Overtourism, a concept very familiar to all Florida residents. The southernmost US state received 137.41 million visitors in 2022, with over 7 million coming from outside the United States. From the crystal clear waters in the Panhandle to Miami Beach, it’s no wonder this state is such a magnet for tourists. However, among the multitude of white sandy beaches and turquoise waters there is one place that seems to draw in more visitors than anywhere else: The infamous Walt Disney World.
It all started in 1928 when Walt Disney produced a short film about a little mouse on a boat, probably not anticipating that he was starting the one of the largest media companies of the 21st century. In the last 97 years Disney has expanded to such an extent, it is difficult to find a corner of the earth untouched by some form of Disney media. There are no questions about the cultural stronghold that little mouse has on the world, this has been further cemented by the construction of the Disney theme parks. Spanning across 3 continents, the Disney theme parks arguably are part of what brought the company to the level of global influence that it has today. While we all likely enjoy some form of media, product, or service produced by the Disney company, many are unaware of the underlying spatial and socio-cultural impacts produced by Disney.
Imagineering. This is a term that refers to the idea of engineering reality in order to bring to life whatever whimsical childhood fantasy one can think of. It is the falsification of real life, the illusion that the smell of sweet vanilla being pumped in the air makes the long wait times for rides seem reasonable. That is exactly what Disney World does for its millions of annual visitors. For those who come to Orlando to forget about the real world for 5-7 days, the fakeness of it all is welcomed. These visitors want an escape from their monotonous daily lives, they need a little bit of rest and yes, a little bit of magic. Since its opening in 1971, Disney World has been largely successful in its goal of providing these whimsical experiences to visitors.
Today the sprawling theme park covers around 43 square miles or 111,369 square kilometers. It is in many ways like a mini city, with multiple neighborhoods, a hospital, and 4 golf courses. Walt Disney essentially built his dream city on a smaller, but still quite large for a theme park, scale. As a result of the sheer scale and influence of Disney World, infrastructure development in Orlando has skyrocketed in the last 50 years. Roads and highways have been rebuilt, new businesses opened, and enough new housing to support a small country.
While many of the impacts of Disney World may seem apparent when analyzing the city’s infrastructure and development, the extent to which Disney went to ensure they could have their perfect theme park empire may not be so clear. In 1967, two years prior to the construction of Disney World started, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight district created the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The Reedy Creek district is a 39.06 km² area surrounding Disney World and what it does is essentially grants this area the same responsibilities and privileges as a county government. Walt Disney started lobbying for this bill in 1960, as he had faced complications with the government in Anaheim, California when building DisneyLand 5 years prior. He felt it would be easier to carry out his expansive plans for the park with less intervention from the state government. The bill outlines that proposed projects focused on economic development and tourism would benefit local residents. However in 2022 Florida Governor, Ron Desantis, pushed back on Disney and signed a repeal on the bill on June 1, 2022. There are many reasons for this conflict, most of which were tied to the 2024 presidential elections. Regardless of the real reasons for the repeal, the Reedy Creek Improvement Act has now been dissolved. Many now look back and accuse Disney of using its power and autonomy in the district purely for its own commercial and economic benefit over the last 57 years. The main critique of this whole controversy is that a corporation with such influence and resources such as Disney abused its power to gain governmental status in Orlando and did not do enough to benefit the residents of the land they were economically benefiting from.
While there is much more nuance yet to be uncovered on Disney World’s influence in Orlando, one thing is clear and that is just how much power a theme park can have in shaping a city’s infrastructure, economic, and cultural development. Naturally a situation like this one will always have two sides with both positives and negatives for the local residents. Economic and infrastructural development bring many positives to the city, but not necessarily when their main purpose is to appease only those who come for spring break or summer vacation. The drawbacks that come with a unique situation like this are felt mainly by local residents, who tend to have far less opportunities to enjoy the many benefits of living in a city defined by theme parks.
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