Editing Walt Disney World (section)

==== Roy Disney's oversight of construction ====
[[File:Roy Disney inspecting property in Florida.jpg|thumb|Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida]]
Walt Disney died from circulatory collapse caused by smoking-related [[lung cancer]] on December 15, 1966, before his vision was realized.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Santora |first=Phil |date=December 14, 2014 |title=The day Walt Disney, an American icon who gave us Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, died |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/archives-walt-disney-died-lung-cancer-article-1.2042273 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913051051/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/archives-walt-disney-died-lung-cancer-article-1.2042273 |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |access-date=June 22, 2020 |website=New York Daily News}}</ref> According to the [[Walt Disney Archives]], during Walt's lifetime, he personally visited and toured the site only twice: on November 16, 1965, the day after the press conference, and again for a second time, on May 26, 1966.<ref name="AskWDA">{{cite journal |title=Ask the Walt Disney Archives |journal=Disney Twenty-three |date=Spring 2025 |volume=17 |issue=1 |page=60 |issn=2162-5492 |oclc=698366817}}</ref>  His brother and business partner, [[Roy O. Disney]], postponed his retirement to oversee construction of the resort's first phase.

On February 2, 1967, Roy O. Disney held a press conference at the Park Theatres in Winter Park, Florida. The role of EPCOT was emphasized in the film that was played. After the film, it was explained that for Disney World, including EPCOT, to succeed, a special district would have to be formed: the [[Reedy Creek Improvement District]] with two cities inside it, [[Bay Lake, Florida|Bay Lake]] and Reedy Creek, now [[Lake Buena Vista, Florida|Lake Buena Vista]]. In addition to the standard powers of an incorporated city, which include issuance of tax-free bonds, the district would have immunity from any current or future county or state land-use laws. The only areas where the district had to submit to the county and state would be [[property tax]]es and [[elevator]] inspections.<ref name="married" /> The legislation forming the district and the two cities, one of which was the [[Reedy Creek Improvement Act]], was signed into law by Florida Governor [[Claude R. Kirk, Jr.]] on May 12, 1967.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Bob |url=http://kpolsson.com/wdworld/ |title=Walt Disney – An American Original |date=1994 |page=357 |access-date=September 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024034807/http://kpolsson.com/wdworld/ |archive-date=October 24, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Supreme Court of Florida]] then ruled in 1968 that the district was allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds for public projects within the district, despite the sole beneficiary being Walt Disney Productions.

[[File:Walt Disney World 1971.svg|thumb|The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s. This logo is still used on retro merchandise.]]
The district soon began construction of drainage canals, and Disney built the first roads and the Magic Kingdom. The [[Disney's Contemporary Resort|Contemporary Resort Hotel]] was completed in time for the park's opening on October 1, 1971, and the [[Disney's Polynesian Village Resort|Polynesian Village Resort]] opened shortly after.<ref name="dwfonfr">{{Cite news |date=September 27, 1971 |title=Disney World Florida opens next Friday |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0-4eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wCQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6996%2C2342976 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508180805/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0-4eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wCQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6996%2C2342976 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |access-date=June 12, 2016 |work=Times-News |location=Hendersonville, North Carolina |page=11 |agency=UPI}}</ref><ref name="opfgteslns">{{Cite news |date=October 2, 1971 |title=Walt Disney World opens Florida gates |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SsEzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=izIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=7198%2C139625 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015014530/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SsEzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=izIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=7198%2C139625 |archive-date=October 15, 2021 |access-date=June 12, 2016 |work=Lodi News-Sentinel |location=California |page=10 |agency=UPI}}</ref> The Palm and Magnolia golf courses near the Magic Kingdom had opened a few weeks before, while [[Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground|Fort Wilderness]] opened one month later. Twenty-four days after the park opened, Roy O. Disney dedicated the property and declared that it would be known as "Walt Disney World", in his brother's honor. In his own words: "Everyone has heard of [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] cars. But have they all heard of [[Henry Ford]], who started it all? Walt Disney World is in memory of the man who started it all, so people will know his name as long as Walt Disney World is here." After the dedication, Roy Disney asked Walt's widow, [[Lillian Disney|Lillian]], what she thought of Walt Disney World. According to biographer Bob Thomas, she responded, "I think Walt would have approved." Roy Disney died at age 78 on December 20, 1971, less than three months after the property opened.<ref name="bbroydsn">{{Cite news |date=December 21, 1971 |title=Backstage brain Roy Disney dies |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IkVQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yFcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5417%2C1489507 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015014528/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IkVQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yFcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5417%2C1489507 |archive-date=October 15, 2021 |access-date=June 12, 2016 |work=St. Petersburg Independent |location=Florida |page=10–A |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

Admission prices in 1971 were $3.50 for adults, $2.50 for juniors under age 18, and $1 for children under twelve.<ref name="dwfonfr" />