The Walt Disney World Resort, informally known as Walt Disney World or simply Disney World, is an

entertainment complex inLake Buena Vista, Florida. The resort opened on October 1, 1971 and is the
most visited vacation resort in the world, with an attendance of 52.5 million annually. It is owned and
operated by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property
covers 42,000 acres (16,997 ha; 66 sq mi), in which it houses 24 themed resort hotels, four theme parks,
twowater parks, four golf courses, and numerous additional recreational and entertainment venues. Magic
Kingdom was the first and original theme park to open in the complex followed by Epcot, Disney's
Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom which opened later throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Designed to supplement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which had opened in 1955, the complex was
developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s, though he died in 1966 before construction on "The Florida
Project" began. After extensive lobbying, the Government of Florida created the Reedy Creek
Improvement District, a special government district that essentially gave The Walt Disney Company the
standard powers and autonomy of an incorporated city. Original plans called for the inclusion of an
"Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow", a planned city that would serve as a test bed for new
innovations for city living.
In 1959, Walt Disney Productions began looking for land for a second park to supplement Disneyland,
which opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Market surveys 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 wanted
control of a much larger area of land for the new project.
[1]

Walt Disney flew over the Orlando-area site (one of many) in November 1963. Seeing the well-developed
network of roads, including the planned Interstate 4 and Florida's Turnpike, with McCoy Air Force
Base (later Orlando International Airport) to the east, Disney selected a centrally located site near Bay
Lake.
[2]

To avoid a burst of land speculation, Disney used various dummy corporations to acquire 27,443 acres
(11,106 ha) of land.
[2]
In May 1965, some of these major land transactions were recorded a few miles
southwest of Orlando in Osceola County. Also, two large tracts totaling $1.5 million were sold, and
smaller tracts of flatlands and cattle pastures were purchased by exotic-sounding companies such as
the Latin-American Development and Management Corporation and the Reedy Creek Ranch
Corporation (some of these names are now memorialized on a window above Main Street, U.S.A. in
the Magic Kingdom). In addition to three huge parcels of land were many smaller parcels, referred to as
"outs".
Much of the land acquired had been platted into 5-acre (2 ha) lots in 1912 by the Munger Land Company
and sold to investors. Most owners were happy to get rid of the land, which was mostly swamp. Another
issue was the mineral rights to the land, which were owned byTufts University. Without the transfer of
these rights, Tufts could come in at any time and demand the removal of buildings to obtain minerals.
Eventually, Disney's team negotiated a deal with Tufts to buy the mineral rights for $15,000.
[3]

After most of the land had been bought, the truth of the property's owner was leaked to the Orlando
Sentinel newspaper on October 20, 1965. A press conference was organized for November 15, when
Walt Disney explained the plans for the site, including EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of
Tomorrow, which was to be a futuristic planned city (and which was also known as Progress City). He
envisioned a working city with commercial and residential areas that also continued to showcase and test
new ideas and concepts for urban living.
Walt Disney died from lung cancer 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.
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, the last one recorded by Walt
Disney before his death. 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 the 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.
[1]

The legislation forming the district and the two cities was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R.
Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967. TheFlorida Supreme Court 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