Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District on April 22, 2022, ending the most successful experiment in private governance in U.S. history. The bill effectively ended an arrangement that turned a swamp on the edges of Orlando into the home of Walt Disney World. Disney attorneys quickly outfoxed DeSantis, delegating many of the district’s powers back to the company. The company is now suing to reverse the dissolved district. Amid a political feud between DeSantis and Disney, experts agree that Disney will likely retain most of its longstanding autonomy. DeSantis’ attempt to dissolve the district is seen as an effort to bully a private company because he disapproved of its speech, revealing him as a culture warrior rather than a small-government conservative. The fate of “the happiest place on Earth” now hangs in the balance. The Reedy Creek Improvement District, created in the 1960s, allowed Disney to tax itself to finance infrastructure and public services. Disney was exempt from state building and zoning rules, and there were no local politicians interfering with its prerogatives. Disney also had broad powers to build and manage a model city envisioned by Walt Disney, known as EPCOT. This vision, however, was quietly scuttled after Walt’s death. The district has been a successful experiment in private governance, hosting thousands of visitors and employees daily, and running instructive experiments in public services and green energy. Celebration, Florida, a model community developed by Disney in the 1990s, was an attempt to fulfill Walt’s EPCOT vision, but it has more in common with Main Street, U.S.A., than the city of tomorrow.