Finding The FIRST Building at Walt Disney World - Property Caretaker House & Forgotten WDW History
The First Building at Disney World
Transcript
0:03
welcome everyone Adam the woo here as
0:03
the recording of this Saturday August 6
0:06
2022 very rainy overcast
0:09
beginning the episode here in
0:11
Celebration Florida
0:12
Market Square bouncing
0:15
here at the base of Market Street and
0:17
Water Street whether they meet together
0:20
I'm gonna do something kind of
0:21
interesting today I'm gonna go into a
0:23
little history of wdw Walt Disney World
0:26
which is celebrating their 50th
0:29
Anniversary started in October 1st of
0:31
last year runs 18 months so still
0:33
another seven eight months of that
0:36
and also epcot's 40th coming up on
0:38
October 1st of this year 22 and I
0:42
figured now is a good time to any now is
0:45
a good a time as any
0:47
having trouble speaking
0:49
to cover some history of
0:52
the beginnings of Walt Disney World
0:55
that's what I'm going to do today I'm
0:56
inviting you to join me shall you in
0:59
fact the town I reside in has quite a
1:02
bit of Disney history Corporation built
1:05
it and opened it back in 1994 even
1:08
though they're not affiliated with it
1:09
I've covered a little bit of that and
1:11
probably will in the future but today I
1:14
want to focus on the very first cast
1:17
member that Disney World ever had back
1:19
in the late 60s soon after the Florida
1:22
project was announced with Walton Moy
1:23
and the governor of Florida
1:26
near Lake Eola at that hotel I covered
1:28
that the other day
1:31
but a man and his family moved on to
1:34
property the first house on property I'm
1:37
gonna find it and even though I probably
1:39
won't be stepping foot in the Parks
1:40
today what I'm going to be showing is
1:42
out of the parks but still on property
1:44
by looking at the Mickey power pole I am
1:46
Crossing onto wdw property
1:50
let's take it
1:52
powerful
1:58
taiza it is pretty amazing to think
1:58
about for the first year or two there
2:00
really weren't a lot of buildings on
2:01
property and the first one had a family
2:04
living in it
2:05
As a caretaker to watch over the
2:08
property
2:13
and the area they lived in is just past
2:13
what is now known as Disney Springs
2:17
just pass it now it's kind of
2:19
interesting that it brings me the
2:20
subject matter brings me to this spot
2:22
because I want to show what's behind
2:24
this this used to be the preview Center
2:26
I've been here many many times now the
2:27
amateur athletic Union and to the public
2:29
this was the first building on property
2:33
that was used as you know just a preview
2:35
of the 1971 opening of what was Magic
2:39
Kingdom Disney World later be called
2:41
Walt Disney World and over there in the
2:44
distance is the offices of Reedy Creek
2:47
which Mr Smith who lived on site had a
2:51
big hand in
2:52
started that guy he was a lawyer so he
2:55
helped start Reedy Creek and he lived
2:59
you know it could have ended up being
3:00
the Disney version of Jack and Wendy
3:02
Torrance being out here all alone with
3:05
your family in the wilderness there was
3:07
nothing out here then let me walk behind
3:09
this and show you what I'm talking about
3:10
thankfully it did not turn into The
3:12
Shining
3:14
that's what I was kind of alluding to
3:17
you know a caretaker all alone on
3:19
property for a couple of years 1966
3:22
until 1968
3:24
and doing a little bit of research she
3:26
used a couple different sites that I
3:28
found and tried to do a little reading
3:30
up on
3:31
you know the subject matter
3:34
there really is not a lot of info on
3:36
where the building is now or where it
3:39
exactly
3:41
precisely stood but my best educated
3:44
guess is across this Lake
3:47
which is known as Buena Vista Lake now
3:50
there are two Buena Vista Lakes if you
3:52
look on satellite view there is a rather
3:55
large Buena Vista Lake that used to be
3:57
