Disney World's Grand Opening

The Polynesian Village Resort (originally planned to be to be a 12- story high-rise hotel & at one time referred to as the "South Seas" resort) opened with 492 guest rooms - of which 6 were suites. They were divided between eight guest longhouses - named Bali Hai, Bora Bora, Fiji, Hawaii, Maui, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga. (Although in October 1999, the names were changed.) The Polynesian's restaurants were the Papeete Bay Verandah and the Coral Isle Coffee Shop (later the Coral Isle Cafe), supplemented by the Tambu Lounge, Captain Cook's Hideaway Lounge and the Barefoot Snack Bar. The center of the resort - the Great Ceremonial House (which still exists today) served as both lobby and focal point. In the 1980s the "Village" portion of the name was dropped, leaving the resort as Disney's Polynesian Resort.

The Contemporary (originally to be called the Tempo Bay Hotel) featured something probably never seen before by vacationers ... a monorail running directly through the middle of the A-frame structure's

10-story atrium!

Magic Kingdom Opening Day Attractions, Shops & Restaurants:

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

On Friday October 1, 1971 - after seven years of planning - about 10,000 visitors converged near Orlando, Florida, to witness the grand opening of Walt Disney World. The Magic Kingdom (the only theme park at the time on Disney property) featured 6 lands (Adventureland, Bear Country, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, and Tomorrowland), a Main Street, and about 5,500 Cast Members. The price of admission was $4.95!

At the end of October 1971, the total attendance was around 400,000. The day after Thanksgiving November 26, 1971 ...

an amazing 50,000 guests entered the Magic Kingdom!

Walt Disney World also debuted 2 property hotels, the 15-story Contemporary Resort and the Polynesian Village Resort - both built by U.S. Steel and both connected by a monorail system. The hotels were conceived by WED enterprises and the Los Angeles architectural firm of Welton Becket & Associates. U.S. Steel was to originally own the hotels, but just before opening, Roy Disney decided to buy out their interests and let Disney run the hotels themselves.

Resort planners scheduled the opening in October in the hopes that estimated crowds would be small - and they were. This allowed any problems that might spring up to be fixed with minimal inconvenience ... unlike Disneyland's chaotic grand opening. Even official dedications and other media events were held off until later in the month so as to make sure everything ran smoothly. (The park's official dedication didn't take place until October 25.)

The early morning found guests driving around the toll plaza over and over, trying to steer their way in to be the first visitors to the park. William Windsor, Jr. and his family were the first guests at the new park - they had slept in their car overnight!

By October 25 (the park's Dedication Day) the Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat, Peter Pan's Flight, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had all opened to guests as well.

OCTOBER 1, 1971

The official grand opening celebrations of Disney's Contemporary and Polynesian Village Resorts took place on October 24. The Electrical Water Pageant and Fantasy in the Sky Spectacular also debuted on that day.

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THE GRAND

OPENING OF

WALT DISNEY WORLD

The hotel's construction began with steel frames being erected on site. Later modular pre-constructed guest rooms were lifted into place by crane! The original idea of these modular rooms was to facilitate very rapid renovations and maintenance. (A supply of extra rooms would be maintained which could be periodically refurbished with updated decor and furniture. Once these new rooms were ready, the existing outdated rooms could simply be unbolted from the frame and swapped.) Due to settling and shifting of the main steel frame, the original rooms would become immovably bound into the structure. The guest rooms originally inserted in the Contemporary remain in the resort to this day!

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