Magic Kingdom Had a Lot More Stuff!

[Animaniac93-98]

To easily highlight all the stores, restaurants, attractions and shows The Magic Kingdom used to have, I thought it would be easiest to go through old guidebooks (when they were books, not just fold out maps) land by land, to illustrate how minimized the park experience in comparison is today. And that's ignoring the changes in prices and booking policies...

Starting with Main Street:

You'll notice right away that Main Street had more attractions. The Walt Disney Story was a precursor to One Man's Dream and featured among other things, a large mural of Disney animated characters that was first installed in 1973 and updated with more characters until 1986. The space would occasionally host previews of other parks and exhibits even after The Walt Disney Story ended in 1991.

Center Street used to run East and West until 2001 when the West side became an expansion of the Emporium. It was then the Barber Shop was moved to its current location. Main Street Athletic company took over the space occupied by The Magic Shop [when it was an actual shop] and the Penny Arcade in 1995. The old Athletic Store used to have a photo op you could pay for, but even that's gone.

The Crystal Palace used to operate like Disneyland's Plaza Inn. A "buffeteria" in Disney speak. This was Main Street's primary fast food outlet and Refreshment Corner (now Casey's Corner) was additional food supply. When Crystal Palace became a character buffet that put a strain on Casey's that it was never built to handle, even with an expanded outdoor seating area.

The Camera Centre, Chapeau and Confectionary are now all just the Confectionary. Market House has since merged with Crystal Arts.

There used to be a tobacco store on Main Street too, though it's easy to understand why that's gone.

In general there was more variety when it came to what there was to look at and do, a recurring theme we'll see going through the park

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I've posted this many times before, but it bears repeating as it's an excellent all in one resource.

Adventureland's attraction line up hasn't changed much, but it's retail selection is a far cry from what it used to be:

https://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-forgotten-shops-of-adventureland.html

The Adventureland Veranda was this land's equivalent to Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bills. A large, high volume cafeteria restaurant. It closed in the early 90s, briefly reopened later in the decade and then sat dormant for a long time before reopening as Skipper Canteen. The Jungle Cruise restaurant is a fun, welcome addition, but unfortunately does not satisfy guest demand for meals in the same way the Veranda was designed to function.

I also like the photo of the old Treasure Room scene from Pirates which had a lot more animatronics.

 

[Figments Friend]

Yep.

Today’s Guests have no idea how much they are ‘missing’.

Remember boating on the Seven Seas Lagoon…in Sunfish sailboats, and paddle boats?
Water skiing Goofy…?

Yeah, I remember.

-

 

[lazyboy97o]

The Adventureland Veranda was this land's equivalent to Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bills. A large, high volume cafeteria restaurant. It closed in the early 90s, briefly reopened later in the decade and then sat dormant for a long time before reopening as Skipper Canteen. The Jungle Cruise restaurant is a fun, welcome addition, but unfortunately does not satisfy guest demand for meals in the same way the Veranda was designed to function.

Broken record time! Disney still has not fully replaced the capacity lost by closing the Adventureland Veranda. Skipper Canteen only replaced part of the facility. Quick service also accommodates more people on an instantaneous and hourly basis. The park sees millions of more visitors. A prime example of less being offered.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Inexplicably missing from this map is the Davy Crockett Canoes, which along with the Mike Fink Keelboats shows how the soon to be shuttered Rivers of America had more watercraft back in the day. Aunt Polly's still exists but just has a vending machine now instead of sandwiches and snacks. It has on rare occasions reopened, but won't have any more chances to do so now.

As with Adventureland, some of these shops like the Tricornered Hat Shop are now just storage space. The Haunted Mansion's queue usually runs past Ichabod's Landing (aka The Keelboat Shop) making it inaccessible most of the time. Yankee Trader is now Memento Mori which did once sell "unusual cooking and serving accessories" before it became the kind of Mickey Mouse kitchen stuff you could get at Marketplace.

Heritage House was probably one of the longest running OG MK shops before it became guest service space.

Old World Antiques, the perfume shop and Silversmith were what used to occupy the current Christmas store. Not on this map is the Fife and Drum snack bar, which still exists behind the Xmas store, but isn't used.

Mile Long Bar had Melvin, Buff and Max from the Country Bear Jamboree singing songs as people ate.

The Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree was one of several variations of the show that used to be in this saloon from day 1 until 2003. A guest favorite that people used to go get reservations for first thing in the morning (!) until it allowed walk ups beginning in 1996. The building is still open and serving food obviously, but not having an actual show remains one of MK's most glaring shortcomings considering what used to be a genuine park staple.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

New Fantasyland? Give me Old Fantasyland any day!

