Q: I’ve heard different accounts of Walt’s original intentions for his Florida Project. One was that Walt wanted to build an East Coast Disneyland with more space than the Anaheim property. The other story is that, when he decided to build in Orlando, that he primarily wanted to focus on EPCOT Center, and wasn’t really interested in another theme park. He only conceded when Florida officials told him that they and the public were anticipating a new theme park. So did Walt always intend to build a vacation destination/city of tomorrow in Florida, or did it just evolve into that?
Kenny, Lithonia, Georgia
A: By the time that Disneyland in California was running smoothly, Walt began thinking where he might build another park. The Disney exhibits at the 1964 New York World’s Fair convinced him that east-coast audiences would appreciate the Disney-style entertainment, so he looked to Florida as the area with the best year-round good weather. After selecting a location, he began purchasing land, and eventually ended up with more land than he had originally planned. To make use of that land, he wanted to build a Disneyland-type park, because he knew that was expected of him, but he was also thinking of hotels, recreational facilities, an industrial park, an airport, and an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). All these areas were part of the initial proposal made to the people of Florida. Walt sadly passed away shortly after the plans were announced, so he was never able to see his dream take shape.
Dave Smith