In what year did Walt Disney World open?

Walt Disney World opened in 1971, welcoming its first guests on October 1 in Florida.

The resort’s first operating theme park was Magic Kingdom, accompanied by the Contemporary Resort and Polynesian Village Resort hotels. Walt Disney had selected the Florida site, but he died in 1966, before construction was completed. His brother Roy O. Disney carried the project forward and dedicated the property in Walt’s honor later that October.

A common mix-up is confusing Walt Disney World with Disneyland. Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955; Walt Disney World opened sixteen years later. The Florida resort was also much larger in concept, eventually expanding to include four major theme parks, water parks, hotels, golf courses, and shopping districts.

The next major theme park addition was EPCOT, which opened in 1982. Disney’s Hollywood Studios followed in 1989, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998.