Happy to say I was there opening day: October 1, 1971

One single private company transformed a regular swamp in the middle of nowhere into the most visited destination in the United States, and one of the most visited places on the entire planet. History can be amazing

Walt Disney was amazing, he had great views of architecture.

Did you know: you can fit 300 Disneyland's on Walt Disney World property? Another way of looking at it is Disney World property is twice the size of New York City. The vision Disney had 60 years ago was absolutely insanely daring, and brilliant.

Hollywood Studies was first opened as MGM Studios.

Typhoon Lagoon wasn't their first water park - they previously had River Country which opened in 1976 on the shore of Bay Lake, and only closed in 2005

One little factoid not mentioned here - is that the entire property was built above grade, which was the top of the water level.  So yes, it was drained and construction began.  But that intial foundation is the basement to the public's experience above.  The attractions are on the "second floor," if you will.  This was to curb flooding - and more importantly create a vast underground network to connect every point in the park.

Fun fact: the day Disney flew over Bay Lake and decided that’s where he wanted to build Disney world was the same day JFK was shot.

Walt Disney could've simply built a Disneyland clone in Orlando, those with a lesser vision would have. However, he dreamed of something better, something bigger and more magical than the original, and I'm so glad he did. Although I haven't been to WDW in thirty years, I remember my two visits like they were yesterday. It made an impression on my young mind that has stayed with me until this very day. Walt Disney was one of the greatest visionaries in history!

i love that this is literally a documentary! you should get this on netflix!

Great video! One thing: River Country in Fort Wilderness was Walt Disney World’s first water park, not Typhoon Lagoon. It opened in 1976 and closed in 2005. My childhood hangout. :)

8:34 my king Harambe lives on ❤️

I remember visiting Hollywood Studios when it was still MGM studios

On Saturday, September 11, 1971, Disney did a test run of the Magic Kingdom as a shake-down, to see if the attractions were working properly.  They allowed a huge crowd of people - all construction workers who had built the park, and their families - into the park for five hours, starting at sunset.  Not every attraction was open but most were, and several bugs were found (and corrected before the official opening.)  It was a trip, man!  I got to experience the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree-House (which I have never been in since!,) the Tiki Birds, Main Street, Cinderella's Castle, the Cable Cars, the Monorail, the Grand Prix race-cars and the Peoplemover, among other things.  (I'm not sure, but I think we did Pirates of the Caribbean.  I also am not sure if we rode the Steam Train around the park or not - it may not have been working.  Space Mountain was still more than three years away.)  Some of the original Main Street vehicles (replicas of 1910-era Jitneys and Omnibuses) are still there and, though they had 6 or 7 miles on them that night (they have speedometers, and I looked,) it has taken them 50 years to pile on 17,000 or so miles.  I did not ride It's A Small World; in fact, it took me more than 35 years to bother to ride it.  I even got to go into the Contemporary Hotel and its 12-storey-deep atrium.  We were very, very busy, running around trying to see everything in five hours, and the time went by with lightning speed.  I got to ride the Monorail three times:  twice in the back, and at the end when we were leaving, in the Operator's Cab, and that was just frigging amazing!  You want to talk about a Space-Age experience - an electric train suspended fifty feet over the ground, and right through a hotel!!!  That was the summer of Apollo 15, after all.  The monorail impressed the Hell out of me.  There were only two hotels then; the Contemporary and the Polynesian.   I both visited and rode through them both.  I had a choice:  the Monorail or the boat, and I chose the Monorail.  So I can say that I got to tour Disney World twenty days before the official opening of October 1, 1971.  There were 11,000 of us.  I wonder how many are still alive?  I was twelve years old and I will never forget it.

I really wish there had been more information about the actual construction of Disney World and less of a timeline of the history of the Disney company,  which most fans know.

So interesting! we had never seen a detalied story of Disney! we love your channeel man!

Roy Disney was the mastermind behind this project.. Walt had the ideas,  up it was Roy who did most.

Your channel is so awesome!

Walt would be turning over In his grave If he seen what EPCOT has become. He had a plan and they changed It.

Typhoon Lagoon was not Disney's first step into water parks. The first was the now abandend River Country. It was situated right next to Fort Wilderness Camp Grounds. The infrastructure as alot of the slides are still standing today.