“Part of the Magic” - Walt Disney Inaugural: Inaugural Post!!

Greetings from “Part of the Magic” blog.

For the very first post ever, I really didn’t know what to post about. While I know this blog is suppose to be about current Disney Park events, This is the inaugural post, so what is better to post about then the Inaugural day of Walt Disney World.

The Walt Disney Resort opened on Friday October 1st, 1971 with one park (The Magic Kingdom), two resorts ( The Contemporary,and the Polynesian Village), and 5,500 cast members. The grand opening was expected to be so BIG that everyone was scared away. With that in mind, 10,000 people showed up for the opening day. 

“On opening day, I remember Card Walker and I think Don Tatum going up in a helicopter to see the traffic coming in to park. Originally, we had predicted there would be about 10,000 people but the newspapers kept increasing that figure. One paper on the East Coast predicted 200,000 and that was picked up by a foreign newspaper that added an additional zero so it was reported that two million people would show up. We purposely opened in the off-season to work out the bugs and it turned out we were right that there was about 10,000 that first day. Anyway, they are up in the helicopter and they see this long line of cars and they are smiling and then suddenly the line turns the wrong way and they realized that the cars weren’t guests but cast members driving to work. We had about 5,000 cast members in those days.”
-Press Agent Charles Ridgway

Believe it or not, the admission price for the Magic Kingdom was only $4.95!

The Monorail was also a whole project on its own….“Not all the construction was actually here on the site. The monorail trains for example, were designed and engineered by our Disney staff in California and then assembled at the Martin Marietta plant in Orlando. We also required 337 monorail beams to be precision cast using the first major application for three-dimensional, pre-stressed concrete. The nearest place that could handle the work was Tacoma, Wash., so we had to ship them 3,000 miles across the United States to our property.” -Card Walker

 

Attractions, Shows, and Restaurants present on opening day…

Walt Disney World Railroad: including the Walter E. Disney (#1), the Lilly Belle(#2), and the Roger E. Broggie (#3) locomotives

Town Square: Town Square Cafe

Main Street transportation: Fire truck, Horse-drawn street cars, Horseless carriages, Jitney vehicle, & Omnibus

Main Street: Market House store, Camera Center, Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, House of Magic shop, Penny Arcade attraction, Main Street Confectionery shop, Emporium store, Main Street Bake Shop, New Century Clock Shop, Main Street Cinema attraction, & Crystal Palace Restaurant

Adventureland: Adventureland Veranda restaurant, Jungle Cruise attraction, Swiss Family Tree House attraction, & Sunshine Pavilion attraction (also known as Tropical Serenade) sponsored by the Florida Citris Growers

Bear Country: Country Bear Jamboree attraction

Fantasyland: Dumbo Flying Elephants attraction, Mad Tea Party attraction, Snow White’s Adventures attraction, Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant, Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel attraction, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride attraction, Mickey Mouse Revue Audio-Animatronics musical attraction, It’s a Small World attraction, & Skyway to Tomorrowland attraction

Frontierland: Frontier Shooting Gallery, Frontier Trading Post shop, Pecos Bill Cafe restaurant, Mike Fink Keel Boats attraction, Mile Long Bar, Diamond Horseshoe Revue attraction

Liberty Square: Hall of Presidents attraction, Columbia Harbor House restaurant, Heritage House shop, Liberty Tree Tavern restaurant, & Haunted Mansion attraction

Tomorowland: Skyway to Fantasyland attraction, Grand Prix Raceway attraction, Mickey’s Mart store, & Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant

Cinderella Castle: King Stefan’s Banquet Hall

 

 With the official dedication of the park held on October 25th, by the end of the month the park had an attendance of over 400,000 people.

Key dates Leading up to the opening….

April 15, 1964 - Disney attorney heads to Florida to begin land purchases
June 18, 1964 - Disney attorneys finalize large Central Florida land purchase from Demetree Family
May 04, 1965 - rumors of East Coast Disneyland circulate
June 14, 1965 - Walt holds planning meeting for new Florida theme park
June 25, 1965 - attorney confirms anonymous buyer has completed all Florida land prchases
November 15, 1965 - Disney formallty launches Disney World project
September 30, 1966 - many “dummy” companies are merged into Compass East Corp.
December 17, 1966 - Roy O. Disney announces park’s name will be Walt Disney World
February 02, 1967 - Roy O. Disney outlines late brother’s plan
May 12, 1967 - Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake are established
May 30, 1967 - site prep begins on WDW project
September 26, 1967 - Compass East Corp. becomes Walt Disney World Company
May 22, 1968 - Walt Disney Travel Company incorporated in Florida
April 30, 1969 - WDW’s first official press event
May 06, 1969 - Railroad engines purchased for WDW Railroad
April 06, 1971 - LOOK magazine reports on the nearly complete WDW
June 28, 1971 - Disney announces plans for an airstrip to be built on WDW property
September 23, 1971 - Dapper Dans WDW debut; performing for Cast Members & families
September 30, 1971 - WDW Preview Center closes

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the inaugural post of the “Part of the Magic” blog. Please visit “Part of the Magic” blogs page and subscribe for daily posts updating you on everything current at Disney World parks, resorts, shows, and restaurants. Along with fun facts, behind the scenes looks, music, videos and reviews! There is no other place like us !

Have a MAGICAL DAY!!