Flashback: 15 Years of Magic & Tencennial

"It's been 15 years, and we're having a party.

Here at Disney World, there's a party all year long!"

Kicking off in 1986, the Walt Disney World 15th Anniversary Celebration was marked with a brand new parade and fabulous prizes. The premiere weekend, held for thousands of press and invited guests October 2-5, also coincided with a celebration of the bicentennial of the United States Constitution. Guests visiting the Hall of Presidents signed copies of the Constitution, renewing their commitment to that enduring document, and it was during this time that the authentic replica of the Liberty Bell was added to the park's Liberty Square.

Inspired by the Gift Giver Extraordinaire, which had been such a success during the Disneyland 30th anniversary in 1985, Walt Disney World celebrated by giving gifts to guests who entered the Magic Kingdom. Every 15 seconds, all year long, guests were surprised with vouchers for presents ranging from buttons to T-shirts, and once a day, someone walked away with a new car!

Among other features, the 15 Years of Magic Parade introduced the Crystal Castle float, a unit which continues to play a part in Magic Kingdom parades 25 years later. There was even a limited-run 15th Anniversary float added to the Main Street Electrical Parade that year.

Five years earlier, October 1981 saw the start of different parade in honor of the Walt Disney World Tencennial. Celebrating the resort's 10th birthday, Tencennial was the first anniversary celebration held in Florida. As they liked to say at the time, it was a party "a year long and a smile wide!"

The Tencennial Parade featured theme music adapted from the "Disneyland Is Your Land" song created for that park's 25th anniversary a year earlier. The parade included homages to each of the lands of the Magic Kingdom. It's song, "Walt Disney World Is Your World," also became the title and theme of a new stage show introduced that year.

Tencennial was a huge success, concluding with the October 1982 opening of EPCOT Center, and it paved the way for future anniversary celebrations in the Vacation Kingdom of the World. (All photos ©Disney)

Flashback: Surprise Celebration

We continue our look back at Walt Disney World anniversary celebrations today with a trip to 1991 and the 20th anniversary of the resort. The theme that year was Surprise Celebration, with surprise elements each day and new surprise features added as the year went on. (All photos ©Disney)

Ahead of the celebration kickoff, a group of cast members gathered in front of the railroad station at the Magic Kingdom for an official anniversary photo. I was there that day and lucky enough to be chosen to take part in the photo. That's me, standing at the railing by the engine cab in the Haunted Mansion butler costume. Look around in the photo, and you'll also discover several costumes from the park's past which are no longer in use today: the yellow vest of the Diamond Horseshoe server, the original It's a Small World sailor outfit, the old mustard yellow Fantasyland lederhosen, the red and white with mouse ears from Mickey's Starland and the blue-clad crew of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (there are several of those guys at the upper right).

Roger Rabbit played a big role in the celebration of the 20th. Still riding high on the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Disney's newest star led the Surprise Celebration Parade. He also popped up "unexpectedly" in shows across the park to surprise guests with prizes, ranging from 20th anniversary T-shirts to caps with plush Rogers affixed to the bill.

The Surprise Celebration Parade was a spectacular, Mardi Gras-inspired procession of colorful costumes, giant character balloons and (for the first time at WDW) stilt walkers. The parade made its grand debut the morning of October 1, 1991, immediately following a park rededication ceremony presided over by Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney.

I was at the park on that day, as well, but this time as a guest. For the ceremony, I was standing under a large yellow balloon just to the left of the photo above. I had a great view... of the back of the dedication float. Even though I couldn't see well, it was impossible not to be excited by all the Disney Legends in attendance or to get choked up when Roy picked up the dedication plaque and reread the words his father had spoken on that very site 20 years earlier.

Another major element of the 20th anniversary celebration was the premiere of SpectroMagic, a new nighttime spectacular to replace the original Main Street Electrical Parade. My memories of SpectroMagic are of the crunch to get the parade ready on time. I recall working on the Jungle Cruise dock when our manager came down looking for people willing to pull some overtime helping out on the parade. The available shifts were either 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Brutal. I was willing to do it, though, for the chance to see something new up close and personal.

I was scheduled off the next day, so I chose the day shift. I spent those twelve hours backstage at the Magic Kingdom Production Center meticulously placing black tie-wraps on either side of every light bulb on the Silly Symphony float. The show's director wanted the lights in SpectroMagic to be precise, unlike the shaky lighting strands on the old parade. Whenever SpectroMagic makes its return to the park, look for those tie wraps, and think about all those Jungle Skippers (and other cast members) it took to get everything just right.

For me, the 20th Anniversary Surprise Celebration was my first big event as a Disney cast member. I've had the opportunity to participate in many more, even grander events since then, but the 20th will always hold a special place in my memory.

Flashback: WDW 25th Anniversary

As we count down the days this week to the next Destination D event, this time honoring the 40th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort, I thought it would be fun to look back on anniversary celebrations over the past 40 years.

Aside from Disneyland's 10th anniversary in 1965, the large-scale celebration of Disney Parks anniversaries was most in vogue during the 1980s and 90s. Today, Disney acknowledges each anniversary with smaller events and collectible merchandise, saving the big blowouts for significant milestones (such as Disneyland's 50th in 2005). The last major celebration at Walt Disney World kicked off in October 1996 for the 25th anniversary. (All photos ©Disney)

The 25 Years of Magic celebration was marked by the debut of the Cinderella Castle Cake, a remarkable transformation of the Magic Kingdom park icon into an enormous, candy-colored confection. The castle cake continues to be as controversial today as it was then. I, for one, actually liked it. To see it in person was an unbelievable experience. While it made me smile every time, I also understood why others didn't care for it. It was perhaps too dramatic a departure from the classic castle image, and for those visiting Walt Disney World on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, it just wasn't what they expected to see.

What guests that year did enjoy, however, was the new Remember the Magic parade. Featuring a gospel-inspired theme, the parade introduced a new concept to the park, show stops. For the first time in Magic Kingdom history, the parade came to a stop at points on the route, and guests were invited into the street to take part in the celebration.

The 25th anniversary was also treated as a reunion of sorts. Every guest who had ever visited the Magic Kingdom was invited to return for the celebration. At the 25th Anniversary Welcome Center on Main Street (in the current home of Town Square Theater), guests could check in and receive a special badge identifying the year of their first visit. Mine proudly proclaimed: 1978! New to Walt Disney World? You got a First Visit badge, the precursor to the celebration buttons common today.

The Welcome Center included a sneak preview of Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, set to open at the conclusion of the 18-month-long anniversary celebration. At the time, 25 Years of Magic was the longest and most successful campaign the Walt Disney World Resort had ever seen.

For those of you who will be celebrating Walt Disney World's 40th at Destination D this weekend, be sure to look for me. I'll be at several of the presentations during the day and at times volunteering in the merchandise area of the Contemporary Resort Convention Center, so come say, "Hello!" I look forward to meeting you!

If you would like to attend Destination D: Walt Disney World 40th, tickets are still available at this link.