WDW Construction: Cinderella Castle

By late 1970 the partially-built Cinderella Casltle was the tallest structure on the Magic Kingdom construction site. By February, 1971 its spires were nearing completion. A scroll-shaped sign above the Castle entrance reminded everyone: "REMEMBER, OPENING OCT. 1971".

How many bricks are in Cinderella Castle??? ZERO. Harharharharhar. Anyway. No more "fun" facts. But really, what a beautiful sight this must have been. How great would it have been to walk around and see everything come to life??

Related posts:

WDW Construction: Magic Kingdom
WDW Construction: Liberty Square
WDW Construction: Contemporary Resort
Walt Disney World in 1971 [Part 1]
Walt Disney World in 1971 [Part 2]
Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain Construction
EPCOT Construction from the Air

Walt Disney World in 1971 [Part 1]

October 1 marks not only the anniversary of the opening of EPCOT Center (1982) but the openings of Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World (1971) as well. We present some wonderful color photos of Magic Kingdom taken by a construction worker in 1971. These photos come courtesy of Nomeus of www.flurbex.com who is the grandson of man behind the camera. These photos are exclusive to ImagineeringDisney.com.

North end of Main Street.

An almost dry moat. Look at the freshly-installed sea serpent topiary.

Tomorrowland spires with a man on top! That's Nomeus' grandfather.

Tomorrowland opened in 1971 without the PeopleMover, Rockettower Plaza, Space Mountain, or Carousel of Progress which would all be visible from this angle today.

Grandfather walking on an unfinished Tomorrowland roof.

A view of the parking lot east of Main Street. Town Square and main entrance on the far right.

Backside of Main Street East.

Grand Prix Raceway. Anyone know what that is on the overpass?

The caves of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. You'll notice the Skyway line and pillar. The grass hill on the left wasn't there for long. It became the second home to the Fantasyland Art Festival in 1973. Later it became the Enchanted Grove stand. Today it's called Cheshire Café.

More 20K! No water yet.

More colorful 20K. In the background you can see the top of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Can you imagine walking around every morning watching the place come to life?? 

 Everyone who wasn’t on the construction crew was invited to visit the Walt Disney World Preview Center. Today you can still drive by the building which is currently home to the Amateur Athletic Union. It’s located at 1910 Hotel Plaza Boulevard near Downtown Disney.

A big thanks to Nomeus and his family for the photos. Stay tuned for Part 2 where we share more of these gorgeous photos.

Related posts:

WDW Before Opening Day 1971
WDW Construction: Magic Kingdom
THEN AND NOW: MK Tomorrowland [Part 1]
Bin Laden Mansion Minutes From Walt Disney World
20K- 1979
20K Lagoon- 1982

Magic Kingdom at Night

Will you be pulling an all-nighter at Disneyland or Magic Kingdom as part of Disney's "One More Disney Day"? I will be at home and in bed by ten. After watching "Disneyland After Dark" on dvd of course. Here we present some old nighttime photos of Magic Kingdom.

Where was this photo taken? The top of the train station tower? We get a nice view of backstage parking and even Tinker Bell's landing spot atop one of the Tomorrowland buildings (in green lights).

Many of the following photos were sent to us by Ryan Rewasiewicz as part of our Photo Hunt. They were taken in either 1975 or 1976.

Tomorrowland. STUNNING. What great nighttime views old Tomorrowland offered.

Liberty Square.

Frontierland. And the still-in-operation Diamond Horseshoe.

Adventureland. So nice at night. Look at those old signs. "Tropical Serenade" and "The Enchanted Tiki Birds". The Sunshine Pavilion, unique to Florida, was such a delight. This photo is from an old souvenir picture book.

Ahh the soothing water fountain. Excellent photo, Ryan.

Back to Main Street.

For those of you who make it through the night, this may be your view as you turn around on your way back to your car (minus the Skyway poles, of course). Also from a souvenir book.

Why will I not be there for the Leap Year all-night thing? It does sound fun but I'm going to stick with the memories of the many many all-night adventures I had over the years. Grad Nites, Y2K preparation, Hurricane ride-out crews, other work assignments, sneaking around after hours, sleeping on some old couch in the break room under Main Street.

Related posts:

THEN AND NOW: MK Tomorrowland [Part 1]
If This Doesn't Scare You.....
Magic Kingdom Map Found in a Main Street Wall
THEN AND NOW: MK Fantasyland [Part 1]
Atop Cinderella Castle
EYE CANDY: National Geographic Aug '63
EYE CANDY: Not Having Fun at Disneyland