called Village Lake next to the former
3:59
Disney Village which is now called
4:01
Disney Springs but this was the original
4:04
lake called blacks Lake it's no longer
4:08
referred to that in fact there is
4:10
another blacks Lake in Central Florida a
4:13
few miles away from here this was more
4:15
of a swampy area and you can see
4:17
still kind of has the Ooze bird going by
4:19
has a swamp like
4:22
look to it
4:24
now my recollection not my recollection
4:26
but my best educated guess which I'm not
4:29
really very educated but my best guess
4:31
is their Homestead was right over there
4:34
from what I was reading online
4:36
there was a article in a d23 newsletter
4:40
that came out in 2010 it was a hard copy
4:43
published and then they reposted it on
4:46
the interwebs back in like 2018 2019
4:49
don't quote me on that
4:51
but there were a couple photos in that
4:53
and the information said
4:55
that the cabin
4:57
and airstrip was North
5:00
of blacks Lake and this is North this is
5:05
Black's Lake there is a canal a channel
5:08
since then that they carved out leading
5:11
over to the larger Buena Vista Lake
5:14
there's two Buena Vista Lakes don't be
5:16
confused this is the smaller of the two
5:19
and this is one that is shown in all
5:21
those photos well not all but just one
5:24
or two that you can find out there okay
5:26
taking a look at my phone the blue dot
5:28
is where I'm standing at the moment on
5:30
the corner of Lake Buena Vista
5:35
if you scroll over a little bit there is
5:38
the Big Lagoon in front of Disney
5:40
Springs where the big balloon is
5:41
friendship boats go across and all of
5:44
that so there's a canal now
5:47
with the original Lake from back in the
5:49
day is still here it is that Lake and I
5:53
am going to assume and guess
5:55
that right up here near the top of this
5:57
road in this wooded area
5:59
is where the cabin and
6:03
airport not airport but a landing strip
6:06
used to be now this is in that d23
6:09
Magazine from 10 12 years ago and also
6:13
on their website a little bit later but
6:15
you can see there's Black Lake North
6:17
would be up here where I was just
6:18
showing there they have put in where it
6:21
says shed and hanger and then up top
6:24
house and airstrip now this is a
6:27
different airstrip from the stove Port
6:29
that was built soon after this house was
6:32
moved
6:33
over by the contemporary
6:35
but I have to wonder did Walt fly into
6:37
that airstrip or did he fly into you
6:40
know into Orlando and then kind of
6:41
shuttle over I'm guessing you probably
6:43
did not have
6:44
the plane that's you know tie in a d23x
6:48
but they say Walt's planes going to be
6:49
there
6:51
but interesting there was another
6:52
airstrip right up here and what I'm
6:55
looking at here as I kind of pan I was
6:57
standing in the shadows they don't get
6:58
the glare so that's kind of the angle
7:02
the lake pretty much has the same
7:04
dimensions more or less you know
7:06
over 50 plus years 55 years since then
7:10
park opened at 71 that photo was
7:13
probably taken in 66.
7:16
but this Lake
7:21
is the same Lake now here's a photo of
7:21
Mr Smith standing behind a body of water
7:23
that is not Black's Lake not the current
7:25
lake I'm standing in front of that was
7:27
almost like a retention Pond that veered
7:29
off of this I'll go back to the other
7:31
photo and show what I'm talking about if
7:33
you look closely you got the big body of
7:35
water up standing in front of down below
7:36
the bottom of the screen then there's
7:38
this smaller body of water which I
7:41
believe is the one that's behind the
7:43
photograph of Mr Smith standing in front
7:45
of his house now there's a lot of
7:46
pictures of Walt and Roy and Joe Fowler
7:49
and others standing and kind of
7:52
fraternizing and conglomerating around
7:54
the house and discussing plans
7:57
a lot of the photos with a wall with the
7:59
map are taken on the same day that he
8:01
was at Mr Smith in his family's house
