61 * ---------- Walt Disney World, Florida: The Creation of a Fantasy Landscape Morton D. Winsberg Florida State University * ---------- n 1971 an 11, 100-hectare amusement area named chose themes based on fairy tales, adventure stories, I Walt Disney World was opened in central Florida folklore, nostalgia, and future technologies. In sum, near Orlando. Within it was the Magic Kingdom·, the the goal was to create a friendly and wholesome en­ first of three large theme parks located there by 1991. vironment in which visitors could have a pleasant The venture rapidly became an international success, escape from reality and exercise their imagination. and annual attendance today is approximately 30 mil­ Disneyland opened near Los Angeles in 1955 (Bright lion. It is the most visited privately owned tourist 1987). It was divided into six sections, each built facility in the world. More than any other economic around a theme: Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, activity, including the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Fantasy land, T omorrowland, New Orleans Square, and Canaveral, it has generated economic growth in central Frontierland. Characters and themes from Disney's Florida. · animated movies were employed throughout, partic­ ularly Mickey Mouse, who became the central figure of Disneyland, and later the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Conceptualization of the Park Walter E. (Walt) Disney was most responsible for a Location of Walt Disney World new concept in amusement parks which after World War II revitalized a dying industry (Mosley 1986; Disney conceived Walt Disney World shortly after he Thomas 1976). He proposed to build a park based opened Disneyland. It was to be much larger in scale upon themes. As in the older ones, there would be and would necessitate a huge tract of land. The purchase thrill rides, but it .would lack many of the carnival­ of a large tract was intended to provide ample area like amusements that earned the older parks such a for expansion and to create a buffer between it and bad reputation among middle-class American families. the numerous non-Disney attractions that would be The ambience of his park would be one of scrupulous drawn to compete for visitors (Thomas 1976). Im­ cleanliness, and be totally non-threatening. Employees, portant location factors were accessibility to a large most of whom would be young, were expected to adhere num_ber of people, proximity to a city large enough to a rigid code of appearance and were to be cheerful to provide labor, and a climate that would permit at all times. operation throughout the year. Disney was confident that if his park projected the Disney chose Florida. Although far from the nation's ambience of wholesomeness, it would become highly large cities, it was already popular with tourists and profitable. He based this optimism on the post World had a state government receptive to investments in War II national prosperity, greater use of automobiles, tourism. The Orlando area was warm enough for year­ and the baby boom. He believed that many of these round operations and was near the crossing of several new families willingly would drive long distances to limited-access highways, part of the nation's interstate a park with themes to entenain young children. Disney highway system, then under intensive development. 62 W a I t D i s n e y W o r I d, F I o r i d a Disney assembled this huge tract of land very cheaply being exposed since childhood to Disney images. by dealing with agents who had no idea they were Whether we can accept such an analogy, most who working for him. He realized that had the owners visit it become emotionally absorbed by it. They come known whom they were selling their land to, which to feel that, as Disney wished, "They are in another was mostly poor palmetto pasture, they would have world" (Mosely 1986). inflated the value greatly. The Magic Kingdom is deep in the interior of Walt Disney desired as little interference from government Disney World. It is reached by mass transportation as possible in the development of the property and either from Disney's own hotels within the park, or was pleased that the Florida legislature awarded him by car and bus from hotels outside the park. An es~ special governmental status over the land purchase pecially large concentration of hotels outside the park (Walsh 1986). The 11,100~hectare tract was named has grown up along International Drive (Figure 1). the Reedy Creek Improvement District. In effect it Depending on the season of the year, between 25,000 became the 68th county in the state, with authority and 75,000 guests are admitted to the Magic Kingdom over electric power, water, zoning codes, and fire pro~ each day. Many thousands more visit Disney World's tection. Police and-judicial authority continued to rest two newer theme parks, EPCOT and Disney~MGM with the two counties in which the land was situated, Studio Theme Park. and the park pays county property taxes. Although Guests to the Magic Kingdom (in Disney parks all Disney World today employs approximately 35,000 visitors are referred to as "guests") go to its Trans~ workers, there are only about 40 voting residents of portation and Ticket Center. Here they purchase tickets the district, most Disney employees. to the Magic Kingdom, or a "passport" to visit all The special starus of Disney World has led to tensions three parks (Birnbaum 1989). Although it is not nee~ between it and the counties in which it is ·situated (Walsh 1986). Whereas other developers must pay impact fees to the county for roads and other public construction at the time they develop their property, Disney does not. Many believe Walt Disney Company is not contributing its fair share for the development of the area's infrastructure. Disney executives maintain that they ha:ve made substantial contributions, citing the company as the major force behind the growth of the region's economy. There is no dispute that the Disney operation was the principal stimulant for growth in central Florida. In 1971, the year the Magic Kingdom opened, Florida BEE LINE EXPWY tourism was much more uniformly distributed throughout the state than it is today. Most tourists vacationed along the beaches of the lower peninsula. ~ Orlando, in the interior of the upper half of the pen~ N insula, had comparatively little appeal to either tourists I or retirees. In 1971, when the Magic Kingdom opened, approximately 450,000 inhabitants lived in the Orlando metropolitan area. Twenty years later, in 1990, the population had risen to slightly over 1 million. Among the nation's metropolitan statistical areas, including that of New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas, Nevada, continually exchange the lead in the number of hotel and motel rooms. Creating a Sense of Place Anthropologist Alexander Moore ( 1980) compares a visit to the Magic Kingdom to a religious pilgrimage. Figure 1. Disney World (11,000 hectares) is southwest of Orlando He believes that its success may be attributed to people on U.S. Route 4. 63 WINSBERG essary, those who wish to heighten the illusion they are going into a different world can exchange U.S. dollars for one, and five,dollar Disney bills. From the ticket office, guests have a choice of reaching the Magic Kingdom by paddle,wheeled ferry boat across artificial Bay Lake or by monorail. Even before arriving at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom all but the most calm begin to be swept into the spirit that Disney strove to generate. The sheer size of a typical day's crowd, which includes many children, heightens the excitement. People who visit the park marvel at crowd control. Although there are often long lines at popular attractions, the attendants move people through with great efficiency. Upon entrance to the Magic Kingdom the first theme area or "land" entered is Main Street, U.S.A., the Disney concept of a late, 19th,cenrury small,town main street. Main Street, U.S.A., provides an excellent opportunity to appreciate the attention to detail that Figure 2. Cinderella's Castle, in the center of the Magic Kingdom, is the hallmark of all Disney attractions. It is used is a point of orientation for visitors to the theme areas that here as an exemplar of the other theme areas within surround it. The design of the castle was inspired by 12th- and 13th-century French castles as well as King ludwig of Bavaria's the park. Neuschwanstein. Source: Florida State Archives. The buildings are careful reconstructions of struc, tures of the period (Goldberger 1972). Detractors argue that no main street at the end of the 19th century was as clean as Disney's. Draft horses pull center of Magic Kingdom. Here roads lead directly to streetcars down Main Street, but droppings or litter the other theme sections of the park. of any sort never remain on the ground for long, thanks to a crew of constantly vigilant sanitation workers. From a railroad station near Main Street Design and Construction of EPCOT one can take a train around the perimeter of the Magic Kingdom. The old steam locomotive that pulls Walt Disney World's second theme park, EPCOT, the train is one of four salvaged in 1969 from an opened in 1982. In design it bore little resemblance abandoned Mexican railroad system. to what Disney himself had proposed in 1966, when Illusion is vital in the creation of the Magic Kingdom's the Florida property was purchased: In Disney's words landscape. The kingdom seems much larger than it "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow "will actually is.