BY KAT WOLFE
Thanksgiving at the Walt Disney World Resort may not be as popular as Christmas or Halloween , but there was a time when the future of the park literally hinged on “ Turkey Day .” That time was the very first Thanksgiving — at Walt Disney World , that is .
In November of 1971 , just shy of two months after Walt Disney World ’ s opening day , Roy Disney shared with his team a startling revelation . He told them that if Magic Kingdom didn ’ t bring in a full house for Thanksgiving weekend , they were financially “ in trouble .”
At the time , the on-property resort hotels only offered 1,500 rooms . So even if they were sold out , it still wouldn ’ t be near enough to hit their forecasted financial goal . Disney needed off-property guests and day visitors to come in droves . And in droves they did .
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