| | To get Walt Disney World, Orlando beat out St Louis and several other sites for this experiment in family fun. Disney World opened in 1971 and immediately became Florida's best known attraction, pulling in tems of millions of visitors a year, spinning off other attractions and vast tracts of housing. Disney forced Florida to broaden its social outlook by offering entertainment to all, without regard to race or language. Despite protest from conservative churches, the company has embraced gay and lesbian patrons who descend on the park for the yearly "Gay Day," organized through private travel organizations. Meanwhile Disney tickets rose from $5.25 in 1975, to $60.00. Tourism does not pay high wages, however, and Orlando has one of the weakest infrastructures in the state; its schools are falling apart.<ref> Richard Foglesong, ''Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando'' (2001); Mormino (2005) </ref> | | To get Walt Disney World, Orlando beat out St Louis and several other sites for this experiment in family fun. Disney World opened in 1971 and immediately became Florida's best known attraction, pulling in tems of millions of visitors a year, spinning off other attractions and vast tracts of housing. Disney forced Florida to broaden its social outlook by offering entertainment to all, without regard to race or language. Despite protest from conservative churches, the company has embraced gay and lesbian patrons who descend on the park for the yearly "Gay Day," organized through private travel organizations. Meanwhile Disney tickets rose from $5.25 in 1975, to $60.00. Tourism does not pay high wages, however, and Orlando has one of the weakest infrastructures in the state; its schools are falling apart.<ref> Richard Foglesong, ''Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando'' (2001); Mormino (2005) </ref> |
| − | Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane, smashed into the area south of Miami in August 1992, leaving forty people dead, 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed, more than a million people left without electricity, and damages of %20-30 billion. Much of South Florida's sensitive vegetation was severely damaged. The region had not seen a storm of such awesome power in decades. Andrew destroyed complacency and erased any sense of benign ignorance toward hurricanes among South Florida residents. | + | Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane, smashed into the area south of Miami in August 1992, leaving forty people dead, 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed, more than a million people left without electricity, and damages of $20-30 billion. Much of South Florida's sensitive vegetation was severely damaged. The region had not seen a storm of such awesome power in decades. Andrew destroyed complacency and erased any sense of benign ignorance toward hurricanes among South Florida residents. |