Justin Ruka

Dr. Richard Wixon

US History II

01 December 2010

The Conceptualization and Creation of World

Walter “Walt” Elias Disney,1 born on December 05, 1901, was a man with many ambitions, talents, and dreams. Disney created the Disney Studios with his brother Roy O.

Disney on October 16, 1923, just after his previous company, Laugh-O-gram Films, went

bankrupt.2 Disney nevertheless kept moving forward, and in 1937 premiered the first feature- length animated film ever created: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After years with other successful animated films, Disney wanted to move into new territory. This occurred with the creation of WED Enterprises, Inc. in 1952 and the opening of in 1955. Even after

Disney completed Disneyland, he was still searching for new opportunities. This would eventually lead to the formation of the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow concept, otherwise known as . Using his accomplished past and dreams of the future,

Disney, along with the help of many other talented individuals, strove to create EPCOT, and in turn, an entire Disney World.

WED Enterprises was a company created by Disney to help in the development, planning, and creation of his Disneyland theme park. WED still exists today, now known as

Walt Disney Imagineering, and continues to be responsible for all creative aspects of the eleven

Disney theme parks worldwide. Disney played a large role in overseeing all of what his

Imagineers at WED were working on for Disneyland. The title “Imagineer” was a term created Ruka !2 by Disney himself, combining the words “imagination” and “engineer,” which embody the

essence of what the creative group is about.3 After years of hard work from many talented workers, the park finally opened on July 17, 1955.

A main reason as to why Disney wanted to create Disneyland was because he wanted a place where the entire family could enjoy themselves and have fun together. This was illustrated in a famous story where Disney was sitting on a park bench watching his two girls ride a merry-

go-round at Griffith Park near his studio in Burbank, .4 They were having fun, but

Disney was just a bystander. Contemplating the issue of what would really constitute family entertainment, Disney eventually came up with the idea that would become Disneyland.

Even after Disneyland opened, Disney yearned to create new enhancements inside the park, as well as searched for additional opportunities outside the park where he could use and exemplify the knowledge he had gained from creating it. But even before the Project, which eventually became the Resort, Disney had thoughts about other ventures. As early as 1959, Disney inquired, or was asked to participate in, various project developments throughout the United States. The most prominent projects that were in conceptual stages between the years 1959 and 1963 was a park in New Jersey Meadows, near

New York City; a project at the Seagram Tower near Niagara Falls; a St. Louis Waterfront

Complex, in celebration of the city’s 200th anniversary; a project in conjunction with the

Hallmark company at Signboard Hill, near Kansas City; and even a project on the land of his

hometown farm in Marceline, Missouri.5 Although all five of these projects were plagued by various concerns, the most prominent one was the issue of the weather. If the locations were too far north, the constraints of building everything indoors would hamper the creative aptitude and Ruka !3 feasibility of the various projects. It was also important to have his park project located east of

the Mississippi, since Disneyland’s visitors were mostly from the west coast.6 With these constraints in mind, Disney eventually narrowed a position down to the deep southeast, with the

Sunshine State as the number one candidate. The most likely locations in Florida were the Palm

Beach, Tampa, and Ocala regions.7

On November 17, 1963, Disney, along with other officials in the company including Joe

Fowler, Buzz Price, Jack Sawyers, Don Tatum, and Esmond Cardon “Card” Walker, boarded an airplane to go and survey the various proposals they were conceptualizing at the time. The goal of the trip was to whittle their plans down and figure out what projects they wanted to either move forward or scrap. Included in the trip were stops to St. Louis and Niagara Falls, as well as central Florida. At the plane tour’s follow-up meeting back in Burbank on November 27, Disney and his staff decided to go ahead with “Project Winter.” This project entitled to pay Price’s

Economic Research Associates $4,900 to survey the state of Florida and find the region most fit for a Disneyland type development. The report concluded that Orlando, rather than Ocala, was the prime location for a development to take place. As the project progressed, southern Orlando seemed like the best choice. This was because of the large tracts of land available for purchase,

as well as the area’s new highway system.8

As the year 1964 came into focus, so did the task of acquiring all of the land for what was now being called “Project Future,” the Disney World project. In May of that year, Robert Foster,

Roy Hawkins, and Paul Helliwell began the process of land acquisition.9 Just a little more than a year later, by June of 1965, all options and titles for the land need were purchased, including those for the important Demetree, Bay Lake, and Hamrick parcels. It is important to note that all Ruka !4 of these acquisitions were done in secret so as to keep the price of land relatively low. The

