Walt Disney World Resort (commonly known as Walt Disney World or Disney World) is an entertainment and vacation resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company.
Covering an approximate , Walt Disney World contains numerous recreational facilities designed to attract visitors for extended stays, including four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, conference centers, a competitive sports complex and a major shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Additionally, there are 31 Disney-owned resort hotels and one camping resort on the property, and many other non-Disney-operated hotels on and near the property.
Designed to supplement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which had opened in 1955, the complex was planned and conceptualized by Walt Disney in the 1960s. Walt's vision for the complex was to build a new, self-contained destination resort on ample land, as he felt Disneyland had become limited by the third-party establishments that had sprung up around it. "The Florida Project", as it was then known, was intended to present a distinct vision with its own diverse set of attractions. Walt's original plans called for the inclusion of an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT), a planned community intended to serve as a testbed for new city-living innovations. Walt's original vision would not progress past conceptualization, as he died on December 15, 1966, during the initial planning of the complex before construction had begun. After his death, the company wrestled with the idea of whether to bring the Disney World project to fruition; however, Walt's older brother, Roy O. Disney, came out of retirement to ensure the project was realized.
Construction began in 1967, with the company abandoning the planned community concept, instead choosing to build a theme park resort similar to Disneyland. Magic Kingdom was the first theme park to open in the complex in 1971, followed by EPCOT (then known as EPCOT Center) in 1982, Disney's Hollywood Studios (then known as the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park) in 1989, and Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998. Initially known as Disney World, the name of the entire resort was named Walt Disney World at Roy's insistence, to memorialize his brother.
In 2024, Walt Disney World was the most visited vacation resort in the world, with an average annual attendance of more than 49 million, while Magic Kingdom has been the most visited theme park in the world for at least the past 24 years. The opening of Walt Disney World helped turn Central Florida into a major global tourism destination and the resort has contributed significantly to Florida's economy, generating billions in economic activity and supporting a large number of jobs across the state. The resort is the largest single-site employer in the United States, the flagship destination of Disney's worldwide corporate enterprise and has become a staple of American popular culture.
History Planning and construction 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 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.Bavar, Emily. "Is Our 'Mystery' Industry Disneyland?", Orlando Sentinel, October 21, 1965, front page and page 20-A. Three days later, after gathering more information from various sources, the Sentinel published another article headlined, "We Say: 'Mystery' Industry Is Disney"."We Say: 'Mystery' Industry Is Disney", Orlando Sentinel, October 24, 1965, front page and page 20-A.
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.
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.