Disney Florida - Florida Attractions

Disney Florida Background

There's little argument that the most fabulous jewel in the Disney Corporations crown is Disney Florida. The sheer size of it is awesome. With 4 major theme parks, twenty resort hotels, 2 water parks and an assortment of other entertainment complexes, it is certainly the world’s most extensive vacation and leisure complex. Opened in 1971, a few years after Walt Disney’s death, Walt Disney World Resort is often referred to as Disney Florida or Disney World. Comprising roughly 47 square miles, Disney World is roughly the same size as San Francisco.

Disney World is actually located southwest of Orlando and is not within the Orlando city limits. Walt Disney chose the site for his master work because large tracts of land were available and there were a number of interstate highways nearby. With a long lead and construction time, over 15 years, the land was carefully purchased through a series of dummy corporations to obscure what was happening and a major jump in land prices. Disney World's first theme park was the Magic Kingdom. Not surprisingly it has become the world’s number 1 tourist visitor attraction and now boasts over 16.6 million visitors per year (based on 2006 data).

After the opening of the Magic Kingdom theme park in 1971, EPCOT was initiated as the second of Disney World's theme parks. While Epcot had been conceptualized as a sort of futuristic community, plans were revised and, while retaining some aspects of the original concept, became more of a center for international culture as well as technical innovation. Never an organization to waste valuable planning, Disney used the original EPCOT plans as part of the planning of Disney’s Community which they called Celebration. At EPCOT’s opening in October 1982, it was the largest of the Disney theme parks and retained that status until Disney's Animal Kingdom, the 4th theme park, was completed.

The third theme park was Disney-MGM Studios. Initial planning was for this to have been simply a pavilion at the EPCOT center theme park. However, the idea for a movie based theme park grew and became a reality. Disney-MGM Studios finally opened in May 1989. This was shortly before Universal Studios opened their own Orlando theme park. Because of certain contractual limitations in the agreement with MGM, you may see this park frequently referred to as The Disney Studios. Despite the variation in naming, it is the same thing.

The final theme park opened in April 1998 and Disney Florida now had the Animal Kingdom. The park deals with animal conservation and, as the largest of the four theme parks, has many animals in extensive natural habitats. The knowledgeable report that it's best to get to Animal Kingdom early in the day and then take the train ride around the enclosures as soon as possible. Many of the animals seek out shade as the day warms up and you wouldn't want to miss them.

While Animal Kingdom was originally planned to feature animals, dinosaurs and mythical beasts, it turned out that budget limitations led to the dropping of the mythical beasts - however, you'll still find a dragon on the Animal Kingdom logo.

The enchantment that many find in Disney Florida is a remarkable demonstration of the power of one man's vision to inform and shape a leisure complex that truly has something for everyone young or old. If the Disney corporation manages to hold onto the flair and imagination that has shaped Disney World to date, who knows what they may create next.

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