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
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,