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Opened:
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October
1, 1971 |
| Origins: |
After the success
of Disneyland in California, Walt Disney set
his sights on bigger projects. The lessons
learned in the construction and operation of
Disneyland
made Walt realize that he needed lots of space
to overcome the logistical obstacles that he
encountered in California. For example, he
had no control over the area immediately surrounding
Disneyland, and the park was soon surrounded
by cheap motels and other opportunistic businesses
attempting to cash in on the success of Disneyland.
Walt wanted to created a utopian environment;
one where he could provide guests with a complete
fantasy escape from the real world. To do so
he needed
to have control over all aspects of a guest's
experience—
everything from their arrival
and where they stayed to their recreation and
dining. (In addition, Walt had plans to build
a city of the future called EPCOT, but that's
a story for another
time!)
But where could he go to fulfill his dream?
Many locations were considered, but in the
end Florida was selected due to its favorable
climate, growing population and availability
of land. And so in the mid 1960s, Disney started
to
quietly
acquire
large parcels of land in central Florida. The
mystery buyer was unveiled to the public in
October of 1965, and construction of the Walt
Disney
World Resort was underway.
There was much to be done. The area was largely
swamp land, and millions of cubic feet of earth
had to be moved to prepare the site. There
was also the challenge of cutting through the
miles of inevitable red tape (the result being
the creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement
District which oversaw such tasks as water
management, wildlife preservation and zoning).
Phase One of the Florida project included the
construction of the Magic Kingdom itself, an
entrance complex, golf courses, and five resort
hotels (only two of which were actually built).
Bay Lake was drained and millions of cubic
yards of earth were excavated to provide the
foundation for the Magic Kingdom. The area
next to Bay Lake was found to be unsuitable
for construction, so a lagoon was created to
extend the natural boundaries of Bay Lake to
the front of the Magic Kingdom. This lagoon
(named Seven Seas lagoon) was refilled along
with Bay Lake, and both were lined with thousands
of tons of pure white sand that was found during
the course of excavation. With the area fully
prepared, the Magic Kingdom began construction,
opening its doors to an eagerly awaiting public
in 1971. |
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