Pictures of the Fort and Magic Kingdom circa 1972

[gillenkl]

I found some of my family pics from May 1972 - I was 5 years old:

now I know what's wrong with me - swimming in the lagoon when I was a kid

Disney Transportation

I miss this one:

Tiki Birds Tropical Serenade - I miss this version

The skyride:

 

[FlaFortCampster]

Wow, those Disney buses look ancient. I really miss the Skyway. It always seemed to have a cool breeze blowing thru the cars, even during the hot, summer months. And what a view.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[liv luvs disney]

Great pictures and I'm sure great memories as well. Thanks for sharing!

 

[PrincessNP]

Absolutely awesome pictures. I remember the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea so well! One of my favorites!

Does anyone know why they did away with the sky buckets?

Not as old - but I also miss Mr Toad's Wild Ride at the MK! Way fun and WILD!!

 

[ob1quixote]

My RV was old when those buses were new!

I got to do the 20,000 Leagues at WDL as a kid, one of the ride to cool off in back then.

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Great pictures!

 

[Donna]

Absolutely awesome pictures. I remember the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea so well! One of my favorites!

Does anyone know why they did away with the sky buckets?

Not as old - but I also miss Mr Toad's Wild Ride at the MK! Way fun and WILD!!

yes, a few years back, a CM maintenance man was killed on them. He was working on the fantasyland end, near the chalet and someone on the tomorrowland end did not know and started it up. He got carried over fantasyland hanging on to a bucket and fell off right near dumbo, he apparantly hit his head on impact. They never reopened.

 

[PrincessNP]

Thanks for the story Donna! What a terrible ending! I had no idea there was such a tragic event behind it.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

Those are awesome!

 

[I'mDownWithDisney]

Is that a water sprite up in the canal system?

The lack of mature trees is very noticeable in the old park pics. Looks very new.

 

[Shan-man]

Hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of cleaning up some of those images:

 

[PrincessMom4]

I remember the skyway buckets and sailing "magically" over the kindgom.

 

[SCCamper]

Haven't quite figured out how to post photos yet.

 

[I'mDownWithDisney]

Haven't quite figured out how to post photos yet.

Upload them to a website like photobucket.com and copy the

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Thanks so much for posting these photos, gillenkl! They are great! I love to look at old Ft. Wilderness photos (and new ones too).

Does anyone know the location where the first photo was taken? Since it says Tri-Circle-D Ranch, I am assuming that this was not at the Fort entrance. If I recall my Fort history correctly, the Tri-Circle-D Ranch originally occupied the space where River Country was eventually constructed (River Country did not open until 1976). It is my understanding that the ranch was then divided, and part of it moved to the present location in the Settlement area, and the other part moved up front to the location in the Outpost area.

The men playing instruments appear to be standing on the side porch of the Settlement Trading Post. I wonder if this was a regular occurrence back in the day, or whether this was some type of special event?

I have never seen a photo of a tram like the one you posted! As I understand it, the Ft. Wilderness Rail Road opened some time after the Fort was officially opened. This tram must have been what was used for transportation before that. It looks so out of date now, but I'll bet it was considered state of the art, or even futuristic, in 1972.

As someone already noted, the little boat appears to be in the small lake adjacent to the playground near the 300 loop. There is still an old sign at the Fort that identifies this playground as the Ft. Apache playground. As I understand it, the Bike Barn used to be located in this area. It looks like boat rentals must have been handled here too.

These photos are priceless!

Thanks again.

TCD

 

[gillenkl]

I have a few more to post if no one minds (Shanman if you want to clean them up you can I have limited tech here)

Jungle cruise

Fort campsite

Does anyone know where these were taken? I first thought Exposition Hall but I don't know because it almost looks like a dinner show.

I have a few from 1976 that I will post later on a seperate thread.

 

[PrincessMom4]

wow...things really have changed. Nice pictures.

 

[becky1960]

That one Pic was of Mike Finks Keel Boats, they dropped these. The other one looks like Diamond Horseshoe Revue at MK..

 

[Wrekless]

Was that airstream your family's or one of the ones Disney used to rent out in the fort?

 

[gillenkl]

Was that airstream your family's or one of the ones Disney used to rent out in the fort?

it was my parents