Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Disney Airport

Just when you thought Utilidors were the most awesome secret transportation in Walt Disney World, it's true; there's an airport hidden on the Walt Disney World property. I bet now you feel slighted, poor traveler who had to land at MCO (you know, the Orlando International Airport) and take the Magical Express to get to your hotel on property. Not that you had to pay extra for it or anything.
Technically at one time WDW had TWO airports, but only one still exists. The other Disney airport, currently the site of Disney's upcoming Art of Animation resort, was called the Epcot Center Ultralight Flightpark. It had a circular landing pad and was intended only for very small aircraft. For some reason it's still listed as an active airport on this site's FAA listing. It also shows an activation date of 1991, so I guess it was only around for a decade.
The airport that still exists, and has been around for nearly all of Walt Disney World's existence, is called the Lake Buena Vista Airport. This airstrip lies directly west of the Magic Kingdom parking lot and is just beyond the Monorail line, with the runway paralleling World Drive. At one time it was apparently open for general aviation use, but numerous factors, including the Monorail's proximity and the no-fly zone over Walt Disney World eventually hampered the airport's use.  Today the Lake Buena Vista Airport is officially deactivated and mostly used by Disney as a staging area for buses. However, according to the link above, it is still usable and has been covertly used for certain events and people.
Finally here is an aerial view of the airport, which is even labeled in Google Earth/Google Maps:

No comments:

Post a Comment