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
1989–90 Orlando Magic season 1989–90 Orlando Magic season The 1989–90 NBA season was the Magic's 1st season in the National Basketball Association. Several years after local developer and banker Jim Hewitt began promoting the idea of an NBA franchise in Florida, he was awarded the Orlando Magic. His first move was to hire Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Pat Williams. Together, the two convinced the NBA to give Orlando a franchise after local fans made $100 deposits on season-ticket reservations. On November 4, a sold out crowd watched the Magic lose their first ever game at the Orlando Arena. The final score was 111–106 to