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When a person visits Walt Disney World in Orlando it may be hard to imagine what that terrain looked like 75 years ago, or for that matter what Orlando, Florida was like. Nowadays it's a flourishing area, and as travelers drive on Interstate 4 during rush periods it may be hard to envision the time when it really was the sleepy Southern town. At this time on a peak time at Disney World property there will be more people compared to the whole Orlando area in 1967. In that year seven arrivals daily came into Orlando, in contrast to 846 daily arrivals at the moment. So when Disney needed a more substantial area to begin a second park subsequent to Disneyland in California why would he decide on this isolated spot? Actually, the Miami region was regarded as that logical site. He always believed that Florida and Southern California stands out as the two regions where vacationers are constantly going to go, however it turned into Orlando as Walt desired an area away from the coast. In that position traffic were able to converge upon it coming from all points. So Central Florida, not Miami had been decided as the place to build. It was considered the point of highest accessibility to the moving of traffic that at the time had been traveling to the south and the western shoreline of the state. Unfortunately, this area is very flat and very, very wet. The uppermost point in the entire State of Florida is merely 345 feet over sea level. The flatness made distance more difficult to judge, so as to aid the designers helium filled balloons were elevated to key places around what was to turn into the Magic Kingdom. That created a number of obvious challenges. In California, the Sleeping Beauty Castle which is built to overlook the park is a mere 77 feet in height. That same sized castle couldn't remain visible at a mile away in the Transportation Ticket Center. The answer was to create a bigger castle reaching 189 feet, or just 11 feet less than the elevation requiring a red light to warn airplanes of any object that high. Being so out-of-the-way on that marshy land did have its positive effects, though. Their land was bought covertly previous to any notice was made of Disney World building there, which amounted to 27,400 acres. That much property cost the Disney Corporation about $5.5 million, or around $200 per acre. This needless to say by today's values are a steal, but much had to be done to give it its present value. Waterways had to be formed to appear like natural rivers, and around the Magic Kingdom a lake named the Seven Seas Lagoon ended up being formed. Also, the Magic Kingdom itself was brought up using earthen material by 14 feet. The creative imagination all of this took is absolutely remarkable. If you are planning a vacation to this spectacular area, our article on Orlando will give you some interesting information on Disney World. You can find more about Florida on our site http://whattoseeinflorida.com/ and we welcome you to take a look. Jim O'Connell is an avid traveler and writer living in Chicago.
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