Disney and The Lion King

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The Walt Disney World Resort, often referred to as simply Walt Disney World or Disney World, is a theme park destination resort owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts segment of The Walt Disney Company. The park is located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, outside the city limits of Orlando.

The resort opened on October 1, 1971, with the Magic Kingdom theme park and has since added Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom theme parks. In addition to these four main theme parks, the resort contains two water parks, six golf courses, a sports complex, an auto race track, twenty resort hotels, and numerous shopping, dining, and entertainment offerings. The 47-square-mile (122 kmē) property is the largest theme park resort in the world. It is directly accessible via Exits 62B (World Drive), 64B (US 192 West), 65B (Osceola Parkway West), 67B (SR 536 West), and 68 (SR 535 North) of Interstate 4.

President Allen R. "Al" Weiss has overseen the resort since 1994.

Concept

Walt Disney originally envisioned what would eventually become the Walt Disney World Resort as a resort that would include a Magic Kingdom theme park somewhat larger and more elaborate than the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland. There was also to be various housing facilities for guests of the resort, along with an industrial park, main resort terminal, and a futuristic airport, but most importantly was Walt Disney's "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow," or EPCOT, as it is better known with respect as an acronym. EPCOT was also known as Progress City. However, plans for EPCOT would drastically change after Walt Disney's death. EPCOT became EPCOT Center, the second theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Much later, concepts from the original idea of EPCOT would be integrated into the community of Celebration.

Walt Disney focused most of his attention on the "Florida Project" both before and after his participation at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, but he died in December 15, 1966, almost five years before his vision realized.

There is no official documentation showing that the Walt Disney World Resort was originally to be spelled "Disneyworld," for it was already going to be far different than "Disneyland." However, Walt Disney did make reference to the Walt Disney World Resort as both "Disney World" and "The Disney World," with both of these versions using the same font that was used in the spelling of Disneyland.

After Walt Disney's death, the title of "Disney World" was selected and to be presented in a modern font instead of the original Disneyland font. To reinforce the updated name and image, Disney World's official symbol was to be an oversized "D" with the face of Mickey Mouse depicted as the lines of latitude and longitude of this new World.

While Disneyland has kept its original font, it has lost nearly all references to its official symbol. Walt Disney World put an end to use of both its original font and official symbol at the conclusion of Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary Celebration in 1996. The official symbol, however, can still be found in many places around the Walt Disney World Resort as well as in recent merchandise that uses it once again.

In the end, it was Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney's older brother, who would dedicate the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World and officially proclaim "Disney World" as "Walt Disney World" in his brother's honor.

Properties

A popular misconception is that the resort exists in Orlando. In fact, the entire Walt Disney World property is outside Orlando city limits; the majority sits within southwestern Orange County, with the remainder in adjacent Osceola County to the south.

Most of Walt Disney World's Central Florida land, and all of the public areas, are located in the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, located southwest of Orlando and a few miles northwest of Kissimmee. The land within Walt Disney World Resort is part of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which allows the Disney corporation to exercise quasi-governmental powers over the area.

Walt Disney World Resort features four major theme parks, each with a main attraction that serves as its symbol:

There are also two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach (a third, River Country, is permanently closed), and the Disney's Wide World of Sports athletic complex.

The Downtown Disney area, consisting of three sections (Marketplace, Pleasure Island, and West Side), contains many shopping, dining, and entertainment venues. This includes DisneyQuest (an indoor "interactive theme park"), the House of Blues, and a permanent Cirque du Soleil show (La Nouba).

Another notable aspect is the large number of hotel resort complexes on the Walt Disney World property. The non-themed hotels are owned by private, non-Disney hospitality companies such as Starwood, Holiday Inn, and Hilton. The themed resorts include:

On-Site Disney Resorts

Main article: Walt Disney World Resorts