The Orlando story
Shopping beyond the parks.
Brick-street main streets, a luxury mall, two big outlet centers and a lakeside farmers market, all within reach of the parks.
- 1870
Henry Sanford buys land on Lake Monroe
Henry Shelton Sanford bought 12,548 acres in 1870 to lay out the town that became Sanford, incorporated in 1877 at the head of navigation on the St. Johns River.
Open Sanford → - 1881
Winter Park's land is assembled
Loring Chase and Oliver Chapman assembled the Winter Park tract for $13,000 on July 4, 1881; the town was incorporated in 1887 and Rollins College opened in 1885.
Open Park Avenue → - 1970s
Vietnamese families settle around Mills & 50
Refugees from the Vietnam War settled in Orlando in the 1970s, shaping the Mills 50 district, also known as Little Saigon or Little Vietnam, just north of downtown.
Open Mills 50 → - 1975
Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village opens
Disney's shopping district opened on March 22, 1975 as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, became Downtown Disney in 1997 and was renamed Disney Springs on September 29, 2015.
Open Disney Springs → - 1986
The Florida Mall opens
The Florida Mall opened on South Orange Blossom Trail on March 12, 1986 with Sears, JCPenney, Belk and a Crowne Plaza hotel; Robinson's followed that September.
Open the Florida Mall → - 1990
Belz Factory Outlet World opens on I-Drive
The outlet complex at the north end of International Drive opened in 1990 as Belz Factory Outlet World; it later became Prime Outlets and is now Orlando International Premium Outlets.
Open the I-Drive outlets → - 1994
Disney's town of Celebration is established
Developed by the Disney Development Company's Celebration Company, the town was established in 1994; its first homes followed in summer 1996 around a town center of shops and restaurants.
Open Disney Springs → - 2002
The Mall at Millenia opens
The Mall at Millenia opened at 4200 Conroy Road on October 18, 2002 with Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus, the latter two the only Orlando-area locations of each.
Open Millenia →
