A few months ago I started looking at ways to
celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort.
After much thought I realized that the best way to do this was by
creating a daily article for 40 days talking about a specific year
in Disney's history. So, for the next 40 days we will be counting
back from this year (2011) all the way down to the year 1971 (which
will be discussed on October 1st, 40 years to the day after the
opening of the park).
1971
We made it! 40 years ago, to the day, Walt Disney
World opened up with one theme park and two resorts. Let's head back
and experience the World as it was on this day in 1971!
Let's begin on the opposite side of the Seven Seas
Lagoon from the Magic Kingdom over at the Polynesian. The Poly
became the first resort to open on Walt Disney World property due to
the fact that they needed the press to have a place to stay the
night before the opening of the Magic Kingdom. The resort opened
with eight longhouses that held 492 rooms for guests. The resort is
still one of the most popular throughout Walt Disney World with one
of the greatest views of Cinderella Castle!
Just around the Lagoon was the Contemporary which
opened with the Magic Kingdom on October 1st! Although the original
plan of having a back entrance that led guests into Tomorrowland
fell through, the attraction still features one of the greatest
locations to a Disney park.
Then of course there was the grand daddy of them
all...The Magic Kingdom!
When Walt realized that his beloved Disneyland
didn't have any room to expand he set off to find an area that
wouldn't just be a park, but an entire world where all of his dreams
and ideas could come true. After a long search and several obstacles
the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World were complete.
The park originally opened up with six themed lands.
Over on Main Street, USA the Walt Disney World Railroad's whistles
would welcome guests into the Magic Kingdom. With Walt's love of
trains this instantly became one of the go to attractions for fans
of all things Disney. On opening day the train made a whopping two
stops! One on Main Street, USA and the other in Frontierland!
Along Main Street there were several other
"attractions" in the form of shops and entertainment. The Dapper
Dan's would serenade guests walking by, while others were amazed by
the tricks being performed at the House of Magic. A little ways down
the road you could visit the penny arcade. Now most of the games
found here can be found throughout Walt Disney World, but the two
most known spots are the second level of the Main Street Train
Station and over at the Boardwalk!
Adventureland would open up with three signature
attractions that were all very popular in Disneyland as well. The
Jungle Cruise takes guests through some of the biggest rives of the
world while their skipper performs some very punny jokes. Just next
door guests could climb to the top of the Swiss Family Treehouse,
one of the few Disney created trees in the park, and just across the
way from both attractions was Tropical Serenade.

Tropical Serenade was actually a remake of The
Enchanted Tiki Room, the first audio-animatronic show ever created
in Disneyland. While the name was originally changed, the attraction
would get a refurb that would come with the name change, The
Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management, and eventually turned
into Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room just two months ago!
Frontierland received the greatest honor of them
all! When the Country Bear Jamboree opened on October 1st, it became
the first attraction to appear first in Walt Disney World before
Disneyland! The attraction was originally intended for a ski resort
Walt was involved in, but when that idea fell through he realized
it'd be perfect for his Disney World. Imagineers made sure the
attraction became a reality. With the popularity of the attraction
in the Magic Kingdom, Imagineers eventually brought it over to
Disneyland as well.

Also debuting in Frontierland were the Diamond
Horseshoe Revue, Frontierland Shootin' Arcade, and Mike Fink Keel
Boats!
Another first at Walt Disney World was the inclusion
of a new land that wasn't previously at Disneyland. The land?
Liberty Square, which was based off of a land originally conceived
for Disneyland but never became a reality! The land featured the
Hall of Presidents, which was originally intended for Disneyland,
but eventually became Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. This time
around all presidents were present, but of course, Honest Abe did a
lot of the talking once again.

Just around the corner was the spookiest mansion
ever seen which 999 happy haunts called home! While the attraction
was based off of Disneyland's version there were several differences
right away, such as a longer introduction in your Doom Buggy. More
importantly, the attraction featured the famous stretch room from
the original attraction. The original's needed a way for guests to
go into the ground so they could go underneath the train tracks, but
in the Magic Kingdom this was unnecessary since the attraction was
no where near train tracks. Imagineers liked the effect so much in
the original mansion though that they kept it for the Magic Kingdom
versions as well. This time around, though, the room actually
stretches up instead of having guests go down!

