Tomorrow, October 1 is Magic Kingdom's 45th Anniversary

Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom's 45th Anniversary:

It is hard to believe that tomorrow will be the 45th Anniversary of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the 40th Anniversary just 5 years ago. While I am younger and wasn't alive to appreciate the park when it opened 45 years ago on October 1, 1971, Disney World has been like a second home to me for my whole life. I didn't visit until the park was 20 years old itself when I visited the park for the first time at the age of 2 in 1991.

Think about this Walt brought the idea of a theme park to Central Florida in 1965, it was a park he wouldn't get to see open. His brother Roy dedicated the opening of the park on October 25, 1971. Roy would die just a few weeks later. It was a grand multi-property vacation destination for guests which included just two resorts, The Contemporary and The Polynesian Village Resort.

The Disney Parks Blog shared this today on their blog:

"Constructing a property of this size was no small task – and neither was celebrating the accomplishment of opening the world’s largest Disney property to-date. To celebrate, the resort held a three-day series of grand opening festivities that culminated on October 25 with the grand opening of Magic Kingdom Park."

The grand opening featured a 1,076-piece marching band and included a release of 50,000 balloons, and so much more. Here is Roy's dedication speech he made on October 25, 1971:


Today, the Walt Disney World Resort includes 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, the ever extensive shopping and entertainment district in Disney Springs, and more then two dozen resorts. 45 years later Walt and Roy's dream continue as Walt said himself, "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

I will never forget all the countless trips I have made to Walt Disney World and there is no greater memory then entering Magic Kingdom, walking down Main Street, USA and just seeing how beautiful Cinderella Castle is. Even after my trip just last week I can't wait to plan my next trip to Walt Disney World and the Magic Kingdom celebrating 45 amazing years and so much more.

We already know that Walt Disney World will continue to grow with Pandora - The World of Avatar opening next year and Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land opening in the next few years. We can never forget that this dream and these parks all came thanks to the idea of man to bring joy and magic to people around the world. Here's to you Walt and let the magic of Walt Disney World continue for many more years to come.