Disney Company was a “mystery client”. Dummy companies, including the Ayefour

Corporation (a pun on the I-4 highway name), Bay Lake Properties, Inc., Latin American

Development and Management Corporation, Reedy Creek Ranch, Inc., and Tomahawk

Properties, Inc. were all used to acquire the land. Disney was able to get all of the land he had wanted, which totaled 27,443 acres for just over 5 million dollars. The land cost on average

$200 per acre. 10 Disney believed that a major downfall of Disneyland was the limited control he possessed over the surrounding area. Kitschy retail shops and neon-laden motels located nearby ruined the ambiance of the . With the purchasing of forty-three square miles, as compared to the 200 acres of Disneyland, Disney would be able to control and house all the dreams and ideas he and his team could come up with, as well as have a buffer zone from tacky

tourist shops within the property.11 Disney World had the blessing of size.

Shortly after most of the land was acquired, the mystery client was revealed, albeit not at the whim of Disney and his team. On October 17, 1965, Emily Baver from the Orlando Sentinal reported that Walt Disney was in fact Helliwell’s client who had purchased the land. Apparently,

Baver was tipped off by the fact that while interviewing Disney in California, he was able to give

her “quick recall about weather, traffic, and tourism in Central Florida.”12 She had found it

peculiar that he knew so much information about the state.13 The Disney Company quickly set plans to officially proclaim its involvement in Central Florida about a week later. The announcement fell on October 25th. Governor Haydon Burns of Florida eagerly participated in the announcement as well. Although the news was now out that Walt Disney was responsible, the company still waited until its planned November 15th press conference to give out details Ruka !5

about the project, mainly because they were still in the process of being created.14 It was here that Disney first announced to the public that he wanted to create a city of the future.

Afterwards, the land prices suddenly rose to an average of $1000 an acre around the project

site.15

Before construction could start, however, Disney needed to finalize his ideas for what he wanted to do with the land. In order figure out how he would create a Community of Tomorrow, he drew upon numerous events for inspiration, both past and present. One of these was his involvement with the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. The Fair opened on April 22nd, 1964, with Disney’s involvement encompassing. WED Enterprises had created four exhibits at the fair for various American companies and organizations. These consisted of the Ford Wonder

Rotunda, for the Ford Motor Company; Progressland, for General Electric; “it’s a small world,” for Pepsi-Cola and UNICEF; and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, created for the State of

Illinois. 16 In a way, these pavilions were used as an experiment to see how east-coast Americans would react to Disney’s form of sophisticated entertainment. The end results were very

positive!17

Another form of inspiration for the EPCOT concept was different modes of “future transport” that Disney was looking into. Disneyland was a testing ground of sorts for various kinds of transportation, including “pedestrian, horse, sailing ship, steamboat, Santa Fe &

Disneyland Railroad, horse-drawn streetcar, horseless carriage, Omnibus, Autopia, Skyway,

monorail, Omnimover,” and eventually the PeopleMover.18 The two most important modes of travel relating to the Florida Project were the monorail and PeopleMover. Disneyland opened the Mark I monorail in 1959. Today, the Mark VII operates in the section of Ruka !6

Disneyland. The Mark VII’s design is even based on the Mark I’s aesthetic design.19 The

WEDway PeopleMover opened in 1967 designed specifically for EPCOT’s intercity travel.20

Sadly, the PeopleMover attraction is no longer operational in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, but can still be found in the at Walt Disney World. The Tomorrowland Transit

Authority PeopleMover is an attraction, however, and not actually used for transportation.

A final form of inspiration that Disney had was the idea that he could possibly help solve the problems occurring in America’s cities throughout the 1960s. This came about through his interest in urban planning. Many problems, including crime and riots, were cropping up in the cities of America during the 60’s. Disney thought he could solve some of these problems with a better thought out city plan. One of the prominent city planners Disney studied was Ebenezer

Howard, and his Garden City. In Howard’s book, Garden Cities of To-Morrow (1902), Howard’s plan “included a circular form, a garden and town center, central park, Crystal Palace glass

arcade, greenbelt, industry, and railway ‘off-shoots.’”21 Many of these concepts appeared in

Disney’s final plan for EPCOT, presented in Disney’s Florida Film (1966).

