Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee.
Designed to supplement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which had opened in 1955, the complex was developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s. "The Florida Project", as it was known, was intended to present a distinct vision with its own diverse set of attractions. Walt Disney’s original plans also called for the inclusion of an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT), a planned community intended to serve as a testbed for new city-living innovations. Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, during the initial planning of the complex.
As guests walk into Epcot, the first thing they see is the park’s icon, Spaceship Earth, sometimes lovingly referred to as the “golf ball.”
EPCOT: Where the Impossible Becomes Possible
One of 4 theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort, Epcot theme park sprawls across 300 acres–twice the size of Magic Kingdom park–and is divided into Future World and World Showcase. Here, creativity is encouraged, imagination is celebrated and countries are united. Be amazed, inspired, enlightened and entertained!
When Walt Disney came up with the idea for Epcot, he imagined it as a working and livable city.
When the Disney Imagineers were building Epcot’s Mission: Space (stylized as Mission: SPACE), they employed the help of current and former NASA advisors, astronauts, and scientists so the ride could more accurately create the feeling of a real space flight.
The massive geodesic sphere is made of 11,324 aluminum and plastic-alloy triangles, and the dome weighs 16-million pounds.
Magic Kingdom Park
...is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, the park opened on October 1, 1971, as the first of four theme parks at the resort. The park was initialized by Walt Disney and designed by WED Enterprises. Its layout and attractions are based on Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.
The park is represented by Cinderella Castle, inspired by the fairy tale castle featured in the 1950 film. In 2019, the park hosted 20.9 million visitors, making it the most visited theme park in the world for the thirteenth consecutive year and the most visited theme park in North America for at least the past nineteen years.
Symbolically, Main Street, U.S.A. represents the park’s “opening credits,” where guests pass under the train station (the opening curtain), then view the names of key personnel along the windows of the buildings' upper floors. Many windows bear the name of a fictional business, such as “Seven Summits Expeditions, Frank G. Wells President”, with each representing a tribute to significant people connected to the Disney company and the development of the Walt Disney World Resort.
It features stylistic influences from around the country. Taking its inspiration from New England to Missouri, this design is most noticeable in the four corners in the middle of Main Street, where each of the four corner buildings represents a different architectural style. There is no opera house as there is at Disneyland; instead, there is the Town Square Theater. Christopher George Weaver, the “mayor” of Main Street U.S.A. and one of the park's most important figures, greeted guests here for 26 years before he died in 2017
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