All language subtitles for How Disney Built America s01e05 Creating a New World.eng

[pensive music]

- In California

during the 10th anniversary
celebration of Disneyland,

an enterprising reporter
named Emily Bavar

is looking for Walt Disney.

- Emily Bavar, who works for
the Orlando Sentinel newspaper

has this hunch about Walt.

- Somebody has been buying up
tens of thousands of acres

in Central Florida
at very low prices.

- Mr. Disney, sir, may I
have a quick minute with you?

I'm Emily Bavar, Orlando
Sentinel.

- They was using shell companies

that have names like Latin
American Development Management.

- I'm sorry, I need
to get back to this -

- Are you the one buying
up the land around Orlando?

- In Central Florida?

What in the world we'd
wanna build way out there?

It's too swampy, too humid.

I think everyone knows I'm
quite content with Disneyland.

All right?

Thank you.

- She knew it was
him because in 1965,

no one knew Orlando
was in Central Florida.

Like literally wasn't on
most people's mental map.

- Thank you for your time.

- He realizes that the cat,

or maybe in this case, the
mouse, is out of the bag.

He's just bought 27,000
acres of swampland.

And if he doesn't hustle,
the whole deal can collapse.

[plane buzzing]

- [Narrator] This blank canvas.

- That's where we're building.

- [Narrator] Will
lead to a project

of unprecedented ambition.

- [Marvin] This is
quite a vision, Walt.

The largest single most
visited theme park destination

in the entire world.

Walt Disney World.

- [Narrator] But Walt Disney
World will be much more

than just a theme park.

- I need 10,000 acres.

- What are you talking about?

- More land than the
size of Manhattan Island.

- [Narrator] It will be
an entirely new idea.

- What Walt Disney
World will become

is the first ever resort
vacation destination.

- [Narrator] And realizing
it will take everything.

- The scale of the
project was so intense

and the pressure was so high.

- He was racing
against the clock.

- [Narrator] Approximately 8
million cubic yards of earth

will be moved.

- You plan to have a train

running through the
middle of the hotel?

- Can you do it?

- That's a shockingly
daring thing to do.

- [Narrator] Billions
of gallons of water

will be redirected.

- Like so much of Disney,
we take this for granted.

- They're saying we need to move

the monorail out
of the building.

- It's been done
all over the world,

but Walt Disney World
was the first one.

- The magic is, of course,
how did they do that?

And in this case, how did
they do it without Walt?

[inspirational music]

- I believe that this
nation should commit itself

to achieving the goal
before this decade is out

of landing a man on the moon

and returning him
safely to the earth.

- During the 1960s,
everyone is really thrilled

and excited about
the space race.

- It becomes this challenge
that permeates our culture.

[rocket zooming]

- Now we were literally
racing to space.

We were launching things
regularly into the air.

It was this wild time where
everything was changing.

- There was this
romance of technology

that you saw in TV shows

like "The Jetsons."

- Would you mind if I pass?

- Things that the astronauts
are drinking in space

are now available to
us in our supermarkets.

- Cars even started to
look like rocket ships.

- Science fiction is
becoming science fact.

I mean, we're seeing it happen.

- This is when
America's can do-ism,

its technology, its optimism

was just going to
sweep across the land.

The sky was the limit.

- [Narrator] The
nation's largest city

looks to capitalize
on the moment

by staging a giant exposition
all about the future.

The 1964-'65 New
York World's Fair.

- World's fairs start in the
mid-19 century in England,

and they all are
about the same thing.

Celebrating technology
and industrial power

with a little bit of culture
sort of sprinkled on top.

- All these various pavilions,

they're filled with
ideas and concepts

of what is yet to come.

So 1964 World
Fair in New York

is going to be
envisioning the future.

[horns beeping]

- [Narrator] Envisioning
the future is one thing,

building it is quite another.

- The person in charge
is Robert Moses,

the builder of the 20th
century in New York.

