A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning my grandma’s basement to help her prepare to sell her house when I stumbled upon an amazing book: The Story of Walt Disney World – A Behind the Scenes Visit to the Vacation Kingdom. This book is an official publication that looks at the first few years of Walt Disney World. It focuses on the building of the Magic Kingdom, the first two hotel resorts, and contains some outstanding construction and behind-the-scenes photos.
I’m not sure which commemorative edition of the book this is- 1971, 1973, or 1976. I do know that this publication was created long before Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot were built. In fact, this book still states that EPCOT was going to follow Walt’s dream and actually be a real-working city, a community of tomorrow, and not just another theme park. A couple of other interesting things I noticed:
- The only hotels were the Contemporary and the Polynesian.
- There was another steam train that ran through the Fort Wilderness campground.
- The Hall of Presidents looked a bit sparse due to only having 36 Presidents.
- River Country, the failed water park next to Wilderness Campground, is pictured on the park map.
- Examining one of the pictures closely, it looks like the original plan was to have the monorail travel through the Tomorrowland section of the Magic Kingdom and even had a station inside the theme park itself.
Check out a few scans from The Story of Walt Disney World below:
The pictures in the book are even older than the vintage Disney pictures I found from my parents taken in 1983. You may be able to find an old copy of The Story of Walt Disney World on Amazon or Ebay but they don’t sell this in stores anymore!
Nice find. I believe you have the 1976 version, since River Country is on the map, and it opened in 1976. I have a 1973 version of the book. My map is much different in style; it has Treasure Island, which opened in 1973-74, but no River Country. Both are wonderful vintage books.
That’s awesome Kyle. I just found a guide book for Disneyland from 1968! I’ll be posting pictures soon.