8:03
he's wearing the same clothes
8:05
but I believe the cameraman would have
8:06
been over here to the right of the house
8:07
taking photos of Walt and Roy and Fowler
8:11
and all them looking across at this
8:13
little body of water which kind of
8:15
panning across
8:17
would be more or less between this hotel
8:23
and that little building right over
8:25
there and I'm going to try to drive
8:26
around that way and see if I can even
8:28
find any remnants or anything probably
8:30
not going to have any luck but just want
8:31
to use this as a bearing just to give a
8:33
frame of reference here you can see Roy
8:34
and the other guys Fowler I believe card
8:36
walkers in there as well
8:39
Roy looking directly at the camera
8:40
person
8:42
and even Walt right over here with a
8:44
with a guy that no one has been able to
8:46
pinpoint who the other guy is standing
8:48
next to Walt but Walt looks like he's
8:50
got his mind in other places probably
8:51
very stressed out by what was happening
8:54
he didn't really want to join in the
8:56
conversation with these other guys and
8:57
there's Walt's head turned the other way
8:59
we're in a little cap relaxing on the
9:02
front porch
9:03
of the caretaker's house
9:05
one of the very few photos from back
9:07
then of the home itself
9:10
but supposedly the home still stands it
9:12
was moved and I also found this older
9:14
map online some of the plans before it
9:16
became Disney Springs but you can see it
9:18
used to be called Village Lake which is
9:20
now what everyone refers to as Lake
9:21
Buena Vista but in fact as stated Lake
9:25
Buena Vista is this little tiny Lake
9:27
behind the preview center right there
9:29
also it's very interesting depending on
9:32
which satellite image you look at or
9:34
whatever you're searching for this is
9:36
sometime referred to as Blake's late
9:39
Lake
9:40
Blake b-l-a-k-e-s
9:43
got a lot of different names
9:45
perhaps they just misspelled it it's
9:48
also been a couple other articles online
9:49
I believe all ears.net is one I stumbled
9:52
on and wdw Central
9:55
but it is not commonly known outside of
9:57
those few
9:59
and maybe another one or two
10:01
it's not a lot of information that's
10:03
really circulating around out there so I
10:05
kind of want to draw attention to it
10:06
also when I say d23 puts out a monthly
10:08
publication d23 is D for Disney 23 the
10:13
year the company started which next year
10:16
are going to be celebrating their 100th
10:17
anniversary of the company and I'm
10:20
wearing a 1928 Mickey Mouse shirt when
10:24
Mickey finally reared its head a lot of
10:26
anniversaries Epcot 40th coming up we're
10:29
in the midst of wdw's 50. Mickey will be
10:33
celebrating one in about five years and
10:35
early next year the 100th anniversary of
10:37
the company but d23 Expo sometimes I
10:40
just shorten it and say D20 film going
10:42
to d23 in Anaheim which is coming up
10:45
September you know first second week of
10:47
September
10:48
but in reality that is the Expo d23 is a
10:52
membership that people have had for
10:53
years and years and you get things in
10:54
the mail periodically especially every
10:56
month and that is where the article that
10:57
this was in
10:58
back in 2008 2009 2010 around there I
11:03
know it's kind of confusing and to be a
11:04
little bit more specific of everyone
11:06
that's in that photo can read a little
11:08
bit more about it there on the site
11:12
now matching up certain photos like here
11:14
he is with card Walker looking at the
11:16
map pretty much near impossible because
11:18
it's nothing but tree lines but it would
11:21
be pretty amazing to find
11:22
some of those spots look at Roy over
11:24
Walt's shoulder
11:25
you just kind of see part of Roy's
11:27
Noggin there now I tried finding the
11:29
location on the final resting place of
11:32
Mr Smith who passed away five or six
11:34
years ago and there was no information
11:36