- The man has built
highways, parks, bridges.

Everything he has done
in modern New York

is a huge story in America.

- [Narrator] But this
project requires creating

captivating,
futuristic attractions.

- Robert Moses needs
someone that knows

how to entertain the masses

and give them something
they've never seen before

and something they won't forget.

- Sir, Walt Disney is here.

- Send him in.

- Walt, welcome to New York.

We're so excited to
be working with you.

- Thank you, so are we.

It's wonderful to
finally meet you.

- Marvin Davis.
- Nice to meet you.

- [Narrator] By the 1960s,

Walt Disney is
nationally recognized

as a pioneer in technology
and entertainment.

- Kennedy and Walt Disney

are both singing from
the same hymn sheet.

Kennedy is counting
on and spurring on

the American can-do ethic.

And that's exactly what
Walt Disney's been doing.

- Walt Disney is always
pushing the boundaries

to embrace the new technology,
to embrace the new medium.

If you want someone who's
gonna lead you into the future,

it's Walt Disney.

- [Narrator] Disney will create
four signature attractions

for the 1964-'65 New
York World's Fair.

- We're calling it The
Carousel of Progress.

Series of scenes about the
advances of technology.

- A person who is as
disruptively innovative

as Walt Disney is always
looking for the next thing.

- The visitors will
board moving carriages,

which will traverse
the perimeter of the

exhibit clockwise
beginning in the 19th century.

[Marvin faintly speaking]

Taking them through a
series of vignettes.

- And then
suddenly he's considering

all of the accomplishments
that Robert Moses has made

in terms of the layout and
design of New York City.

- Figures that we call
audio animatronics.

- Walt.

- This is very impressive.

You shaped an entire city.

- Beautiful, isn't it?

It's taken me 30 years.

But the fair, this
is a blank canvas.

Imagine what we could
build from scratch.

[inspirational music]

- And in that moment,

a light bulb goes
off for Walt Disney.

- He sees what Robert Moses
has done with New York

and he thinks, "Hmm, what
if I could do the same?"

[bright music]

- [Narrator] When
the fair opens,

it's more than 50
million visitors

flock to Disney's
four attractions.

The Magic Skyway.

It's A Small World.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

And The Carousel of Progress.

- Two thirds of
the US population

lives east of the Mississippi

and haven't yet
been to Disneyland

'cause it's just too far away.

- So if anyone on the East
Coast visited the World's Fair,

one of these pavilions
was their lasting memory.

- Walt Disney thinks,
"You know what?

Let's explore something
on the East Coast,

but I don't want it
to be Disneyland II."

- If he was gonna
make another park,

he wanted to create something
fundamentally different.

- Walt and Roy know that the
location of any new project

needs to be carefully chosen.

They engage the same consulting
firm used for Disneyland.

- Buzz, good to see you.
- Good to see you.

- Can't wait to hear
what you have for us.

- Have a seat.

- Roy.
Good to see you.

- Walt talks with Buzz
Price, who's an economist,

about trying to find a
place to build his project.

- You'll see we've outlined

a number of potential
regions in the east

for citing a future venture.

All figures use
Disneyland as a benchmark.

- Disneyland is a huge success,

but Walt starts to
see all of the things

that he doesn't like
about Disneyland.

The biggest problem as he saw it

was that he didn't
buy enough land.

He could not control
what was happening

directly outside the gates.

- Cheap motels and
restaurants and gift shops

sprung up that didn't
have the same standards

that Walt Disney
had for his park.

- So Walt realizes he
needs a lot more space.

- And the preexisting
tourism numbers

in Niagara Falls
are very attractive.

The problem is the climate.

We estimate a six to seven-month
operating window at best.

- That may be a deal breaker.

- Walt was the creative force,

Roy was the business force.

- Roy was the big brother

that helps implement
all of Walt's visions.

- And he really was a genius

at keeping that company
always grounded and solvent.

- Another viable
option is Florida.

