Reedy Creek firefighters will no longer receive theme park passes

The clown show continues. When is that trial date? I'll bring the popcorn - and I don't even like popcorn.

The old copy and paste from another “reliable” source. I can do that too:

DeSantis’ tourism district takes aim at Disney ‘perks’ but offers $1,000 stipend

By SKYLER SWISHER | sswisher@orlandosentinel.com | Orlando Sentinel
PUBLISHED: August 21, 2023 at 6:15 p.m. | UPDATED: August 22, 2023 at 7:28 a.m.

Officials with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight district are asking Florida’s inspector general to investigate theme park passes, discounts and other Disney “perks” they say were given to employees and board members for years.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is moving to eliminate those benefits offered to employees of the district that provides government services to Disney World, according to a news release.

Employees will instead get a $1,000 annual stipend as part of the proposed changes to the district’s annual pass program, according to an email to employees from administrator Glen Gilzean that was first reported by WFTV-Channel 9.

An internal analysis showed only about 50% of employees used the annual pass perk, according to the email.

The stipend could be used for theme park tickets, car repairs, savings or other needs, district officials told employees in the email. Annual Disney passes can range in price from $399 to $969 per person for Florida residents, some with significant black-out dates, according to Disney’s website.

The previous Disney-run Reedy Creek Improvement District used taxpayer funds to give season passes to employees and their family members, cover the costs of Disney discounts and supply “VIP” entrance passes to board members, costing $2.5 million in 2022 alone, the district’s news release said.

“In addition to constituting unethical benefits and perks, the scheme raises significant questions regarding self-dealing as the board members were only permitted a maximum of $100 per month in compensation per the Reedy Creek Improvement District Act,” the district said in an unsigned statement.

Disney and a Central Florida Tourism Oversight District spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The district’s actions only apply to government employees at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, not workers directly employed by Disney.

The special district employs about 400 people. Disney and its affiliates are the main taxpayers in the district, accounting for about 86% of the property tax revenue.

District officials released a Disney invoice they found including a charge of $492,382 for “Q1 FY22 Tickets.” Line items included $16,837 in merchandise discounts, $4,969 in food and beverage discounts and $3,764 in water park discounts.

Other line items deal with employee hotel room discounts at the Disney Yacht Club Resort, Disney Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney Coronado Springs Resort.

Employees will continue to have access to Disney properties for official duties, district officials said.

Jon Shirey, president of the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters, said his union is preparing remarks but didn’t have a comment Monday night.

For decades, Disney controlled the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which provides fire protection, utilities and other government services for Disney World. As the main landowner, Disney elected the district’s five supervisors, giving it effective control over the special taxing district.

Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature upended Disney’s arrangement, put the governor in charge of picking board members and renamed Reedy Creek the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. DeSantis replaced the Disney-friendly board members with five Republican allies.

The tourism oversight district’s move comes after DeSantis said in an interview with CNBC he had “basically moved on” from his dispute with Disney and urged the entertainment giant to drop its lawsuit against the state.

Disney sued DeSantis, the tourism district and other state officials in federal court, alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” DeSantis’ tourism district has a lawsuit pending in state court accusing Disney and the previous Disney-run board of improperly approving development agreements ahead of the state takeover.

The feud started last year after Disney opposed legislation critics called the “don’t say gay” law, which limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

BTW, it’s called the Parental Rights in Education Bill! PERVERTED LOSERS!

And shame on you, Robert. This is why I’m here posting what I post. I thought this was Theme Park Insider, not Liberal Politics 101.
And the push back continues…

Oh, and they got raises:

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District approves new contract for firefighters
Updated: 12:47 PM EDT Jul 26, 2023
Bob Hazen, Reporter

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. —
The firefighters who serve at Walt Disney World will be getting a pay increase.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s board of supervisors approved a new contract with Reedy Creek firefighters on Wednesday morning.

The contract increases starting pay for a new firefighter-paramedic from $55,000 to $66,000. A newly hired firefighter-EMT will get $56,000, up from $47,000.

Long-time members of the fire department will also get large increases: a firefighter-paramedic who’s reached the 12th step of the pay progression schedule will earn more than $112,000, compared to $85,000 under the old contract.

The firefighters had been working on a contract that expired four years ago. They’d hit an impasse in negotiations with the former leaders of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, who had been appointed by Disney.

Members of the firefighters’ union said they were pleased with the agreement.

“There has been discussion of increasing the staffing, and we’re hoping with our new pay and incentives, and just getting the drama behind us, that we’ll be able to recruit and retain new members and talent,” said Aaron Colburn, the vice president of the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters.

The new pay rate will take effect at the end of July.

Can’t even tell the whole story, heh. Typical TH Disney homer.

