Another factor that played a crucial role in the creation of Disney's MGM Studios, was that Universal Studios was planning on building an East Coast theme park. In 1982 Universal began to plan its new park which would also be located in Orlando. Universal was looking for a partner in the venture and approached Michael Eisner who was then the head of Paramount Studios. Eisner declined the proposal and the plans for a Universal East were tabled. When Eisner was named CEO of Disney, he knew about Universal's plan and wanted to beat them to the punch. Eisner decided to build a movie theme park of his own, and had Imageneers start working on the concept. The idea of a Disney movie theme park was kept on the back burner until Universal announced it's plans in 1985. After the announcement, Michael Eisner announced that the Disney was already working on a movie based theme park which would be the third gate in Walt Disney World.
Before the new park was even announced Disney had already been working behind the scenes to acquire the rights to the name and logo of Metro-Golden-Mayer Inc. Disney and MGM agreed on a contract in 1985, that allowed Disney to used the MGM name, logo and certain film clips. The new theme park would eventually be named Disney's MGM Studios, with construction starting in 1986and would feature the classic MGM logo Leo the Lion.
===Construction===