When Walt Disney’s y dream of a family » theme park came true in 1955, he proclaimed, “Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
Though that oft-quoted promise concerned Walt’s first Park, it could just as well apply to his last and fondest dream — Walt Disney World. For in the two decades since its opening on October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World Resort has grown by leaps and bounds. On opening day, its 43 square miles held the Magic Kingdom Park, two Disney hotels (the Polynesian Village Resort and the Contemporary Resort), and Fort Wilderness Campground. Today they encompass two more successful Theme Parks — EPCOT Center and the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, nine additional Disney owned and operated resorts, convention facilities, and three uniquely themed recreation areas — some for the whole family, and one primarily for adults.
No wonder, then, that Walt Disney World Resort is the United States’ number one vacation destination, and the Magic Kingdom the country’s most popular Theme Park.
Like the Resort itself, the Magic Kingdom also continues to change. Ten new adventures have been added to the original 35, including such favorites as the WEDWay PeopleMover (1972), The Walt Disney Story (1973), Carousel of Progress (1974), Space Mountain (1974), Pirates of the Caribbean (1975), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (1980), and a new area — Mickey’s Starland (1988).
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