Just around the corner there was a Fantasyland which
featured the most attractions of all the land and interestingly
enough, several of those attractions are still enjoyed by guests
today! Cinderella's Golden Carousel got recognition as the oldest
attraction found throughout the park since the original carousel was
made in 1916 in New Jersey!
The center of Fantasyland featured the famous Dumbo
the Flying Elephant attraction, while the Mad Tea Party marked the
gateway between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Both were attractions
recreated from Disneyland, but with a few differences. Dumbo, for
instance, doesn't have a pool of water underneath the Dumbo's, and
is the only Dumbo attraction in the world that doesn't. This is due
to the fact that underneath the attraction are the utilidors, the
tunnels Cast Members use to remain unseen, and the weight of the
water may have caused a leak into the tunnels beneath them. The main
difference for the Mad Tea Party is the fact that this one actually
has a covering! Why? The Florida rain of course!

Snow White's Adventures opened, much like
Disneyland's version, on opening day! The attraction would go
through several changes over the year. When guests began to realize
that Snow White was not in the attraction (since they were meant to
be playing her role) they complained and Snow White was eventually
brought into the attraction. However, guests complained that the
attraction was still very scary so the title Snow White's Scary
Adventures became the main name for the attraction. Unfortunately,
this signature attraction will close in the near future to make way
for the Fantasyland Expansion.

When Walt Disney went to the 1964 World's Fair
several of his attractions became hits, but "it's a small world"
became one of the most loved of all! So much that when the Fair was
over, Walt insisted the attraction would call Disneyland home. On
October 1st, the attraction also made the Magic Kingdom home and has
been delighting guests ever since!

When Fantasyland first opened three popular
attractions were present that are no longer around today. Mr. Toad's
Wild Ride was the only attraction to feature two tracks! Each track
would take guests on a completely different wild ride. Eventually
this attraction would disappear for The Many Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh, which featured a more popular character. However, guests
did protest for Toad to stay, and even though the attraction may no
longer exist, Toad can still be found hidden in the attraction, and
in the pet cemetery over at The Haunted Mansion.
In addition to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Mickey
Mouse Revue, which sat where Mickey's PhilharMagic now sits, invited
guests to watch several audio-animatronics which featured popular
Disney characters from Huey, Dewey, and Louie, to the Three
Caballeros, to Mickey and Minnie, playing different Disney songs.
The attraction eventually moved over seas to Hong Kong Disneyland.
The final attraction that was present on opening day
that is no longer around was the Skyway to Tomorrowland. And of
course to go with that were our opening day attractions in
Tomorrowland, Skyway to Fantasyland, and the Grand Prix Raceway. The
Grand Prix Raceway, or the Tomorrowland Speedway as we now know it,
was a longer attraction on October 1, 1971, but with the addition of
Mickey's Birthdayland in 1988, the attraction was shortened for the
expansion of the park!

These weren't the only attractions that opened this
year, however. The very next day the Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat
made its first trip around the Rivers of America. The name was
eventually changed to the Liberty Bell Riverboat, while the Admiral
Joe Fowler became one of the ferryboats to transport guests from the
parking lot to the Magic Kingdom!
On October 3rd my personal favorite attraction,
Peter Pan's Flight soared into guests heart. The two and a half
minute attraction guests took guests to Neverland and back and
continues to do so today!
In addition to Peter Pan's Flight coming a little
after opening day, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea also made a splash
when it first opened! The attraction was wildly popular, but due to
slow loading times, it was eventually closed since it was costing
more money to run than anything else. The water was drained in 2004
and made way for Pooh's Playful Spot. However, have no fear, because
an under water journey will be returning to this location when the
Fantasyland Expansion is complete and the newest Little Mermaid
attraction once again takes guests Under the Sea.

So there you have it! 40 years, 40 days! Thank you
to everyone for joining me the past 40 years as we've explored how
the parks has changed over the years! But don't worry! The fun
doesn't stop here! In fact, if you join us this Wednesday for the
W.E.D.nesday Show!, we'll be talking all about the creation of the
Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World starting way back in 1955! Until
then, have a great day!