Walt Disney made a number of important innovations with Disneyland: for the first time a park combined a family-friendly atmosphere with carnival-type rides and attractions. Adults could enjoy the rides as much as the children — or, if they preferred, sit on nearby benches from where they could keep an eye on their little ones. The park’s theme, that “it all started with a mouse” also reinforced Disney’s brand. Immediately outside of the park, however, the magic ended, and seedy motels and cheesy tourist attractions took over. Disney was determined to fix that mistake the second time around.

On this day, October 1, in 1971, Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, central Florida, still mostly a backwater, which kept land prices low.

Disney planned the land acquisitions thoroughly and systematically. If word was to get out it was him looking for land, he was certain values would spike almost immediately. So he created a number of dummy corporations, with names like Ayefour (a pun on I-4, the local interstate road), and Retlaw (“Walter” spelled backwards) purchasing separate districts under their guise. Disney World controlled not only the parks, but the surrounding hotels, shops and restaurants, ensuring the real world would not intrude on the Magic Kingdom.