Throughout 1965 and 1966, the plans and details of EPCOT were finally beginning to solidify. On May 13, 1966, the Reedy Creek Improvement District was established. Disney knew that one of the main issues that needed to be addressed for the EPCOT concept to work was the authority of control. He knew he could not be at the whim of the government to sign off on various ventures. Reedy Creek was not only allowed powers akin to normal municipalities, but also broad powers for experimental technologies. The goal of the district, as written out in its legislation, is to “develop and utilize new concepts, designs and ideas, and to own, acquire, Ruka !7 construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend, and improve such experimental public

facilities and services…”22

Later that year, Disney also filmed his portion of the Florida Film. Shot on October 27,

1966, this 24-minute film outlined in detail a synopsis of everything that Disney World would include. The plans presented in the film included an airport of the future, an entrance complex, an industrial park, a theme park with resort hotels, and, of course, the experimental prototype community of tomorrow. Disney described the city of EPCOT with the fact that “it (would) never cease to be a living blueprint of the future where people actually live a life they can’t find

anyplace else in the world.”23 It would be a city always in the state of becoming. The homes and schools within EPCOT would be built to test new products, concepts, and ideas. Tourists visiting EPCOT would hopefully then be inspired by the progress being made, and implement

ideas that worked into their own towns and cities back home. 24

The center of EPCOT, stretching about 50 square acres, would be encased in a climate- controlled glass dome. The central thirty-story hotel would pierce the dome and stretch skyward

as the central icon of the city.25 The four “spheres” surrounding the hotel and transpiration hub of EPCOT would be, starting within the innermost circle, the business and commerce sector, high-density apartment housing, a greenbelt (including recreational land, schools, and places for worship), and finally low-density residential housing. All of these were to be tied together by a high speed, rapid transit system, the . The PeopleMovers would radiate from the core of the city, traveling all the way to the residential housing. The monorails would then travel north and south throughout the entire Disney World property with a stop not just in EPCOT, but Ruka !8 to the tourist and industrial complexes as well, where PeopleMovers again would radiate from

the monorail stations.26

In EPCOT, the pedestrian would take center stage. Nowhere within EPCOT would a pedestrian, child and adult alike, run the risk of getting injured by a car, as the layout of the city as well as the unique public transportation options would allow people to get everywhere they needed to go. The flow of cars and trucks would be limited to traveling underneath and around the city through various tunnels designed especially for cars passing through, and trucks delivering products to the shops and stores situated on higher levels. These roadways would be

connected to the main highway system in the state of Florida.27

Unfortunately, Disney passed away on December 15th, 1966. This was before anyone outside the company had a chance to view the film. When the film was first viewed outside the company by state politicians and businessmen on February 2nd, 1967, the mood was described as

“compelling and inspiring.” Disney was portraying his final wish to the world.28

Nevertheless, the Disney Company proceeded under the helm of Roy Disney. In 1969, it was announced that the Allen Contracting Company had signed a three year agreement to be the general contractor of the construction feat. In April of that same year, Monsanto, RCA, and U.S.

Steel also announced that they would be aiding in the construction of the property.29 The plans set were to open the first phase of Disney World in October of 1971. The core of phase one was the Disneyland style theme park named the Magic Kingdom. The Polynesian Village Resort, the

Contemporary Resort, and the Ticket and Transportation Center, which housed the monorail and parking lot for the Magic Kingdom, were also on the roster. These four areas surround Seven

Seas Lagoon, a 172 acre man-made lake that was to be constructed.30 The lagoon is surrounded Ruka !9 by monorail track, which connects all four destinations, even passing straight through the lounge of the Contemporary Resort. During construction, a Disney World Preview Center opened up in the town of Lake . Models, drawings and paintings were on display to more than a

million guests that visited before the park opened.31

Disney World opened on October 1st, 1971 at an estimated cost of 400 million dollars.

This made it the largest privately funded construction project in the world up until that time. 32

Disney’s first name, “Walt,” was added to the name of the resort after he passed away to honor the man’s final dream that was this destination. Roy Disney dedicated Walt Disney World and the Magic Kingdom on October 25th, 1971 by proclaiming:

Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney… and to

the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made

Walt Disney’s dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring joy and inspiration, and

new knowledge to all that come to this happy place… a Magic Kingdom where the young

at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn… together.33

Roy Disney then passed away on December 20th, 1971, only a few months after the dedication.34

The actual city of EPCOT transformed into the EPCOT Center theme park in the following years under the helm of Card Walker. Rather than try to tackle a real, working city as

