History of the Los Angeles Angels team general manager, under whose watch the Angels eventually won their first World Series Championship. Although Disney did not technically acquire a controlling interest in the team until after Autry's death, for all practical purposes it ran the team (the Autry loyalists on the board acted as "silent partners") through its Anaheim Sports subsidiary, which also owned the NHL's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at the time. Disney, of course, had been a catalyst for the development of and population growth in Orange County, having opened its Disneyland theme park in Anaheim in 1955. Autry had named Walt Disney himself to
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts pens opened on April 8, 1974, renamed Discovery Island in 1977. On , the WEDway PeopleMover opened in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. The first water park, River Country, opened on at Disney World. EPCOT Center's groundbreaking occurred at Walt Disney World in May 1979. In 1979, Oriental Land and Disney agreed to build a Japanese theme park. Tokyo Disneyland opened on on in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan. With the June 3, 1980, retirement of Donn Tatum as Walt Disney Productions' Chairman and CEO, three divisions were formed, including the Walt Disney Outdoor Recreation Division, of which Nunis was named division president.