"All over Orlando you see forces at work that are changing America from Fairbanks to Little Rock. This, truly, is a 21st-century paradigm: It is growth built on consumption, not production; a society founded not on natural resources, but upon the dissipation of capital accumulated elsewhere; a place of infinite possibilities, somehow held together, to the extent it is held together at all, by a shared recognition of highway signs, brand names, TV shows, and personalities, rather than any shared history. Nowhere else is the juxtaposition of what America actually is and the conventional idea of what America should be more vivid and revealing."

"Welcome to the theme-park nation." [more inside]
posted by wander on Mar 2, 2007 - 61 comments

The Reedy Creek Improvement District's goal "is to provide effective and efficient services to the public and our taxpayers." The taxpayer is Disney, and the taxes are used to provide services for Disney by contracting the services to Disney. The RCID is a county-like entity in Florida, composed of the cities of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, which are also controlled by Disney. The government of the RCID is elected by the landowners - Disney executives who own five-acre plots, the only non-corporate and non-government landowners. The governments of the cities are elected by the residents - about 40 Disney employees split between Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista. The Rotten Library (SFW article on a NSFW site) discusses the district, which is administered from a SimCity 2000 construction site.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Feb 9, 2007 - 17 comments

Tigger arrested on molestation charges. Why couldn't it have been Eeyore? or Piglet?
posted by aaaaa on Apr 2, 2004 - 28 comments

Walt Disney World's recent designation as a no-fly zone has had an additional consequence: Christian extremists can no longer harass gay tourists from above.
posted by donkeyschlong on Jun 3, 2003 - 28 comments

Hostage situation prompts Disney hotel evacuation: "A police SWAT team was dispatched to a hotel at Walt Disney World today after a guest informed the desk he was armed and holding a food service worker and a 4-year-old child hostage"
posted by palegirl on Jun 29, 2000 - 2 comments