online about that I found some other
11:39
information
11:41
about his passing but
11:43
but nothing more specific than just the
11:45
details of that and
11:47
I was going to pay my respects
11:49
so really I'm just gonna have to pay my
11:51
respect just by trying to find exactly
11:53
where the house was
11:56
yeah so a really big part of Disney
11:58
history that a lot of people don't
12:00
realize
12:04
on the other side of this Lake I'm gonna
12:04
see if I can find an access road and get
12:06
over there see if I can maybe walk over
12:09
into the woods
12:14
might not be the best idea to you know
12:14
walk out in the rain and the bugs and
12:16
snakes and Gators but yeah we'll see
12:18
what happens because it is starting to
12:19
precipitate now
12:25
there might be a path through the woods
12:25
maybe someone else has done this
12:27
probably not and since I'm right here I
12:29
might as well show the Reedy Creek
12:31
Building I'm not really sure what's
12:32
going on with the whole Reedy Creek
12:34
situation
12:36
with some big news a while back but I
12:37
haven't really kept up with what the
12:39
follow-up on it is
12:40
still going to be called Reedy Creek I'm
12:42
now walking along the sidewalk next to
12:44
the Hyatt Regency Grand Cyprus
12:47
a whole resort area
12:50
park down the road and I'm walking the
12:52
sidewalk
12:54
man I gotta cross over and head over
12:55
towards that wooded area
12:58
over there at some point but almost to
13:00
the this destination and this is a
13:02
little man-made Water Area here with the
13:04
waterfall
13:05
looking at the satellite image
13:07
and you could possibly assume that this
13:10
is the water where the house would have
13:12
been that way
13:14
and whoever was taking the photos
13:16
of Mr Smith looking back this way but
13:19
this is man-made this is
13:21
this is not from those photos from the
13:24
mid 60s
13:25
in fact I need to walk past the newly
13:27
constructed which hasn't opened yet this
13:29
dreary hotel which is where I'm going
13:31
now here on this Resort there's also a
13:33
little Convention Center
13:35
as well that's what this building is and
13:38
this is more or less where I would need
13:40
to cross over
13:42
Into the Woods
13:44
looking at the photo that I was showing
13:46
and
13:47
based on the satellite image I'm looking
13:49
at as I'm walking now earlier I was
13:51
parked over here off Hotel Plaza
13:52
Boulevard looking across this way I'm
13:55
now standing where this blue dot is
13:56
precisely in the middle of the wooded
13:58
area
14:00
right there and
14:03
I'm noticing there is a path
14:06
it's not really a hiking trail but there
14:08
is a little bit
14:10
you know maybe I'm getting excited over
14:12
nothing because
14:15
what does this say
14:17
ah Conservation Area I thought this was
14:19
a pathway
14:21
at first
14:23
but it's not this is not a path in fact
14:25
there's a lot of
14:27
standing water down there and a fence
14:30
barbed wire fence
14:32
no dumping land clearing or other
14:33
disturbance of soils yeah I noticed the
14:36
barbed wire and chain link fence
14:38
running along that section
14:41
but my estimation
14:43
would be
14:49
so I'm standing at the halfway point of
14:49
the wooded area
14:51
looking at a photo go across if I went
14:54
maybe 50 100 yards give or take this is
14:57
just all my guesstimation
14:59
this way is where the house would have
15:02
been and then over here was the landing
15:04
strip
15:06
and there was also the one photo that I
15:09
could see I could not go to a satellite
15:10
image back that far the earliest one was
15:12
in the 80s very blurry and then 95 was
15:15
the only one that was moderately
15:18
sort of kind of clear enough to even
15:20
tell anything this is all looks the same
15:22
from the 90s as it does now with the
15:25
exception of you know the resort area
15:26
over here but the wooded area
15:28
completely grown over since you know 65
15:31
66 67.
