- Walt Disney World reveals its fourth solar facility on Earth Day
- The new site now helps power up to 100% of the resort’s daytime operations
- It spans a huge 484 acres, or the size of 366 football pitches
The ‘happiest place on Earth’, Walt Disney World, now wants to snatch the title of ‘the most energy-efficient place on Earth’ as it unveils its newest solar facility in Levy County, Florida.
As per its announcement, the addition of its fourth solar facility means that all of its sites combined “can produce up to 100% of the daytime power needs of the entire resort”. It was built in collaboration between Bronson Solar and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, but its size is what creates the shock factor.
The solar project spans a mammoth 484 acres — roughly the size of 366 football fields — and provides 74,500 kilowatts of power to supply clean electricity to every park on the resort and their amenities.
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Compared to its existing 5,000-kilowatt ‘Hidden Mickey’ solar site, it’s a monster upgrade, but when you take Walt Disney World’s total size and realize how much energy it needs to operate, it’s difficult to wrap your head around.
600,000 solar panels to power 25,000 acres
Now that Walt Disney World has increased the number of solar facilities, this means that the resort now has a staggering 600,000 panels that feed power to every nook and cranny of the resort.
For starters, its four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) and two water parks are some of the biggest consumers of the resort’s solar power farms. When you factor all the rides, parades, and vendors it needs to power across these sites, it’s already a massive demand, but there’s so much more to Walt Disney World beyond this.
On top of the energy needed to keep the parks alive, there are over 20 themed hotels and hundreds of restaurants and dining sites that also require a large slice of the solar pie, not forgetting the endless transportation options that run for hours on end, the non-stop on-site entertainment, and retail facilities.
When you put all this into perspective, the fact that Walt Disney World has accumulated enough solar panels to provide clean electricity for all daytime operations is a huge environmental achievement, yet still an unbelievable one.
It’s a global commitment
Disney’s focus on sustainable energy isn’t just limited to its Florida home, but it stretches across all Disney resorts across the world.
The Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong has just completed the second phase of developing the country’s first and largest solar car park canopy, with 400 panels spanning 80 parking spaces. Similarly, Shanghai Disney Resort has fitted solar panels on backstage rooftops, cutting down on emissions by more than 2,500 metric tons.
On top of these resorts, Disney has built solar facilities across its Tokyo and Paris resorts. It also hasn’t forgotten about the Disney Cruise Line, fitting solar plants to power Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay sites in The Bahamas.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
