1
Nowadays , when queuing up for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train , it can feel like there are 10,000 people in line ahead of you . But on opening day , the entire Magic Kingdom welcomed only somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 guests in total . In the years just before COVID capacity constraints , the Magic Kingdom reported an average daily attendance of 50,000 +.
4
There were just six E-Ticket attractions on opening day : Jungle Cruise , Tropical Serenade , Haunted Mansion , “ it ’ s a small world ,” Mickey Mouse Revue , and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea . E Tickets cost 90 cents each on that day .
7
2
Likely a constant source of stress for Roy Disney , the original construction of Walt Disney World cost roughly $ 400 million over 18 months . In comparison , when Disneyland had opened just 16 years prior , Walt had only written a check for $ 17 million . That ’ s 4.25 % of WDW ’ s construction costs ( not accounting for inflation ).
5
Let ’ s address the elephant in the room : Dumbo the Flying Elephant on opening day was lackluster by today ’ s standards . There were only 10 flying elephant vehicles back then , and none of them were wearing the iconic hats ! Today , Disney World has two separate mechanisms , each with 16 ride vehicles ( a total of 32 ).
6
Magic Kingdom may have been a famously dry park until Be Our Guest opened in 2012 , but you could fuel another habit as early as opening day . The Tobacconist was a shop on Main Street that sold cigars , pipes , and even bags of tobacco . The store only lasted until 1985 and has since lived on under multiple shop names , including Main Street Stationers , Main Street Book Store , and Main Street Athletic Company .
3
Runaway Railway was Mickey ’ s first ride in the nearly 50 years WDW had been open when it debuted in 2019 , but he did star in Mickey Mouse Revue , an opening-day indoor Audio- Animatronic stage show in Fantasyland . Mickey conducted an orchestra that featured the likes of Winnie the Pooh , Goofy , Baloo , Mad Hatter , and Minnie , among others .
The Mile Long Bar was an openingday restaurant , but don ’ t let the name fool you : It just used mirrors to make it look like it was a mile long . And because Magic Kingdom was a dry park , it wasn ’ t really a bar either ; guests could order light snacks and kid-friendly drinks .
8
Guests could dine at Cinderella Castle on opening day , but back then , the restaurant was called King Stefan ’ s Banquet Hall ( oddly named after Aurora ’ s father ). It specialized in Beef and Barley Soup and , at one point in time , Fish Nuggets . Reportedly , a Roast Beef Sandwich cost $ 4.25 on opening day — more than the price of admission .
9
Almost named the Tempo-Bay Resort , Disney ’ s Contemporary Resort was one of two hotels that opened the same day as Magic Kingdom . The other was Disney ’ s Polynesian Resort . Both of these were built with a unique construction process : The rooms were prefabricated off-site and then fitted into place using a crane . Kind of the IKEA of hotel design , eh ?
10
“ Please stand clear of the doors .” WDW ’ s iconic transportation system opened along with the park on October 1 , 1971 , with four stations and two lines . You could take the monorail from the Ticket and Transportation Center to Magic Kingdom and back or , if you were staying on property , hop on at the Contemporary or Polynesian to get into the park . The monorail was carefully designed by Bob Gurr and other Imagineers to allow for future expansion .
PREVIOUS PAGE : Dumbo the Flying Elephant has been enchanting Disney guests for decades . PHOTO BY ERNIE CARR