With seasonal temperatures

comparable to Southern
California, Florida may offer-

- Listen, I appreciate
these numbers,

but I can't make a
decision like this.

I need to see these
places for myself.

[plane buzzing]

- [Narrator] Walt and Roy
tour several possible sites

recommended in Price's report.

- So he was looking
in Niagara Falls,

he was looking St.
Louis, Kansas City.

None of them fit
into his vision.

- They've zigzagged
across the country,

they're leaving their last
location completely defeated.

And while on a small plane
flying over Central Florida,

Walt happens to glance
out of the window.

- Hey, fly lower.

I need to get a
better look at this.

[plane buzzing]

[spirited music]

That's it.

- That's swampland, Walt.

- It won't be when
we're done with it.

- To look at a swamp
and see something

you're going to invest millions
of your own dollars in,

you are either a visionary
or you've lost your mind.

That's where we're building.

[plane buzzing]

- When Walt Disney is
trying to figure out

where to situate
this new project,

Florida ultimately becomes
the perfect choice.

- It's cheap swampland,
year-round sunny,

and it's getting its nice
federally funded highway system.

Walt is very conscious of
that interstate connection

in highways in
building these parks.

- Walt picked Orlando
because it was far removed

from a lot of things

and gave him the freedom
and the opportunity

to really build
something from scratch.

- [Narrator]
Back in Burbank,

Walt gathers his
team to reveal plans

for his Florida project.

- This is a site for Project X.

It's unobstructed land
situated where Interstate 4

will cross with the
Florida turnpike.

I need 10,000 acres.

[pensive music]

Yes, 10,000 acres,

and no one there could
know Disney's buying it.

- Walt and I need
the room for a moment.

- Being the older brother,

Roy was always looking
to not only protect Walt,

but to protect the
entire enterprise

that they had built together.

- 10,000 acres?

What are you talking about?

Disneyland is 160 acres.

Want a hedge?

Fine.

Let's buy 300, 400.

We do not need 10,000 acres
for another Disneyland.

We aren't building
another Disneyland.

- Then what are we building?

- A city.

A city of the future.

- Walt would never have settled

for just duplicating
what he had already done.

- Ever since the world's fair,

Walt Disney has begun
thinking about urban planning.

- You want us to build a city?

- Now, Roy Disney's been part

of Walt Disney
Productions since 1923,

but he's been his
brother forever.

And he knows that once Walt
gets the bone in his teeth,

there's no turning him away.

- But I'm telling you,

we're gonna need to put
a Disneyland in it first.

We know how to do that and
we know it'll make money.

- So Roy doesn't say
no to the impulse,

he just kinda redirects it.

- That's the only way
I say yes to this.

- Okay, Roy.

- Walt and Roy have
continually made

the impossible possible,

have always raised the bar for
what entertaining could be,

what storytelling can be.

- But the idea that you're
gonna build a whole city

in the middle of
Florida swampland

and actually make money on this,

this is like a whole
other order of magnitude.

(knocking)

- Walt, you wanted to
start talking about plans.

I thought we could start with
some ideas for the new castle.

- No, no, no, no.

I wanna see the
designs for the city.

- Roy wants us to work
on the theme park.

Don't worry about
the theme park.

We know how to
build a Disneyland.

We need to think bigger.

- As wild as it sounds to
build the city of the future,

it's instructive to think
about what's actually happening

in real American
cities at this moment.

- [Narrator] In the mid-1960s,

US cities are undergoing
radical transformations,

following a blueprint
for modernization,

first applied in New
York by Robert Moses.

- Robert Moses is a relentless
proponent of the automobile.

- Robert Moses rammed his
highways through neighborhoods,

lays all those parkways,
builds all those bridges.

- In Europe, they say
all roads lead to Rome,

so everything comes
into the city.

But in American cities,
the roads go out.

- And it encourages
the dispersal

and movement of citizens from
the cities into the suburbs

and making these cities
into places of business

as opposed to places to live.

