This was an old Florida back then, more rugged, wild and so far away from the well-manicured Disney grounds known today. The bulldozers tore through, uprooting trees, and crews tamed what was an alligator- and snake-infested swamp of Central Florida in the late 1960s. Army general led the massive construction project to get Disney’s land ready to build a theme park. In his early 60s, the graying retired U.S.

Hipp discovered a handwritten budget for the Magic Kingdom drawn up by the general when going through Potter’s belongings years after his death. Potter’s daughter, Jo Ann Heine, tells stories of how Walt and the general, two good friends, made bets with each other to stop smoking and how Potter once shared a golf cart ride with Dolly Parton at Epcot’s grand opening.Īttorney Kent Hipp, the general’s grandson, displays a photograph of Walt Disney holding him as an baby in his downtown Orlando office.

Potter died at age 83 in 1988 after remaining in Central Florida for the rest of his life post-Disney retirement, but the memories still run deep with his daughter and grandson who live in Orlando.

Walt disney world magic kingdome 1960