I grew up 9 miles north of the Magic Kingdom. Disney was met with very mixed feelings by the locals. The land deals and political manuvering were seen as very shady. They caused quite a backlash in West Orange County because it seemed that Orlando was getting all the benefit and places like Ocoee, Windermere, and Winter Garden were being left out/taken advantage of. That changed a lot after the hiring started. Disney paid quite well for construction workers. I remember a number of people who got jobs as janitors or groundskeepers or hotel houskeepers who went from real poverty to a living wage because of Disney.
I remember presentations in school about the new city of the future that was going to be built. It was a great time to be a kid in central Florida. We could see rockets going to the moon from our backyards and learned about the monorail and Contemporary Hotel in science class. Heck we knew the guys building the things.
During the sneak previews and opening of the Magic Kingdom Disney flooded the area with free tickets. My folks took some elderly people from church to opening ceremonies. They were afraid of taking children because of the crowds so I didn't get to go until after it had been open for a few weeks. I could have stayed on the monorail and just ridden it all day. We went quite a lot during the first couple of years so my memories are all jumbled about what we rode the first time. I do know we did Hall of Presidents and Country Bear Jamboree. I was disappointed that there was nothing in the castle. I know now that Flight to the Moon, America the Beautiful and 20,000 Leagues weren't open at the beginning but they were best memories I have of those early trips. I was put out when I found out the subs didn't really go under the water. Jungle Cruise was awesome and funny. I loved the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse even though I hated the movie cuz it was so different from the book.
I remember that the food was bland and outrageously priced. We ran out of E tickets and it cost almost a dollar to buy them in the park so we didn't get any. I mean seriously who would pay almost a whole dollar for a ride
. I think rides at the fair were only 15 cents a ticket. :lol: I don't remember seeing a costumed character. I don't remember ever staying for fireworks or seeing a parade.
Did it blow you away like it does now? It was unbelievable. It was spotless. Everything was polished and shiny. There were so many things that had never been seen before. Singing bear robots? How amazing! Moving sidewalks so the people mover didn't have to stop. Pure Genius! Dolls singing the same song in different languages? Let's ride it over and over!
We moved away before Space Mountain was built. I went back in highschool and rode it when EPCOT was being built. Never went back until last fall. It's still awesome to ride the monorail. I do wish that City of the Future had panned out along with those Lunar Colonies I was so sure I was going to retire to! We turned our backs on tomorrow as a culture sometime between Watergate and Challenger. Disney reminds us of our dreams I think.
