1970's Magic Kingdom Slides

[smraynor]

Boy oh boy do those photos take me back. Thanks for posting the link. I chuckle when I look at what people are wearing in those pictures- and then realize that I was dressing like that too. And has the Haunted Mansion ever changed over the years! Anyone else remember how miserably hot the queue could get if it extended back along the water?

Miserably hot? Orlando? Are we talking about the same place??

 

[smraynor]

WOW! Thanks for that little trip down memory lane!
I love the man in the suit and woman in dress and heels in the background on Main St - yes, people actually dressed like that back then when they went to theme parks - they are not charactersLOL (at least I don't think they are). When I grew up here on the south jersey shore, families dressed to the nines to walk the boardwalk - then by my teen years it was cut offs and tee shirts.

I took my first job away from home in Ft. Lauderdale in Jan of '72 and everyone who came to visit wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom - it's been fun to watch and enjoy all the changes. Can't wait to see more pics - and I have to go find your castle lecture when I have time - I am fascinated by castles.

Thanks...I found some slides of my Grandparents traveling through Florida and they were very dressed up. Classy people.

I hope you enjoy the castle article. The link is in my signature below!

 

[scjo68]

Thank you for posting. I really enjoyed the slide photos and really wish I had been to Disney World in the 70's.

The castle article was interesting as well.

I do have to admit when I saw the title of this thread, I thought you were referring to a past attraction in the Magic Kingdom. I thought maybe there had been those big fiberglass slides that were popular in 1970's parks, like we had in my local park, King's Dominion. They are also in the Kings Island episode of Brady Bunch...speaking of The Brady Bunch. I had never heard of such slides ever being in MK, but thought maybe they were one of those short-lived attractions that few remember.

 

[smraynor]

Thank you for posting. I really enjoyed the slide photos and really wish I had been to Disney World in the 70's.

The castle article was interesting as well.

I do have to admit when I saw the title of this thread, I thought you were referring to a past attraction in the Magic Kingdom. I thought maybe there had been those big fiberglass slides that were popular in 1970's parks, like we had in my local park, King's Dominion. They are also in the Kings Island episode of Brady Bunch...speaking of The Brady Bunch. I had never heard of such slides ever being in MK, but thought maybe they were one of those short-lived attractions that few remember.

I think the slides were positioned on the upper level of the train station. I'm also sure the Brady Bunch visited the Magic Kingdom at some point...Mr. Brady would have wanted to visit the 'House of the Future'.

 

[bellebud]

duh... I totally thought you were posting about tiny slides they had on the carousel ride... I was thinking "wasn't that dangerous???"

Love the pics (slides!) I can't believe what the Haunted Mansion looks like - I don't think I've ever really seen the building, and I've been on it tons of times.

Thanks for sharing

 

[smraynor]

duh... I totally thought you were posting about tiny slides they had on the carousel ride... I was thinking "wasn't that dangerous???"

Love the pics (slides!) I can't believe what the Haunted Mansion looks like - I don't think I've ever really seen the building, and I've been on it tons of times.

Thanks for sharing

It's one of those WDW mysteries to me...Why don't they let HM be a little more visable?

 

[LibraryJulie]

Great photos!...It makes me feel like I was there. My first trip wasn't until 1981, so the pictures that I took had a little more color (not as Instagram-ish)...

This says a lot for the archival conditions in which the slides were kept (the librarian in me can't help noticing).

Thanks for sharing!

 

[cruisin'Mike]

It's one of those WDW mysteries to me...Why don't they let HM be a little more visable?

I loved all the pictures! I especially loved the Haunted Mansion one. I miss being able to see the mansion as you approach now.

 

[tigerdragon]

Very cool! I love looking at old pictures of MK and seeing how much has changed.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[StarCruiser]

These are really cool. Thank you for sharing. I'm going to have to compare the Haunted Mansion slide to the present when I'm there tomorrow.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

I was going through some old things out of my Mother's closet and I found these vintage WDW slides in an old carousel (how many of you remember those?). I put the images in Photoshop and tried to clean them up slightly but I kind of like the red kodachrome tinge to them.

It takes a while to scan them so this is the first batch. I'll post some more soon.