- And as this occurs, a
lot of these families,

they're taking their
tax dollars with them,

which actually means that
cities do go downhill.

- Walt Disney began
seeing major urban centers

fall into decay and disrepair,

and he'd felt that he
could build the city

from the ground up.

- [Narrator] Walt
Disney's futuristic city

will follow a
different blueprint.

- Disneyland, a place
of hopes and dreams,

facts and fancy, all in one.

- Walt Disney was interested
in presenting ideals,

an ideal space and an ideal
experience, like Disneyland.

- Disneyland is such a
high functioning piece

of urban design.

- There's an emphasis
on pedestrian experience

and how one moves
through the space,

not just easily,
but comfortably.

- Transportation,
it's efficient, it's

elegant, stylish,
and yet it's so functional.

- And so if he did this
for an amusement park,

why not make it a way of living?

- This is the center.

The core of the city.

This is where people live.

- It's gonna be a real
community of 20,000 people

living in this
absolutely pristine,

ideal, urban environment.

- And he had jobs
right next to the city,

so you could work in these
industries right outside,

and then go to your home

and live your entire life
within this planned community.

- You live there, you work
there, you play there.

- And this is how people
travel in and out,

not by car, but by monorail.

- You're gonna get to work
by getting on a people mover

and also using monorails.

It's basically
railroad technology,

but it has that
high speed, sleek,

modern science
fiction look to it.

And that's what
Disney's looking for.

- [Narrator] Walt's vision is
that the city's radial design

will prioritize
public transportation

and a sense of community.

- It's gonna be a
futuristic expression

of all the technology,

all the redesigns
of people's lives

in modern America condensed
into this one city.

- This is quite a vision, Walt.

- A living blueprint of
the cities of the future.

- It's called the Experimental

Prototype Community of Tomorrow.

EPCOT.

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Walt
Disney accelerates plans

for his experimental city.

Step one is buying property.

And unlike with Disneyland,

he's determined to secure
plenty of room to grow.

- Walt Disney is a major
public figure by this point.

- You can't just have him
wandering around Orlando

asking about property values.

- Every real estate person

would immediately
recognize Walt Disney

and start selling swampland
at astronomical prices.

- And so the planning

was really pretty
clandestine and complex.

- I understand you can show
me around the property.

- They needed to do it in a
very discreet and subtle way.

- Well, you're looking at it.

12,000 acres.

- And they did this
through shell corporations.

- So, Mr. Davis,
what do you think?

- I'll take it.

- Walt and Roy quietly bought up

all these different parcels
of land in Central Florida

under assumed names

so that no one would
know that it was Disney.

- [Narrator] Disney purchases

over 27,000 acres of swampland,

more than 170 times
the size of Disneyland,

at around one
twentieth the price.

- The company had
acquired more land

than the size of
Manhattan Island.

- There are people in
Florida who are like,

"What's going on here?"

"Who's buying up all this land?"

"Is it the government?"

"Is it Lockheed, a
defense contractor?"

- Mr. Disney, sir, may I
have a quick minute with you?

- And then a
journalist, Emily Bavar,

very boldly and bravely
says, "I say it's Disney."

- She breaks the story and
it really forces Disney

to accelerate their process.

- He was worried that it
would catch on too quickly

with the news and be
really disruptive.

- [Narrator] Walt needs to
gain control of the narrative

and generate support
for his utopian city.

- Walt Disney, who will bring
a new world of entertainment,

pleasure, and economic
development

to the
state of Florida.

- So he turns to a powerful
tool he used in 1955

while building Disneyland.

Television.

- So he, using the same
techniques he had used

with the original
Disneyland show,

planned this very professionally

high quality produced
film about EPCOT.

- Outlying his vision

for this Experimental Prototype
Community of Tomorrow.

- That's EPCOT.

That's EPCOT.

[knocking on door]
Yes.

- They're just about ready
for you in the studio.

