Orlando Sentinel - Disney World at 50: The Stories of How Walts Kingdom Became Magic in Orlando

Contents

Introduction

by Roger Simons, Orlando Sentinel Managing Editor

Like almost every kid growing up in Florida in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was excited that Mickey Mouse was going to be my neighbor.

I lived in Miami, some 200 miles away from Walt Disneys 27,000-acre property, but I knew what was going on in Orlando. I had some pretty good sources.

First, my grandparents. They lived in Lake County and read the Orlando Sentinel every day. In 1965, the Sentinel was the first to break the news that Walt Disney was coming to Central Florida. The newspapers many stories have kept readers and residents up to date about the happenings at Walt Disney World for decades. As the Magic Kingdom was being built, my grandparents would tell me all about what they learned from the Sentinel .

My second source (because good journalists always need two!) was my father. He was a truck driver who hauled construction equipment from South Florida to Disneythe term we in-the-know Floridians used as shorthand for Walt Disney World. While dropping off bulldozers, road graders, and other vehicles, my dad would get information from the construction workers to share with us.

Hed tell us stories about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Theyre having a rough time with that one, Dad said, shaking his head), or about the Contemporary Hotel with its module-style rooms (Its all made of steelno chance of a fire doing much damage there, he said in amazement).

After hearing all about Disney World for what seemed like forever, I finally got to see it for myself when I was seven years old. My dad, younger brother Craig, and I drove up to Orlando.

The iconic view of Cinderella Castle has been greeting visitors to Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom since 1971. This photo was taken shortly after the theme park opened by Central Florida resident Sibyl Brown, grandmother to Orlando Sentinel managing editor Roger Simmons.

We spent a full day in the park riding the monorail (that was cool), visiting the Haunted Mansion (it scared my brother; I wasnt afraid!), and going on Eastern Airlines If You Had Wings (I still have that rides song stuck in my head) and 20,000 Leagues (of course!). As we were leaving, my dad let each of us get souvenirs. I picked a Mickey MousekeEars hat; my brother chose a beanie with a propeller and a Mickey Mouse balloon.

We left the park and drove to my grandparents house to spend the night. My brother and I, worn out by the big day, slept most of the short car ride. As soon as we got out of the car, my grandmother took one look at us, then turned to my dad and asked, When did Roger and Craig get chicken pox?

Yes, years before a global pandemic, on my first trip to Disney World, I was either a superspreader or just unlucky.

Which brings us to today. I doubt Walt ever envisioned that the 50 th anniversary of his grand Florida Project would be taking place amid the COVID-19 crisis. But, as they say in the entertainment world, the show must go on.

We hope you enjoy this book filled with stories and pictures produced over the decades by Orlando Sentinel reporters and photographers about the worlds most popular tourist attraction.

Because, 50 years later, were still Mickeys neighbors.

1. The Big Mystery in Florida

In 1965, secret sales of huge swaths of land were taking place in Central Florida, and the rumors about who the buyer might be were as plentiful as the scrub palmetto on the property. It took Orlando Sentinel girl reporter Emily Bavar (yes, thats really how the newspaper identified her in a front-page headline back then) to break the biggest story in the regions history: Walt Disney, the man with the famous movie studio and wildly popular Disneyland theme park, was coming to town. When he did arrive in Orlando to share his vision for his Florida Project, he was a little vague about details.

Walt Disney (in white) and William Joe Potter, a retired U.S. Army general who worked for Disney, spent years secretly purchasing more than 27,000 acres of Central Florida property. Here they are seen touring their real estate.

Walts Secret Scouting Trip

October 1, 1971 | Dick Marlow, Orlando Sentinel

It was the summer of 1965 when a pleasant visitor signed the registry Bill Davis at a Silver Springs motel and checked in unceremoniously for a brief stay.

To the desk clerk he was just another tourist eager to take a look at the catfish through the glass-bottom boats of Silver Springs.

Or he might have been an out-of-town horseman looking over the stock at Ocala Stud Farm.

But the Bill Davis shown on the registry was Walt Disneya dreamer who spent a lifetime making his dreams come true.

Disney had come to Florida seeking a site for the most ambitious undertaking of his illustrious careera theme park complete with five hotels and Epcot, an experimental futuristic city that never stops building the second phase of the Disney dream.

With him on the trip were several high-ranking Disney executives, including Jack Sayers, now vice president of industry sales for Walt Disney Productions.

Bill David was a nom de plume Walt liked to use on such trips, said Sayers as he recalled the mission, kept secret to hold down real estate prices.

Disney first looked at a rolling spread of land near Ocala near a horse farm.

It was rejected. Too small.

Bay Lake, with its island that Walt Disney said reminded him of Tom Sawyers, drew his attention to this property.

Next, the task force looked at land near Silver Springs.

According to Sayers, Walt didnt like it at all.

He wanted a bigger piece of land, said Sayers. Another factor was the weather. It really gets cold up there.

The following day, the group was flying over Central Florida in a company plane.

We were over this big lake, said Sayers. Walt looked down, spotted an island in the lake, and said, Theres Tom Sawyers Island. Buy it.

It was Bay Lake, now the site of the vast 1,057-room Contemporary Resort Hotel just three minutes away from the theme park entrance by the monorail that whisks guests through the enormous open mall lobby on the way to the park.

The property was bought and the rumor mill cranked up.

Disney and Potter inspect the property that will become the home of Disney World.