A look back at WDW 1975

[Disney Magic]

I finally got around to scanning the pictures from my parents first trip to WDW on their honeymoon in Sept 1975. These were all on slides which had to be viewed with a projector and haven't been seen in almost 30 years!!! Most of these I had never even seen before. Thought you all might be interested in some vintage WDW shots.

I started getting hooked on Disney before ever going there myself (1988) just from the way my parents had talked about how great the few days they spent at WDW was. It was always refered to as the highlight of their two week vacation in Florida. Now I have been there many times since they have only been there twice, once for their honeymoon and the one time they took my sister and I. I am hoping to be able to plan a surprise return trip next year for their 35th anniversary!















































More to come...

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Cool!

[Angie_Duke]

Excellent find!

Note the burnt out lightbulbs in the first pic. Guess it happened 34 years ago too!

I also think the Mansion's show building is better hidden, on top of the paint scheme and landscaping which I prefer then over now too.

It's wired to see how under grown all the trees are, they make the buildings look much bigger and I prefer the old paint job on the castle too.

[Jerren]

Nice Pictures, Tomorrowland looks so clean with those white curves and all just like I remeber the first time I went as a kid. I really like the old style of the Tiki birds tower there and the old keel boat, I always liked the look of them better than the rafts... they were way too hot riding down below but still very cool looking. I also forgot how many flowers they used to have back in those little alley's off main street and all... Nice bicentennial flower display on riverbank there as well. Absolutely fabulous! Thanks for sharring!

[Pete's Dragon]

Nice Posting, it's nice to see the evolution of the park, especially since I've only experienced two decades of it's growth and transformation. You can tell by some of the pictures how relatively new the concept of MK was to everyone, that last picture just has everyone staring around looking at what to do next.

[WDWizard]

The Magic Kingdom still looks almost-exactly like it did in the 70s. Sad.

Nice pictures!

[SummerInFL]

I just want to hug this trip report.

Thanks for sharing, I miss the old Tomorrowland, truly.

[Jerren]

Originally Posted by Pete's Dragon

Nice Posting, it's nice to see the evolution of the park, especially since I've only experienced two decades of it's growth and transformation. You can tell by some of the pictures how relatively new the concept of MK was to everyone, that last picture just has everyone staring around looking at what to do next.

Let's be fair there was a lot more going on on main street back then, there was a magic shop, a penny arcade, etc. it wasn't one big Disney Store... It held people attention a lot longer.

Originally Posted by WDWizard

The Magic Kingdom still looks almost-exactly like it did in the 70s. Sad.
Nice pictures!

Why is that sad? I for one would love to have it looking like that again, the fresh flowers, the individual shops and attractions on main street, or at least different stuff in all the shops rather than seeing the same merchandise over and over everywhere I go. The Skyway, the clean lines of Tomorrowland, the wide openness and detail of Adventureland, the adventureland terrace restarant, Mr Toad's wild ride, to fly!, Mission to mars, 20,000 leagues under the sea... Sure there are newer attractions now but we have lost a lot along the way there and I really miss a lot of them...

There's a ton of details besides the ones I mentioned in there that are changed, or are no longer around today. Now that's sad!

[luke7059]

Great pictures! Can't wait to see some more!

[Micoofy Duck]

oh WOW!

And the clothes! Me and my visiting party really should dress up in 70's clothes and wear them the entire visit. It would be awesome to pull off but really, who has the money to find and pay for 70's clothes.

[Johnny]

Those pics are great! They would have been taken about 3 months before my first trip to the Magic Kingdom - in Dec '75, when I was 8 years old. I miss the days of lighter crowds. I have some photos from that trip - including the Bicentennial Parade - that I will try to post, but they were taken on old 110 and 126 film (prints) so they're not as sharp and vibrant as these slides. Thanks for sharing!

[Zorro825]

Awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing!!! I love seeing Classic Disney pictures

[Hazelrah]

Great stuff! I love retro MK pictures. My favorite was the shot of the TeaCup restrooms. Look at that giant hill (now ripped out so Belle can tell stories)!

No boardwalk in frontierland, no stroller parking at pirates, and flowers on Center Street! <sigh>

And what's the deal with that kiosk in front of Small World/Pinocchio Village Haus? The gray stripes in the pavement still lead directly to it, only now it's drainage grate or something. I assumed it was where a Skyway pylon had been, but no, the pylon's off to the right.

There was only one shot I couldn't place the location of. It's the water shot with the birds perched on rocks and a fountain jetting out. there's tropical foliage behind it. My initial thought was that it was the 20K lagoon, but the other pic shows the lagoon drained. Is it the Swan boat moat, on the Adventureland side?

[steve2wdw]

I believe the kiosk in front of "it's a small world" is a ticket booth. I think it also sold camera supplies.

It's also nice to see the original two smoke stacked riverboat, the Admiral Joe Fowler. The current Liberty Belle riverboat has one smoke stack and was called the Richard F Irvine. The Fowler was "lost" during a drydock accident. Too bad, cause it was nice having two riverboats plying the Rivers of America. I miss the Keel Boats too. There used to be lots of traffic on the river.

[Disney Magic]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. And now here are some more for you to enjoy!






































Are these cats supposed to be from Aristocats?





































Nice to see Dumbo in the parks and is that Bongo?