The biggest thing I noticed was just how much the trees have grown up around the haunted mansion.

These were the slides you could buy at Disney so I'm guessing that others may have posted but still pretty neat nonetheless.

The link is here:
http://www.itats.org/vintage-walt-disney-world-magic-kingdom-slides-long-live-the-glorious-1970s/

~Wow, this is just fabulous! I would have loved to visit WDW back then. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[smraynor]

I loved all the pictures! I especially loved the Haunted Mansion one. I miss being able to see the mansion as you approach now.

I think they want to hide the green building off to the right...

 

[smraynor]

These are really cool. Thank you for sharing. I'm going to have to compare the Haunted Mansion slide to the present when I'm there tomorrow.

*jealous*

 

[smraynor]

I showed these to my University students today and they had interesting reactions! Many of them are Disney fans and/or live near Orlando. I told them that they were taken in 1976. Best questions were "Why don't you have any of Epcot? and Wonder what the Wifi was like way back then?".

 

[smraynor]

It's amazing the difference in the Haunted Mansion, but it's also amazing how much of it still looks exactly the same!
I loved the heads on Chip and Dale LOL, the costumes sure have improved since then.

Speaking of costumes...I remember that my wife and I did a Backstage Magic tour and we were able to tour the back rooms of the costuming areas. That is a major operation...just doing laundry was a major job.

No children were allowed since they didn't want them to see backstage Mickey. Wonder if they still offer that tour?

 

[chemnerd09]

Hey thanks! I'm in the process of developing a 'Disney Design' course for my University. I'm hoping to take the lectures and post them online to 'test the waters' so to speak. Appreciate the kind words.

I would so totally go to that lecture. I think one of my favorite things about Disney is the architecture. I didn't start going to WDW until 1989, but my parents have gone a little bit before that. I love to look at the old photographs to see how much things have changed and how much its stayed the same. Every now and then, my mom and I break out the old photos and reminisce.

I'm off to go read your castle article, and I'll be sure to leave my thoughts here.

 

[chemnerd09]

Speaking of costumes...I remember that my wife and I did a Backstage Magic tour and we were able to tour the back rooms of the costuming areas. That is a major operation...just doing laundry was a major job.

No children were allowed since they didn't want them to see backstage Mickey. Wonder if they still offer that tour?

I think that maybe the Keys to the Kingdom tour that is still offered, but I'm not entirely sure. I will be doing the tour with my mom as a retirement gift to her in December so I guess I'll find out. I enjoyed your article on the castles, especially where you pointed out the influences on the picture of the MK castle. It made it easier to to see the elements. If you plan anymore castle tours across Europe, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I've been to Neuschwanstein about 10 years ago and it was absolutely gorgeous.

 

[smraynor]

I would so totally go to that lecture. I think one of my favorite things about Disney is the architecture. I didn't start going to WDW until 1989, but my parents have gone a little bit before that. I love to look at the old photographs to see how much things have changed and how much its stayed the same. Every now and then, my mom and I break out the old photos and reminisce.

I'm off to go read your castle article, and I'll be sure to leave my thoughts here.

Hi Chemnerd and I'm glad you would like to go to the lecture...looks like you are close enough (Charlotte...I'm in High Point).

I am researching and planning to teach something called a First Year Seminar course. We choose topics that are related to our areas of research interest. I am a painter and my work isn't really Disney related but I've always read and collected articles relating to the 'design' history of Disney's theme parks. I think it would be interesting to find the design origins of many of the environments and rides of the Disney parks and share that with Art and Design students.

It goes all the way back to Walt requiring his artists to take evening drawing classes...

 

[smraynor]

I think that maybe the Keys to the Kingdom tour that is still offered, but I'm not entirely sure. I will be doing the tour with my mom as a retirement gift to her in December so I guess I'll find out. I enjoyed your article on the castles, especially where you pointed out the influences on the picture of the MK castle. It made it easier to to see the elements. If you plan anymore castle tours across Europe, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I've been to Neuschwanstein about 10 years ago and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Good to know the tour is still out there. I'm glad you liked the Disney Castle article. I've got some other ones on my site as well. Just let me know if you are interested in reading them!