My First Time

In the summer of 1978, my parents decided it was time to make the trip to Florida to "see Disney World." I was 8 (that's me with the bad hair). My brother was not quite 6, and we were too excited for words. We stayed off site (Disney only had three hotels and a campground then, and they were booked a year in advance), and we had two glorious days to spend (it was just the Magic Kingdom, after all).

My mom snapped the above photo with her old 110 camera, during a lunch break at the Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner on Main Street (now known as Casey's Corner). You'll notice my dad is flipping through our ticket book, figuring out what we might do next with what we have left. I seem to recall we had some extra "C" coupons and decided to use them for another trip to Neverland on Peter Pan's Flight.

I'm holding up our guidebook, likely lobbying for the attractions I want to do most. I'm sorry to say I no longer have any of the tickets from that trip, but I do still have the guidebook. It's a treasured part of my collection, for the look back at Magic Kingdom history as well as the memories it evokes.

The front cover of the book promises it will be "Your Complete Guide to Walt Disney World." The contents live up to that, providing information not just on the theme park, but the entire Vacation Kingdom. The back cover features an ad promoting the summer movie releases from Walt Disney Productions. The Jungle Book was a re-release of the 1967 classic, but the other two films were actually new at the time.

The center of the guidebook contains this handy map of the Magic Kingdom (click on the image for a closer look). It's fascinating to study for what is and isn't there. Of course, there are the now extinct attractions such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mickey Mouse Revue, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Skyway, If You Had Wings and Mission to Mars. There are also the large plots of open land where Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain and Mickey's Toontown Fair would later reside.

Close examination also reveals the location of ticket booths, which attractions took which type of ticket and those that were completely free (thanks to the participation of a corporate sponsor).

I hope you enjoy this look back at the Magic Kingdom. In the coming days, I'll have even more memories for you, so stay tuned!

Flashback: Ticket Booths

This tiny kiosk near The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is another blast to the Fantasyland past. It's one of only two remaining ticket booths in the park.

During the first decade of operation at Walt Disney World, Guests paid one admission price to get into the Magic Kingdom, and then purchased books of tickets good for individual attractions. The tickets were labeled "A" through "E" with the "E" tickets being the most expensive. As you can see from this 1977 guidebook, Fantasyland offered the full range of attraction experiences:

Those attractions sponsored by major corporations, such as General Electric's Carousel of Progress and Eastern Airlines' "If You Had Wings," were offered to Guests for free with their general admission. When EPCOT Center opened in 1982, nearly every attraction in the park had a sponsor, so the decision was made to phase out ticket books in favor of the World Passport ticket, allowing admission to the park and all attractions and experiences.

The old ticket booths in the Magic Kingdom were converted to information kiosks and later offered film and other merchandise. At one time, there were seven of these kiosks throughout the park. Today, the only ones which remain are the booth in Fantasyland and this location in Tomorrowland, now the site of a Disney Vacation Club kiosk: