Orlando

Orlando exists because Walt Disney looked down from an airplane and saw highways. In November 1963, Disney flew over Central Florida searching for a site large enough to build an entire city around a theme park. What sold him was the intersection of Interstate 4 and Florida's Turnpike—roads that would funnel visitors from both coasts. Through dummy corporations, Disney quietly acquired 27,443 acres of swampland, twice the size of Manhattan, from citrus farmers who had no idea what was coming.

Before Disney, Orlando was a modest citrus town that had survived the great freezes of the 1890s only to reinvent itself as a military hub during World War II. McCoy Air Force Base and the Orlando Airbase employed most of the 50,000 residents. The land was cheap because it was considered worthless—swamps, snakes, and crushing humidity. Disney saw the worthlessness as the feature: no existing infrastructure meant no constraints.

Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971. Within two years, 20 million visitors had arrived and 13,000 people were employed. Orlando became 'the Action Center of Florida,' the fastest-growing city in the state. Competitors followed: SeaWorld, Universal Studios, hundreds of smaller attractions. The ecosystem fed itself—more visitors meant more hotels meant more restaurants meant more visitors.

Today Orlando is America's most visited destination: 75.33 million visitors in 2024, generating $94.5 billion in economic impact—equivalent to hosting the Super Bowl twice weekly for a year. The region employs 468,000 people in tourism, 42% of all Orange County jobs. Universal's Epic Universe opened in 2025, the first new major theme park since 1999. By 2026, Orlando faces the challenge that success brings: 8% fewer international tourists as economic pressures mount, even as domestic crowds keep the turnstiles spinning. The city that Disney built now depends on whether magic can be maintained at scale.