Building Walt Disney World

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[pnull]

Happy to say I was there opening day: October 1, 1971

[NYC_Construction_Updates]

Walt Disney was amazing, he had great views of architecture.

[luuchoo]

One single private company transformed a regular swamp in the middle of nowhere into the most visited destination in the United States, and one of the most visited places on the entire planet. History can be amazing

[piercehubbard]

I love Disney Land, Disney World, and Disney cruises! My parents took us on a Disney Cruise when I was 16 for Christmas. I thought it would suck and be all for kids, but they make it fun for any age! Best vacation of my life. My family is in Palm Springs now and try to go to Disney Land once a year. It really brings some magic that can even make a tough person start to remember and go back to childhood when life is simple.

[MoMoMyPup]

Did you know: you can fit 300 Disneyland's on Walt Disney World property? Another way of looking at it is Disney World property is twice the size of New York City. The vision Disney had 60 years ago was absolutely insanely daring, and brilliant.

[lionheart]

Walt Disney could've simply built a Disneyland clone in Orlando, those with a lesser vision would have. However, he dreamed of something better, something bigger and more magical than the original, and I'm so glad he did. Although I haven't been to WDW in thirty years, I remember my two visits like they were yesterday. It made an impression on my young mind that has stayed with me until this very day. Walt Disney was one of the greatest visionaries in history!

[bradjohnston]

On Saturday, September 11, 1971, Disney did a test run of the Magic Kingdom as a shake-down, to see if the attractions were working properly. They allowed a huge crowd of people - all construction workers who had built the park, and their families - into the park for five hours, starting at sunset. Not every attraction was open but most were, and several bugs were found (and corrected before the official opening.) It was a trip, man! I got to experience the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree-House (which I have never been in since!, ) the Tiki Birds, Main Street, Cinderella's Castle, the Cable Cars, the Monorail, the Grand Prix race-cars and the Peoplemover, among other things. (I'm not sure, but I think we did Pirates of the Caribbean. I also am not sure if we rode the Steam Train around the park or not - it may not have been working. Space Mountain was still more than three years away.) Some of the original Main Street vehicles (replicas of 1910-era Jitneys and Omnibuses) are still there and, though they had 6 or 7 miles on them that night (they have speedometers, and I looked, ) it has taken them 50 years to pile on 17, 000 or so miles. I did not ride It's A Small World; in fact, it took me more than 35 years to bother to ride it. I even got to go into the Contemporary Hotel and its 12-storey-deep atrium. We were very, very busy, running around trying to see everything in five hours, and the time went by with lightning speed. I got to ride the Monorail three times: twice in the back, and at the end when we were leaving, in the Operator's Cab, and that was just frigging amazing! You want to talk about a Space-Age experience - an electric train suspended fifty feet over the ground, and right through a hotel!!! That was the summer of Apollo 15, after all. The monorail impressed the Hell out of me. There were only two hotels then; the Contemporary and the Polynesian. I both visited and rode through them both. I had a choice: the Monorail or the boat, and I chose the Monorail. So I can say that I got to tour Disney World twenty days before the official opening of October 1, 1971. There were 11, 000 of us. I wonder how many are still alive? I was twelve years old and I will never forget it.

[Chillyswitch]

i love that this is literally a documentary! you should get this on netflix!

[JaimeTheSafeGuru]

Incredible story. I’m fascinated by the Disney brand. They must continue to have unbelievable leadership and, razor sharp focus. Disney is the best!

[cakesbygaby]

Great video! One thing: River Country in Fort Wilderness was Walt Disney World’s first water park, not Typhoon Lagoon. It opened in 1976 and closed in 2005. My childhood hangout. :)

[aldredd]

Typhoon Lagoon wasn't their first water park - they previously had River Country which opened in 1976 on the shore of Bay Lake, and only closed in 2005

[bobboberson]

One little factoid not mentioned here - is that the entire property was built above grade, which was the top of the water level. So yes, it was drained and construction began. But that intial foundation is the basement to the public's experience above. The attractions are on the "second floor, " if you will. This was to curb flooding - and more importantly create a vast underground network to connect every point in the park.

[pandarosamusic]

This is absolutely one of your best videos, just because of the amount of detail you go into.

[rtyuuuuu]

I mean it's described as Walt having a prophetic vision to make Disney World, but his idea of doing so is widely accepted as being credited to him visiting and being inspired by Tivoli, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world(the oldest being Bakken, also in Denmark).

[CitiesoftheFuture]

So interesting! we had never seen a detalied story of Disney! we love your channeel man!

[tricky]

Hollywood Studies was first opened as MGM Studios.

[levarallen]

Rip Walt Disney thanks for building such an amazing attraction I must visit one day

[markviereck]

Roy Disney was the mastermind behind this project.. Walt had the ideas, up it was Roy who did most.

[chrisadamson]

I've been all over and Disney World is my choice for the best vacation.. Been there 8 times since the first year Animal Kingdom opened. I try and go at least every few years. I usually save for a year to go. Every time I go, It's like a new experience... My kids are grown and I'm a Grandfather but, My Wife and I love, Love, Love it... We usually go late October through the first week of Nov. Epcot has The Food & Wine festival with free concerts and food from all over the world. The crowds are lower because school is in and the weather is the best.

[Hryanw]

Fun fact: the day Disney flew over Bay Lake and decided that’s where he wanted to build Disney world was the same day JFK was shot.