15:34
late 60s
15:35
when him and his family were living here
15:37
but there's one photo of Walt from a
15:40
distance going in in a car and I'm
15:43
noticing on the photo there used to be a
15:45
little road that ran over here that
15:48
could have this is all speculation could
15:51
have turned in
15:52
to the property of the house where they
15:55
were all seen you know hanging around
15:56
fraternizing discussing looking at Maps
15:58
things like that sitting on the porch
16:01
and that could have been the photo could
16:03
have been right over there you know
16:04
maybe another 20 well 50 yards that way
16:07
cutting across
16:09
maybe I am very thankful for this one
16:12
photo only one photo I'm very thankful
16:14
this was posted
16:17
because without this there would be no
16:18
indication at all
16:21
so as they stated just reiterating
16:24
what I have seen which got me really
16:26
excited the house there the shed the
16:29
retention Pond which is now gone all
16:30
this has grown over and just a few feet
16:33
of wooded area maybe a few yards now you
16:37
know a couple hundred yards of wood so
16:39
you can see there used to be over here
16:41
there used to be some some trees
16:43
possibly some orange trees some Groves
16:45
things like that but take a look at this
16:47
little road up here
16:49
looks as if there was a road now I can't
16:52
walk back and see if there's any
16:53
pavement that I could find and I'll show
16:55
the photo I am referring to so keep in
16:58
mind I am standing up here kind of where
17:01
this wooded area starts up here but it
17:04
was all cleared out when when the family
17:06
lived there well like I said all
17:08
assumptions but
17:10
I'm kind of feeling the history again
17:12
I'm assuming and you know what they say
17:13
when you assume something you make a you
17:15
know what out of you and me
17:17
but could this be that road in the photo
17:20
where the house would have been way over
17:21
there the retention Pond is this the
17:25
airstrip here
17:26
not the stove Port strip over by Cape
17:29
over by contemporary but is this the the
17:32
one on the map or from that photo and
17:35
there's Walt and Roy and everyone
17:36
pulling in there could that have been
17:39
the entrance onto worth the only
17:41
building
17:42
on property and if it is it means that
17:45
road
17:46
ran parallel down that way so I'm going
17:49
to walk over there and just see if
17:51
there's any indication
17:53
you know a half a century later
17:55
it's probably not going to be but you
17:57
know it never hurts to try and just to
17:58
show a little more specifically so
18:01
there's the paved rotor was the paved
18:03
Road
18:04
back in the mid 60s it looks like
18:05
there's another little dirt path
18:08
that could have gone that way
18:15
you know over to
18:15
the main area the house the shed and all
18:18
that pay no attention to me Bus full of
18:21
tourists
18:22
I am just trying to find some history
18:24
over here
18:26
fence is so old that it's falling down
18:29
the trees have blown over and destroyed
18:32
the fencing through this area
18:43
yeah anyone driving by or looking over
18:43
from the hotel over there is probably
18:45
think what in the name of heck is that
18:46
guy doing
18:53
to be honest with you I can't answer
18:53
that question
18:58
I mean I can answer the question but
18:58
I don't know if anyone would accept my
19:01
answer
19:13
yeah no pavement
19:13
all ripped up
19:15
if it even was right here another thing
19:16
that's kind of bizarre
19:18
oh by the way hello to my chef on my
19:20
shadow
19:21
over this way they got rid of the barbed
19:23
wire and the fencing there's no fencing
19:25
or barbed wire over here so this
19:26
Conservation Area end back there
19:38
okay again I'm incorrect there is
19:38
fencing back there
20:01
okay I attempted
20:01
you never know until you go somewhere to
20:03
see if something really exists
20:05
but I am going to try to pinpoint where
20:07
the house was moved to
20:10
there is a pinnacle to this
20:16
man I really want to go through there
20:16
but I
20:17
gotta say I'm 99 confident there is
20:19
nothing that you can match up in there
20:21
nothing if they move the house there's
20:23
probably not even a foundation
20:25
back there from where the
20:27
original spot was
20:44
is this a hula hoop
20:44
oh no it's a hose
20:46
this one was doing a little hula hooping
20:49
but they're just hosing it down check
20:51
this out there's a little Canal there
20:53
like a little walking Dam
20:54
ature version
21:00
and very interesting
21:00
I don't know if ironic would be the word
21:02
don't you think
21:05
like Alana sang about
21:07
but right in this general area you know
21:09
would have been kind of more over right
21:11
there would have been where the landing
21:13
strip was but there's a helicopter pad
21:15
right here and a little windsock wind
21:18
tunnel over there
21:19
we'll tie in
21:21
modern day
21:24
tie into what was here before not really
21:26
