The story
Conception
In 1959, Walt Disney Productions began looking for land to house a second resort to supplement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which had opened in 1955. Market surveys at the time revealed that only 5% 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 and thus wanted more control over a larger area of land in his next project.
After rejecting the idea of an indoor theme park in St. Louis, Missouri, Walt Disney took a flight over a potential site in Orlando, Florida—one of many—in November 1963. Taking into account the well-developed network of roads as well as the planned construction of both Interstate 4 and Florida's Turnpike, along with McCoy Air Force Base (later Orlando International Airport) to the east, Disney selected a centrally located site near Bay Lake. This development was referred to internally as "The Florida Project". Early planning documents also suggest that the project was expected to have a strong economic impact on Florida even before construction began.
To avoid a burst of land speculation, Walt Disney Productions used various dummy corporations to acquire 27,443 acres (43 sq mi; 111 km2) of land, beginning in April 1964. These dummy corporations were originally given tongue-in-cheek names such as the "Ayefour Corporation", "Latin-American Development and Management Corporation", and the "Reedy Creek Ranch Corporation," before eventually being merged by Disney into the Compass East Corporation in 1966. Some of these original dummy names are now memorialized on windows above Main Street, U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom.
Working strictly in secrecy, real estate agents (unaware of their client's identity) began making offers to landowners in parts of southwest Orange and northwest Osceola counties, being careful not to reveal the extent of their intentions. They were able to negotiate numerous land contracts with some landowners, including large tracts of land for as little as $100 an acre; at the time, most landowners were happy to get rid of their land, which was mostly swamp. Additionally, Disney's team negotiated a deal with Tufts University to buy the mineral rights to the land for $15,000. With the understanding that the recording of the first deeds would trigger intense public scrutiny, Disney delayed the filing of paperwork until a large portion of the land was under contract.
After the first deeds were recorded, early rumors and speculation about the land purchases assumed possible development by NASA in support of the nearby Kennedy Space Center, as well as references to other famous investors, such as Ford, the Rockefellers, and Howard Hughes. Eventually, an Orlando Sentinel news article published on May 20, 1965 acknowledged a popular rumor that Disney was building an "East Coast" version of Disneyland. However, the publication denied its accuracy based on an earlier interview with Disney at Kennedy Space Center. In that interview, he claimed a $50 million investment was in the works for Disneyland, and that he had no interest in building a new park.In October 1965, editor Emily Bavar from the Sentinel visited Disneyland during the park's 10th-anniversary celebration. In an interview with Disney, she asked him if he was behind recent land purchases in Central Florida. Bavar later described that Disney "looked like I had thrown a bucket of water in his face", before denying the story. His reaction, combined with other research obtained during her Anaheim visit, led Bavar to write a story on October 21, 1965, where she predicted that Disney was building a second theme park in Florida. Three days later, after gathering more information from various sources, the Sentinel published another article headlined, "We Say: 'Mystery' Industry Is Disney".
Walt Disney had originally planned to publicly reveal Disney World on November 15, 1965, but in light of the Sentinel story, Disney asked Florida Governor Haydon Burns to confirm the story on October 25; Burns did so, calling Disney's project "the greatest attraction in the history of Florida". The official reveal was kept on the previously planned November 15 date, which Disney joined Burns in Orlando for. At the reveal, Disney announced the project in a matter so as to not reveal any specific information, though he did note that the plan was to "top what we [Disney] have, or at least be equivalent to what we have now, in California."
Roy Disney's oversight of construction
Walt Disney died from circulatory collapse caused by smoking-related lung cancer on December 15, 1966, before his vision was realized. According to the Walt Disney Archives, during Disney's lifetime, he personally visited and toured the site only twice: on November 16, 1965, the day after the press conference, and again for a second time, on May 26, 1966. His brother and business partner, Roy O. Disney, postponed his retirement to oversee construction of the resort's first phase.
On February 2, 1967, Roy O. 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. After the film, it was explained that for Disney World, including EPCOT, to succeed, a special district would have to be formed: the Reedy Creek Improvement District with two cities inside it, Bay Lake and Reedy Creek, now Lake Buena Vista. In addition to the standard powers of an incorporated city, which include issuance of tax-free bonds, the district would have 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 legislation forming the district and the two cities, one of which was the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967. The Supreme Court of Florida then ruled in 1968 that the district was allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds for public projects within the district, despite the sole beneficiary being Walt Disney Productions. The district soon began construction of drainage canals, and Disney built the first roads and the Magic Kingdom.
