Emily Bavar (1915 - July 28, 2003), later Emily Bavar Kelly, was an American reporter for ''The Sentinel Star'', the newspaper which later became ''

The Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune ...

''. She is best known for her story which speculated that

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

was behind the secret purchase of large parcels of land in

central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

, which became

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

. In 1965,

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

planned a year-long celebration of its ten-year anniversary, nicknamed the " Tencennial". Reporters from across America were flown to Anaheim and entertained by Disney, in exchange for their coverage of the celebration. The Southeast was not a focus area for this project, however due to the sizable circulation of ''The Sentinel Star'', a reporter was invited to attend the celebration. That reporter was Emily Bavar, editor of the paper's ''Sunday Florida'' magazine. Her instructions from her boss were to ask Walt Disney if there was truth to the rumors that he was behind the land purchase in central Florida. Bavar first posed her question to Disney's publicist, Charles Ridgway, who responded "Beats me. You'll have to ask Walt tomorrow at lunch." (He was not bluffing; Ridgway was actually unaware that Disney was purchasing the land.) Bavar later recalled that when she did ask Disney the question, "He looked like I had thrown a bucket of water in his face." Following the press conference, Bavar wired her story back to Orlando. The story, entitled "Disney Hedges Big Question", was run not as a lead story, but rather among many other rumors about the possible use for the land. Upon Bavar's return to Orlando, she was interviewed by newspaper editors and the newspaper decided to give her findings a more prominent place in the paper. On October 21, 1965, Bavar's article 'Is Our "Mystery" Industry Disneyland?' appeared in ''The Sentinel Star''. The story stated several times Bavar had not confirmed the purchase with Disney, nor with anyone involved in the sale, and was based solely on Bavar's opinion. On Sunday, October 24, 1965, ''The Sentinel Star'' ran a larger follow-up to Bavar's piece - 'We Say: "Mystery" Industry Is Disney." This headline caught the attention of several of Disney's closest confidants who immediately phoned him in California. Disney knew that he must respond quickly to the claims. The following Monday, Disney met with Florida Governor Haydon Burns to confirm the rumors and Burns announced in Miami "Walt Disney has extended to your governor the privilege of making the official announcement that Disney Productions is the mystery industry." On November 15, 1965, at 2pm, Disney, along with his brother

Roy O. Disney Roy Oliver Disney (; June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971) was an American businessman and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. He was the older brother of Walt Disney and the father of Roy E. Disney. Biography Early life Disney was bor ...

and Burns, held a press conference at the Cherry Plaza Hotel in Orlando to formally announce to the press that they had indeed purchased of land in Central Florida for building an entertainment venture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bavar, Emily American newspaper reporters and correspondents 1915 births 2003 deaths Writers from Orlando, Florida American women journalists 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women