DISNEYWORLD
(including EPCOT)
(Oct. 1, 1971–Presnet) BACK STORY: Largest recreational resort in the world with four theme parks. Located in Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Florida, outside Orlando city limits. 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, almost 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 of land. The first five-acre 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. A press conference was organized for November 15, 1965. At the presentation, Walt Disney explained the plans for the site, including EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), which was to be a futuristic city. Plans for EPCOT would drastically change after Disney’s death. EPCOT became EPCOT Center, the resort’s second theme park, opening in 1982. Concepts from the original idea of EPCOT would be integrated into the community of Celebration much later.
Walt Disney himself died in 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. Construction began in 1967 and the park opened on October 1, 1971, as the Magic Kingdom, and since has added Epcot (Oct. 1, 1982), Disney-MGM Studios (May 1, 1989), and Disney’s Animal Kingdom (April 22, 1998). The resort contains two water parks, six golf courses, a sports complex, an auto race track, twenty resort hotels and numerous shopping, dining, and entertainment. It even has its own fire department and a massive public transit system of buses and monorails. The 20,000 acre property is the largest theme park resort in the world, although over the past decade 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.
Most photos available for purchase as enlargements; email your request. To view photos, allow popups in your web browser & click on thumbnails below. |
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