In 1966, with the success of Disneyland in California behind him, Walt Disney began to think of himself as an urban planner as much as an entertainer.

As a result, in addition to Magic kingdom, he devoted considerable attention to designing a utopian city on the 28,000 acres of Central Florida land he had assembled. His bold plans were never quite forgotten and by the late 1980s Disney CEO Michael Eisner, seeking use for some 10,000 acres south of highway 192, had the idea of building a New Town: Celebration.