Since Walt bought 12,500 acres in Florida why did he buy more?

[disneyboi92]

In 1964 Walt Disney originally bought 12.500 acres in Central Florida. Later he bought 12,500 acres more. But he said to his brother that he would like to have like 7,000-12,500 acres. So why did he buy more if he just wanted 12,500? To me 12,500 acres is the right size for Walt Disney World because it's not gigantic like today and you have extra land unlike Disneyland back then. Did he think 25,000 acres can cover it from the outside world because I think 12,000 acres can cover it from the outside world. Although I like Walt Disney World because it's so gigantic and makes Disneyland look small. But it's a little bit too big from what other people say. It's connected to that other post "Is Disneyworld too big", I made but I didn't put that in there because I want to know why did Walt want to buy more if he said the land he bought waas the most land he could ever think of buying.

[ALIASd]

Hopefully this piece will provide a simplified answer:

EPCOT

The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) was very much on Walt's mind during the last few years of his life. But Epcot as it is today bears scant resemblance to Walt's dream. He imagined Epcot as a real city, in which tens of thousands of people could work and live -- and enjoy the latest technologies produced by American corporations. Walt had spent decades changing the face of American entertainment; now he wanted to alter the way people lived, with refinements in sanitation, transportation, and education. As for the theme park that would become Walt Disney World, Walt intended to provide such a place as well; but as far as he was concerned, the men and women who had already designed Disneyland knew how to do that. His thoughts were on his city. The whole enterprise -- the Florida Project, as it was originally called -- was certainly going to require a lot of land. And so Walt started purchasing thousands of acres of swampland just southwest of Orlando, Florida. If residents had known that Walt Disney was purchasing huge quantities of land, the price would have skyrocketed. So when he visited, it was under a fake name, Walter E. Davis (same initials).

By the time Walt was finished, he had purchased 43 square miles in Florida -- twice the size of Manhattan, 150 times the size of Disneyland -- for about $5 million.

Walt's Masterworks: EPCOT

[WDWmemories]

I am currently reading a book called Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando by Richard E. Foglesong. The book is really a study about the balance between private interests and public for-profit companies. Some would find it dry, but I think it is fascinating.

The book explains a scene between Walt (the creative brother) and Roy (the business-oriented Disney brother) that went something like this:

At one meeting, there was a large parcel of land in Orlando available for about $100 per acre. Walt said, “Buy it!” Roy asked, “But Walt, we already own 12,000 acres. Do we have the money?” Walt replied, “Roy, how would you like to own 7,000 acres around Disneyland right now?” to which Roy immediately responded, “Buy it!”

Even the business-oriented Roy Disney understood the value of property. They learned their lesson in California with Disneyland. What if they had purchased more? They could have expanded and avoided the junky, tacky sets of shops and stores that sprung up around Disneyland.

It only made sense to get as much land as possible so that Disney could have room to grow his dreams, including the city (not theme park) of Epoct.

Plus, they could get the land so much cheaper BEFORE word got out that Disney was the buyer.

[aimster]

At one meeting, there was a large parcel of land in Orlando available for about $100 per acre. Walt said, “Buy it!” Roy asked, “But Walt, we already own 12,000 acres. Do we have the money?” Walt replied, “Roy, how would you like to own 7,000 acres around Disneyland right now?” to which Roy immediately responded, “Buy it!”

Walt hated how the area around Disneyland filled up with cheap hotels and whatnot. He wanted Disney World (as it was called at the time... Roy added the Walt to it to pay respect to his brother) to be as far away from civilization as possible. Isolated from the outside world.

[Disneyland Daddy]

Originally Posted by aimster

Walt hated how the area around Disneyland filled up with cheap hotels and whatnot. He wanted Disney World (as it was called at the time... Roy added the Walt to it to pay respect to his brother) to be as far away from civilization as possible. Isolated from the outside world.

You'll notice that many of the high shrubbery around Disneyland actually do give that 'isolated' feeling.....which is initially how Walt Disney wanted Disneyland......when Disneyland was built, Anaheim was pretty isolated - farms and orchards for the most part. Not a lot going on.......and then when Disneyland opened, it because a haven for restaurants, hotels/motels, etc.........it's only in recent years, that it's rebuilt up nicely around Disneyland. So, had Walt Disney bought up more area around Disneyland, as they did for Walt Disney World, a more isolated feel might have been attained in Anaheim.

[jackskeleton1015]

He knew his parks always had to be fresh.

He bought all that land because he knew it would proably all be used.

He didn't want to make the same mistake with Disneyland and he got the land so cheap how could you pass the cost he was offered up.

In seventy some what years all that land proably will be filled I believe.