Calling all those who visited WDW when it was 1 park & 3 hotels...

[PeterP]

This is for those of us old enough to have visited Disney World when the only park (other than River Country) was the Magic Kingdom, and the only three on-property hotels were the CR, the Poly, and the Golf Resort (although I believe the campgrounds also existed). That's the way it was when my brother and I first visited, as children, in 1980. On our first visit, we stayed at the Golf Resort. On our next two, we stayed at the Polynesian (and by the third visit, EPCOT had opened). As I've said in a previous post, even during those first visits, we thought The World was the most magical place on earth. We could not believe such an incredible place existed.

Sometimes, now, when I contrast WDW of then with the enormity of WDW of today, I'm amazed. The funny thing is, even back then, without all of the options available today, we managed to fill an entire week easily. We spent multiple days casually touring the Magic Kingdom, devoted the better part of a day to River Country, and had a "do-nothing" day or two, during which we hung out by the pool, rented the boats on Bay Lake, played at the CR arcade, etc. We also made it a point to take in the only two dinner shows I can remember back then, the Luau and the HDDR.

How about those of you who also visited during those simpler times? Did you similarly fill a week or more? Was the pace of your vacations back then considerably slower than it is now? Do you think of WDW now as an entirely different place in light of its current enormity, or, rather, as merely an extension of the earlier, simpler version. Is bigger always better? And do you ever smile to yourself, knowing that you "knew Disney back when..."?

I apologize for the rambling nature of this post, but would love to hear your thoughts...

 

[vicki_c]

I visited at that time, I believe - only MK - not sure about the hotels, but we stayed at the Poly. It was 1978 and I was 12 and I don't really remember that much. I remember the resort, the restaurants in the Poly, the monorail, waiting for 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, and the magic/joke shop on Main Street. There is only one photo that has ever been found of this trip - and we are wearing sombreros and it looks like we are somewhere around POTC. We did go to River Country and the Hoop Dee Doo. I also remember shopping at the Buena Vista shopping area place, which I believe became DTD. I bought a candle there and had it for many years in my bedroom growing up.

On my next trip, it was already 1996 and things were obviously hugely different, but due to my lack of memories from the first trip, I don't have many comparisons made.

 

[chartle]

My first visit was in 1977 and yes the campground was there and was there from the beginning.

We only did 3 days and that was enough. Back then FW was an unheard of $35 a night or so and we just couldn't afford any more nights there (10 times more than most campgrounds we stayed at.

We got the three day pass which was 2 days in MK and one at RC. 2 days was pretty much all you needed back then because Splash and BTMR wasn't built yet and unless you were rich and could afford the extra money to buy more E tickets (I think $1.50 a piece) you only rode most rides only once. Though a few were free because of sponsorship.

We did tour the other two resorts but mostly for the game rooms.

We always did 2 week trips so we also went to Tampa, The Cape and St Augustine in Florida. The rest of the trip was probably in Myrtle Beach and maybe Williamsburg.

 

[WaDiWo]

My first visit was in 1978 and I'm pretty sure we stayed offsite. i think we only spent one or two days in MK but my memory was that it was huge and there was a lot to do at least it felt huge at the time of course. I remember that we also spent a day at the now defunct Circus World!

 

[MJGirl]

Our first trip was in 1976. It was our first family vacation! We stayed at the Golf Resort. I remember getting a really bad sunburn at River Country and my mom scouring the stores for Noxzema to ease the pain. Boy times have changed. We went back in 1982, just before Epcot opened up. We stayed again at the Golf Resort! I remember showing up at the gate with no reservations. They had room for us

 

[dtum]

First trip was 1974. Space Mountain wasn't even open yet, but just one park was enough to get me hooked. We stayed at FW. Sometimes I think how much easier it was back then compared to all the insane planning now. Now we can't even go w/o our Lines app to tell us what rides to ride when. Things sure have changed!

 

[Mamise 62]

Visited in October of 1979 and stayed at the Tree Houses. Went to the Magic Kingdom for several days, as well as a trip to River Country (which I thought was incredible).

One night in the MK they had some kind of a music event, with several different bands playing around the park. I remember standing in front of the castle listening to Dr. Hook (a 70's band of some acclaim) and then really enjoying a three man group in Tomorrowland whom I had not heard of: The Police. They were on a small stage between Cosmic Ray's and the Merchant of Venus. Still remember seeing their lead singer playing an upright bass and thinking that was kind of strange. But they were pretty good.

 

[heart]

altho I'm not very good at dates, I believe it was 1979-1980.

I was ~15 and and my parents and brother (~11) and I stayed at the Contemporary. It was the first trip we took that wasn't associated with my father's work.

It was magic!

