The total area is it encompasses is twice the size of Manhattan and the entire area of San Francisco, 47 square miles to be exact.
How did Walt even begin to draw up papers to start buying that massive plot of land? And why?
Disney's original theme part, Disneyland, located in Anaheim, California simply ran out of room and did not have enough land to expand the way Disney wanted to.
The entirety of the parks and additional hotels could fit inside Epcot. When "Project X" came along for the second theme park, all Disney wanted was lots of cheap land.
To keep landowners from catching on to his need for one massive plot of land, Disney set up dummy corporations to purchase the "worthless" land for him.
The first major plot of land was 8,500 acres that belonged to Florida state senator Irlo Bronson in 1965. The first acre for Disney World cost $80, and the last costs $80,000.
