In the 1990s, Disney bought 8,500 acres of Florida ranchland slated for commercial projects; decades later, it forms the core of an 11,500-acre wildlife preserve

In the early 1990s, an 8,500-acre cattle ranch in Central Florida was facing a very different future. Known as Walker Ranch, the property was slated for extensive residential and commercial development that could have destroyed its wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Instead, The Walt Disney Company bought the entire property and donated it to The Nature Conservancy (TNC), helping create what would become the Disney Wilderness Preserve.