Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, just outside of Orlando. Originally, the company was known as Walt Disney Outdoor Recreation Division and later as Walt Disney Attractions. The most recent chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts was Bob Chapek, formerly president of Disney Consumer Products. Chapek was promoted to CEO of The Walt Disney Company on February 25, 2020. On May 18, 2020, Josh D'Amaro was appointed as chairman of the division, succeeding Chapek. In 2018, the company's theme parks hosted over 157.3 million guests, making Disney Parks the world's most visited theme park company worldwide, with United Kingdom-based Merlin Entertainments coming in second at 67 million guests. It is by far Disney's largest business segment according to employee headcount, with approximately 130,000 of the company's 180,000 employees as of 2015. In March 2018, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media was merged into Parks and Resorts and renamed Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. In September 2020, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products laid off 28,000 employees in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Background Originally, entry into the theme park and travel business was a side project of Walt Disney himself. As the Disneylandia project started to become a reality, Walt Disney Productions at Walt's request set up Disneyland, Inc. (DLI) in 1951 and agreed to a design deal in March 1953 with WED Enterprises (WED), Walt's personal corporation, which then included what would now be called Walt Disney Imagineering. With the WED concept designs and prospectus for Disneylandia, Roy Disney in September 1953 met with TV networks in a deal for Disney-produced TV show and Disneyland investment. American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) agreed to the Disneyland, Inc. investment. Joining AB-PT as Disneyland investors were Walt Disney Productions (WDP), Western Publishing and Walt Disney. Walt Disney Productions had the option to repurchase the Walt Disney, WED and Western Publishing shares (31%) by May 1, 1959, for $562,500. With a need for the Disneyland Hotel nearby and no funding available for Disney to build it, Walt Disney approached Jack Wrather to build the hotel who agreed. Disneyland, changed from Disneylandia,