{"id":181356,"date":"2026-03-06T22:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/181356\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T22:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:28:13","slug":"orlando-unveils-new-disney-world-plaque-downtown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/181356\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando unveils new Disney World plaque downtown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"(From left to right) City commissioner Patty Sheehan, Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, Mickey Mouse, Disney World president Jeff Vahle, and Thornton Park district executive director Robert Soviero unveil new Disney plaque (March 5, 2026) Credit: Courtesy of the Walt Disney Company<\/p>\n

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer joined Disney World president Jeff Vahle Thursday for the unveiling of a new plaque in downtown Orlando that commemorates the history-making announcement in 1965 that Walt Disney World would be developed in Orlando.<\/p>\n

The plaque \u2014 a project of the city, Disney World, and the Thornton Park Main Street District \u2014 was displayed outside the building on East Central Boulevard that today encompasses MAA Apartments, World of Beer, and other restaurants. The building, surrounding Lake Eola, used to be the Cherry Plaza Hotel, where Walt and Roy O. Disney first announced that this now world-renowned theme park \u2014 Disney\u2019s \u201cFlorida Project\u201d \u2014 would be coming to the City Beautiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the Orlando Sentinel, it was the largest press gathering<\/a> in Florida history at the time it occurred, with hundreds of members of the press in attendance. Then-Florida Gov. Haydon Burns also joined for the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalt and Roy Disney didn\u2019t just announce a theme park in 1965. They announced a partnership with a community that was ready to dream bigger about its future,\u201d Dyer said in a statement. \u201cWith this plaque, we honor more than a historic announcement. We honor a relationship, with both Walt Disney World and our Orlando Main Streets, that bolsters our economy, strengthens our neighborhoods and defines our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the U.S. with over 80,000 employees, according to the company, generating billions of dollars<\/a> in economic impact annually. Disney\u2019s Magic Kingdom first opened in 1971, followed by Epcot, MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom.<\/p>\n

According to Richard Foglesong\u2019s nonfiction book Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando<\/a>, tourism tripled in Orlando in the first year Magic Kingdom was open, from 3.5 million visitors to 10 million in 1971.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The population in Orange County also more than doubled over the next couple of decades, swelling from 344,000 in 1971 to 846,000 residents by 1999. Today, the county is home to more than 1.5 million \u2014 and, notably, horrendous traffic around the parks, a regional economy driven by (i.e., dependent on) tourism, and a premier destination for over 70 million visitors annually.<\/p>\n

Former Orlando Mayor Carl Langford, who saw the arrival of Disney World more than 50\u00a0 years ago, retired to the mountains<\/a> in North Carolina in 1980 \u2014 shortly after leaving office, according to the Sentinel \u2014 citing \u201ctoo much heat, too much humidity and too much traffic.\u201d He reportedly returned to Orlando in the early aughts and died here in 2011.<\/p>\n

Disney\u2019s very own Mickey Mouse and Disney World president Jeff Vahle joined Dyer at the unveiling of the plaque Thursday. The plaque will be placed<\/a> on the exterior wall of the former Cherry Plaza Hotel building, according to WESH 2 News.<\/p>\n

\"\"The new Disney plaque was unveiled by Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer and Disney World president Jeff Vahle Thursday, March 5, 2026, in partnership with the Thornton Park district. Credit: Courtesy of the Walt Disney Company<\/p>\n

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