Timeline: Celebrating 40 Years at Walt Disney World

40 Resort Years at WALTDisNEPWorld 1965: Walt Disney unveils plans to build a theme park in Central Florida. 1965 1966 lorida Telcomes DA RSNEY 1971: Magic Kingdom Park with a grand celebration that features a parade of Disney char- 1967 opens 1968 acters and 76 trombones. COV WALT DISNEY Opening-day attractions included The Haunted Mansion, Mad Tea Cups, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, 1969 among others. 1970 1971 1973: Pirates of the Caribbean is added to Adventureland. 1972 Sail the High Seas PIRATESOF the ARIBBEAN Opening Christmas 1973 1973 1974: Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue debuts at Pioneer HallI. 1974 1975: Space Mountain makes its first launch Jan. 15. 1975 1975: Magic Kingdom Park celebrates the nation's Bicen- tennial in America on Parade. 1976: River Country, Disney's first water park (more like an ol'fashioned swimming hole), 1976 opens June 20. 1977: The Main Street Electri- 1977 cal Parade debuts on June 11. The first nighttime Disney parade wows guests by bring- ing Disney fairytales to life in glittering light. 1978 1979 1980 1983: Guests get to know Figment at Journey Into Imagination, and venture into the future at Horizons. 1981 1982: EPCOT Center debuts 1982 Oct. 1, inspired by Walt Disney's Experimental Prototype Com- munity of Tomorrow. Opening attractions included Spaceship 1983 Earth, The American Adven- ture, Universe of Energy, and 1984 Kitchen Kabaret. 1985 1986: Captain EO, the park's first 4-D film, debuts at Epcot. EPCOT 1986 1988: Mickey's Birthdayland CENTER opens at Magic Kingdom Park in honor of the Mouse's 60th birthday 1987 1989: Guests begin braving Mount Mayday at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon June 1. 1988 1989: Disney-MGM Studios and Pleasure Island open May 1. DisNEp-MGM STUDIOS 1989: Feature Animation 1989 Florida opens, and would produce the full-length ani- mated features "Mulan," "Lilo & Stitch" and "Brother Bear." 1990: Sorcery in the Sky fire- works blast off at the Disney- 1990 MGM Studios. 1991: The resort marked its 20th anniversary with a new daily procession called the Surprise Celebration Parade. 1991 1994: The first guests take the plunge on The Twilight ZoneM Tower of Terrorr July 22. 1992 1993 HÖLLYWOOD TOWER Hotel The 1994 1995: Disney's Blizzard Beach opens on April Fools' Day. 1996: Magic Kingdom Park marks its 25th anniversary by 1995 DisNep's turning Cinderella Castle into Bi Rench an 18-story birthday cake. 1996 - 1997 1998: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin opens to new Star Command recruits at Magic 1998: Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park opens. In addition 1998 to attractions that focus on thrilling animal observation, the park also features the first Walt Disney World attraction inspired by a Pixar film at It's Tough to Be A Bug! Kingdom Park. 1999: Disney's FASTPASS Service debuts. 1999 1999: Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park expands with the addition of a new land, Asia. 2000 2001: The Magic Carpets of Aladdin whisks guests away on 2001 a magical flights beginning May 23. 2003: Wishes nighttime fire- works spectacular dazzles Guests for the first time at 2003: Donald Duck takes 2002 Magic Kingdom Park. guests along for adventure at Mickey's PhilharMagic. 2003 2004 2003: Tufani, the first baby elephant born at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, arrives May 22. 2003: Guests blast off on Epcot's Mission: SPACE for the first time Aug. 15. MISSICN SPACE 2005 2005: Soarin' debuts at Epcot, and Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show revs up at the Disney-MGM Studios 2006: Guests embark on the first runaway train through the Himalayas at Expedition Ever- est on April 7. SOARIN 2006 2006: New Audio-Animatronics 2007 2007: Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor collects belly laughs at of Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa are added to Pirates Magic Kingdom Park. of the Caribbean. 2008: Disney-MGM Studios becomes Disney's Hollywood Studios in January. 2008 2009: Leaders announce a major expansion of Fantasyl- and at Magic Kingdom Park. It will nearly double the size of the existing area with new attractions based on "Beauty 2010: Captain EO returns to Epcot. 2009 CAPTAIN and the Beast," “Snow White" and "The Little Mermaid." 2010 2011: Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room reopens at Magic 2011: For the first time, Guests Kingdom Park. can get a FASTPASS ticket to see Mickey Mouse at Magic Kingdom Park. olA WAU DISND'S ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM 2011 2011: Star Tours: The Adven- tures Continue opens at Disney's Hollywood Studios. 2011: Plans were announced to add a new land based on the film "Avatar" at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. DISNEYPARKS Blog