May 12, 1967 –
Orlando, Florida
Signing legislation, Florida's Governor Claude R. Kirk,
Jr., officially enables Walt Disney Productions to build and operate Disney World (later renamed Walt Disney
World by Roy O. Disney, in honor of his brother Walt, whom Roy wanted everyone
to remember who’s dream it was the company was building in Central Florida).
With the legislation signing, the Reedy
Creek Improvement District is created as well as the cities of Lake Buena Vista
and Bay Lake, and Florida taxpayers will not have to spend public money on
Disney construction – and the Disney organization will not have to rely on
state agencies for approval of anything built.
Because Disney has so many plans for the theme park, the company
decides to build it in phases. Phase One
will consist of a theme park, two resort hotels (called the "Tempo Bay
Resort Hotel" and the "Polynesian Village Resort") and a
campground. The theme park will be a modeled
after and built as a larger version of the company’s original theme park, Disneyland, in Anaheim, CA. The park and the two hotels will be situated around
a large, man-made lagoon, and near the existing, natural Bay Lake – located at
the northwestern edge of the vast 43 square mile property acquired by the
company between 1966 and 1967.