What in the World? How Walt Created Disney World

When Walt Disney realized cheap tourist traps had surrounded Disneyland in California, he began a nationwide search for enough land to hold every dream he could imagine. What happened next would require a heightened degree of CIA-level secrecy for Disney's undercover team, which launched a misinformation campaign that included dummy corporations and secret transactions. However, when a keen-eyed reporter cracked the code, Walt was forced to show his hand. You'll be amazed to learn not only of the level of subterfuge involved, but also of the monumental innovations and engineering feats required to create a whole new world.

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Gary McKechnie is a former stand-up comedian, improv actor, author of the nation’s best-selling motorcycle guidebook, and a two-time National Geographic author. He’s written for Walt Disney World, Fodor’s travel guides, is a two-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award. Off the road, he and his wife owned and operated Mount Dora's Coconut Cottage Inn and wrote A Brief History of Mount Dora. He lectures on American travel, culture, and music aboard the Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Anne the ships of the Seabourn and Silversea lines. As an active citizen, he formed non-profits to renovate the Mount Dora Community Building; crowd-funded a public sculpture of Mabel Norris Reese, an editor of who faced repeated death threats for her defense of civil rights during the 1950s; and organized the successful drive to honor Desi Arnaz through the Florida historic marker program. In 2018 he ran as the Democratic candidate for Florida State Senate, District 12.

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