- We're calling it the
Experimental Community...

No.

Experimental Prototype
Community of... [coughs]

Of Tomorrow.

- [Mindy] Walt had been
looking really tired.

- EPCOT. [coughs]

- Those who knew him recognized

that he had a persistent cough.

- It was almost like all
the energy he could muster,

he gathered for that moment.

- But he was adamant
he would make the film.

- I'll see you in the studio.

- We're calling it...

- EPCOT, spelled E-P-C-O-T.

- So he starts with the map,

and it's the same way
with the Disneyland map,

and how we're all gonna live
in this community together.

- It will be a
community of tomorrow

that will never be completed.

- Walt was ready for it.

He wanted to show us
what was possible.

- And believe me,

it's the most exciting
and challenging assignment

we've ever tackled at
Walt Disney Productions.

- [Narrator] But Walt Disney
is facing his own challenges.

- Walt had an old polo
injury to his neck

and he was gonna go
in and have surgery.

- And so people had expected
him to go across the street

to St. Joseph's Hospital and
have a little something done,

then come back to work.

But there had not
been a broad knowledge

of how ill Walt was.

- Walt had smoked
almost his entire life.

And during an x-ray,

they discovered that
he had lung cancer.

- [Narrator] The
outlook is serious.

- Doctors tell Walt he
has two years at best.

In reality, he has
less than five weeks.

- Roy visited Walt all
the time in the hospital.

And Roy always saw himself
as Walt's protector.

His purpose in life

was to make his brother's
dreams come true.

- Walt was still working.

He was looking up at the tiles

on the ceiling of
his hospital room

and sort of planning out EPCOT.

- Here's where the
theme park needs to go,

here's where EPCOT needs to go,

Here's where the
monorail needs to run.

- He was racing
against the clock.

And I think for Walt,

all Walt cared
about at that time

was making sure that his
visions were seen through

for his brother to carry
that vision forward.

- And so Walt laid it
out for his brother.

He just had the whole plan there

and they spent hours
talking about it.

- The man never stopped.

He never stopped.

He never stopped dreaming.

- That's it.

- That's swampland, Walt.

- Walt, we're a studio

what do we know about
amusement parks?

- The whole town is talking
about us.

- Let them talk.

Come on Roy.

They're waiting.

- Nobody's gonna pay us

even a penny more for
a colored cartoon.

- You'll never see

a second-rate Mickey
doll like this again.

- All right, Mr. Cayman, deal.

Heading back to the studio now.

We're going again.

- There's no more money.

We've talked about this.

- I need everyone in this room

not just to think about
how your cartoons look,

but how they sound.

But this one's like nothing
they've seen before.

You see, he's not
just a drawing.

I want him to be somebody.

[gentle music]

[men faintly speaking]
[birds chirping]

[gentle music]

- [Narrator] Walt Disney
dies on December 15th, 1966.

He was only 65.

- The passing of Walt Disney

really connotes
the end of an era.

- There is an
outpouring of grief.

This is a man who, for 40
years, had been shaping culture.

- [Narrator] In Anaheim,

Disneyland employees gather
in tears on Main Street, USA,

and flags are lowered.

- There was a major
question prevailing.

Without Walt Disney,

how does this company continue?

- Mr. Disney, I booked
your flights for Orlando.

Would you like to
look at hotel options?

I'm afraid there aren't many.

- Not now.

- For Roy, it is this moment
of not just personal tragedy,

but upheaval for the company
that bears his brother's name.

- The entire company
has been based

on this partnership
between two brothers.

They're yin and yang.

- Roy was getting
ready to retire,

but he realized
that if he retired,

there would be no more Disney.

[inspirational music]

- Roy knew his
brother's last dream,

last vision was EPCOT.

- But Walt Disney's
not here anymore.

So now Roy Disney is
stuck with this albatross

of 27,000 acres of
swampland in Florida,

and now Roy has to figure
out what to do with it.

