History of WDW property?

[Dis Lurker]

Does anyone have information on what was on the property before Walt bought it?

I read somewhere there was a radio station on discovery island?:eek:

Just curious.

[walt's assistant]

Swamp, small citrus groves, and forested areas. Not much else in Central Florida in the 1960s...

[grinningghost]

Not much - that's why he wanted it.:D

[WDWHound]

Bay Lake was there (though not called that), as was the island that eventually became Discovery Island (now closed). The story is that Walt saw that island when flying over the area and deciding that this was the place he wanted to build Disney World.

[d-r]

There was a family that lived on discovery island. Up until the 1930's the Raz family lived there and did farming. Then it was bought by "Radio Nick" Nicholson who lived there and had a radio show from there until the 1950s. Nick called it Idle Bay Isle. Then a group of people bought it to use a hunting retreat, and called it Riles Island, and you can see that name still on some maps of the area. Disney bought it in the 1960s - and yeah, the arial flybys of that Island is what made Walt decide that was the property he wanted.

[Dis Lurker]

Thanks d-r! :D

Before that it's just a big swampy mess I guess?

I wonder if the Raz family ever goes to the Magic Kingdom to visit the old family homestead? ;)

[d-r]

I think they may still be ticked that Walt used all those front companies so that they didn't make a fortune on the deal :)

If you are trying to think about what the place looked like before wdw, remember that seven seas lagoon wasn't there at all, that was dug up. So those islands there are man made. Bay lake was dredged and cleaned up too. So it would have felt more like a big swampy mess I'm sure. I think if you wanted to get a feel for what it was like, you could take the walkway between wilderness lodge and fort wilderness. That's my guess. Those cypress trees are interesting becuase they will grow really rapidly until they get up (because they had to survive shifting water levels) then they grow really slowly. So those trees around wilderness lodge in that area have probably been there hundreds of years. The underbrush would probably look like that, but less kudzu of course. There would be palmettos and so forth. So I think that is probably the most natural "florida" kind of place that is readily accessible. It is ironic because some guests feel like it is the least "Florida looking" area or they think they went to a lot of work to theme it that way.

Another way to think about it is to look at the shoreline on bay lake where nothing has been built. Or to look around at fort wilderness off the beaten track, like what it is like in the wooded areas. Beyond that, think about farming areas with citrus groves. That would pretty much be it.

DR

[JimC]

The land owners got a fair price for the land. There was nothing they could do with it that would create additional value. At that time no one else had conceived of a project the magnitude of the Florida EPCOT project. And who else would have been able to negotiate self determination from the State of Florida?

I wonder how many of the sellers actually thought they had bested some poor northener who did not know any better while they unloaded their worthless swampland for top dollar!

[Maggi May]

There's a good book, written by a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park that describes the history of the development of Central Florida -- it's called Married to the Mouse by Richard Fogelsong.

[JimC]

Thanks Maggie May. I am going to order it.

[Walt's Frozen Head]

d-r...

I've heard that Bay Lake's original, natural shape was very similar to the familiar mouse ears, and that the dredging (particularly up towards where the Persian would have been) ended up obscuring what might have eventually come to be known as the very first Hidden Mickey.

Have you seen anything that would confirm or deny that rumor?

[d-r]

Jeff, I haven't. Any map I've ever seen of the area looked about the same shape as now - I didn't know about that, but it would be neat if it was so - I once looked at some maps at UF web site, they have a big collection there.

DR