It was a somewhat sleepy, semi-southern town. There were lakes, orange groves, pastures that grazed cows and an Air Force Base. McCoy – which was converted, over time, to MCO, the FAA designation. This was one reason, along with MacDill AFB n Tampa and others in Florida, why stockpiling water and canned goods (along with Nun led drills to huddle beneath desks) during the 1963 Cuban Missile Crisis was a panacea. A fool's game.
The family headed from St. Pete Beach to Orlando in February of '63. Interstate 4 was on the drawing boards but far from complete. We were interlopers from NY. JFK was assassinated 9 months later.
Much of the land Disney is built on is that classic "swamp in Florida" land. Some made a profit. Others, later in the "acquisition" made a killing when word got out as to just who was buying parcels of land.
To its credit Disney set aside a very, very large parcel as a nature preserve.
The times I've been back blow me away in terms of growth and sprawl.