Returning to work from a delightful Disney vacation on a Thursday is almost as disorienting as a spin on the Mad Tea Party, colloquially known as the tea cups.

Fittingly, I decided to shed some light on a crucial moment in Palm Beach Gardens’ history: the day Walt Disney’s deal with city father John D. MacArthur’s fell apart. Old-timers will be familiar with the story, but it’s a fascinating tale for the city’s burgeoning population of new residents.

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By the time Walt Disney slinked into Palm Beach Gardens to meet with MacArthur and television executives, he had already created Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi and Fantasia. Disneyland, built on a former orange grove in Anaheim, Calif., had recovered from its disastrous opening a few years earlier.

Walt Disney decided it was time to build another park east of the Mississippi, and he shook hands with MacArthur to do it on 320 acres along PGA Boulevard during that visit not long after MacArthur created Palm Beach Gardens in June 1959.

The agreement called for Walt Disney to provide the entertainment and MacArthur the land and the financing. The two clicked.

But Walt Disney’s brother, Roy, handled the business side, and he didn’t want the new park’s neighbors making money off its success. His attempt to negotiate for more land provoked MacArthur’s wrath, effectively killing the deal.

Disney World went to Orlando, and MacArthur attempted to outdo it in Palm Beach Gardens with Flipper the dolphin and Gentle Ben, a friendly bear.

As we all now know, however, there’s nothing like Disney. It’s mind-boggling to think about how big Disney World has become since its opening in 1971, from the parks to the resorts to the dining to the stores and free transportation.

Creating a self-contained vacationland clearly required a lot of vision from the outset, a skill Walt Disney and MacArthur shared. Walt Disney World Resort covers almost 40 square miles, about the size of San Francisco or two Manhattans.

It’s still evolving. A new AVATAR attraction is being built at Animal Kingdom, a new restaurant is under construction at Disney Springs and a raft attraction will soon open at the Typhoon Lagoon Water Park.

Even though I enjoy vacationing there, I’m glad Disney landed somewhere other than Palm Beach Gardens. The slice of land MacArthur offered was a fraction of the roughly 25,000 acres it is now. About a third of that is set aside for conservation.

Still, I couldn’t imagine northern Palm Beach County’s tranquil parks and beaches being what they are today with throngs of millions of visitors that visit Disney World each year.