I'm with you Robert. It is a clown show. And I appreciate your objectivity. I mean, your commentary seemed to take aim at the entire fiasco -- not one entity.

As I said, I am not sure what kind of tickets the Reedy Creek Fire Department WORKERS get. Are they park hoppers? Are there blackouts? I am not sure if the annual $1,000 payments to RCID employees are taxable or represents the equivalent value of the tickets and discounts. And as I said before, I am not sure if the RCID WDW perks are even legal.

I will say this, there are some firefighters who seem to be very upset that they lost the WDW perk. They must really enjoy all of the entertainment and attractions at Disney's Florida parks.

And man, the fallout from the "Don't Say Gay" bill (which is how the commentators on the Comcast-owned MSNBC regularly refer to it) doesn't seem to be dissipating at all.

@Robert -- Nothing wrong with reporting things like this that involved a major theme park. I think your pretty "fair and balanced" :P

Oh the denial, just proof that you’re shills. Sheep! BAAH! Follow the BS.

@ Francis24 - One of the reasons TPI is regarded as one of the web's finest sites related to themed entertainment is his wry sense of humor and the fact that he does not come off as insecure or thin-skinned.

That's an admirable trait.

Best wishes to the Reedy Creek firefighters. Here's hoping all works out for the best.

If Disney wants to do something nice for the Reedy Creek workers they should make it easier for their Guests get free water and have cooling stations around the park that provide shade and AC. The Reedy Creek EMT's literally go from heat illness to heat illness, all day every day, the job is insane. And like everything else they have been cut back over the years so now they are worked nonstop.

@the_man3: I'm sorry but are there credible reports in the media or from other sources that the "Reedy Creek EMT's literally go from heat illness to heat illness, all day every day"? I mean, there are air conditioned spaces throughout the Disney, Universal, SeaWorld parks, cups of water are complimentary at the quick service restaurants (also air conditioned) and there are first aid stations (offices) at all Disney, Universal and SeaWorld parks. Where are you getting these reports that the RCID EMTs are treating dehydration, heat exhaustion "all day, every day"?

I'm at Disney 2-3 times a week, and have to admit I rarely, if at all, have seen EMT's rushing around the parks.

Now that's not saying they are not there, but I'd have to agree with TH here.

I will admit I see a huge amount of people who are obviously having a hard time in the heat, but there are plenty of water stations, fountains and bathrooms where cold water is available.

Same for Universal and SWO.

There is something "off" with the optics of the firefighters receiving free passes to Disney. Maybe, as a former state employee for many years, and our inability to accept anything of value is coloring my opinion here. However, would people think it is OK for Orlando fire fighters to receive free admission to Universal? From the article that was shared: "Aaron Clark, a firefighter with the Reedy Creek Fire Department, spoke about the generational benefits and memories that he made with his dad in the theme parks and the dream to work as a firefighter to make memories with his children in the theme parks." Well, Aaron I am sure most people would like free passes, and here is the thing...nothing is stopping you from STILL making memories with your kids in the theme parks. You just need to pay for the tickets like everyone else.

@MLB - I agree that the reported pass perk seems a bit unethical, but can understand their frustration with losing something that was viewed as an excellent benefit of the job, particularly since it is immune to inflation, which the reported stipend would not be.

I'm sure being part of the Reedy Creek Fire Department was accompanied by some level of prestige within the community, and potentially losing their passes would reduce some of that prestige, putting a job there on par with other fire departments in the area.

In other words, people who feel like they're "special" don't want to be told they're not "special' anymore, even though the actual monetary value of this benefit has actually improved.

@ Russell - I understand what you're saying, I guess I just have a problem with their perception. I am not sure why a Reedy Creek firefighter is any more special than an Orlando firefighter. Honestly, if you think about dangers of the job, the Orlando firefighter has a far more difficult and "risky" job than Reedy Creek. I get that people don't like losing their special perks, but I am not real sure they should have had this perk to begin with.

TH Creative, when was the last time you were on the ops frequency at a Disney Park? It happens literally all day every day:
"Attention all units on these frequencies medic unit [x] enroute to [x] for a heat illness."
Then if the person needs to be transported to the hospital
"Rescue unit [x] enroute to [x] to transport medic unit's patient."
Over and over and over and over. It's pretty regular to have two going on at a time. There have been times when its really, really hot out that up to 4 or 5 are going on at a time.
And how about the good ole:
"Duty manager from control, be advised first aid is out of beds."
So where do you send people with heat illness when that happens? They are just SOL.
How many Reedy Creek EMTs do you know interact with on a regular basis? The job is a meat grinder and the pay is crap. Then also factor in that, like everything else, Disney has cut the amount of EMTs over the past few years to save money, and add onto that that it keeps getting hotter and this was the hottest summer ever.

