Walt Disney World's 50th!

1964 was a pivotal year in Walt Disney’s life. It was the year he finally produced the film version of Mary Poppins, which at the time was his biggest-ever hit. It was also the year that several beloved Disneyland attractions made their debut in the 1964-1965 World’s Fair: It’s a Small World, Carousel of Progress, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and Ford Magic Skyway. In addition, it was the year that he began plans for Walt Disney World, which opened on October 1st, 1971. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom will be celebrating 50 years on October 1st, 2021, so today’s blog explores Walt’s contributions to the park, and those who worked to help keep his vision alive.

In 1964, the Walt Disney Company began purchasing land in Central Florida, just southwest of Orlando. The 27,000 acres worth (109 square kilometers) was planned to include a “Magic Kingdom,” a larger and “more embellished” version of Disneyland, but Walt Disney and his brother Roy planned to include golf courses and even more resort hotels. The heart of “Disney World,” however was the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,” or EPCOT. Walt described EPCOT as taking “an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.”

The Disney Family, however was completely grief-stricken when Walt passed away on December 15th, 1966. Roy Disney visited his brother on his deathbed at St. Joseph’s Hospital, across the Disney Studio Lot, and just a little over an hour after Walt had passed, Roy rubbed his brother’s foot and said “Well kid, it looks like the end of the road.” At that point, Roy Disney knew that he would have to carry on his brother’s legacy, and he hatched the idea of naming the park “Walt Disney World,” instead of just “Disney World,” as a tribute to his beloved brother. 

Roy also continued to oversee the construction of both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, as well as the financing (which is something he did for the movie studio all of his brother’s life). Walt had originally envisioned both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT to be combined together as the same park, though it was later decided after he passed that they could be two separate parks. That was helped along when the idea of EPCOT inspired the state of Florida to create the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) as well as the cities of Bay Lake and Reedy Creek (now known as Lake Buena Vista) which gave Disney the rights to exercise all administrative powers of Disney World. EPCOT opened on October 1st, 1982. In the Magic Kingdom many beloved Disneyland attractions were reconstructed: Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Haunted Mansion, though exclusively new attractions were created for EPCOT as well: Spaceship Earth, Impressions de France, and Awesome Planet, which is now named The Land.   

In the early-mid 1980’s (long after Roy Disney passed away, in December of 1971), Walt Disney Imagineers Marty Sklar and Randy Bright were given an assignment to create new pavilions for EPCOT’s Future World Section. Sklar had previously helped Walt design It’s a Small World for the 1964-1965 World’s Fair, as well as Disneyland’s Echanted Tiki Room. Together, Sklar, Bright, and their team came up with ideas for the “Great Movie Ride,” and “Wonders of Life,” attractions. When Michael Eisner, then the new CEO of Disney, saw these ideas, however, he thought they should be in a brand new park with a Hollywood theme, strictly dedicated to entertainment and show business. Hence, construction for Disney’s MGM Studios, now named “Disney’s Hollywood Studios,” began, opening on May 1st, 1989. In addition to several new attraction ideas, a satellite Disney Animation Studio was built in the park where animation for beloved Disney movies was made: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). Mulan (1998) and Lilo and Stitch (2002) were both produced entirely at the park’s studio.

The idea for Disney’s Animal Kingdom was conceived by Imagineer Joe Rohde, and when he brought a 400 pound White Bengal Tiger into Michael Eisner’s office at Disney,  Eisner approved the project. Rohde took imagineers to Africa and Asia to study the wildlife there, as well as the landscapes. When landscaping for the park began, a team of over 2,600 Imagineers spread four million cubic yards of dirt, planted 40,000 trees, and created 60,000 miles of underground utilities, waterways, and structures. This park was open to the public on April 22nd, 1998. This parks beloved attractions include: Kilimanjaro’s Safari, Kali River Rapids, and most recently, Avatar: The Flight of Passage, which opened to the public on April 29th, 2017.

Marty Sklar, who became the international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, passed away on July 27th, 2017 at the age of 83. In 2013, he published a book called Dream It! Do It! My Half-Century Creating Disney Magic Kingdoms. When interviewed by several Disney fans via AllEars.net, a couple asked him what Walt Disney would think about Disney World and its expansion. Sklar replied that Walt would say “What took you so long?”

It’s hard to believe that Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom has been around for nearly half a century. And it’s also mind-boggling the number of talented Imagineers who worked to help keep Walt’s own vision for Disney World alive. There’s no denying that even after 50 years, their efforts continue to pay off for the millions of visitors who come each year.