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kingsumo_1 t1_jeawc1n wrote

Reply to comment by Themanstall in TIL that Walt Disney World began as "The Florida Project". Dummy corporations were used, by Walt Disney Productions, to buy up 27,000 acres of land to avoid bursts of land speculation in the Orlando area. Early rumors assumed possible development by NASA, Ford, the Rockefellers, and Howard Hughes. by jdward01

Before Disney, the Orlando area was relatively small and the area he bought up was unused swampland that nobody was interested in at the time. The only reason for the shell companies was to prevent a massive burst of people buying up land specifically to thwart their efforts, or force them to pay an outrageous amount to keep their plans intact.

If Disney hadn't moved in and renovated the area Orlando would not be the place it is today. Florida itself would not have received the ungodly amount of tourist money that is also spent in businesses and properties outside of the parks. And they would still have Dinseyland in California, regardless.

And developers buying large chunks of land is not unusual. The only noteworthy factor at all, is because we know what it grew to be.

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BrownAleRVA t1_jebl7nh wrote

IIRC, this is what happened at his California park. Bunch of non-Disney things popped up all around the area. He wanted his own magic place so he secretly bought up land in Orlando.

After it became known that it was Disney, there still was a rush to buy up property around it but Walt planned on that. The land had a large buffer zone to the actual parks. So anything built around the disney owned land wasnt going to be near anything.

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