History of Florida to use I-75, and settled along the west coast of Florida. Florida's first theme parks were developed in the 1930s and included Cypress Gardens (1936) near Winter Haven, and Marineland (1938) near St. Augustine. Disney selected Orlando over several other sites for an updated and expanded version of their Disneyland Park in California. In 1971, the Magic Kingdom, the first component of the resort, opened and became Florida's best-known attraction, attracting tens of millions of visitors a year. It stimulated the development of other attractions, as well as large tracts of housing and related businesses. The Orlando area became an
The Magic of Walt Disney World The Magic of Walt Disney World The Magic of Walt Disney World is a 1972 documentary featurette produced by Walt Disney Productions. Filmed at the then-new Walt Disney World resort in Florida, this film served as a tour of the Magic Kingdom theme park, the resort hotels and other areas within the "Vacation Kingdom". It was narrated by actor Steve Forrest. The film was released on the same bill as the Disney feature "Snowball Express". An expanded and updated version, with new narration by Andrew Duggan, was broadcast as part of "The Wonderful World of Disney" on March 31, 1974.