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
Disney Magic was for March 12, 1998. In January 1997, the first ticket for "Disney Magic"s first trip was raffled off on the cable television channel Lifetime, while ticket sales would begin in September 1997. Continuing delays on the MS "Rotterdam" kept additional workers from "Disney Magic", thus by November 1997, the cruise line rescheduled the ship's initial voyage to April 30, 1998. Further delays, from suppliers and weather conditions, at Fincantieri forced back the maiden voyage of "Disney Magic" a few more months. The bow was towed to the Marghera shipyard where the halves were joined. With livery and design evocative