- He was enough of
a realist to know

that the city that
Walt envisioned

couldn't exist without Walt.

- It's a massive undertaking

that really deeds
one unifying vision,

and that vision is gone.

But the inspiration isn't.

- Walt, if you were
starting all over again,

what would you do differently?

[bright music]

- Suddenly in that moment,
the universe aligns perfectly

and he realizes
what he has to do.

- Roy says, "You know what?

We are going to
improve on Disneyland,

learn from all of our mistakes,

and build a bigger,
better Disney World."

- Tell me about the
hotels in Orlando.

- Disneyland was built
in the 1950s at a time

when, for the first time, there
were cars in every driveway.

- Disneyland, you
could do in a day.

You'd show up in your
station wagon, you'd park.

- Go on all the rides,
get some souvenirs,

have some lunch and drive home.

It's the perfect place
for the automobile age.

However, we are now 10 years
down the road in the jet age.

- [Narrator] In the 1960s,

the introduction of passenger
jets like the Boeing 707

makes long distance air travel
40% faster and 25% cheaper.

- We can now hop on a jet,

in a matter of hours,
be across country.

- It's this new,
exciting way to travel.

So American families are
looking for destinations

that they can get
on a plane, fly to,

stay for an extended period
of time, then fly home.

- So Roy decides, we are gonna
build another Disneyland,

but we're gonna
build hotels in it

and it's going to be the
Disneyland for the jet age.

- This was not just
going to be a theme park,

this was going to be
a destination resort.

- Resorts that
existed at the time

draw people to some
kind of natural beauty.

- You wanna be at the ocean,
you wanna be at a mountainside,

you want to look at a
geyser, whatever it might be.

This is different.

- Roy is gonna create an
unnatural wonder, Disney World,

and then build hotels around it.

- He wants to create
the draw for the resort.

This revolutionary plan
has never been done before.

[lively music]

- Morning, Roy.

- Roy's biggest responsibility
before that point

was just keeping
the company afloat.

The dreams were always Walt's.

[inspirational music]

- Another Disneyland.

- Not Disneyland.

- Now Roy has to be the dreamer.

- Walt Disney World Resort.

- Roy has to be
now Walt and Roy.

No pressure though, right?

No pressure.

[pensive music]

- [Narrator] It's five months
after Walt Disney's death,

and Roy commences
earth moving work

on Walt Disney
World near Orlando.

But before building can begin,

8 million cubic yards
of earth must be moved,

more than 40 miles
of canals dug,

and entire lakes
emptied and reworked.

- Disney had not done anything
of this mammoth proportion.

- This isn't Orange
Groves like in Anaheim,

it's 27,000 acres of swamp.

- You dig a shovel, and water
fills that hole immediately.

- Which means you're
not starting at zero,

you're starting from
about minus five.

- [Narrator] To lay
their foundation,

Disneyland's on
a novel solution.

- So the entire Magic
Kingdom development

was built 14 feet
above ground level.

- [Narrator] What will
become the park street level

is actually the second floor,

with the space underneath
put to good use.

- They built these utilidors,

which are essentially
utility corridors.

It's like a theme park basement

where they can have cast
members walk seamlessly

from one end of the park to
the other without being seen.

- [Narrator] While construction
for the park can now begin,

the resort's most
significant new elements

have yet to be designed.

The flagship hotels.

- The hotels were very
significant because otherwise,

it was just another theme park.

- [Narrator] Two hotels are
planned for opening day.

One will feature a
South Pacific motif,

the Polynesian Village.

- And the other hotel
would be positioned

within view of Tomorrowland.

So the idea was, we
need a futuristic hotel.

- But what should
this hotel look like?

- Roy wanted to make
sure that Disney World

was a reflection of the
futuristic ideas of Walt Disney.

- Ah, yes.

- There were old artistic
renderings of EPCOT

that Walt Disney
and his imagineers

had made with incredible
attention to detail.

And there is this early model

with this kind of
cool angular design.