With River Country and the Hawaiian Luau our days were full even with only one park.

I remember sobbing when we left.

It started a life-long affair.

 

[VACamm]

Visited in October of 1979 and stayed at the Tree Houses. Went to the Magic Kingdom for several days, as well as a trip to River Country (which I thought was incredible).

One night in the MK they had some kind of a music event, with several different bands playing around the park. I remember standing in front of the castle listening to Dr. Hook (a 70's band of some acclaim) and then really enjoying a three man group in Tomorrowland whom I had not heard of: The Police. They were on a small stage between Cosmic Ray's and the Merchant of Venus. Still remember seeing their lead singer playing an upright bass and thinking that was kind of strange. But they were pretty good.

you saw the Police???? Wow!!! That is just amazing and I'm very jealous!!

My first trip was in 1984 and I was 10 yrs old. It was Christmas week and we stayed off site. There was only Magic Kingdom and Epcot was brand new. We spent a week in the 2 parks and we had just the best time. My family has always been huge Epcot fans since that trip, as we love exploring the world showcase. We got to watch the Christmas Parade in MK on Christmas Day!! We walked right into restaurants without ADRs and didn't have fast passes ... I don't remember there being long waits... But then again I was just a child....

 

[danny1649]

Had sugh a great time we've been back over 50 times.

 

[Disney Freebird]

My brother and I spent summers with my Grandparents in Clearwater. Every year, we would take a day trip to Disney World (only Magic Kingdom). That was back in the days of the A-E tickets. My grandparents would go on the mild rides (Small World - my Grandmother's favorite) with us, but sit on a bench and wait for us as we went on the more thrilling rides (Space Mountain!). I am so grateful for those memories with my Grandparents at Disney!!

We also did a day trip to Busch Gardens each summer when there were only two or three rides - the Flume, the Scorpion (I think), and one more. Loved it!!

 

[Syrreal]

We went way back when and used to stay at this little motel on the 192 called the Tropicana. We would always go for the weekend and I still remember the separate tickets.

 

[chartle]

We also did a day trip to Busch Gardens each summer when there were only two or three rides - the Flume, the Scorpion (I think), and one more. Loved it!!

On the trip I described above we also did Busch Gardens The Dark Continent (do they still call it that?) and I remember there was not much there.

We got there in the early afternoon and asked it they had a cheaper go after 4 PM ticket if you bought a full day ticket for the next day. They looked at us like we had lobsters crawling out of our ears and we knew why the next day. Much less than when AK first opened.

 

[Waltgirl]

We went for the first time in 1974. Stayed at the Contemporary for 2 weeks! We spent days just hanging around the pool. The only pool there was the round pool but you could also swim in Bay Lake. I actually learned to swim in Bay Lake. Back then they used to show Disney movies in the little movie theater in the back of the game room (Food and Fun Center). I remember sitting with my grandmother, watching, and that feeling of comfort. I miss my grandma. The Contemporary seemed huge back then and it is still, cavernous. It is still my family's favorite.

We returned almost every year after that until 1981. We went to River Country, the Luau, character breakfasts at the Empress Lily at the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. We even ventured offsite to SeaWorld-is it possible a regular city bus stopped at the Contemporary to take us to SeaWorld? Maybe it was a charter or we got the bus at the Village but we didn't have a car with us, so I don't know how we got there. We also went to the Florida Festival. Anyone remember that?

I don't recall crowds or lines in the MK but it is possible it's because I was just a child. It was a much slower pace back then and when we visit today, I sometimes wonder how we weren't bored at the time. But it seems like people never complained of boredom back then, did they? It is truly amazing the changes that have been made to WDW and I do regret that my children were never able to experience it that way, but they have their own special memories of WDW as it was. Mickey's Toontown Fair, now gone to make way for the FLE, Mr. Toad, Snow White, Horizons, Kitchen Cabaret then Food Rocks and on and on.

 

[wendywoo]

Yes!! I remember as a kid having the A B C D E tickets to ride rides! We grew up in Kissimmee My Mom worked at what was the main shop at LBV and my Dad was one of the foremen that helped build Epcot! We even ended up with a mirror and quote that were orginally supposed to go in the Imagination Buliding but they changed the design. My Mom still has them to this day.

Many many years later and married with 3 kids I earned a $10,000 vacation anywhere I wanted and of course choose Disney! My husband (turning 40 while we are there) and my kids have never been! It's a dream trip for us!!

 

[disnut8]

This is for those of us old enough to have visited Disney World when the only park (other than River Country) was the Magic Kingdom, and the only three on-property hotels were the CR, the Poly, and the Golf Resort (although I believe the campgrounds also existed). That's the way it was when my brother and I first visited, as children, in 1980. On our first visit, we stayed at the Golf Resort. On our next two, we stayed at the Polynesian (and by the third visit, EPCOT had opened). As I've said in a previous post, even during those first visits, we thought The World was the most magical place on earth. We could not believe such an incredible place existed.

