On this day, in 1971, Roy O. Disney officially dedicated the "Florida Project" as Walt Disney World. Yes, the Magic Kingdom and a couple of resorts had already been operating for over three weeks by this time, but it was at this point, ceremonially at the very least, that the name of the resort was given weight and Roy could finally say that his brother's last big project had been taken care of.
A dozen years earlier, the concept of a second Disney park had taken root in Walt's mind. He was generally frustrated by all the stuff that had grown up around Disneyland in just a few short years. He began to dream of a place that was big enough to hold all the plans he could ever come up with and still give him control of everything guests saw while inside his park. The big question of course was where to build it.
Walt considered dozens of sites, but it was when he did a flyover of the Orlando, Florida area that he decided he had his spot. There was a good road network, I-4 and the Florida Turnpike were being developed and McCoy Air Force base (which is currently known as Orlando International Airport) was already in place. The next problem was how to acquire some land without paying exorbitant prices.
The answer came through an elaborate buying scheme involving multiple dummy corporations, real estate agents who didn't know who they were working for and a fair dose of lying. The purchasing of that much land certainly didn't go without notice locally. Several different entities were floated around as the developer including NASA and the Ford Motor Company. My favorite story from this time centers around a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel, Emily Bavar. She was visiting Disneyland for its 10th Anniversary celebration when she asked him point blank if he was the one buying up all the land in Orlando. Supposedly, Walt's point blank reply was "What would I do with a bunch of swamp land?" Emily didn't buy his story and the Sentinel soon blew Walt's cover. Land prices of course immediately went up but the deed was done. The Disney Company had purchased over 30,500 acres of land, some for as little as $100 an acre.
On October 25, 1965, Florida Governor Haydon Burns, with Walt's blessing, confirmed that Disney was indeed planning a new park in his state. Walt joined him for an official news conference detailing some of his plans on November 15. Those plans did include a Disneyland East but most of the land would be dedicated to an experimental city. To that end, the state of Florida had granted the Florida Project (as it was then known) unprecedented autonomy, especially considering the sole beneficiary of the concessions was a corporation. All those plans, though, were thrown into doubt a month later when Walt died from lung cancer complications.
All the credit from this point on goes to Roy O. Disney. Roy, who had been a part of the company from its beginning, delayed his own retirement in order to see the Florida Project through. He rallied the troops, getting many of the same people who made Disneyland a success to lend their expertise to the new park. Walt had lived long enough for ceremonial ground breaking pictures to be taken, but that was it. Roy was the one who oversaw all the details in the actual construction of his brother's latest dream. He spent the next six years on a complete labor of love. The Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary Resort, the Polynesian Resort, and two golf courses were ready to go by October 1, 1971. Fort Wilderness campground would open a month later.
During his dedication speech on October 24, Roy waxed eloquent about his brother, declaring "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." While showing Walt's widow, Lillian, around she said that her late husband would have approved of Roy's results. It must have eased his mind quite a bit, but the damage to his health had already been done. Less than two months after his speech, on December 20, Roy would pass away.
The Florida Project itself would, of course, live on. It's currently grown to four theme parks, two water parks, 28 resorts (that the company owns, plus six others), four golf courses, two miniature golf complexes, a sports complex, a wedding pavilion and a huge dining/shopping district. Plenty more is already under construction and plenty more is merely a twinkle in some executive's eye. The experimental city never happened (and no I don't count Celebration as anything even approaching experimental), but Walt Disney World has managed to eclipse Disneyland in both size and scope, just as Walt dreamed all those years ago.
Also on this day, in American history:
William Higinbotham
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