#TIL #DisneyFact 💡 Did you know that Walt Disney used some sneaky tactics to acquire the land in Orlando that eventually became the magical world of Disney World in 1971? 🏰🌟
Back in the day, wily Walt established shell companies and used fake names to secretly snap up the land. 🕵️♂️ It was like a real-life game of hide-and-seek, but instead of a hidden treasure, it was a whole new enchanting theme park! 🎢
Just imagine, there were all these seemingly innocent-sounding companies on paper, but behind the scenes, they were plotting something truly extraordinary. 🔍💼 It’s as if Walt had a secret superhero identity while acquiring the land! 🦸♂️✨
And these fake names added an extra layer of mystery to the whole adventure. 😱 One minute, you’re dealing with “Winter Park Company,” and then *poof* it transforms into “Latin-American Development and Management Corporation”! 🌬️😮 Who would have ever suspected the mastermind behind it all was none other than Uncle Walt?
But in the end, these covert acquisitions paved the way for the magnificent Disney World we all know and love today. The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom… all thanks to Walt’s undercover operations! 🌈🎉🌍
So, next time you’re wandering the magical lands of Disney World, take a moment to appreciate the incredible lengths Walt Disney went to make this dreamland a reality. After all, it’s not every day you stumble across a theme park acquired through shell companies and fake names! 👏😄🌟
Source: https://worldofwalt.com/mystery-in-central-florida-disneys-secret-land-purchase-in-the-1960s.html
“Hello, my name is Dalt Wisney, and I would like to purchase some undeveloped land for no particular reason…”
This should never sound bad or evil it is what a shrewd businessman does. I’m remembering a letter from I K Brunell to one of his assistants rebuking him for talking in a local pub about the preparatory survey work they were doing for the Great Western Railway.
In no uncertain terms he states that doing so will raise the expense of later land purchases, make the survey work harder & will result in said assistant losing their employment.
High Point University did the same thing in 2007.
Similar to what the Chinese government appears to be doing near American military bases. According to, The Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Anyone who lived anywhere near the Haynesville Shale 15 years ago knows this technique.
Because yall can’t keep secrets and this was way before the internet
Pretty common practice; if you announce you’re building some mega project, everyone jacks up their asking price.
As you walk down Main Street, the company names are painted on the second story office windows
My favorite name that he used was M.T. Lott
There’s nothing unusual about this. It was so land owners don’t jack up the price when they find out Walt Disney is buying land in Central Florida.
“Any messages while I was out?”
“Someone named Donald D called. He wants to buy the lot next to the one we sold to that Mickey guy last month.”
Walmart and the Waltons are doing that right now to create a national park that they will own and profit off of in Arkansas. The Buffalo National River belongs to the people! We are all gearing up to fight the machine. Please join us!
This is standard practice – you don’t want people to know that you desperately need your land to complete your project as they’ll ask for more money. Every big project does this.
Disneyland in California had rapidly become landlocked which limited expansion. Walt didn’t want to make the same mistake again.
This is common practice I’m pretty sure.
When nationwide children’s hospital was buying land around them to expand their facility they hired other companies to buy land for them. We owned some properties in the area and we were getting non stop phone calls from “different” companies trying to buy our property. They won’t say who they were buying the land for but we knew. In those group of people who were calling us there might’ve been one or two private buyers, but every other person was buying it for nationwide Children’s Hospital.
They still do this. They own land near Bastrop, Tx for this same purpose IIRC
No shrewd business man would be dumb enough to purchase real estate in his own name, knowing his fame would jack up the price.
https://www.powells.com/book/project-future-9780615347776
This is the book I read about it, very nerdy. Goes into detail how it acquired the mineral rights not just the land.
I worked for Red Lobster back when it was General Mills, and then they split off to become Darden Restaurants. They did the exact same thing when expanding into Canada, they had small companies that would buy the land for future development so people would not hold out for big money.
It’s how most developers acquire large plots. Does not let the cat out of the bag so the last person standing holding a plot you need is going to 100x value. It’s extremely common, esp when trying to buy residents out of a building. Each one is sold to a holdings company individually.
And turned a swamp surrounded by beaches into the biggest tourist destination on the planet.
> Florida Man builds autocratic dictatorship in swamp.
–Defunctland.
Disney did this so that existing landowners wouldn’t get wind of his project and artificially inflate the value of the land to be purchased.
Walt Plainview
This…is SOP for land purchases. Had a family friend get an offer for their land 30 years ago, they had no idea it was going to be a mall.
M.T. Lott was one of the names he used. Say it aloud.
It’s a normal business practice to stay below the radar and avoid price gouging by the landowners, who will reflexively crank up the price for a Big Brand Name Company.
helps to avoid the classic “holdout problem”
The main reason he did this is because he learned his lesson from Disneyland. He didn’t buy enough property and by the time he wanted to expand other businesses had bought land around DL and were building hotels. It’s one of the main reasons he wanted to build Disneyworld. He wanted a park with resorts attached when he noticed families would leave his park early to avoid traffic.