Walt Disney World as the Lake Buena Vista STOLport. During the early 1970s, scheduled passenger service was operated by Shawnee Airlines with small de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter commuter turboprops which had STOL (short take off and landing) capabilities on flights to Tampa and Orlando. The airport is no longer in operation. When the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, the site employed about 5,500 "cast members". Today, Walt Disney World employs more than 74,000 cast members, spending more than $1.2 billion on payroll and $474 million on benefits each year. The largest single-site employer in the United States, Walt Disney World has
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts wetland, on April 23, 1993, the company agreed to form a wilderness preserve in Florida. The Disney Inn hotel was leased starting February 1, 1994, by the US Army, then purchased on January 12, 1996, and later renamed Shades of Green. Planet Hollywood opened a location in Pleasure Island on December 17, 1994. The third water park at Walt Disney World, Disney's Blizzard Beach, opened on April 1, 1995. The Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland was completely refurbished and reopened in June, 1995. Taking up a corner of the Magic Kingdom parking lot, the Walt Disney World Speedway opened on November 28,