Construction began in 1967, less than a year after Walt Disney's death. It opened on October 1, 1971, with the Magic Kingdom theme park, and has since opened Epcot (on October 1, 1982), Disney-MGM Studios (on May 1, 1989), and Disney's Animal Kingdom (on April 22, 1998).
The 25,000 acre (101 km²) property is the world's largest theme park resort, although significant land has been sold off for housing and other developments, including land now occupied by the Disney-built (but not owned) community of Celebration. It once covered approximately 30,000 acres or 47 square miles (120 km²), about the size of San Francisco or Manchester, or twice the size of Manhattan.
It is accessible from Central Florida's Interstate 4 via Exits 62B (World Drive), 64B (US 192 West), 65B (Osceola Parkway West), 67B (SR 536 West), and 68 (SR 535 North). In addition, in 2006 a new western entrance opened from Exit 8 on State Road 429 (Florida), the Western Expressway. It also runs a bus line that connects the resort to Orlando International Airport and the Disney Cruise Line terminal in Port Canaveral.
Meg Crofton was named president of the resort in August 2006, replacing Al Weiss, who had overseen the site since 1994.
History and development
In 1959, the Walt Disney Company, under the leadership of Walt Disney, began looking for land for a second resort to supplement Disneyland, which had opened in Anaheim, California in 1955. Market surveys revealed that only 2% of Disneyland's visitors came from east of the Mississippi River, where 75% of the population of the United States lived. Additionally, Walt Disney disliked the businesses that had sprung up around Disneyland (the "neon jungle"), and wanted control of a much larger area of land for the new project.
Some rumors, told as legend to incoming Disney World cast members, suggest that Disney wanted the large amount of land so that visitors could be better isolated from the trappings of the real world. Most common of these is the story of a family that left Disneyland early because they saw building rush hour traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway from the Skyway ride.
Walt Disney first flew over the Orlando site (one of many) on November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He first flew over and appealed to the Sanford, Florida city council to allow him to build Disney World in Sanford, but his appeal was declined. The citizens of Sanford did not want the crime that was sure to come with tourism. He saw the well-developed network of roads, including Interstate 4 and Florida's Turnpike, with McCoy Air Force Base (later Orlando International Airport) to the east, and immediately fell in love with the site. When later asked why he chose it, he said, "the freeway routes, they bisect here." Walt Disney focused most of his attention on the "Florida Project" both before and after his participation at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, but he died on December 15, 1966, five years before his vision was realized.
To avoid a burst of land speculation, Disney used various dummy corporations and cooperative individuals to acquire 27,400 acres (110 km²) of land. The first five-acre (20,000 m²) lot was bought on October 23, 1964, by the Ayefour Corporation (a pun on Interstate 4). Another dummy corporation name which land was bought under was RETLAW which spelled backwards is WALTER. Others were also used with a second or secret meanings which add to the lore of the Florida Project.
In May 1965, major land transactions were recorded a few miles southwest of Orlando in Osceola County. Two large tracts totaling $1.5 million were sold, and smaller tracts of flatlands and cattle pastures were purchased by exotic-sounding companies such as the Latin-American Development and Management Corporation and the Reedy Creek Ranch Corporation. In addition to three huge parcels of land were many smaller parcels, referred to as "outs."
Much of the land had been platted into five-acre (20,000 m²) lots in 1912 by the Munger Land Company and sold to investors. In most cases, the owners were happy to get rid of the land, which was mostly swampland. Yet another problem was the mineral rights to the land, owned by Tufts University. Without the transfer of these rights, Tufts could come in at any time and demand the removal of buildings to obtain minerals.
After most of the land had been bought, the truth of the property's owner was leaked to the Orlando Sentinel on October 20, 1965. A press conference soon was organized for November 15. At the presentation, Walt Disney explained the plans for the site, including EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which was to be a futuristic city (and which was also known as Progress City). Plans for EPCOT would drastically change after Disney's death. EPCOT became EPCOT Center, the resort's second theme park, which opened in 1982. Concepts from the original idea of EPCOT would be integrated into the community of Celebration much later.
The Reedy Creek Drainage District was incorporated on May 13, 1966 under Florida State Statutes Chapter 298, which gives powers including eminent domain to special Drainage Districts. To create the District, only the support of the landowners within was required.
Walt Disney himself died on December 15, 1966, before his vision was realized. His brother Roy Disney postponed his retirement to oversee construction of the resort, passing away in December 1971, barely two months after it opened.
Statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse
Statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse
On February 2, 1967, Roy Disney held a press conference at the Park Theatres in Winter Park, Florida. The role of EPCOT was emphasized in the film that was played, the last one recorded by Walt Disney before his death. After the film, it was explained that for Walt Disney World to succeed, a special district would have to be formed: the Reedy Creek Improvement District with two cities inside it, the City of Bay Lake and the City of Reedy Creek (now the City of Lake Buena Vista). In addition to the standard powers of an incorporated city, which include the issuance of tax-free bonds, the Improvement District would have total immunity from any current or future county or state land-use laws. The only areas where the District had to submit to the county and state would be property taxes and elevator inspections.
The laws forming the District and the two Cities was signed into law on May 12, 1967. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1968 that the District was allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds for public projects within the district despite the sole beneficiary being The Walt Disney Company.
Construction of drainage canals was soon begun by the Improvement District, and Disney built the first roads and the Magic Kingdom. Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground were also completed in time for the park's opening on October 1, 1971. The Palm and Magnolia Golf Courses (located across the street from the Magic Kingdom) were actually opened a few weeks before.
Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney's older brother, dedicated the property and declared that it officially would be known as "Walt Disney World" in his brother's honor. In his own words: "Everyone has heard of Ford cars. But have they all heard of Henry Ford, who started it all? Walt Disney World is in memory of the man who started it all, so people will know his name as long as Walt Disney World is here." After the dedication, Roy Disney asked Walt's widow, Lillian, what she thought of Walt Disney World. According to biographer Bob Thomas, she replied, "I think Walt would have approved."
Walt Disney World had its own aircraft runway located just east of the Magic Kingdom parking lot. When the resort opened in 1971, Shawnee Airlines began regular passenger service from Orlando's McCoy Air Force Base (now Orlando International Airport) directly to Disney World's STOLport (Short Take Off and Landing) on a daily basis, with flights lasting only a few minutes. Today, the runway is mostly used as a staging area for buses and is no longer in service for aircraft.
Properties
A popular misconception is that the resort exists in Orlando. In fact, the entire Walt Disney World property is outside Orlando city limits; the majority sits within southwestern Orange County with the remainder in adjacent Osceola County to the south.
Most of Walt Disney World's Central Florida land and all of the public areas are located in the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, located southwest of Orlando and a few miles northwest of Kissimmee.
The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is separate from any other municipality, has allowed Disney to influence governmental powers over the area and not be impeded by local governments. For example, Disney rides cannot be closed down by the state's Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection and are exempt from state safety inspections , though this is not to imply that they are not inspected or are unsafe. Residents largely live in timeshares and cannot vote for the Reedy Creek board allowing Disney influence of the board that it helped to create.