Walt Disney's Real Florida Family Lived in Paisley — Not DeLand
Quick answer: Walt Disney's real Florida family connection was his aunt Jessie Call Perkins, who homesteaded in Paisley, Florida (15 miles north of DeLand). Young Walt visited Aunt Jessie's Paisley homestead as a child — a documented biographical thread — but Walt Disney did not live in DeLand.
Introduction
Central Florida runs thick with Walt-Disney-came-here stories. Most are folklore. The accurate biographical record, established in Disney family genealogy and multiple Walt Disney biographies, is this: Walt Disney's aunt — his father Elias Disney's sister — was Jessie Call Perkins, who homesteaded in Paisley, Florida, in Lake County. Walt Disney visited Aunt Jessie's Paisley homestead as a child. That visit, and the wider Call family's Florida presence, shaped the family's Florida associations that Walt would later draw on when he identified Central Florida as the right location for what became Walt Disney World [S112, S113].
Paisley is 15 miles north of Downtown DeLand — a 25-minute drive through the Ocala National Forest edge and the rural Lake County interior.
Who was Aunt Jessie?
Jessie Disney Call Perkins was the sister of Walt Disney's father Elias Disney. She and her husband homesteaded in Paisley, Florida, during the late 19th / early 20th century pioneer era in Central Florida. Their homestead — a working farm on Paisley's rural edge — remained in the family for decades and served as a family visit destination for multiple branches of the Disney extended family, including young Walt.
The Paisley family story is documented in Disney family genealogical records and biographical works, and a historical marker in Paisley commemorates the connection [S112].
What Walt actually did in Paisley
According to family accounts and biographical sources, young Walt visited Aunt Jessie's Paisley homestead as a child. The visits exposed him to the Central Florida landscape — pine flatwoods, orange groves, rural lake country — decades before the Walt Disney World site-selection process of the 1960s. Some biographers have drawn a speculative line between Walt's childhood Florida exposure and his later decision to site Walt Disney World in Central Florida. That line is speculative, not definitively documented — but it is a recurring thread in Disney biography.
"Walt Disney's documented Florida family connection was his aunt Jessie Call Perkins of Paisley, Florida (Lake County) — 15 miles north of DeLand — whom he visited as a child. Walt did not live in DeLand." [S112]
The DeLand folklore — and why it exists
Why does Walt-Disney-in-DeLand folklore persist?
- Geographic proximity — Paisley and DeLand are close enough that casual retellings collapse the two.
- DeLand's larger profile — DeLand is a substantially larger town than Paisley, with Stetson University, a Main Street, and tourism infrastructure. "Walt Disney visited Central Florida as a child" gets re-told as "Walt Disney visited DeLand" because listeners have heard of DeLand.
- The Walt Before Mickey filming — in 2015, the biopic Walt Before Mickey filmed on the Stetson University campus in DeLand — adding a second, separate Disney-DeLand connection (a film location, not a biographical residence) that some readers conflate with the Paisley family story.
- Local pride — DeLand tour guides and business operators have occasionally retold the story with themselves at the center, because a Disney connection is commercially useful.
This page is built to clean up that folklore. The accurate record is Paisley; the DeLand film location is the 2015 biopic; and the two are independent threads that should not be merged.
Visiting Paisley today
- Location: ~15 miles north of Downtown DeLand via SR-44 or SR-42
- Size: Rural community — no large downtown, population a few hundred
- Historical marker: The Walt Disney–Paisley family connection is commemorated by a roadside historical marker (confirm current location before publishing).
- Adjacent: Paisley borders the Ocala National Forest on the north; combined with a DeLand day trip, Paisley makes a logical extension for visitors interested in the Walt Disney family history and the Ocala National Forest's scenic drives.
A combined "Disney family-history day trip" from DeLand:
- Morning: Downtown DeLand breakfast + Stetson campus walk (Cummings Gymnasium — the Walt Before Mickey filming location)
- Midday: 25-minute drive north to Paisley; visit the historical marker
- Afternoon: Ocala National Forest edge — Alexander Springs or Juniper Springs
- Evening: Return to Downtown DeLand for dinner
Walt Disney World site selection
Walt Disney famously began the Central Florida site selection for Disney World in the 1960s, using aerial surveys and pseudonymous land-purchase agents to acquire ~27,000 acres in Orange and Osceola counties. The chosen site — straddling Orange and Osceola near I-4, approximately 50 miles south of DeLand — was picked for highway access, airport proximity, inland weather, and assembly economics, not for proximity to Walt's aunt's Paisley homestead. But the Central Florida region — which Walt knew from his childhood Paisley visits — was part of the comfort factor that informed his strong preference for Florida over other finalist states. That's as far as the biographical record goes.
Frequently asked questions
- Did Walt Disney live in DeLand, Florida?
- No. Walt Disney's documented Florida family connection was his aunt Jessie Call Perkins in Paisley, Florida (Lake County), 15 miles north of DeLand — not DeLand itself. [S112]
- Who was Walt Disney's Florida aunt?
- Jessie Disney Call Perkins, sister of Walt's father Elias Disney. She and her husband homesteaded in Paisley, Florida. Young Walt visited her homestead as a child. [S112]
- Is Paisley, Florida near DeLand?
- Yes — Paisley is approximately 15 miles north of Downtown DeLand via SR-44/SR-42. Paisley sits on the edge of the Ocala National Forest.
- Did Walt Disney choose Disney World's location because of Paisley?
- Not directly. The Disney World site (Orange/Osceola counties) was chosen in the 1960s based on highway, airport, weather, and land-assembly factors. But Walt's childhood Paisley visits contributed to his familiarity with Central Florida and his regional comfort with Florida as a site state. The specific site was a separate site-selection decision.
- Was Walt Before Mickey filmed in DeLand?
- Yes — but that's a separate thread from the Paisley family story. The 2015 biopic used Stetson University's Cummings Gymnasium in DeLand as a period-interior filming location. It is a film production fact, not a biographical-residence fact. [S110]
- Where is the Paisley-Walt-Disney historical marker?
- Paisley has a roadside historical marker commemorating the Disney family connection. Confirm current marker location before visiting; markers occasionally move.