Walt Disney: Later Life
Family
Walt thought his studio should have a secretary to manage financial things. He hired Lillian Bounds for 15 dollars a week. Walt soon fell in love with her. Walt married her on July 13, 1925. He married her, because he and Roy were sick of being roommates. And the fact that he loved Lillian.
Walt wanted to have kids, but Lillian was having trouble. She had 2 miscarriages. Finally, Diane Marie Disney was born on December 18, 1933. Walt and Lillian loved Diane very much, so they decided to adopt. In January of 1937, they adopted Sharon Mae Disney.
Disneyland
In 1954, Disney began planning Disneyland. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of orange grove in Anaheim, California. He chose this spot, because the land was flat and a construction company was building a highway near there. This meant the park would be easy to access.He knew the rides were the most important part, so he hired his own engineers. He knew he could trust them to do a good job. He created 4 "lands." The 4 "lands" are as follows: Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland, and they would each have a different theme. Fantasyland's theme would be mostly Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Peter Pan. Frontierland's theme would be Western. Adventureland would have a jungle theme. Finally, in Tomorrowland you could see cars, houses, and cities of the future, and you could also "visit" the moon. Disneyland opened July 17, 1955, which was almost a year after he started to plan it. Walt created the University of DIsneyland, which taught the employess how to be polite, friendly, and efficient to the visitors. He insisted the theme park was clean. In fact, he made employees go out with a putty knife and scrape gum off the roads and sidewalks. Eventually, Walt couldn't expand as much, because people would build around Disneyland.
Walt Disney World in the Beginning
In 1964, Walt sent a team of employee to Florida to buy as much land as possible with the least amount of money. The employees purchased 27,500 acres of land near Orlando. This land is 170 times bigger than Disneyland! Right away he started to plan everything. There would be a utility-service basement underground. I would contain electric carts to carry employees through tunnels to repair shops, water pipes, sewage lines, and electric cables. It would also have an employee recreation room. Each hotel would have a different them just like the "lands." He also wanted this park to be very clean. He also planned on EPCOT or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which still exists today.
His Death
In November 1966, Walt went to the hospital. He learned that he had lung cancer. He got lung cancer from smoking. He told his family not to worry because he would get the cancer removed. He soon felt sicker, and he decided to stay at his house. He died on December 15, 1966. Roy, his brother, was the last person to talk to him. They were talking about EPCOT.