Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Roy built Walt Disney World debt-free
Roy renamed the whole Florida project Walt Disney World in his brother's honor and postponed his own retirement to see it through. In May 1967, the Florida legislature approved it and carved out the Reedy Creek Development District, which gave the company far more autonomy over the land than it had ever had in Anaheim. Walt had regretted not buying up the land around Disneyland, because he hated the hotels and restaurants that sprang up there.
Roy was not willing to bet the company the way Walt had, and he set a goal of building it without raising debt. There was no city, no Epcot, no airport, and no industrial park, only a Disneyland-style park on the land. The Magic Kingdom added an underground tunnel network so crews no longer carried trash through the park and characters could reach the right land. Roy died two and a half months after Disney World opened, at the end of 1971.
How does a special district give autonomy?
Florida's 1967 legislation created the Reedy Creek Improvement District to cover Disney's land. It gave the company powers over zoning, building codes, drainage, fire protection, and utilities within the district. Disney could build on its own schedule rather than waiting on county permits. Walt had wanted that control after the lack of it in Anaheim.
What are the tunnels under Magic Kingdom?
Disney calls them utilidors. Florida's high water table made digging deep impractical, so the tunnels sit at ground level and the park was built a story above them. Crews, characters, and trash carts move through them out of sight. Disneyland has no such system.
More from Acquired
