There's no urban core, no downtown, here. Even if you don't bring a car to the resort, you'll still find yourself on roads, riding in buses, if you want to get around and see all of what the resort has to offer. Built in the early 1970s on thousands of acres of undeveloped land in what was then the middle-of-nowhere Florida, the Walt Disney World Resort abandons Walt's initial vision of a modernist, transit-focused urban development in favor of a car-dependent exurban one. Disneyland Paris also includes car-dependent, exurban-style development on its periphery, but the central core around the two parks and its Disney Village functions the same as at these other theme park resorts.īut Walt Disney World - the first of these resorts, and as such, the prototype - is different. In Tokyo and Paris, these "downtowns" are linked to the rest of their metropolitan areas via mass-transit rail stations in the middle of the development. They function like themed downtowns, faux urban cores with a high density of retail, accommodations and amusements. Those resorts' parks are located within walking distance of one another, with a central shopping and dining district also just steps away. The world's other major multi-park theme park resorts - Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney, and Universal Orlando - all occupy much less space than Walt Disney World. The "Downtown Disney" name appears to be going away at the Walt Disney World Resort, as Disney prepares its shopping and dining district in Lake Buena Vista for its transition to "Disney Springs." But the concept of "downtown core" to the sprawling Walt Disney World Resort remains intriguing. Robert Niles Where is the real downtown Disney at the Walt Disney World Resort? July 9, 2013, 2:33 PM
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