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Walt Disney first flew over the Orlando site (one of many) on November 22, 1963. Walt Disney focused most of his attention on the "Florida Project", both before and after his participation at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, but he died on December 15, 1966, five years before his vision was realized.
To avoid an explosion of speculation, Disney used various fake corporations and cooperative individuals to acquire 27,400 acres. After the majority of the land had been purchased, the truth of the property's owner was leaked to the Orlando Sentinel on October 20, 1965. A press conference soon was called for November 15. At the presentation, Walt Disney explained the plans for the site, including EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which was to be a futuristic city. Plans for EPCOT would drastically change after Disney's death. EPCOT became EPCOT Center, the resort's second theme park, which opened in 1982. Concepts from the original idea of EPCOT would be integrated into the community of Celebration much later.
Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, before his vision was realized. His brother and business partner, Roy O. Disney, postponed his retirement to oversee construction of the resort's first phase. Construction of drainage canals was soon begun by the district, and Disney built the first roads and the Magic Kingdom. Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground were also completed in time for the park's opening on October 1, 1971. The Palm and Magnolia golf courses near the Magic Kingdom had opened a few weeks before. Roy O. Disney dedicated the property and affirmed that it would be known as "Walt Disney World" in his brother's honour. 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, Walt's widow, Lillian, was asked what she thought of Walt Disney World. According to biographer Bob Thomas, she replied, "I think Walt would have approved."
Roy O. Disney died on December 20, 1971, barely three months after the property opened.
Subsequently EPCOT Center opened in 1982, a theme park adapted from Walt Disney's vision for a "community of tomorrow". The park permanently adopted the name Epcot in 1996. In 1989, the resort added Disney-MGM Studios, a theme park inspired by show business, whose name was changed to Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2008. The resort's fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998.
At its peak, the resort occupied approximately 30,000 acres or 47 square miles, about the size of San Francisco, or twice the size of Manhattan. Portions of the property since have been sold or divided, including land now occupied by the Disney-built community of Celebration. |
In 1959, Walt Disney, began looking for land for a second resort to complement Disneyland, which had opened in California in 1955. Market surveys revealed that only 2% of Disneyland's guests came from east of the Mississippi River, where 75% of the population of the United States lived. 
