The Osceola History Museum is currently running an exhibit on “50 Years of Theme Parks”, marking the 50-year anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World.
The exhibit depicts the development of the major theme parks and the long-term environmental, economic, and quality of life impacts on Osceola County and Central Florida.
In 1971, Disney opened the Magic Kingdom, and SeaWorld started in 1973. Universal got into the act by 1990. All have greatly expanded since first opening, adding major separate parks and attractions.
On Friday, the museum hosted a panel of theme park “experts” for a discussion on the impacts that Disney has made on Osceola County and the greater Orlando area.
Tom Nabbe started at Disneyland in his home state of California, including a role as “Tom Sawyer” from Mark Twain’s classic novel. He relocated to Orlando in 1971 as part of the Disney Land contingent to open Disney World and retired in 2003. Chris Bostick started working at Disney when she was still in high school as a tour guide and retired 38 years later after working in numerous positions. And Mike Bast has lived in Osceola County most of his life and was a county commissioner in the early 1980s.
The first question the panel fielded was to name the greatest positive and negative impacts from the development of the theme parks. All three agreed the worst impacts were the rapid population growth and notorious traffic congestion. Positive impacts included job creation and tax revenues.
Chris Bostick pointed to the creation of Give Kids the World Village as one of the most positive impacts, as well as the tremendous amount of Disney-sponsored employee volunteer time. “Disney also matches employees’ contributions to charitable giving” Bostick added.
Mike Bast described the real estate boom that occurred in Osceola County when Disney first announced a new Orlando location in 1965. A 100-acre piece of property near U.S. 192 and Vineland Road/State Road 535 sold for $1 million, and then changed hands again in a short amount of time for $3 million. “One year later it sold for $10 million,” Bast said.
The establishment of the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management campus on Universal Boulevard in Orlando in the early 2000s was also cited as another positive impact.
Nabbe, who is a Disney legend similar to a sports Hall of Famer, talked about the company’s decision to open Disney World. Annual visitors to Disneyland from east of the Mississippi River in the early 1960s never rose above 15 percent of park attendance in any given year. The tremendous success of the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City convinced the organization to open up a second park on the East Coast. Walt Disney had visited Orlando during fishing trips, so the area was added to the list of potential locations. The rest is, of course, history.
For more information on the Osceola Welcome Center and History Museum, go to https://osceolahistory.org
