I love finding little-known gems of information from the original Walt Disney World. Here’s a doozy! When the resort first opened in 1971, cialis they had their own STOLport (a short take off and landing runway) on property. Not only that, discount viagra the Lake Buena Vista STOLport was the first officially designated STOLport in the U.S.
Walt Disney World STOLport 1971 Photo courtesy of Progress City USA
Walt and company were quite the visionaries and planned ahead for the huge crowds traveling into the area. At the time, the only attraction in Central Florida was Cypress Gardens to the west of Orlando. There wasn’t even a large airport, just the Orlando JetPort at McCoy. It was a civil-military joint operation with McCoy Air Force Base.
Walt Disney World STOLport Schedule
Photo courtesy of Progress City USA
For these reasons, it made a lot of sense to have their own, privately-owned runway on property for connecting flights from Tampa and other areas for guests and employees. The STOLport was used for only a few years in the early 1970’s.
WDW STOLport, Shawnee Airplane
Photo courtesy of Sunshine Skies
The runway is still on property and visible from the monorail going from Magic Kingdom Ticket & Transportation to Epcot. Today, it’s used as a staging area for buses, construction equipment and storage.
So the next time you’re on board the monorail going over to (or from) Epcot, remember to look for a long strip of pavement in a wooded area and think back to the time when guests could fly directly in to the “happiest place on earth.”
Walt Disney World STOLport
Photo courtesy of Progress City USA
Photos from DadForDisney.com.
