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
Universal Orlando in the world, currently with an annual attendance of 21 million in 2017. Universal Orlando is the flagship resort of Universal Parks & Resorts, especially due to the competitive nature between the resort and Walt Disney World. Universal Orlando opened on June 7, 1990 as the theme park Universal Studios Florida. It was opened as a joint venture between Universal Entertainment and The Blackstone Group. The park was in direct competition with Disney MGM Studios (now called Disney's Hollywood Studios). In 1994, executives started planning the expansion of the resort into a multi-day vacation destination. In late 1995, construction began