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The land
Disney quietly bought 27,000 acres of Central Florida swampland through subsidiaries with obscure names, almost 40 square miles, about twice the size of Manhattan. On November 15, 1965, Walt, Roy, and Florida's governor announced that a large Disney project was coming, and in May 1966 the company got approval to drain the swamp.
The plan
The plan fanned out like the spokes of a wheel from a domed downtown hub. Inside the dome there were no surface streets, and the only motorized transport was monorails and people movers, with tunnels below for cars and industrial vehicles. High-density apartments ringed the dome, then a green belt of parks, then single-family neighborhoods on the outer edge. The city would run its own schools and public services. The project also included a new airport, a Magic Kingdom five times the size of Disneyland, and a 1,000-acre industrial park for research offices of America's biggest companies. Walt described Epcot as a living blueprint of the future.
Walt's last months
In late October 1966, Walt recorded a film pitching the vision and ended it by saying he and the Disney organization were ready to go right now. A lung tumor was found in November, and on December 15, 1966, ten days after his 65th birthday, he died.
Why buy land through shell companies?
Land prices jump when sellers learn that a famous buyer is assembling a large property. Disney had seen prices rise around Disneyland in Anaheim. Buying through companies with unrelated names kept the price down. In October 1965 an Orlando newspaper reported Disney was behind the purchases, which speeded up the public announcement.
What did Epcot become after Walt?
Epcot did not open as a residential city. A theme park with the name Epcot opened in October 1982 as a world's-fair-style park with future-themed exhibits and a showcase of nations. Disney later built the town of Celebration, Florida, in the 1990s, with homes and shops. Neither matched Walt's plan of a working city under a dome.
How do you drain a swamp for a theme park?
Engineers dug canals and levees to move water off the land and into controlled channels. The Reedy Creek system was built to handle the heavy rain Central Florida gets in summer. Fill and compacted soil raised building sites above the water table. The land became buildable after years of earthwork.
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