ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Florida lawmakers have filed an amendment to give Florida the power to inspect Disney’s monorail.
It’s part of retaliation efforts against the Walt Disney company, after it undermined Governor Desantis’ new Reedy Creek board.
Walt Disney World’s transportation is one of the most iconic aspects of the resort, including its 15 miles of monorail. It debuted as part of Walt Disney’s futuristic vision when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971.
For 52 years it has operated with only a half-dozen incidents. The most notable being a crash in 2009 that killed a 21-year-old driver.
Now Governor DeSantis has turned his ire on the monorail.
Disney inspects its own rides and monorail, but lawmakers are stripping both powers away.
In an amendment to a license plate reader bill, SB1250, lawmakers said monorail systems in special districts that cross county lines would be subject to state inspections. The rule would only apply to Disney’s monorail.
“If Disney wants to bring the fight, I think they would probably win the fight,” said Attorney Jacob Schumer.
Schumer and his peers believe Disney would win that fight, because the government has handed Disney a clear-cut retaliation argument.
They say the more specific the law, the harder it will be for government attorneys to argue anything else in court, should Disney sue.
Reedy Creek’s new board will be back in session on Wednesday to officially declare the development agreement that the old board struck with Disney is “null and void.”
Experts say it is a precursor to the district filing a suit against Disney as early as Wednesday.