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1971–1982: Opening and early expansion
The Magic Kingdom, Polynesian Village Resort, and Contemporary Resort Hotel opened on October 1, 1971 to moderate crowd of approximately 10,000 guests; Disney officials wanted to avoid the overcrowding issues largely associated with Disneyland's opening. The Magic Kingdom largely followed the same layout and design as Disneyland with many duplicate attractions, though the Walt Disney Company promised to increase the number of unique attractions and attractions overall. The two hotels were constructed using United States Steel's then newly developed construction processes for A-frame longhouses.
A more elaborate grand opening ceremony was held between October 23 and 25. At the ceremony, Roy O. Disney dedicated the property and declared that it 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 responded, "I think Walt would have approved." The Fort Wilderness Campground opened a month later; it would be the last Disney-owned lodging accommodation to open until 1988. Two smaller parks in addition to the Magic Kingdom—Discovery Island and Disney's River Country—opened on April 8, 1974 and on June 20, 1976, respectively. Discovery Island functioned as a zoological park and Disney's River Country as a water park. Discovery Island closed on april 8, 1999 and Disney's River Country on November 2, 2001; though no official reasons were given for either closure, the opening of similar on-property theme parks by Disney (see 1982–2013: Mass expansion) are assumed to have contributed. The Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village also opened in 1975; the area is known today as Disney Springs.
The Walt Disney Company's next big project became the construction of the resort's second theme park, EPCOT Center (renamed Epcot in 1996). Though the company had little interest in Walt Disney's original concept of operating a "city of tomorrow," EPCOT Center still incorporated the themes of human achievement, technological advancement, and international culture as part of its themes. Groundbreaking for EPCOT Center happened on October 1, 1979, and the park opened three years later on October 1, 1982. Its construction cost $1.5 billion (equivalent to approximately $5 billion in today's money), with Disney paying around 80% at $1.2 billion while corporate sponsors contributed the rest. Though the opening of EPCOT Center did substantially increase the amount of visitors to the resort, the high costs of its construction made some feel it only contributed further to the company's troubling financial state in the mid-1980s.
1982–2013: Mass expansion
Under the leadership of CEO Michael Eisner, the Walt Disney Company embarked on the "Disney Decade" through the late 1980s and early 1990s. This involved large-scale investments in the company's theme parks and resorts, as well as in the company's media and film divisions. At Walt Disney World specifically, this meant creating more entertainment such that guests stay on Disney property for longer periods of time. The resort's third theme park, Disney-MGM Studios (renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2008), opened on May 1, 1989, inspired by show business with the intent of becoming the "Hollywood of the East". The opening of Disney-MGM Studios was not met without controversy—Entertainment company MCA (now known as Universal Pictures) filed a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company, alleging that Eisner, as former CEO of Paramount Pictures, stole MCA's plans for a theme park centered around a studio backlot tour, a claim that Eisner vehemently denied. MCA would go on to open their own theme park a month later.
Though the Disney Decade was never fully realized because of the financial disappointment of Euro Disney, Walt Disney World still experienced massive expansion with the opening of nine new resort hotels, a hotel and entertainment complex at Disney's BoardWalk, and two themed water parks (Disney's Typhoon Lagoon on June 1, 1989 and Disney's Blizzard Beach on April 1, 1995) that effectively replaced Disney's River Country (which closed November 2, 2001). The Disney Decade culminated with the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998, the resort's fourth and largest theme park, measuring at 580 acres (230 ha) on opening day. However, because of Euro Disney-related financial constraints, the park never was constructed to its full original concept, with the planned Beastly Kingdom section never being constructed.
During the resort's mass expansion, there was considerable environmentalist push-back and the resort was convinced to engage in mitigation banking. In an agreement with The Nature Conservancy and the state of Florida, Disney purchased 8,500 acres (3,400 ha) of land, adjacent to the park for the purpose of rehabilitating wetland ecosystems. The Disney Wilderness Preserve was established in April 1993, and the land was subsequently transferred to The Nature Conservancy. The Walt Disney Company provided additional funds for landscape restoration and wildlife monitoring.
