Archive for October 1st, 2009
A Happy Day in History
October 1, 1971 marked the Grand Opening of the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and Fort Wilderness Campground at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Fearing the enormous crowds of Disneyland’s opening day, the company chose a time that was historically slower, and the attendance of 10,000 was exactly as planned. However, local media had been projecting much higher numbers and the negative publicity caused a drop in Disney stock prices. Just a few weeks later, on the day after Thanksgiving, the Magic Kingdom welcomed more than 50,000 guests and traffic heading for the park was backed up more than 200 miles.
The park opened with six themed lands: Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Mickey’s Toontown Fair, currently the seventh land, began as Mickey’s Birthdayland in 1988 to commemorate Mickey’s 60th birthday. Renamed Mickey’s Starland at the end of the birthday celebration 1990, it became Mickey’s Toontown Fair in 1996. It will be interesting to see if current plans for an expansion of Fantasyland return the park to six lands.
While many of the original opening-day elements can still be found today,some no longer exist. Shops like the Penny Arcade, House of Magic, and the New Century Clock Shop have given way to new stores or incorporated into larger shopping venues. Familiar favorites such as the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, the Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, the Mad Tea Party, and Cinderella’s Golden Carousel continue to delight visitors. Others, including the Skyway to Tomorrowland and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, have been retired.
Guests can still dine at the Crystal Palace, the Liberty Tree Tavern, and the Columbia Harbor House, but will no longer find the Mile Long Bar, and will search in vain for King Stefan’s Banquet Hall which has been renamed Cinderella’s Royal Table. Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort lost its “village” as well as the Coral Isle Café and Papeete Bay Verandah restaurant. Over at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, the Gulf Coast Room restaurant is no more, and the Top of the World is now the California Grill.
Today, Walt Disney World Resort is the world’s largest recreational destination, attracting more than 40 million visitors annually.