- It's a A-frame structure.

So two sides with
rooms on either side.

- Which looked pretty
cool, pretty contemporary,

but it still was missing sort
of an element of Disney magic.

- Yet another idea of
Walt's Fantasy city

was the underground
transportation hub.

- Suddenly, inspiration hits.

Combine this amazing
futuristic triangular building

with monorail transportation
to create the idea

that would become the
Contemporary Resort hotel.

- The idea was
having the monorail

literally swoop right into
the lobby of the hotel.

[spirited music]

You could take the elevator
from your room down,

get right on the monorail,

and be whisked off to the park.

- It's literally
living out the vision

of what EPCOT was
supposed to be.

- When I first saw the
architectural drawing,

I thought, "Oh boy, that's a
shockingly daring thing to do."

- We want a 10 story open atrium
with no intruding columns,

500 guest bedrooms, private
balconies, and a monorail

running right through the
middle.

- Roy asks a firm, U.S. Steel,

to both construct
and run this hotel.

- You plan to have a train

running through the
middle of the hotel?

- Yes.

- The massive open atrium,
the A-frame design,

and the monorail track
running through it

presents an incredible array
of engineering difficulties,

something that Disney
just doesn't do.

- Given the complexities,

naturally, we thought
of U.S. Steel.

And I need it ready
to open in fall 1971.

Can you do it?

- Yeah, we can do it.

- Wonderful.

I should warn you, we
are quite particular.

- [Narrator] To meet
Roy's ambitious timeline,

U.S. Steel needs
to get creative.

- 1971 seems like it's
breathing down your neck.

So the key to being able to meet

their construction timeline
was prefabrication.

- [Narrator] Prefabrication
has been around for decades.

Beginning in 1908,

Sears Roebuck sold ready
to build kit houses

in their catalogs.

But using this building method

for a complex steel
structure is unheard of.

- U.S. Steel designed it in
this totally revolutionary way

in which they built this steel
infrastructure framework,

then built prefabricated rooms

three miles away from the hotel.

- So that means the
furniture went in,

the electrical, the
mechanical, the plumbing.

They would pop that
room unit on a truck

and bring it over to the site.

- It allows them to quickly
build the steel frame,

and then slide these
modular rooms into place,

almost like a Lego scale world.

- [Narrator] Over 1,000
uniform rooms are constructed

at a rate of
roughly 40 per week.

Theoretically, cutting
construction time in half.

But things don't go
according to plan.

- There are several
construction issues

with the rooms that
are being made.

They don't interlock the
way they are supposed to.

- [Narrator] Extensive
alterations are needed,

and costs soar.

Jumping from tens of thousands

to hundreds of thousands
of dollars per room.

- They're extremely expensive,

they're behind schedule,

opening day is less
than a year away,

but the straw that
breaks the camel's back

is something that is
close to Roy's heart.

- What are they surveying
down there next to the hotel?

- I couldn't find you earlier.

They're saying we need
to move the monorail line

out of the building.

- They thought a
monorail overhead

would be like a Chicago L chain,

making a big racket
and vibration.

- The contractors insisted
it wasn't going to work.

- That was part of the
design from the beginning.

- To Roy, that vision
is more than a design,

or a place of lodging.

It's Walt.

- Well, what do you
want me to tell them?

- And he was gonna be damned

if anyone was going to change
it or take it away from him.

- I'll tell 'em myself.

They're fired.

[upbeat music]

- Disney had been
working with U.S. Steel

to construct the
Contemporary Resort.

But as things went on, they
started to have disagreements.

- Roy seemed to understand
that if you want a job done,

you have to get
it done yourself.

- So he ultimately
lets the contractors go

and Disney buys out US
Steal for $50 million.

Then he turns right around

and he rehires the
contractors for a new company.

His company, Buena
Vista Construction,

and they're gonna build
the project themselves.

- [Narrator] And as
Roy always imagined,

the monorail track

runs straight through
the Contemporary Resort.

