Despite the fact that the Lake Buena Vista area is a critical element of the early Vacation Kingdom aesthetic, it often seems that Disney itself had a poor handle on what, exactly, the development was and why it existed. Trying to track the history of the Lake Buena Vista village’s intended purpose is a dodgy endeavor; seemingly every year in the early 1970s presented a new concept for the area. Was it a development for employees? For guests? For corporations? Was it a predecessor to EPCOT? Or merely overflow capacity for the Walt Disney World resort hotels?

At one point or another it seems to have been all these things. The idea of a “second city” in Walt Disney World went back to Walt’s original press conference announcing the Florida development. At the time he said he was considering building a “city of tomorrow” (which would become EPCOT) and a “city of yesterday.” As the EPCOT concept developed prior to his death, this other city seems to have evolved into a “satellite community” which is poorly elaborated but nevertheless always present in descriptions of the futuristic city. At times it seems the satellite community was intended for Disney retirees; EPCOT was only intended for working employees, and cast members would not have been able to live there in perpetuity.

As site planning for Walt Disney World continued, the satellite community came to be planned for the Lake Buena Vista area. As construction began on property, plans for the Lake Buena Vista community became more recreation and resort-oriented. Instead of full-time residences, which would require schools and other civic facilities, these would be second homes, available for sale or lease to corporations, those in search of a vacation home, or Disney clients.

The spin at the time was that the development, although not a permanent residential community, was laying the groundwork for EPCOT. Disney had no experience in the field of real estate development, and Lake Buena Vista would be their dry-run at city building. The small-scale, park-like atmosphere would allow a more gradual entry into home construction than the work required for the futuristic city of EPCOT.

It would also provide a place to put corporations that Disney was courting for sponsorships; the EPCOT effort (in both city and theme park form) depended entirely on the ability to recruit private participation and funds, and the Villas that were to be built in Lake Buena Vista would be a perq for visiting executives. They were also typically advertised as being available for “employee reward programs” or the like, the idea being that companies who bought townhomes in Lake Buena Vista could use them to reward hardworking underlings.

So Disney formed their own development subsidiary – the Buena Vista Land Company – and began building townhouses. Now they just had to sell them.

As with most things in early Walt Disney World, this is where it gets fun. Disney knew how to sell an idea back in those days, in verbiage so lush and savory you just want to bite down on it and chew. No guilt trips about buying your kids all the magic, dreams, and fantasy they can stand here. No pirates and princesses, no dependence on the memories of past glories. Back in 1972, Disney could take the sale of condominiums and turn it into an existential odyssey; a veritable dream quest into the heart of some fabled Shangri-La called Central Florida. This is how you do it, kids:

Continue reading Lake Buena Vista Chronicles: Selling The Magic, 1972