Walt Disney World introduced FastPass, a free virtual queue system, in 1999. Park guests would scan their park ticket at an automated machine outside of a participating theme park attraction, and receive a half-hour one-hour return time window for that attraction. Additionally, to encourage visitors to stay on Disney property for the entirety of their vacations, the resort introduced Disney's Magical Express in 2005, a free shuttle bus and luggage-handling service between Orlando International Airport and the various resort hotels at Walt Disney World.
Following the September 11 attacks, Walt Disney World was designated as a Temporary Flight Restrictions space, restricting the airspace above the property. Two years later, it was designated as permanent prohibited airspace zone that restricts all airspace activities, including the usage of drones, without approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
2013–present: Current advancements
The Walt Disney World resort introduced MyMagic+, Disney's branding for its consumer suite of technologies, to the general public on January 7, 2013. As part of MyMagic+, FastPass was reintroduced as FastPass+, wherein guests could "book" attractions up to 60 days prior to their arrival at Walt Disney World. Additionally, the resort introduced My Disney Experience and Disney PhotoPass, a streamlined mobile app and professional photography service, respectively. All these services were to be accessed by guests using MagicBands, a wearable RFID technology which prior to 2021 was provided for free to all on-site resort guests before their arrival at the resort. The MyMagic+ initiative cost the Walt Disney World company $1 billion to develop.
On March 12, 2020, a Disney spokesperson announced that Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris would temporarily close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning March 15, 2020. In June 2020, Walt Disney World was chosen to host the NBA Bubble for play of the 2019–20 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to resume at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. On July 11, 2020, Walt Disney World officially reopened to the general public, beginning operations at 25% capacity at the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Four days later, EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios opened for operation, also at 25% capacity. Masks were required at all times (including outdoors, on attractions, and while taking photos), all guests were required to have their temperature taken upon entry, plexiglass was installed on various attractions and transportation offerings, shows that drew large crowds such as parades and nighttime shows (including Fantasmic! and Happily Ever After) were suspended, and guests services such as FastPass+ and the Disney Dining Plan were not offered. As part of the phased reopening process, the resort laid off 6,500 employees.
In November 2020, the resort increased the guest capacity to 35% at all four theme parks, and on May 13, 2021, Chapek announced a further increase of capacity, effective immediately; however, he did not say to what capacity level it would be raised. By mid-June 2021, temperature checks and mask mandates (except while on Disney transportation) had been lifted. In late July 2021, mask mandates were reinstated for all attractions and indoor areas in light of new guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control as the delta variant drove a significant increase in local COVID-19 cases; these reinstated mandates were lifted in February 2022. In April 2022, following a court decision ending the federal mask mandate for public transportation, the mask mandates for Disney Transport were lifted.
Starting on October 1, 2021, the resort honored its 50th anniversary with "The World's Most Magical Celebration", which lasted for 18 consecutive months ending on March 31, 2023. The celebration involved the opening of new attractions across the resort, the temporary replacement of Happily Ever After with Disney Enchantment, and special limited-time merchandise.
Disney's Magical Express service ended in January 2022, though free luggage-handling service for departing guests to Orlando International Airport was reintroduced in 2024 as Airport Luggage Transfer for guests of select hotels using American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. Also, in August 2021, the free FastPass+ virtual queue service was replaced with Genie+, starting at $15 per day. Among other things, Genie+ allowed you to select attractions to use a "Lightning Lane" for, similar to FastPass+; the pricing range depended on the crowd and day of purchase. Genie+ was replaced with Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass in July 2024.
The self-governing status which the Walt Disney Company had in the area around Disney World for more than 50 years came to an end on April 22, 2022, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation requiring the area to come under the legal jurisdiction of the state of Florida. The new law also officially abolished the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which the Walt Disney Company has used to effectively govern the resort since May 1967, when then-Florida Governor Claude Kirk signed into law legislation which granted the company special status. The new law went into effect in June 2023, with the formation of the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. To avoid unwanted regulation from the Florida state government, the Walt Disney Company signed an agreement with the Reedy Creek Improvement District just before state takeover that grants the Walt Disney Company full control over construction and development within the Walt Disney World Resort de facto indefinitely, by using a royal lives clause in the written contract.
From Wikipedia’s article on Magic Kingdom Resort Area, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3