History of Disney WorldDisney World, A Trip Through TimeWe can't begin the story of the history of Disney World without a brief discussion of the original Mouseketeer himself, Walt Disney! Even before Disneyland first opened its doors in 1955, Walt Disney had already proven himself as a leader in the fledgling animation film business. Starting in the '30s with a little black and white mouse introduced as Steamboat Willie, by the time Disneyland was started Walt Disney had already many short films and even some major presentations, including Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty. The History of Disney World By 1959, just four short years after visitors began to explore the wonders of the Magic Kingdom, a problem was discovered. At that time over 75% of the population of the United States lived east of the Mississippi River, and only a scant 2% had visited the park. What was the solution? Find a suitable site, closer to such a large source of revenue. In 1963 Walt decided on an area of land that would soon end up as the great Disney World Resort. When he found out all the ways customers could travel to get there -- the Florida Turnpike, the McCoy Air Force Base (later to become Orlando International Airport,) as well as the planned construction of Interstate 4 -- he immediately fell in love with the spot. So as not to attract too much attention, a plan was devised to purchase the lots under several dummy corporations. With catchy names like the Latin-American Development and Management Corporation, Reedy Creek Ranch Corporation, and even the Ayefour Corporation, a joke about the developing Interstate 4, who would ever find out? Well, on October 20th of 1965, the truth about Disney's ownership leaked to the Orlando Sentinel, and by November 15th Walt Disney held a press conference announcing plans for not only Disney World, but also his vision of the perfect futuristic city, The Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow, or Progress City as it was called back then. Sadly, he didn't live to see EPCOT Center or any of the rest of his dream, as he died on December 15th of the following year. Walt's brother Roy took over the mighty reigns and was able to finish and open the Magic Kingdom Walt Disney Resort. At that time it was three parks in one, including the Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort, as well as Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. Although Roy saw the grand opening in October of 1971, he too died before construction was finished on what was eventually called Epcot Center (the name was changed in 1996), which opened in 1982 and became its own theme park. Inspired by show business and movies, Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, with a fourth theme park called Animal Kingdom opening in 1998.
The History of Walt Disney World Lives On
|
