Usuário:Eduardo P/Walt Disney World Resort
O Walt Disney World Resort/Estância, comumente conhecido como Walt Disney World e informalmente Disney World, é o resort de entretenimento mais visitado em todo o mundo, situado em Lake Buena Vista, Flórida. Abrangendo 11.106 hectares, pertence e é operada por The Walt Disney Company através da divisão de seus parques e resorts e é o lar de quatro parques temáticos, dois parques aquáticos, vinte e quatro resorts temáticos (excluindo mais oito que estão no local, mas não pertencente ao The Walt Disney Company), dois spas e centros de ginástica, cinco campos de golfe, e outros locais de lazer e entretenimento.
O resort foi desenvolvido por Walt Disney na década de 1960 para complementar o parque da Disneylândia em Anaheim, Califórnia. Além de hotéis e um parque temático similar à Disneylândia, os planos originais de Walt Disney também incluíam um "Protótipo Experimental da Comunidade do Amanhã", uma cidade planejada que serviria como um laboratório de experiências para novas inovações para a vida na cidade (vida metropolitana). Após intensa pressão, o governo da Flórida criou o distrito de evolução Reedy Creek, um distrito governamental que essencialmente deu para a Walt Disney Company os poderes e autonomia normais de uma cidade incorporada. Walt morreu em 1966 antes que seus planos originais fossem completamente realizados.
The resort opened on October 1, 1971 with the Magic Kingdom as its only theme park, and has since added Epcot (1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (1989), and Disney's Animal Kingdom (1998).
History[editar | editar código-fonte]
In 1959, 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.[1]
Walt Disney flew over the Orlando site (one of many) in November 1963. 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.[2]
To avoid a burst of land speculation, Disney used various dummy corporations to acquire 11,106 hectares of land.[2] In May 1965, some of these major land transactions were recorded a few miles southwest of Orlando in Osceola County. Also, two large tracts totaling $1.5 million were sold, and smaller tracts of flatlands and cattle pastures were purchased by exotic-sounding companies such as the Latin-American Development and Management Corporation and the Reedy Creek Ranch Corporation (Some of these names are now memorialized on a window above Main Street, U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom). In addition to three huge parcels of land were many smaller parcels, referred to as "outs."
Much of the land acquired had been platted into 5 -acre(s) (2 ha) lots in 1912 by the Munger Land Company and sold to investors. Most owners were happy to get rid of the land, which was mostly swamp. Another issue was the mineral rights to the land, which were owned by Tufts University. Without the transfer of these rights, Tufts could come in at any time and demand the removal of buildings to obtain minerals. Eventually, Disney's team negotiated a deal with Tufts to buy the mineral rights for $15,000.[3]
After most of the land had been bought, the truth of the property's owner was leaked to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper on October 20, 1965. A press conference was soon organized for November 15, when Walt Disney explained the plans for the site, including Epcot, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which was to be a futuristic planned city (and which was also known as Progress City). He envisioned a real working city with commercial and residential areas that also continued to showcase and test new ideas and concepts for urban living.
Walt Disney died from lung cancer on December 15, 1966, before his vision was realized. His brother and business partner, Roy O. Disney, postponed his retirement to oversee construction of the resort's first phase.
On February 2, 1967, Roy O. Disney held a press conference at the Park Theatres in Winter Park, Florida. The role of EPCOT was emphasized in the film that was played, the last one recorded by Walt Disney before his death. After the film, it was explained that for Disney World, including EPCOT, to succeed, a special district would have to be formed: the Reedy Creek Improvement District with two cities inside it, Bay Lake and Reedy Creek (now Lake Buena Vista). In addition to the standard powers of an incorporated city, which include the issuance of tax-free bonds, the district would have immunity from any current or future county or state land-use laws. The only areas where the district had to submit to the county and state would be property taxes and elevator inspections.[1]
The legislation forming the district and the two cities was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967. The Florida Supreme Court then ruled in 1968 that the district was allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds for public projects within the district despite the sole beneficiary being Walt Disney Productions.
The district soon began construction of drainage canals, and Disney built the first roads and the Magic Kingdom. Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground were also completed in time for the park's opening on October 1, 1971. The Palm and Magnolia golf courses near the Magic Kingdom had opened a few weeks before. At the park's opening, Roy O. Disney dedicated the property and declared that it would be known as "Walt Disney World" in his brother's honor. In his own words: "Everyone has heard of Ford cars. But have they all heard of Henry Ford, who started it all? Walt Disney World is in memory of the man who started it all, so people will know his name as long as Walt Disney World is here." After the dedication, Roy Disney asked Walt's widow, Lillian, what she thought of Walt Disney World. According to biographer Bob Thomas, she responded, "I think Walt would have approved." Roy O. Disney died on December 20, 1971, less than three months after the property opened.
Much of Walt Disney's plans for his Progress City were abandoned after his death, after the company board decided that it did not want to be in the business of running a city. The concept evolved into the resort's second theme park, EPCOT Center (renamed Epcot in 1996), which opened in 1982. While still emulating Walt Disney's original idea of showcasing new technology, it is closer to a world's fair than a "community of tomorrow". Some of the urban planning concepts from the original idea of EPCOT would instead be integrated into the community of Celebration much later. The resort's third theme park, Disney-MGM Studios (renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2008), opened in 1989, and is inspired by show business. The resort's fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998. Although his idea for the progress city were abandoned, the ride called the carousel of progress is still open in the Magic Kingdom park to educate people on Walt Disney's idea of changing ways and also to keep some original ideas of Walt's in the park.
George Kalogridis was named president of the resort in December 2012, replacing Meg Crofton, who had overseen the site since 2006.
Timeline[editar | editar código-fonte]
Location[editar | editar código-fonte]
Despite marketing claims and popular misconceptions, the Florida resort is not located within Orlando city limits and is actually located about 34 km southwest of downtown Orlando within southwestern Orange County, with the remainder in adjacent Osceola County. The property includes the cities of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake which are governed by the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The 10,117 hectares[4] site is accessible from Central Florida's Interstate 4 via Exits 62B (World Drive), 64B (US 192 West), 65B (Osceola Parkway West), 67B (SR 536 West), and 68 (SR 535 North), and Exit 8 on State Road 429 (Florida), the Western Expressway. At its peak, the resort occupied approximately 12,141 hectares, about the size of San Francisco, or twice the size of Manhattan. Portions of the property since have been sold or de-annexed, including land now occupied by the Disney-built community of Celebration.
Referências
- ↑ a b Fogleson, Richard E. (2003). Married to the Mouse. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-300-09828-0
- ↑ a b Mannheim, Steve (2002). Walt Disney and the Quest for Community. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited. pp. 68–70. ISBN 0-7546-1974-5
- ↑ Koenig, David (2007). Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World. Irvine, CA: Bonaventure Press. pp. 25–26. ISBN 978-0-9640605-2-4
- ↑ Walt Disney World News[ligação inativa] Press Release on Resort Landscape Facts (2008)