Postcard from BEFORE Park Opened??

[MouseEarsJenny]

Okay, I have a question. How was a postcard from Walt Disney World sent in March of 1970 when the park didn't open until October of 1971???

We were going through a huge collection of postcards we inheirited from my dh's uncle. Along with a postcard from Hollywood that a dad had Olivia de Havilland autograph for his daughter and many other treasures, we came across this Disney World card:

As you can see, the front image is an artist rendering, the back blurb describes the park in future terms, and the date and postmark both read March '70. How was Disney selling postcards before there was a park to buy them in??

 

[daber]

The answer is really simple....once you know. Before WDW was built there was a "preview center" showing what was going to be built. They had 4 different postcards for sale (at least that I found back then). I bought a set and they are still in mint condition. So that is how someone could send a postcard from WDW prior to it's opening in October 1971.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Ah, thanks! I kind of thought that might be the case, but I didn't imagine you could buy postcards at the preview center! Merchandising before they even got the park together - leave it to Disney!

 

[flyinglizard]

Actually there were ten different cards in the early series. The earliest printings had a "Florida" banner over the Disney World logo. The rarest one is the first card for the Polynesian, that shows a completely different hotel than what was ever built This card was quickly deleted and replaced by a view of what the resort looked like when it was actually built.

If you want to see what they all look like, go to:

http://www.bigbrian-nc.com/wdw-pc02.htm

Some of these cards continued to be sold in the park during the first months it was open. They were soon replaced by chromes.

 

[daber]

Thanks for the correction....I only knew about the four that I have.