- Bringing transportation
into the hotel

was really bringing a Walt
Disney ideas into the park.

- [Announcer] When
you and your family

visit Walt Disney
World in Florida,

come stay in this
spectacular hotel.

- [Sarah] That is
the first hotel

that has monorails
running through it.

- Roy Disney is now
the man of unwavering,

uncompromising vision, carrying
on his brother's legacy.

- From that point on,

it's Disney that
builds its own hotels,

its own resorts, and
its own, everything.

- 1971 Disney World

is the largest private
construction project

in the United States.

At points there's at least
8,000 if not more workers,

and construction was happening,

at some points,
seven days a week.

- Everybody working
at a ferocious pace,

doing everything from
concrete to paint

to all the technical
bits and pieces

happening one after another,

just one on top of another.

- So they really had to scramble

just to make it seem as
if they were ready to go.

- But it could not
have been more fun.

- [Narrator] The long awaited
vacation kingdom of the world

opens to the public
on October 1st, 1971.

The Walt Disney World Resort

features the Magic
Kingdom theme park,

various restaurants and
shops, and two hotels,

the Contemporary
and the Polynesian,

all linked together by monorail.

- At the opening of
Walt Disney World,

Roy certainly was center
stage, but what's interesting

is that his remarks
were kept very brief.

- He doesn't grab all
the honor for himself.

He makes it about Walt.

- [Narrator] In his
opening day remarks,

Roy calls Walt Disney World

a tribute to the philosophy
and life of his brother.

- Roy really emphasized

it will be known as
Walt Disney World,

not Disney World.

- Because as he said,
everybody knows the Ford car,

but not everybody knows
that it was Henry Ford

that started it all.

So we are going to call
this Walt Disney World

so that everyone would know
that it was Walt's dream.

- Roy poured his heart and soul

into the getting
that park open,

and he put every bit of
his last energy into it.

- [Narrator] Less than
three months later,

Roy Disney dies at age 78.

Flags fly at half-staff
over Walt Disney World

as they had at Disneyland
five years earlier for Walt.

- The world owes a
tremendous debt to Roy Disney

for giving us the Walt
Disney World Resort

and all the memories
that we've built there.

- [Narrator] Walt Disney World

is the most visited
vacation resort on earth,

with tens of millions
of guests per year.

- Walt Disney World changed
the way in which we understand

the combination of
living and leisure.

- Your time immersed
in the Disney universe

doesn't end at the
gates of the park.

It translates to where
you stay, where you eat,

what you do after
the park has closed,

even your transportation.

It goes on and on and
it's ever evolving.

- [Narrator] Since 1971,

the developed area
of Walt Disney World

has grown exponentially to
include four theme parks,

two water parks, four golf
courses, a shopping destination,

and more than 25 resort hotels.

- The Walt Disney World Resort

is a massive sprawling complex

and arguably the hub
in the area of Orlando.

- [Narrator] But Walt
Disney World's legacy

goes far beyond its home.

- Walt Disney World is
incredibly successful

because there's reproductions
of it around the world.

- If you look at a
resort destination

like the Atlantis
in The Bahamas.

- Universal Resort, which
is the same basic idea

that you can go and be immersed

in Universals' hotels and
into their transportation,

all of these places are really
taking their inspiration

from Walt Disney World.

- [Narrator] Disney's
resort destination model

is so successful that the
company later applies it

to Walt's original park.

Today the Disneyland Resort

includes two theme
parks and three hotels.

- The idea of the resort
was born with Disney World.

We got this
all-encompassing package.

We could stay at a great place,

we could eat at great places,

we can experience really
great immersive things.

- Like so much of Disney,
we take this for granted.

It's been done all
over the world,

but Disney World
was the first one.

- This 27,000 acres
of swampland and mush

has gone on to become
the crown jewel

of the Disney Park empire

and has become the largest

single most visited theme park
resort in the entire world.

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