In regards to having plenty of shade and AC, go to Cosmics Rays between 1-4pm on a day where the heat index is over 95 degrees (which has been like every day all summer). There are people sitting on the floors all along the walls just trying to get a gasp of AC because the tables are all full.
And yes they do offer free water like everyone else but they don't make it easily available. You have go to a QSR and either wait in line or try to get some random person working on the food lines attention and ask them which is inconvenient at best. But making it easy would cut into water/soda sales.

@the_man: "And yes they do offer free water like everyone else but they don't make it easily available. You have go to a QSR and either wait in line or try to get some random person working on the food lines attention and ask them which is inconvenient at best."

Me: So if I am at an Orlando theme park (Disney or somewhere else) and I have a person in my party who has fallen into stress related to heat or dehydration, and I walk up to any CM and tell them I need help (in a retail shop, as a greeter in front of an attraction) you're claiming that CM will direct me to a QR code and tell me I have to stand in line to get water?

@the_man: "And yes they do offer free water like everyone else but they don't make it easily available. You have go to a QSR and either wait in line or try to get some random person working on the food lines attention and ask them which is inconvenient at best."

Me: So if I am at an Orlando theme park (Disney or somewhere else) and I have a person in my party who has fallen into stress related to heat or dehydration, and I walk up to any CM and tell them I need help (in a retail shop, as a greeter in front of an attraction) you're claiming that CM will direct me to a QR code and tell me I have to stand in line to get water?

I have to pipe in a little here. Disney parks are second to none in customer satisfaction. Of course they assist with hydration. I can remember one time I made a negative expression on my face of frustration when my rather large group had to leave an attraction to make a reservation. A cast member was on my group instantly and gave our entire group universal fast passes. Another time they comped about $100 of food because we had to stand in line for five minutes while a cashier sorted a problem with another guest. There are countless similar situations which has made us life long regulars. I don't agree with everything they have done (cost and line management), but I could not manage that many people any better that is certain. I could list example after example of CMs going way above and beyond.

@the_man3 ... "water isn't easily available "
You're joking right?

There's a water fountain outside every restroom. Every food stall will give you a cup of iced water, with a lot of them having water already available, sitting on a tray.
Finally there's the soda fountains in the restaurants and cafés, that you can just walk up to and refill with nice cold water.

I would suggest, before you start making widely inaccurate and untrue statements, you visit the parks and see what's available.

As Mr. T would say: I pity the corporate apologists who don't understand how this kind of stuff actually works lol.

Is there a conspiracy to make it hard to get free water? No not really. When I went to deal with heat illness situations would I grab Dasani out of the cooler and give it to the person for free? Of course, i'm not a d-bag. Are there water fountains in the park? Yes there are. Is Disney customer service better than most other theme parks? Sure (though there are other parks that I think have better customer service like Silver Dollar City and Silverwood).

But that doesn't change the fact that it's a business ran by a huge corporation and operates as so. Yes they will come give someone water if they are heat sick, but the point is that they are heat sick in the first place. The water fountains are a joke, the flow is extremely low at most of them because they are old and way over used for the amount of demand they have, the water is warm, and even though it would make the experience a lot better to add more and better water fountains nobody ever does because the cost. They'd have to take up the concrete and run new water lines etc and no VP ever gets the funding to do stuff like that. Look at this picture I took at Six Flags Great Adventure
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AIL4fc_YCBm8w3ftEVIi5ucBErDiL6pU9snVYyg2PhTENB8d0n2IkNficeUyqFjdK-8oMcSZXIjvkqN-P0mrqkxP7IGJFRSj1D6D6XguxgYnO2pwzAXJeC3wGsHeC8HCr2KLaNn9yifYW48gR2cMaZatOLS_=w1343-h895-s-no?authuser=0
(By the way, the reason they have these at SFGAdv is because it was built like that in the first place, I am definitely not saying SF cares about this kind of stuff. There is no way modern SF would do something like that).

Could Disney (and any other park) do something like this? Of course they could, but they don't.
Also there was one summer (it was 2018 or 2019) where the restaurants at MK started pro-actively give people free cups of water. Did you notice that they stopped doing that after a few weeks? Why do you think they stopped doing that? It didn't last long. And have you ever noticed when they give you free water they give you a tiny cup? Sure they do give free water, but they don't want to (I mean the company not the employees).

You can all try to teach me about how parks operate as much as you want. I spent almost every day of my life at Disney theme parks for over 15 years, and at theme parks in general for 30 years.

At my Disneyland trip in March, I bought one bottled water, then kept the bottle with me to fill up at any of the scores of fountains around the parks. Disney is not charging you for those.

this discussion has gone to a really weird place lmao

I was thinking the same thing... somehow, it has become about bottle water and water fountains (bubblers).