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  • 2021-04-08 (xsd:date)
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  • Does Walt Disney World Have an Abandoned Airport? (en)
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  • On Nov. 16, 2020, a popular Disney TikTok channel,@themouselets, documented the purported history of an abandoned airport at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It was named Lake Buena Vista STOLport. We've also seen it referred to as Walt Disney World Airport: It's true that Walt Disney World once had its own airport, or rather a STOLport. The name came from short takeoff and landing, meaning it was meant for small aircraft. Before the airstrip was constructed, Disney contemplated much bigger plans. An old blog from Jim Hill documented that Disney had originally considered building a regional airport on the same site where the EPCOT theme park sits today at Disney World. On May 1, 1969, the Sentinel reported on the plans. At the time, Disney officials said the airport will be a prototype for general aviation of the future: An earlier report from 1967 said that the airport was originally intended to be located north of State Road 530. However, that larger airport never came to fruition. Instead, Disney constructed the Lake Buena Vista STOLport, located just east of the parking lot for Magic Kingdom: The airstrip was a little more than a bare-bones runway for takeoff and landing. The Orlando Evening Star reported that the airstrip was first inaugurated on Oct. 22, 1971. Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters were on hand to greet the Shawnee and Executive airlines flights from Orlando's Herndon Airport and another STOLport in St. Petersburg. https://d23.com/featured-photo/lake-buena-vista-stolport/ According to the Orlando Sentinel, the landing strip was 2,000 feet in length. At one point, the cost for round-trip flights ranged from around $22-60 per person. On April 10, 1977, the Sentinel provided details about a study regarding the potential for the STOLport: The reporting noted that Disney tested larger planes. A 50-seat aircraft could potentially have operated between Atlanta, Georgia, and Walt Disney World Resort. Further, the Sentinel published that the three hotels Disney operated on its property were at 97 percent occupancy in 1976. If Disney decides to beef up its out-of-state attendance, it will have to find lodging for the guests, argued the newspaper. The Walt Disney World Airport purportedly closed in the 1980s. Reports claimed it may have been due to the construction of the monorail, which can be seen later in this report in satellite photographs. We were unable to find the date that the last aircraft landed or took off from the STOLport. In 2014, flight restrictions were issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for any aircraft coming within a specific radius of Walt Disney World Resort. The resort is now a no-fly zone. Curiously, we found numerous reports of the airstrip once having a singing runway. Stories told of grooves built into the pavement. The noises made when an airplane's wheels landed on the grooves purportedly sounded like the notes for When You Wish Upon a Star. But we were unable to find any reporting to support this rumor. We did, however, locate perhaps a more plausible bit of information of how this rumor may have come about. On Jim Hill's old blog, he claimed that experiments were performed after the airstrip closed: However, we were unable to confirm whether it was Disney Imagineers or another group who performed the experiments. It was referred to as the Singing Roadway. One aerial picture probably shows the Lake Buena Vista STOLport best. In the background, Magic Kingdom and Cinderella Castle are both visible: Today, Google Street View shows where the landing strip once existed: Historical imagery from Google Earth showed that the former airport property changed after it was abandoned. Roads were somewhat altered and buildings were added: In sum, it's true that Walt Disney World Resort had an abandoned airstrip for short takeoffs and landings. However, it was a fairly bare-bones stretch of pavement and not a full-fledged airport. Details in reports of a singing runway or musical roadway were perhaps questionable. Today, a road sits where the Lake Buena Vista STOLport airstrip once saw a number of aircraft bring guests to the most magical place on Earth! (en)
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