with their plans(without having also significantly government "interference"), passed a series of laws designed to give the park acreage "county government status," so the corporation would have fundamentally full autonomy to achieve whaterever "zoning" requirements have been needed.So today, is it Nevertheless deemed a sort of "county," with it is personal corporate structure and laws that are valid and enforcible on what is, in essence, "private house?" And if so, how can "private property" also be a "county?"

[eatton50]

[Tory]

somewhere in between Yes, it is still technically a county. However, it chooses not to use those powers, and is de facto a part of the two counties it operates within.==Walt Disney negotiated a very unusual deal with the state of Florida, in order to ensure that Disney World would be built the way Walt wanted it, without a lot of delays with county agencies. The WDW property actually lies in 2 counties(Osceola and Orange), so you can imagine how many layers of red tape there could be!Summarizing from "Since the World Began":Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District is a quasi-governmental entity with power to regulate water management, fire protection, wildlife preservation, roads and bridges, zoning, and guilding codes within the Disney property. There are 2 municipalities: Bay Lake and Reedy Creek(now known as Lake Buena Vista).Disney does collect & pay state/county sales taxes, hotel taxes, and county property taxes(which go towards police, education, and welfare services). The Reedy Creek Improvement District can levy its own taxes for fire protection, roads, utilities, and public transportation within the district. It also generates about a quarter of all power it uses within the district, and makes its own deals to purchase outside power for the rest.Hope this sheds some light on things!==Disney does not have its own force. They do call upon Orange and Osceola County PD and Sherriff. And yes they do give speeding tickets on property as well. Disney does invite them. Sources: http://www.disneyworldtrivia.com/forums/ask-disney-experts/1639-something-about-wdw-government.html Houston_proud 66 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[lazaro94]

Yes, it is still technically a county. However, it chooses not to use those powers, and is de facto a part of the two counties it operates within.==Walt Disney negotiated a very unusual deal with the state of Florida, in order to ensure that Disney World would be built the way Walt wanted it, without a lot of delays with county agencies. The WDW property actually lies in 2 counties(Osceola and Orange), so you can imagine how many layers of red tape there could be!Summarizing from "Since the World Began":Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District is a quasi-governmental entity with power to regulate water management, fire protection, wildlife preservation, roads and bridges, zoning, and guilding codes within the Disney property. There are 2 municipalities: Bay Lake and Reedy Creek(now known as Lake Buena Vista).Disney does collect & pay state/county sales taxes, hotel taxes, and county property taxes(which go towards police, education, and welfare services). The Reedy Creek Improvement District can levy its own taxes for fire protection, roads, utilities, and public transportation within the district. It also generates about a quarter of all power it uses within the district, and makes its own deals to purchase outside power for the rest.Hope this sheds some light on things!==Disney does not have its own force. They do call upon Orange and Osceola County PD and Sherriff. And yes they do give speeding tickets on property as well. Disney does invite them.

[Andre]

WDW is actually its own city, called Reedy Creek. Its legal name is the "Reedy Creek Land Improvement District" but it has its own fire and police forces and they have the same status as a city for taxing, zoning and public safety issues.   You can go here to learn more about this hidden side of Disney: http://www.rcid.org/   Thats why when you drive into Disney and head to the Magic Kingdom, you pass the "Reedy Creek Fire Department".    

[Lou]

First, no, Walt Disney World is not and never was a "county".   The legislation you're talking about created the existance of the "Reedy Creek Improvement District".  This is a governmental district within Florida.  It is not a county.  Indeed, the lands covered by the District are parts of two other counties:  Orange and Osceola.  As an improvement District, Reedy Creek does have certain governmental powers, including the ability to create it's own roads, power stations, have a fire department, etc.   Within the RCID are two cities - the City of Bay Lake and the City of Lake Buena Vista.  Both Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista are within Orange County.   The Walt Disney Company is the sole property owner of all lands within the RCID, and certain friends of the company(generally ex-board members and retired executives) are the only full-time citizens of the District.  As such, yes, the Walt Disney Company effectively does have governmental powers over the lands on which Walt Disney World sits.   The land owned by the Walt Disney Company is indeed private property.  The Reedy Creek Improvement District, on the other hand, is no more "private" than your own local town.  It "just so happens" that the sole landowner and resident of the Reedy Creek Improvement District is the Walt Disney Company.   The Walt Disney Company would be well within their rights to sell any of its land to other private or public individuals or companies, but if they did they, they could potentially lose their exclusive voting rights on the land that the District occupies.     You can learn more about the district and it's relationship to Walt Disney World at the RCID's website: http://www.rcid.org/ and/or the Wikipedia article that covers it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reedy_Creek_Improvement_District

[Nef]

s8film40 said: 1 While the Reedy Creek Improvement District is not actually considered a county it is often confused as a county government. It is a unique one of a kind form of government and due to it's government powers best fits into the category of a county type government. Indeed if you visit the district you will find that all of the District owned vehicles bear Florida county license plates. Interestingly the districts powers go beyond what is outlined in the legislature creating the district. There are two incorporated cities within the district the City of Lake Buena Vista(formerly the City of Reedy Creek) and the City of Bay lake. These two cities each elect a mayor each term and the first order of business is to turn over all control of the municipality to the Reedy Creek Improvement District, thus giving municipal powers in addition to those outlined by the legislature. 55 months ago