Walt Disney had envisioned, the Imagineers changed the focus to be more of a permanent

World’s Fair. This, in a way, brought Disney’s EPCOT concept full circle. The park itself opened on October 1st, 1982, as the first non-Disneyland type Disney theme park. EPCOT

Center rests on 260 acres of land, as compared to the Magic Kingdom’s 120 acres. The park is split into two sections: Future World and World Showcase. Humanity was the core theme of Ruka !10

EPCOT Center, now known only as “Epcot.” Future World commemorated our ideas and dreams for the future, while World Showcase celebrated us as individuals who would travel there

united, together.35 Although much has changed since EPCOT Center’s opening more than twenty-five years ago, the core theme still remains the same.

The conceptualization to creation of Disney’s last dream was a long journey that was made possible only by the many talented, hard workers, both within and outside the Disney organization. The impact of the project greatly benefited central Florida. In 1983, just two years after the opening of EPCOT Center, a report was published from Rollin’s College in Orlando entitled “The Disney World Effect.” It found that from 1970 to 1981, tourism increased by 648% in the counties of Orange and Oscola, where Walt Disney World is located. Statewide, tourism increased by 46% during that same time frame. Walt Disney World accounted for 40% of

Florida vacationers by the 1980s.36 The positive effect of Walt Disney World continues to this day. In a 2004 study, it was found that “the company’s annual 5.1 billion dollar gross fiscal

output equaled more than 8% of the region’s total output.”37 Disney’s final dream is still going strong. Although the final form of Disney World is somewhat different from what Disney originally planned, Walt Disney World still inspires people all around the world, and will continue to do so far into the future. Ruka !11

Notes

1! References to Walter “Walt” E. Disney will be shortened to “Disney” throughout the paper. References to or Walt Disney Studios will be written out in full so there will be no confusion between Walt Disney and his company.

!2 Jim Fanning, “Spirit of 23’: A Walk with Walt” (Disney Twenty-Three, Spring 2009) 53.

!3 Alex Wright et al, Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World (New York, NY: Disney Editions, 2006) 6.

4! Alex Wright et al, Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland (New York, NY: Disney Editions, 2008) 16.

!5 Chad Denver Emerson, Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World (Lexington, KY: Ayefour Publishing, 2010) 7-11.

6! Emerson 6.

7! Emerson 20-24.

!8 Emerson 36.

9! Emerson 50-51.

10! Emerson 62-63.

!11 “Disney Moves East” Life (15 Oct. 1971) 45.

12! Emerson 83.

13! Emerson 82-83.

!14 Emerson 83-85.

15! David Koenig, Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World (Irvine, CA: Bonadventure Press, 2007) 29.

16! Steve Manheim, Walt Disney and the Quest for Community (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2002) 51.

!17 Wright et al, Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World 22.

18! Mannheim 31.

!19 Wright et al, Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland 124.

!20 Mannheim 36.

21! Mannheim 20. Ruka !12

22! Emerson 119.

!23 The Florida Film (Walt Disney Productions, 1966).

!24 The Florida Film.

25! Emerson 106.

!26 The Florida Film.

27! The Florida Film.

28! Emerson 106-107.

!29 Emerson 140-141.

30! Bruce Gordon and Jeff Kurtti, Walt Disney World: Then, Now and Forever (New York, NY: Disney Editions, 2008) 18.

31! Gordon and Kurtti 18.

!32 Gordon and Kurtti 20.

33! Gordon and Kurtti 20.

34! Gordon and Kurtti 21.

!35Wright et al, Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World 16-17.

36! Emerson 150. Ruka !13

Works Cited “Disney Moves East.” Life 15 Oct. 1971: 44-50. Print.

Emerson, Chad Denver. Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World.

Lexington, KY: Ayefour Publishing, 2010. Print.

Fanning, Jim. “Spirit of 23’: A Walk with Walt.” Disney Twenty-Three. Spring 2009: 52-53.

Print.

Gordon, Bruce, and Jeff Kurtti. Walt Disney World: Then, Now and Forever. New York, NY:

Disney Editions, 2008. Print.

Koenig, David. Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World. Irvine, CA:

Bonadventure Press, 2007. Print.

Mannheim, Steve. Walt Disney and the Quest for Community. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2002.

Print.

The Florida Film. Walt Disney Productions, 1966. Film.

Wright, Alex, et al. The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland. New York, NY: Disney

Editions, 2008. Print.

---. The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World. New York, NY: Disney

Editions, 2006. Print.