The Walt Disney World Resort, commonly known as Walt Disney World and informally as Disney World, is the world's most-visited entertainment resort, located in Lake Buenos Vista, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to four theme parks, two water parks, twenty-four themed resorts excluding eight more that are on-site but not owned by The Walt Disney Company, two spas and fitness centers, five golf courses, and other recreational and entertainment venues.The resort was developed by Walt Disney in the 1960 s to supplement Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. In addition to hotels and a theme park similar to Disneyland, Walt's original plans also included...
The Walt Disney World Resort, commonly known as Walt Disney World and informally as Disney World, is the world's most-visited entertainment resort, located in Lake Buenos Vista, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to four theme parks, two water parks, twenty-four themed resorts excluding eight more that are on-site but not owned by The Walt Disney Company, two spas and fitness centers, five golf courses, and other recreational and entertainment venues.The resort was developed by Walt Disney in the 1960 s to supplement Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. In addition to hotels and a theme park similar to Disneyland, Walt's original plans also included an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a planned city that would serve as a test bed for new innovations for city living. After extensive lobbying, the Government of Florida created the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special government district that essentially gave the Walt Disney Company the standard powers and autonomy of an incorporated city. Walt died in 1966 before his original plans were fully realized.The resort opened on October 1, with the Magic Kingdom as its only theme park, and has since added Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom.Walt Disney Productions began looking for land for a second park to supplement Disneyland, which opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Market surveys revealed that only 5% of Disneyland's visitors came from east of the Mississippi River, where 75% of the population of the United States lived. Additionally, Walt Disney disliked the businesses that had sprung up around Disneyland and wanted control of a much larger area of land for the new project.Walt Disney flew over the Orlando site one of many in November . Seeing the well-developed network of roads, including the planned Interstate 4 and Florida's Turnpike, with McCoy Air Force Base later Orlando International Airport to the east, Disney selected a centrally-located site near Bay Lake.
