The main focus of Walt Disney World, from its
conception, was that which would lie beyond the
borders of the Magic Kingdom. The original five year
plan did not include or even forecast for the distant
future a second theme park, but it did call for a variety
of resort hotels and recreational activities geared
toward commanding up to a week of vacation time.
Starting with just two hotels (The Contemporary and
Polynesian) and a campground (Fort Wilderness) for
the October 1, 1971 opening, accommodation options
remained sparse until the opening of the Golf Resort
Hotel and the Motor Inn Plaza hotels at Lake Buena
Vista in 1973. Additions came gradually and were
placed in relative accordance with the master plan
that had been in place before even the
WDW Preview
Center opened in 1970.
Likewise, activities ranging from boat rentals and
horseback rides to golfing and tennis were introduced
at the offset, and were further enhanced in measured
paces with additions such as
Treasure Island (later
Discovery Island) in 1974, the Walt Disney World
Village in 1975 and River Country in 1976.
No one closely involved in the original plans for
WDW could have predicted the direction that the
resort would take after the Eisner & Wells
management team arrived in 1984. After a quick
glance at the property's usage up to that time, they set
about to aggressively capitalize on opportunities for
more profitable development. By 1987, planning and
construction were underway for a dizzying mix of new
hotels, entertainment complexes and water parks. Nineteen years later, the company has yet to stop and
catch its breath. Compare a property road map from
the early 1980s with a map printed since 1994 - the
original planned scope of WDW appears an exercise in
understatement.
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Walt Disney World
Altered Vacation Kingdom
Located:
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Opened: October 1, 1971
Contributing
Disney
Personnel:
Walt Disney,
Roy Disney,
Richard F. Irvine,
Gen. Joe Fowler,
Gen. Joe
Potter,
Claude Coats,
Marc Davis,
Marvin Davis,
Bill Martin,
George McGinnis,
John Zovich,
hundreds of others
Descendant of:
Disneyland
Related Internal Sites:
WYW's WDW Index
Extinctions:
Treasure Island/
Discovery Island
The Walt Disney World
Preview Center
The
Wonderful World
of Water Ski Show
Altered States:
Polynesian Village
Resort
Topiary Sculptures
Lost Worlds:
The Asian Resort
EPCOT -
the City
Miscellaneous:
Walt Disney World
Publications
All photos copyright
The Walt Disney
Company.
Text copyright 2007
Mike Lee
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