What was orlando before disney

No one can predict whether an area will get a direct hit or not, but Miami, Tampa, and other coastal cities might deal with direct hits. Disney has closed in the past due to hurricanes. The closures would be much more frequent if it was located closer to the coast. Storms die down significantly once they hit land. It might be somewhat of a marketing ploy, but Florida is officially known as The Sunshine State.

There are plenty of storms during the summer months, but this is a place to escape colder weather not only for people in United States, but international travelers as well.

There was a lot of motivation for Disney World to planned out in a bit of secrecy early on. Not only does a massive project take years to all come together, but over 30, acres of land was needed to pull things off.

That meant closing deals with many different landowners, and if it leaked out, the price for this mostly swamp area would skyrocket. They were able to pull off most of the land acquisition with relative ease, setting up dummy corporations to close deals. Once they had the land under contract, the project became so large that local news outlets were starting to take notice.

While there was speculation on what exactly was being built, it was eventually narrowed down to a potential Disney Park on the east coast. Sure enough, on October 15th, , the attraction eventually named Disney World received a formal reveal by Walt Disney. In his first speech on the resort, he boldly claimed that it would be the greatest attraction in the history of the state.

When Disney World first opened its doors in October , it was just the first phase of what has evolved into a vast entertainment complex overall. Just how much has the park evolved over the years? Here is a short timeline of how much things have changed over the last few decades. Magic Kingdom was the first park to open in officially. This gave visitors two outstanding resorts to stay at while visiting from anywhere in the world. With plenty of plans in the works, a few smaller additions would continue popping up in the s to give visitors more and more options.

The original plan was to have an experimental planned community for people to actually live in. They changed everything a bit to showcase modern innovation still, but make it more of an attraction-based theme park. On top of that, they decided to have a world showcase as part of the park.

The most recognizable feature of EPCOT is Spaceship Earth, and although it is going through some changes right now, it is still one of the most visited theme parks in the entire world.

More importantly, it officially turned Disney World into a multiple day vacation destination for visitors coming from anywhere. EPCOT turned into a success, and it did not take long for a third theme park to go from simply a concept, to reality.

The plan was to have not only a theme park based on show business, but an actual operating production studio as well. Almost every year, multiple new features were launched in Central Florida for visitors to experience. From resorts to water parks, Disney World started solidifying themselves as the most popular tourist destination in the world. Disney understood the complexity of building a fourth theme park that shared many of the same qualities of a typical zoo.

The result was the largest theme park in the world to this day, as the Animal Kingdom covers acres of land for visitors to explore. The park is unique compared to the other three in that there are no fireworks at the end of the night.

Plates, straws, cups, and more are biodegradable. Also, a lot of the attraction schedules revolve around the animals themselves. The park had humble beginnings, but it is now the second most popular theme park at Disney World behind Magic Kingdom. In the last few years, the most notable additions to Disney World has been Downtown Disney evolving into Disney Springs, and the addition of Star Wars-related attractions and character meet and greets around the complex.

They have continued to grow little by little each year, holding down the distinction as the most visited vacation resort in the entire world. In any given year, annual attendance sits at around 60 million people under normal circumstances. The effects of the coronavirus outbreak have hurt those numbers overall, but the resort continues to be a ticket in demand. But it is not the real Orlando, Florida. The U. Army built Fort Gatlin southeast of present day downtown Orlando to protect settlers from the Indians.

By , a small settlement known as Jernigan had grown up around the Fort. The name came from the Jernigan family, early settlers in the area. By , Jernigan had a post office, and by the community had expanded northward, and changed its name to Orlando. In , the U. Post Office adopted the name change. The Town of Orlando was incorporated in with 85 residents, 22 of whom were qualified voters. Now for the part of the history of Orlando that is still cloudy: where did the name come from?

I recently heard from Carolyn Pangborn , a descendant of Judge Speer. She provided historical references which lead me to believe it was the Judge who came up with the name.

The name was timely because the history of Orlando since the end of the Seminole Wars has been one of steady growth. It was a quiet country town during the war, but had a population explosion in the years from to In that 20 year period between and , Orlando became the center of Florida's citrus industry. The "Great Freeze" of forced many small owners to give up their groves. Owners of bigger groves added to their holdings, and they became "citrus barons".

Many of them bought land and expanded their operations south of Orlando in the area around Lake Wales. On the agenda for next year: a new pass-holder system and the return of a free beer promotion that proved popular at SeaWorld Orlando this summer. Been there, done that. Autonomous living. The Villages, a giant sprawling development with , residents 45 miles from Orlando, has become ground zero for self-driving startups like Voyage, which will launch a pick-up service with autonomous Chrysler Pacificas at The Villages early next year.

The Hustle. Looking for a place to mix and mingle and wait for election results? Head to one of these Orlando watch parties and raise a glass to democracy. Orlando Weekly. Going to one of these? Take us with you! Email a pic to hello pulp. One last reminder that today is Election Day. Be sure to drop off your ballot before 7 p. Whatever you do, be sure to vote.