DeLand On Screen — Every Movie & TV Shoot Filmed in Our Town
Quick answer: DeLand and its Stetson University campus have appeared in The Waterboy (1998), Walt Before Mickey (2015), and training for Days of Thunder (1990) at Skydive DeLand. The Cummings Gymnasium and Spec Martin Memorial Stadium are the most-filmed DeLand locations.
Why DeLand films well
DeLand has a longer film-and-TV resume than most Central Florida towns of comparable size. A few reasons:
- Stetson University's campus — historic, architecturally varied, compactly walkable — has been used as a stand-in for New England colleges and generic "old American university" sets more than once.
- Skydive DeLand is one of the most famous drop zones in the world, making it the go-to location for any Hollywood project involving freefall.
- Downtown Woodland Boulevard reads on film as an intact late-19th/early-20th-century American downtown — useful for period pieces.
Below: the list of notable DeLand film and TV appearances, in chronological order. Each has its own deep page with scene-by-scene location breakdowns [S108, S110, S114].
Days of Thunder (1990) — Tom Cruise
DeLand role: Skydiving scenes and/or aerial training connected to the film featured Skydive DeLand. Cruise trained and filmed related stunt sequences at the DeLand drop zone, and his subsequent Mission: Impossible franchise returned to DeLand for jump training. Precise scene-level detail: see deep page.
Days of Thunder / Skydive DeLand deep pageThe Waterboy (1998) — Adam Sandler
DeLand role: Stetson University's campus stood in for "South Central Louisiana State University (SCLSU) Mud Dogs." Major DeLand filming locations: Elizabeth Hall, Cummings Gymnasium, and Spec Martin Memorial Stadium (the SCLSU stadium scenes). The film is one of the most commercially successful sports comedies of the 1990s and put DeLand's campus on the pop-culture map for a generation of fans who have no idea the fictional SCLSU was filmed in DeLand [S108].
The Waterboy filming locations deep pageWalt Before Mickey (2015) — Thomas Ian Nicholas as Walt Disney
DeLand role: Stetson's Cummings Gymnasium and surrounding campus were used to stand in for early-20th-century Midwestern sets — period 1910s–1920s scenes depicting Walt Disney's early life. The historic brick gymnasium's architecture read period-accurate for the biopic [S110, S111].
Walt Before Mickey deep pageRosewood (1997) — context clarification
Much online folklore claims the John Singleton film Rosewood (1997) was filmed in DeLand. Research confirms the film was primarily shot in Cassia, Florida (Lake County) — NOT DeLand. Some secondary Volusia County exteriors have been attributed to DeLand in lower-quality sources; we have not verified these. We include this entry as a factual correction rather than a filming-location claim.
TV & smaller projects
Reality TV, local-news, documentary, and smaller productions have filmed in DeLand over the years. This section will be populated with verified-only entries as footage is confirmed in each final cut.
How to film in DeLand
For location scouts: DeLand offers the Stetson campus (with university cooperation), the Downtown historic district, Blue Spring's boil, Hontoon Island's undisturbed wilderness, and Skydive DeLand's drop-zone facilities. The City of DeLand and the DeLand Area Chamber both maintain informal film-location coordination.
Frequently asked questions
- What movies were filmed in DeLand, Florida?
- The Waterboy (1998) — Stetson University campus stood in for the fictional SCLSU Mud Dogs. Walt Before Mickey (2015) — Stetson's Cummings Gymnasium used as period interior. Days of Thunder (1990)-era — Tom Cruise's skydiving training at Skydive DeLand. [S108, S110, S114]
- Was The Waterboy filmed at Stetson?
- Yes — Stetson University's campus in DeLand stood in for the fictional SCLSU. Elizabeth Hall, Cummings Gymnasium, and Spec Martin Memorial Stadium are all on-screen in the film. [S108]
- Was Walt Before Mickey filmed in DeLand?
- Yes — Stetson's Cummings Gymnasium served as a principal interior location for the 2015 biopic. [S110]
- Did Tom Cruise film in DeLand?
- Tom Cruise trained for skydiving sequences at Skydive DeLand in connection with Days of Thunder and later Mission: Impossible jump training. Scene-level filming credits vary by source — see the Days of Thunder deep page for specifics. [S114]
- Was Rosewood (1997) filmed in DeLand?
- No — research confirms the primary filming was in Cassia, Florida (Lake County), not DeLand.