The Florida History Podcast

We pay tribute to the greatest Floridian of recent memory, Governor and Senator Bob Graham who passed away this week at the age of 87

We begin describing how Disney's amusement park business changed in the 1990's. We cover the period until the appointment of Michael Ovitz.

We discuss the opening of Universal Studios Florida in 1990 and the seismic events it created for the landscape in Central Florida.

We discuss a few other Central Florida amusement parks this week.

We discuss one of the most beloved attractions at the Magic Kingdom, the Country Bear Jamboree.

Disney is a media company and Florida wants more film and television in the state - so the simple solution is for Disney to be incentivized to build a film studio as a "third gate" on its property. However things don't go to plan as Disney itself is in a rotten period as a company.

EPCOT Center was a grand vision of Walt Disney. But the eventual park was not only not true to Walt's vision but dramatically scaled-down and over-budget from what had been planned in the 1970's. We discuss the original plans, then the plan for 30 nations in the World Showcase and where it went wrong. We also focus on Florida at the time, and how EPCOT became a grand proj

This week we discuss the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 including the popularity of some of its original attractions like its a Small World, Carousel of Progress and Country Bear Jamboree but also discuss the environmental and traffic impact of the park which angered local residents.

Walt Disney's Florida Project is thrown into doubt with Walt's untimely December 1966 passing, but brother Roy Disney keep pushing toward a 1971 opening of the Magic Kingdom. But EPCOT will have to wait.

In the first episode of our new season on Florida amusement parks, we discuss the years between 1959 and 1965 when Walt Disney began looking for a site for a second Disney park, and the process to finally arrive at a Central Florida site.