Mickey Mouse is coming to Florida

disney world

Photo: Creative Commons




Governor Haydon Burns introduced Walt Disney at the press conference as “the man of the decade, who will bring a new world of entertainment, pleasure, and economic development to the State of Florida.”

Walt—he wants people to call him “Walt”—explained his ideas for the upcoming park. There will be the Disney signature Magic Kingdom, of course, like Disneyland.  But, Walt also shared his vision for something entirely different—his vision for an ideal City of Tomorrow that he personally would create.




Since 1958, the company has known that only about 2% of the visitors to the Anaheim park came from east of the Mississippi River; yet 75% of the US lives in the east. So, Mickey Mouse had to build another “house” in the east.

Walt said that they decided on Buena Vista because “it has warm sunny weather year round, a terrific highway infrastructure, and inexpensive land.”

Coincidentally, the day Walt made the final decision to build Disney World in Florida, he and his executives had cheerfully begun to fly back to California in his jet on that bright, sunny Friday, November 22, 1963—when they heard the sad news:  John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas.

Disney World will cost $600 million dollars to build, employ 20,000 people, and attract millions of visitors to our area annually. If these projections hold true, Walt will provide a huge boon to Florida’s economy.



Disney was smart to be so secretive in buying that initial 27,000 acres.  The day before they announced Mickey was coming, raw land in Buena Vista was selling for about $175 per acre.  Land prices jumped to $1000 per acre and higher the day after the announcement. ($1000 in 1966 equals $7000, today).

Walt Disney 1901-1966


Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, from cancer at the age of 65.  He died 5 years before Disney World opened in 1971 and 16 years before his beloved EPCOT—Experimental Prototype City of  Tomorrow–opened in 1982. He had worked into the night the day before his death.  The EPCOT plans had been taped to the ceiling above his hospital bed. He used a long pointer to convey his thoughts. So, just a few hours from death, Walt Disney was still planning and dreaming about the future, or as they say at Disney, ”imagineering.” He died at 9:30 the next morning.


Disney is one of  the top ten most recognizable company brand names in the world, ensuring its place in Southern Memories for as long as kids of all ages love to sing and spell–M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-EEE…

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