Who helped Disney acquire land?

Orlando, Florida, was ideal, but Disney didn't just waltz right up to landowners to acquire his acres. Instead, he hired two notoriously shady men: Paul Helliwell, who ran CIA operations in Southeast Asia, and William Wild Bill Donovan, head of the World War II spy organization that eventually became the CIA.



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In 1964, Walt Disney began secretly buying millions of dollars worth of Central Florida farmland. As vast areas of land were purchased in lots of 5,000 acres here, 20,000 there -- at remarkably high prices -- rumors flew as to who needed so much land and had the money to acquire it.

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Revealed: How the CIA helped Disney conquer Florida and buy super-cheap land that is 'above the law' Disney conspired with the CIA to buy up cheap land in Florida for Disney World and orchestrate a unique legal situation that makes the theme park above the law, a new book claims.

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Well, not exactly. He did, however, hire two CIA members, Paul Helliwell and William Donavan to help him strategically acquire real estate under the names of numerous fake companies and maintain the utmost control over the property he acquired.

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Walt Disney World This is the second Park the Walt Disney Company fully owns, but even this deal wasn't entirely Disney-owned and -built in the very beginning.

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Walt Disney World purchases more land near the Magic Kingdom The coronavirus pandemic has closed Disney's theme parks and put a halt to construction, but it hasn't completely stopped the expansion of Walt Disney World, which recently purchased additional land not far from the Magic Kingdom.

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Little Known Disney Facts So, how was Disney World built on a swamp? Well, it wasn't, not really. They scooped out material from what was to be the Seven Seas Lagoon, made it into a vast dirt mound, and then built Disney World, the theme park we know today, on the top.

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Walt Disney saw things that others could not though. Land in this area of Central Florida was the first thing he needed to buy and the land owned by the Demetree family was one of the first properties bought by Walt, Mary explained.

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For Disney, it would mean losing a significant source of revenue, as the company's Florida operations include four theme parks, two water parks, several hotels, and numerous other attractions that draw millions of visitors each year.

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So when you say Walt Disney World is huge, you ain't kidding! The Walt Disney World Resort is made up of 47 square miles of land…. or about 30,000 acres. Only about 1100 acres of that land is devoted to the 4 theme parks. In fact, with only 7,100 acres developed, there's quite a lot of room for expansion!

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In short, they generate a lot of tax revenue. Disney says it paid and collected more than $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenues in Florida last year. That's real money, more than a lot of line items in the state budget.

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Disney World does wonders for the Florida economy. According to a 2011 report, “The $18.2 billion in annual economic activity generated locally by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts accounts for 2.5 percent of Florida's gross domestic product.”

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Disney's Shanghai resort isn't actually owned by Disney. It's a joint venture with a state-owned enterprise — i.e., the CCP. The split? The CCP owns 57%, Disney just 43%.

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