When we last left off, Walt Disney’s planning for E.P.C.O.T. had come
to a sudden halt with his death on December 15, 1966. The lung cancer
that had been caused by a lifetime of smoking had robbed him of his life.
The cause of death was reported as “acute circulatory collapse.”
Former WED Enterprises (Imagineering) Public Relations manager Frank
Allnutt recalls that day:
“The phone rang off the hook for a couple of hours. Then it stopped.
The WED staff took the rest of the day off. Other than security people,
I think I was the only person left in the building. I walked through
the back room (the warehouse area where we staged and programmed all
the Audio-Animatronic shows for Disneyland). It was eerie. It was just
me and the figures—Mickey, the presidents, some pirates… The
huge room was completely silent and dark except for spotlights on some
of the figures. Most were only partially clothed, thus revealing their
mechanical parts. They were frozen in awkward positions—in suspended
animation, if you will. Their eyes were open, but stared blankly at
nothing. It was as if their life-source had been removed. And, of course,
in a sense it had. Not only for them, but for all of Disney. Who would
be the new source of life—the driving force behind the company?
What would happen with DisneyWorld and Mineral King? My boss had died,
and I had to wonder what would happen with me.”
Walt’s brother, Roy O. Disney, had already announced his plans to retire.
Rumors began to circulate about possible buyouts by Litton Industries,
Gulf + Western, and Westinghouse Electric. Talk began in Florida, wondering
if the Disneyworld project would be dropped.
Roy announced that he would put off his retirement for a time. He polled
his senior executives, then called them all together in a meeting a week
after Walt’s death. He told them that the project would continue, just
as Walt had planned it, and that it would be called Walt Disney
World, so that nobody would ever forget that it was his brother’s dream.
Meanwhile, work continued at WED. Former Imagineer George McGinnis recalls,
“If things slowed down after Walt’s death I didn’t sense it…
[W]e were finishing up Tomorrowland and WDW was under construction and
there was an Epcot plan.” In an interview with biographer Bob Thomas
in early 1967, Roy stated that there were enough Disneyland projects for
three years.
Meanwhile, legislation for the creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement
District (RCID) continued to be negotiated with the Orange and Osceola
county legislatures, as well as the Florida State legislature. Disney
had a great deal of demands. The municipalities of Reedy Creek (now called
Lake Buena Vista) and Bay Lake, three new highway interchanges, widening
of an interstate highway, and a self-governing political district with
the combined power of special assessment, improvement, and taxing districts,
as well as several smaller issues.
In February 1967, Disney hosted at a theater in nearby Winter Park: the
new Republican governor of Florida, Claude Kirk; members of his cabinet;
nearly half of the state legislature; members of the local, state, and
national press; financial backers; and Orlando-area community leaders.
This was their big pitch to convince everyone that the RCID was necessary
in order for Disney to build Walt’s grand dream. After a brief introduction
by General Joe Potter, the audience was shown what commonly known as “The
E.P.C.O.T. Film,” sometimes called “Walt’s Last Film.”
Some of the film was summarized in Part III of this series.
The audience was won over by the film and by the speeches from Roy, company
vice president Donn Tatum, and Governor Kirk. So much did they believe
in Walt’s description of his new community that they were willing to give
the District an unprecedented amount of power. In the end, the District
was free of state and county regulation of buildings, airport construction,
land use, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages, and even the right
to build a nuclear power plant. When the legislation was introduced to
the Florida House and Senate that April, the bills passed in a matter
of weeks. Governor Kirk signed the measure, and the RCID was officially
formed.
In addition to the legislation, the state government also kept their
deal on the roadway improvements. Intersections were built at the intersection
of I-4 and SR 530/US 192, the intersection of SR 530/US 192 and Disney
property, and the intersection of I-4 with the Disney service entrance.
In addition, SR 530/US 192 was widened from the intersection with I-4
to the entrance to Disney property.
There are conflicting stories of Walt’s intentions for the municipalities.
Author Richard Foglesong cites Walt’s written comments on a memo to him
from Disney lawyer Paul Helliwell regarding concerns about possible problems
with the municipalities to indicate that Walt did not intend Epcot to
house long-term, permanent residents. Walt’s handwritten notes, found
in his desk after his death, had crossed out every reference to “permanent
residents” and had replaced them with the words “temporary residents/tourists.”
On the other hand, internal WED documents, including notes by Marty Sklar
citing a conversation with Walt from October of 1966, indicate a continued
plan for permanent residents: a “working community.”
Of course, Roy had every intention of following through with Walt’s plan
as much as possible. The project, however, had to first be financed. With
pressure for mergers or buyouts surrounding Roy, attorney and financial
expert Nolan Browning brought him the solution. Convertible debentures—bonds
that were convertible into stock once the stock hit a target price—would
provide the money for the project while keeping the company independent.
Thanks to Disney’s high stock price-to-earnings ratio, after four rounds
of issuing the convertible debentures and converting them quickly to stock
(raising over $230 million) new funds raised totaled half of the company’s
equity while only granting the new shareholders about one-quarter of the
company.
With the financial issues settled, construction could begin in Florida.
However, one major issue remained. Roy, now 74, needed to step back and
allow the next generation of management to begin assuming power. Since
Roy felt that the Disney name was crucial to the company’s well-being,
he would remain Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the
Board. However, he wanted to step back from the day-to-day operations
to devote his time to public relations duties and overall long-term planning
for the company. He recommended that Donn Tatum become Executive Vice
President of Administration and Vice Chairman of the Board, and E. Cardon
(Card) Walker become Executive Vice President of Operations.
Disney’s long-term plan was for Tatum to eventually become Chief Executive
Officer and Chairman of the Board, while Walker would become President
and Chief Operating Officer. The following year, Tatum would become President
while remaining Vice Chairman, while Walker become Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer. Roy was not yet willing to part with the
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer titles.
But now, it was time to build a Magic Kingdom.
Next time
We look at turning thousands of acres of swamp land into the Vacation
Kingdom of the World.
