Disney World's Opening Day in 1971

Tweet

A Disney World employee (called Cast Members by the company) was telling me tonight about opening day at Walt Disney World back in 1971. According to this Cast Member, Walt Disney World opened to the public on October 1, 1971, among great fanfare. At the time, Disney World consisted of the just the Magic Kingdom theme park, and the Polynesian and Contemporary Resorts, both of which were serviced by monorail transportation linking them to the theme park. On opening day, there were lots of dignitaries, VIP's, marching bands, etc on site. It was a very important and festive occasion. The Contemporary Resort was scheduled to open first, followed by the Polynesian Resort 45 minutes later, and then the theme park itself immediately after that. The Governor of the state of Florida was in attendance, and a celebrity Grand Marshall was schedule to preside over the opening day festivities. But, the day didn't go as planned. The Grand Marshall was 2 hours late, and as a result, the Contemporary Resort did not open on time as scheduled. However, the Grand Marshall went to the Polynesian and they did the opening ceremony there. So, even though the Contemporary was scheduled to open first, the Polynesian beat them to it and opened before they did. To this day, the staff of the Polynesian still rubs it in to the staff at the Contemporary that they were the very first to open. Oh, and the Grand Marshall that day? It was none other than the legendary Bob Hope! He always joked that he was late that day because he was out playing a round of golf, and got caught up on the 18h hole. The staff joked that he was late because he was enjoying a few cocktails at the 19th hole! About a month later, in November, the Fort Wilderness Campground opened to join the Polynesian and Contemporary Resorts in providing guest accommodations to the Magic Kingdom!