If Florida repeals "The Reedy Creek Improvement Charter", how does that change Disney going forward?

[umichigan10]

Until I read this thread, I had no idea this was a thing. I just read an article on The Daily Beast (no idea which side they lean to, but the article was written in 2013) about how the CIA helped Disney secure the land in Florida and how Disney worked with the CIA to provide cover stories and propaganda, and pretty much lied to everyone to skirt state and federal law to build the empire. It actually blew my mind a little bit. Just search for How the CIA helped Disney conquer Florida. I also had no idea the state of Florida has no authority to inspect or shut down rides at Disney World. I knew Disney handled it in house, but I didn't realize Florida couldn't even if they wanted to- a special piece of legislation was carved out for theme parks with over 1k employee's (gee, who does that benefit?).

I’ve never heard of the CIA helping them, but they did some super shady things with dummy corps and whatnot. I understand why they did it (to keep the land cheap) but it definitely wasn’t the most ethical thing

 

[AvidDisReader]

I’ve never heard of the CIA helping them, but they did some super shady things with dummy corps and whatnot. I understand why they did it (to keep the land cheap) but it definitely wasn’t the most ethical thing

NO, NO, NO--the CIA Never helped Disney buy the land in Florida. I read the book that the article referred to, I FORMER CIA employee did indeed help Disney. But he was not working with the CIA at the time.

 

[umichigan10]

NO, NO, NO--the CIA Never helped Disney buy the land in Florida. I read the book that the article referred to, I FORMER CIA employee did indeed help Disney. But he was not working with the CIA at the time.

Ah, that makes more sense lol. And entirely possible. They did some crazy back channel stuff when they bought up the property

 

[bbeagle]

Until I read this thread, I had no idea this was a thing. I just read an article on The Daily Beast (no idea which side they lean to, but the article was written in 2013) about how the CIA helped Disney secure the land in Florida and how Disney worked with the CIA to provide cover stories and propaganda, and pretty much lied to everyone to skirt state and federal law to build the empire. It actually blew my mind a little bit. Just search for How the CIA helped Disney conquer Florida. I also had no idea the state of Florida has no authority to inspect or shut down rides at Disney World. I knew Disney handled it in house, but I didn't realize Florida couldn't even if they wanted to- a special piece of legislation was carved out for theme parks with over 1k employee's (gee, who does that benefit?).

It's dangerous to put lies like this out there. Please research before you spread this misinformation.

The CIA was not involved. I think just a former employee who didn't work there anymore, who was now doing real-estate. Disney needed a bunch of land, so it made many mini-shell corporations with different names (like Latin-American Development and Management Corp., Tomahawk Properties and M.T. Lott Co.) to buy up different parcels of land. If they would have used the Disney name, then the land might never have been sold to them or would have been MUCH more expensive. It's amazing they kept it a secret for years until they had enough contiguous land together.

Many other companies have done similar things. It's done all the time. It's not illegal.

Websites like the Daily Beast are horrible. They take things out of context to outright lie. You should vet your sources before believing them.

 

[lowlight]

NO, NO, NO--the CIA Never helped Disney buy the land in Florida. I read the book that the article referred to, I FORMER CIA employee did indeed help Disney. But he was not working with the CIA at the time.

True, the article doesn't say if they (it states two people from the CIA) were former or current. It's still a very sordid history, and not exactly something for Disney to be proud of.

 

[lowlight]

It's dangerous to put lies like this out there. Please research before you spread this misinformation.

The CIA was not involved. I think just a former employee who didn't work there anymore, who was now doing real-estate. Disney needed a bunch of land, so it made many mini-shell corporations with different names (like Latin-American Development and Management Corp., Tomahawk Properties and M.T. Lott Co.) to buy up different parcels of land. If they would have used the Disney name, then the land might never have been sold to them or would have been MUCH more expensive. It's amazing they kept it a secret for years.

Many other companies have done similar things. It's done all the time. It's not illegal.

Dangerous for who? Maybe you'd take it up with the person who wrote the article, I don't really care what some random guy on the internet (you) thinks about an article I didn't write.

 

[bbeagle]

Dangerous for who? Maybe you'd take it up with the person who wrote the article, I don't really care what some random guy on the internet (you) thinks about an article I didn't write.

Don't believe me - but DO RESEARCH before spreading misinformation. It's very dangerous for society that lies are repeated so much until people believe them.

 

[BrianL]

I’ve never heard of the CIA helping them, but they did some super shady things with dummy corps and whatnot. I understand why they did it (to keep the land cheap) but it definitely wasn’t the most ethical thing

Yeah, to keep the land cheap and available at all. So many poeple bought land around Disneyland and still won't sell it to this day - why would they? It's a gold mine!

 

[bbeagle]

True, the article doesn't say if they (it states two people from the CIA) were former or current. It's still a very sordid history, and not exactly something for Disney to be proud of.

why is it a 'sorid history'? What's wrong with what Disney did? They simply created smaller companies to buy land as to not create histeria that Disney was trying to build something in Florida. Walt Disney World would never have been built if it wasn't for this. It was very smart and ingenious. I bet you don't understand Walt's problems with Disneyland, do you?

 

[lowlight]

Don't believe me - but DO RESEARCH before spreading misinformation. It's very dangerous for society that lies are repeated so much until people believe them.

The same basic story can be found on dozens of websites, I should have prefaced that I don’t have a PhD in Disney facts. Your issue with the story is whether they were active or current, something I clarified was unknown to me in my response as it wasn’t stated in the article. A normal and sane response would have been “hey those guys were retired CIA that article was a little misleading” instead of acting like I just swayed an election with my misinformation. Seriously, reread your unedited response and see how over the top it is. We’re talking about 7 decades ago, I’m pretty sure Walt isn’t too worried about whether they were former or current CIA.

 

[AvidDisReader]

For anyone interested, a great book is "Buying Disney's World" by Aaron Goldberg. The ex CIA employee who helped in the Florida Project was named Paul Helliwell.

 

[BostonEd]

I didn't read the posts, because this is such a waste of time. The charter is not going to be revoked. It simply isn't going to happen. Go listen to a song you like or something, don't waste your time pontificating about this.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

NO, NO, NO--the CIA Never helped Disney buy the land in Florida. I read the book that the article referred to, I FORMER CIA employee did indeed help Disney. But he was not working with the CIA at the time.

For anyone interested, a great book is "Buying Disney's World" by Aaron Goldberg. The ex CIA employee who helped in the Florida Project was named Paul Helliwell.

Also read up on William “ Wild Bill” Donovan. He was involved as well.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Also read up on William “ Wild Bill” Donovan. He was involved as well.

Yep, he is included in the book above (but passed away in 1959, prior to most of the WDW land acquisition).

 

[lowlight]

why is it a 'sorid history'? What's wrong with what Disney did? They simply created smaller companies to buy land as to not create histeria that Disney was trying to build something in Florida. Walt Disney World would never have been built if it wasn't for this. It was very smart and ingenious. I bet you don't understand Walt's problems with Disneyland, do you?

Maybe you can read the article, that’s usually a good first step when you want to argue the points in it. I’m happy to read your source of 100% verified facts with no biases too, to see the other side of the story. Where can I find it?

 

[mkb3]

Florida easily has the upper hand in this, its not like they are going to up and move the theme parks. Florida will win no matter what.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Maybe you can read the article, that’s usually a good first step when you want to argue the points in it. I’m happy to read your source of 100% verified facts with no biases too, to see the other side of the story. Where can I find it?

I would say the word "sordid" is a little to strong. Did Disney and there representitives go to great lengths to disguise who was buying the land, absolutely. But it is not like they did anything illegal. Remember most of the land was swamp land that had very little value. The idea was to buy the land at the current value before people realized it was Disney buying to build a new Theme park.

 

[lowlight]

I would say the word "sordid" is a little to strong. Did Disney and there representitives go to great lengths to disguise who was buying the land, absolutely. But it is not like they did anything illegal. Remember most of the land was swamp land that had very little value. The idea was to buy the land at the current value before people realized it was Disney buying to build a new Theme park.

Definitely not illegal, I’m sure they toed the line of legality, but I meant more of the rest of the article where they said the law was written by Disney lawyers and signed into Florida law by the legislature without changing any of it. Legislature that arguably gives Disney too much power over itself.

 

[middlechild]

If RCID was disbanded, and that is a big if due to the amount of political donations made in the past, there would be big changes. Look to Disneyland and issues with the Orange County board for an example of what an outside group with authority would hold over the parks. Eastern Gateway, anyone? Oh wait, that was killed by new members of the Orange County CA board post elections, when candidates clearly anti-Disney were elected. Something about bypassing local businesses and tax abatement and not paying their fair share or some such. This is not a new problem, as a look back in history shows. Within a few years of Disneyland opening, Walt (and Roy implicitly) vowed never again to be found wanting for lack of control of areas outside the gates. Hence RCID was formed. Just like in Orange County CA the populace outside the gates has been shown the out sized influence of the largest employer and decided to take action against it.
The counties in FL that surround the parks would be just salivating at the idea of how to turn influence over park operations into campaign donations.

 

[DSLRuser]

Don't believe me - but DO RESEARCH before spreading misinformation. It's very dangerous for society that lies are repeated so much until people believe them.

it is dangerous for society to censor and limit ideas and thoughts.

The burden is on YOU to read something and then read supporting or comments or dissenting comments to for YOUR opinion.