Bay Lake, Florida, United States

🇺🇸 Bay Lake is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is named after a lake that lies east of the Magic Kingdom. All four of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks, and one of Walt Disney World's two water parks, are in Bay Lake, though all Disney parks in the region have mailing addresses in nearby Lake Buena Vista.

Bay Lake is one of two Florida municipalities inside the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which also includes Walt Disney World, the other being Lake Buena Vista. The city is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History Chapter 67-1104 of the Laws of Florida, incorporating the city of Bay Lake, was signed into law by Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967, the same day he also signed chapters 67-764 (creating the Reedy Creek Improvement District, or RCID), also known as the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, and 67-1965 (incorporating the City of Reedy Creek). It was and still is located fully inside the RCID, and all its duties have been taken care of by the RCID. As fully described in Reedy Creek Improvement District, the city has always been controlled by the Walt Disney Company and has allowed them powers that other area attractions have not had.

Chapter 69-836 of the Laws of Florida, which became a law on July 3, 1969, without the governor's approval, redefined the city boundaries to exclude the easternmost part of Bay Lake. Chapter 69–1527, which became a law the same day, completely moved the city of Reedy Creek, with the land given up by Bay Lake included in the new city. Since then, Bay Lake has expanded to fill the original RCID west of Bonnet Creek, but the Reedy Creek Improvement District has expanded to include new land not in the city.

The RCID had all the powers of the city and more, raising the question of why cities were incorporated inside of it. Walt Disney's original plans for the site included at least one futuristic living area, a planned "community of the future". This was never built, but some of the ideas were incorporated into the EPCOT theme park. The later Celebration, Florida was deannexed from the city and the RCID in 1994 so the Walt Disney Company would not lose control of the district. The only residents of the city are Disney employees and their immediate family members who live in a community on the north shore of Bay Lake (on Bay Court). The only landowners are fully owned subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company, rights-of-way for state and county roads, and five five-acre (2.0 ha) lots owned by senior Disney employees to give them voting power in the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 22.8 square miles (59.1 km²), of which 21.5 square miles (55.7 km²) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.5 km²) (5.86%) is water.

The principal border that divides the cities of Lake Buena Vista to the east and Bay Lake to the west is the canal called Bonnet Creek, adjacent to Bonnet Creek Parkway. Most of the attractions associated with the Walt Disney World Resort are actually located within the City of Bay Lake, including all four theme parks.

The only long-term residents in Bay Lake live in a mobile home park on Bay Court, a street which, in 1987, was a dirt road. As of that year many employees wished to live in Bay Lake or Lake Buena Vista due to their proximity to their jobs.

Points of interest • Walt Disney World: ◦ Magic Kingdom ◦ Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground ◦ Magnolia and Palm Golf Courses ◦ Disney's BoardWalk Resort ◦ Epcot ◦ Disney's Animal Kingdom ◦ Disney's Blizzard Beach ◦ Disney's Hollywood Studios ◦ ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex ◦ Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge ◦ Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

Government and infrastructure The Reedy Creek Improvement District has its Fire Department Emergency Services station in Bay Lake (it has a Lake Buena Vista postal address).

Education Residents of Bay Lake (Bay Court) are zoned to schools in the Orange County Public Schools: • Bay Lake Elementary School ◦ It opened in 2016, relieving Horizon West area elementary schools and making it one of three schools to open that year in the county. Myrlene Kimble was the school's first principal. The 94,279-square-foot (8,758.8 m²) building, with a capacity of 837 students, is on a 15-acre (6.1 ha) property. In fall 2016 it had 785 students. Its design is similar to that of Independence Elementary School. • Bridgewater Middle School • Windermere High School.