Walt Disney World is legendary. It may be best known for the classic attractions that premiered in Disney Land, California, but has multiplied more than tenfold its size since opening in 1971 (and it’s always on the verge of getting bigger and better)!
The complex in Orlando currently has over 20 themed hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks and a few golf courses.
Walt Disney created Disney Land in 1955 and the attractions were each designed to tell a story. Walt Disney soon wanted to expand the park and have complete control over his land, but this was not possible at the Disney Land site, so he started to search for a place to start over.
The company soon flew over the swamp lands of central Florida and he spotted the intersection of I4 and the Florida Turnpike. The company then started to purchase land in the area under 5 different dummy corporation names to accrue 27,000 acres and eventually created their own cities and a fully functional government so they could create and execute their own planning and zoning laws.
After Walt Disney’s death in 1967, the company modeled its first theme park on the complex after California’s Disney Land, laying the parks themed lands on a “spoke and wheel” pattern, surrounding and spreading out from the park’s central recognizable icon, Cinderella’s Castle. The park opened in 1971.
EPCOT Center evolved out of Walt Disney’s original prototype for a real working community of tomorrow; the company did not want to be in the business of running a city without Walt’s guidance and the park was opened in 1982 to reflect the original ideals and values of EPCOT, the never realized city.
Hollywood Studios evolved from a concept originally presented as a possible Epcot attraction, opened in 1989 and draws inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.
Animal Kingdom is the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely around animal conservation and opened in 1998.
Walt Disney World includes:
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Hollywood Studios
Animal Kingdom
Downtown Disney
Erika Diane 