but kind of now I can't get the
21:27
correlation of the caretaker
21:32
Disney
21:34
them living on property right over there
21:36
never snows here thankfully it'll get
21:38
snowed in a blizzard
21:40
Walt's not here Mrs Jordans
21:45
Walton Roy are here misses
21:48
joyrids
21:56
now zipping down World drive to another
21:58
we're towards Badger Kingdom stopped off
22:00
of the convenience store just outside
22:01
TTC the speedway and ended up getting
22:05
not only a Mr pit but also a water so I
22:08
got a little Cola one of my beverage I
22:12
really like had a little pillage well
22:14
used to be called Mr pit now it's called
22:15
pib extra and then a Smart Water maybe
22:18
it'll make me a little more
22:19
knowledgeable but I always like to point
22:21
out this retro bumper sticker here wdw
22:24
the vacation Kingdom of the world got
22:26
the family up top there
22:28
the Mickey ears on pretty cool just
22:31
right over here on the outskirts of
22:33
Magic Kingdom right outside the park
22:34
reading this article on the Orlando
22:36
Sentinel
22:38
talking about you know dick Nunes made
22:40
this quote
22:41
he really built a very fine legal
22:42
organization that really frankly kept us
22:44
out of trouble
22:45
never had to worry about legal problems
22:47
under him knew he had a very competent
22:49
guy to take care of it the caretaker one
22:52
of his biggest accomplishments was
22:53
helping to create Reedy Creek
22:54
improvement district unusual government
22:56
entity which Disney controls is planning
22:59
building codes and emergency services or
23:01
did I think that's kind of up in the air
23:03
right now imagine having all the
23:04
property that now is Disney World kind
23:06
of more or less to yourself
23:08
his family picnicked on what became
23:11
Discovery Island because I'm just
23:13
sitting here browsing the internet a
23:15
little bit more trying to get a
23:16
recollection of what the house looks
23:18
like there's really only two photos that
23:19
I can find
23:20
so you got the one here looks like there
23:23
was a garage or maybe what was a garage
23:25
on that one side and then also the
23:27
Porsche now if the house was moved I'm
23:30
going to say that this porch
23:31
area is where Walt was sitting is not
23:33
there you can see it's a cinder block
23:36
house now on this website the d23
23:41
this is the show what the house looks
23:44
like today or at least within recent
23:46
years
23:48
as well now looked on satellite view and
23:50
I figured out exactly where this was and
23:52
appears to be right off the side of the
23:55
kind of over the area I was just heading
23:58
and I'm gonna see if that works out so I
24:00
kind of pulled over was doing a little
24:01
more research before getting over there
24:03
but appears to be not behind any kind of
24:06
closed area just right off the the main
24:09
road so I'll see what happens and fun
24:11
fact that's where all the Disney buses
24:13
fill up with fuel it's a fuel station
24:15
for Disney buses
24:17
right beside the speedway
24:26
now I cannot go that way
24:26
but this says guest areas bare Island
24:30
this way
24:38
yeah right here off of bear Island Road
24:38
pulling in through here
24:41
find any Gates or anything I was
24:42
thinking maybe there'd be
24:44
something alluding to this being what
24:46
kind of area this is but yeah I'm just
24:47
driving back here now there's a closed
24:49
off gate there but over here
24:52
just do a little U-turn here
24:55
and this is what some say is
24:58
the original first building
25:01
on property now this could be
25:04
where Roy was there this could have been
25:05
the garage side now the roof looks a lot
25:07
different
25:09
now the articles I was reading they said
25:11
that the Smiths when they when they
25:13
moved they kept the chimney so maybe
25:15
they redid the roof but you could see it
25:16
is cinder block
25:23
I think it was a different color but
25:23
they could have repainted it
25:26
and I believe maybe around the other
25:27
side was where Walt was sitting on the
25:29
porch this could have been the backside
25:31
of course the other side is fenced off
25:33
and gated off see I can't go through
25:34
that fence over there everything on this
25:36
side is drivable and walkable but
25:39
I'll have a
25:41
I don't have permission to go past that
25:42
but that's it
25:44
what some say I
25:46
kind of on the fence with it I'm going
25:48
to say it probably is because it was
25:49
stated on the
25:51
on the Disney site
25:54
but yeah
25:55
there you go right there
26:01
first house ever built a Walt Disney
26:01
World property first building
26:04
incredible
26:05
right here before you go into the skated
26:08
area for Reedy Creek environmental area
26:11
all right pulling back out onto this
26:13
road and right back over to TTC
26:16
right next to TTC
26:19
probably a quarter of a mile not even
26:23
pretty interesting history and that's
26:25
gonna do it for today
26:28
I'll see you in the next video the Vlog