I won't talk about the attractions only because it's a matter of taste whether you prefer Mr Toad, 20,000 Leagues and what not over what is there now. I'll only point out that on this map, where PhilharMagic is now was vacant until 1987 when Magic Journeys made its way over here from EPCOT. The first 3D movie to play in this theater also ran the old Donald Duck cartoon "Working for Peanuts" as its pre-show.

Fantasy Faire is where there used to be a rising stage for performers, like the one in Cosmic Ray's.

I personally get a kick out of Magic Kingdom once having a quick serve named after a character from The Black Cauldron

Troubadour Tavern became Peter Pan's FastPass distribution area, Royal Candy Shop became Seven Dwarf's Mining Company but when Fairy Tale Hall opened it stopped being a store at all.

Magic Kingdom used to have these kiosks throughout the park where you could buy your A-E ticket books without having to go back to the front gate or City Hall. After ticket books ended these became simple merch kiosks like "Nemo's Niche". I believe most are gone now except one in Adventureland?

Needless to say any version of the Snow White dark ride is better than having a meet 'n greet hall in its place

I really liked The King's Gallery. Another OG store that lasted over 30 years before becoming BBB. MK not having these kinds of stores diminishes its appeal to older guests IMO.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

This was obviously pre "New Tomorrowland", which is when I think the land peaked, but it's still fun to look at this map and see how long some of these things lasted. Yes, the Speedway has always kind of stayed the same for better or worse besides having it's track modified (most significantly in 1988 for Mickey's Birthdayland...now Storybook Circus).

The Tomorrowland Theater was renamed The Galaxy Palace Theater in 1994 and would host shows like Disney Mania but was torn down for employee parking (yay?). The announced, but cancelled, Main Street Theater would have been a nice alternative indoor version for more elaborate shows.

The Plaza Pavilion is now Tomorrowland Terrace, which was the old name for Cosmic Ray's. Confused? I still am after Disney switched Aloha Isle and Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland. Whatever they call it, it should be open.

RYCA 1 Dream of a New World was one of the post-shows Space Mountain used to have, back when it had a sponsor and was a multi-faceted experience (with a working speed belt to get you through the exit).

Both RCA and GE had lounges in this land that remain unused.

The Skyway station is gone, but the restrooms underneath are still there. It's funny to me that after The Skyway closed people argued for why it should have been removed, only for the company to build a much larger Skyway elsewhere in WDW.

 

[UNCgolf]

What year are these from? I assume 1986 since you mention Magic Journeys came over in 1987, and Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies wouldn't have existed earlier than that.

Also, I'd kill to get to visit this version of the Magic Kingdom for one day. Early 1990s would probably be better with Splash Mountain existing but most of the rest of this stuff still there (plus could go visit peak EPCOT too, and the interesting/exceptionally well-themed version of Disney-MGM that existed at that time), but regardless.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Very sad to see how many things were lost over the years. Seems to mostly boil down to each line of business over emphasizing yield management and not thinking of the overall experience. Each shuttered venue is less capacity. At least merchant of Venus became a seating area instead of just closed off. Adventureland used to have lots of interesting shops and now all that’s left is a sunglass hut and the pirates exit. The Frontierland candy store never came back etc etc. What nonsense.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

What year are these from? I assume 1986 since you mention Magic Journeys came over in 1987, and Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies wouldn't have existed earlier than that.

Also, I'd kill to get to visit this version of the Magic Kingdom for one day. Early 1990s would probably be better with Splash Mountain existing but most of the rest of this stuff still there (plus could go visit peak EPCOT too, and the interesting/exceptionally well-themed version of Disney-MGM that existed at that time), but regardless.

I think these maps are from mid-80s to early 90s.

The Magic Kingdom of 1992 with Splash and SpectroMagic, plus all this other stuff too gets my vote.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think these maps are from mid-90s to early 90s.

The Magic Kingdom of 1992 with Splash and SpectroMagic, plus all this other stuff too gets my vote.

Oh, they aren't all from the same year. The Fantasyland one must be 1986 or maybe 1987, since you said Magic Journeys would be there after, and obviously Splash would be there starting in 1993 (or possibly 1992 with an "opening later this year" thing).

 

[EagleScout610]

Oh, they aren't all from the same year. The Fantasyland one must be 1986 or maybe 1987, since you said Magic Journeys would be there after, and obviously Splash would be there starting in 1993 (or possibly 1992 with an "opening later this year" thing).

1991, the last year pre-Splash.