Sometimes, now, when I contrast WDW of then with the enormity of WDW of today, I'm amazed. The funny thing is, even back then, without all of the options available today, we managed to fill an entire week easily. We spent multiple days casually touring the Magic Kingdom, devoted the better part of a day to River Country, and had a "do-nothing" day or two, during which we hung out by the pool, rented the boats on Bay Lake, played at the CR arcade, etc. We also made it a point to take in the only two dinner shows I can remember back then, the Luau and the HDDR.

How about those of you who also visited during those simpler times? Did you similarly fill a week or more? Was the pace of your vacations back then considerably slower than it is now? Do you think of WDW now as an entirely different place in light of its current enormity, or, rather, as merely an extension of the earlier, simpler version. Is bigger always better? And do you ever smile to yourself, knowing that you "knew Disney back when..."?

I apologize for the rambling nature of this post, but would love to hear your thoughts...

Yep. 1977 when my sister and her best friend graduated from high school. It was a big family trip, six cars/trailers in all and we all stayed at Fort Wilderness Campground (so yes, the campground was open). We did spend a week there. We had the ticket books and everything.

I remember our very first day. We made our camp and my parents said "we will go over to Disney World (because Magic Kingdom was it) just for a few hours and then come back here for dinner because we really can't afford to eat over there."

We came back at 2:00 AM.

My dad even bought more ticket books. He marveled at Fort Wilderness and we had been camping since I was six months old (I was fifteen at the time). We had a swan who would "visit" our campsite every day.

Oh yeah, we all forget what Disney World is about. Now it's more thrills and rides and how Disney is failing.

The main reason I'm a Disney World park fan is simply because of that trip in 1977. Family spending time with family.

And now I've been back about 60 times. Thank you Walt Disney World! It really does get me to slow down and appreciate what I have in my life.

 

[hakepb]

I didn't, but a (very young) DW did and she kept a brochure. Here's a map from the pre-EPCOT days:

 

[SmallWorld71]

Love the map!

My first trip was in either 76 or 77. I was about 5. We stayed in Daytona near my grandmother's aunts. We took a day trip to MK (where I fell in love with IASW!) and one to Busch Gardens (where I rode and elephant!). I've been hooked ever since.

In subsequent trips with family, we slowly added things on: River Country, Epcot, Wet 'n' Wild etc... Our trips were always offsite although I always dreamed of staying in the resort that had a monorail going through it. Eventually (late 90's) we started staying onsite and have never gone back off. (except for a separate UO/SW trip)

We never felt like there wasn't enough to do. Instead, now I sometimes feel like there's too much to do!

 

[MCoryB]

My first trip was in 1979 when I was four. I only have very vague memories of it, so I'm not sure how long we were there or where we stayed (I'm sure it was offsite somewhere).

The primary memory I have is the Main Street Electrical Parade. I seem to recall sitting on my dad's shoulders, and for some reason I seem to think there were some horse-headed iron poles along the street, with rings in their mouths. I can't recall seeing them on my two adult trips, so I'm not sure they're still there. A while after that trip, my parents bought a Disney album with the MSEP song on it and a picture from the parade on the cover, and I still have that album to this day!

Also, I'm pretty sure I've made this up or have seen it somewhere else (since I've never seen this as an adult), but I always thought I recalled seeing some short legs and feet underneath the Doombuggies on Haunted Mansion, as if to imply they were walking and not rolling. I have no clue how I got that image in my head, though.

On a side note, my partner and I are taking my mother to WDW in three weeks, and she's beyond thrilled since she hasn't been back since 1979! She's never seen the other three parks, so she was super excited I asked her to go this year, on my third adult trip.

OH, I almost forgot! I don't remember doing this, but my parents have never let me forget that I "ran away" while in line for a meal. I have no clue which restaurant it was, but it was apparently an indoor quick service dining place. Each parent thought they had me, yet neither did. One had found a seat while the other was in line, and eventually they realized I wasn't with either. Luckily I was standing over in a corner somewhere and hadn't run out into the park... yet.

 

[dtum]

This is a great thread! I had forgotten so much...the tickets, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. So many of our later trips were at FW and it has totally changed. Always loved eating at TE buffeteria, (still there but very changed), the petty zoo, peacocks, Bay Lake swimming, River Country, Discovery Island..... Everything seems to have picked up a crazy pace. Even FW--people don't walk around--they all drive golf carts and make walking very difficult at times. Thanks for the thread.