Since the ’70s, Orange County has witnessed a tremendous amount of growth. The City Beautiful, or “Action Center USA,” is reportedly the most visited state destination in the United States. In 2014 alone, 64 million people visited Orlando. You certainly don’t need satellite images to see how tourism has made its impact on Orange County. However, it does help.
As part of NASA’s World of Change series, these images of Orlando come from the Landsat series of satellites between 1972 and 2014. If you’re wondering why water is black, vegetation is red, and urban areas are brown to gray, it’s because the images are shown in red, green and near-infrared light, a combination that NASA says helps differentiate components of landscapes.
Also, the picture quality is lower in the earlier frames because the Landsat imaging instruments weren’t that great in the early ’70s.
1972
You’re looking at roughly 500,000 people according to the US Census Bureau. In this image you can see Magic Kingdom, which had been open for about a year. You can also see Bay Lake to the southeast of Magic Kingdom. At this time the lake was connected to the artificial Seven Seas Lagoon to the west.1976
The Orlando International Airport opened this year. Also, this was three years after SeaWorld Orlando opened its doors.1982
Epcot opened this year. Also, the Orlando Sentinel-Star became the Orlando Sentinel.1986
The Hyatt Regency Orlando opened in downtown Orlando, at the time it was called The Peabody Orlando.1990
This image was taken the same year Universal Studios opened and one year after Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened. Also, the Orlando Magic played their first season.1996
This image was taken two years after the 1994 FIFA World Cup games were played in Orlando.2000
Two years after Animal Kingdom opened and one year after Universal added its Island of Adventure expansion in 1999. SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove opened this year.2006
Buddy Dyer became mayor three years before this image was taken.2010
The Amway Center opened in downtown Orlando this year.2014
You’re looking at 2.3 million people, according to the US Census Bureau. By the time this image was taken, Walt Disney resorts covered more than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles), which is roughly the same size of the city of San Francisco.
