Trip Report Photos From Opening Day: Good News & Not So Good News

The good news is that my son and DIL have been cleaning up some of the eons of clutter that have amassed in our household. This was their Christmas present to us. It has been a wonderful gift. Our son brought box loads of photos up from our basement and spread them about the living room. He told me without hurting my knees I could sit and sort photos into different categories and place in appropriately marked containers. He got involved in the sorting process tonight and unearthed a pack of photos from WDW opening day. In my TR I was complemented on my good memory for details almost 44 years old. I had totally forgotten about these photos so I guess I had a major senior moment brain cramp.

The not so good news is that my son’s older laptop went “bluescreen” when he attempted to go WIFI. There is a chance I can download the necessary drive files for old scanner on a flash drive and load on his laptop. Then we will be able to “hopefully” scan the majority of our photos that were taken on 35mm.

If I can do this correctly here are some pics of 10/01/1971 @ WDW.

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[SleepyPuppy]

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Our honeymoon hotel in Daytona Beach and departure point for WDW on 10/01/1971
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Becky on the hotel balconyView attachment 104979
The tram from the parking lot. Our first Disney ride. Notice the empty seats.View attachment 104980
Heading to the monorail platform for our second Disney ride.
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Cool looking transportation even in 2015!
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View from monorail on the way to Magic Kingdom.
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Exiting the monorail. Notice the lack of greens near the platform. Just real new plants.
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Once our son was born in 1981 and old enough to visit WDW in 1985 his favorite saying was "There goes the monorail"
"Yep, there it goes." Was always my reply while wearing a big smile.

 

[pajammies]

Wow, those very cool to look at!
Amazingly clear too. I've seen my parents pictures from around the same time and they are just not that good.
Although I must say, mom has never been the best photographer.

 

[SleepyPuppy]

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Main entrance. Eeyore wondering where all the guests are.
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Tigger says "whatever'.
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There were more characters than guests, Except for the group gathered in the background. I think they were the largest assemblage we noticed all day.

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Right inside the main portal. I can almost smell the fresh popped kernels now.
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Totally beautiful sight to find at the end of Main Street. Not many views like it.

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The characters are mobbed by a toddler and his mommy. Security, security where are you?

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[SleepyPuppy]

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Notice the guy with the tripod and the film style camera. I would love to see some of his footage.
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Not exactly at maximum load capacity. Perhaps an “A” ticket was too steep a fare.View attachment 104999

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Here is Becky just happy not to be put in the paddy wagon.

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What a crowd on Main Street. The only three people on the streetcar are cast members.View attachment 105002
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The que partitions for the carousel are vacant. I love the carousel and this is a beautiful one.

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Only married six days and Becky found someone cuter than me; can't blame her he is one of the more loveable characters.

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Well lookie there. Everyone in the park decided to hit Small World. You know the song will be haunting them all day. I’m pretty sure it is creeping back into my head as I post. Darn!!!

 

[SleepyPuppy]

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Becky rode the buckets with me. They were running a complete round trip so you departed from the same loading area where you boarded. It was a great view and a peaceful journey over the Magic kingdom.

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Notice the construction cranes surrounding the Contemporary installing the modular rooms. A rather snobby Cast Member (highly unusual for a Disney Gal) argued with me on one of our later visits that the Contemporary was open. I made sure she understood “opening day” and not “Grand Opening” but she insisted she was accurate. I present my proof. Neener, Neener.

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20,000 Leagues wasn’t finished yet. I guess it is now though. Cool attraction but keeping the water clear in the FLA sun was an issue.

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Nothing better to top off your day at the Magic Kingdom than a good old fashioned brass band.

 

[SleepyPuppy]

Well I finally got the hang of the picture thing. I was quite pleased with the picture quality. I did use a photo fixer-upper software thingy so I had a little help. The photos were also in an envelope, in a folder, in a box, in a dry cabinet for four decades so I guess the pristine quality was due to no dirty hands pawing all over them.

I will still keep working on the 35mm slide issue. It may take a while but I am persistent.

I enjoyed viewing these again after so long a time and I hope the forum members enjoy as well.

 

[FlaggNL]

Wow thanks for sharing pictures from the best year ever great to see that some characters are quite the same these days! And off course see some characters that aren't there anymore! Very enjoyable to see these pictures!! Can't wait for the rest and off course following along!!

 

[jjbuster2]

Awe, I love it! I wish I could travel back in time and be there that day too (ok, I was born a couple of years later but while I'm whipping up the impossible...). I can't believe how light the crowds were compared to these days! 20,000 Leagues looks so beautiful and I love the Little Pig character and Dumbo's huge ears are too cute! I can't wait to see if you salvage anymore photos so I'll be following along also.

P.S. Your Becky was quite the little cutie back in the day and I love her retro dress (of course I realize it was probably the kind of thing all the ladies were wearing, but still...love it!).

 

[networkpro]

Thank you for sharing your pictures! My grandparents took me the following year to the Magic Kingdom when I was 8.

 

[Zipadeelady]

The pictures are great!! Thanks so much for sharing

 

[melmel89]

Great pictures, they are a lovely part of WDW's history that you can share with your family for generations to come.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

What fantastic pictures from that time. Love the fashions - your Becky looks like she is having a lovely time too! How things have progressed at WDW since then and what beautiful memories to keep.

 

[njDizFan]

Thanks!!, what a great trip report and pictures. That 20K plot was huge.

 

[amysue22]

Amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing. What I would give to go back in time and visit WDW on opening day or even first year

 

[Tuvalu]

Wonderful pictures...I was glad to see the Contemporary one...every article I ever read about the resort had October 1, 1971 as its opening. After you posted your trip report, I googled "Contemporary Opening Date" again and all sources had October 1.

Pictures don't lie .

 

[MinnieM123]

Really enjoying your great pictures! My first visit to WDW was in 1985, so it's fun to see pictures taken prior to that, back in the 70s.

One of the my impressions from your wonderful gallery, is that the 1970s guests appeared to have the same sense of excitement as nowadays; yet, they took the time to savor the sights and sounds, at a slower pace. Seeing the characters casually roaming the parks, guests riding the streetcar on Main Street USA, plenty of benches for relaxing, and the brass band concert, just gives off more of a relaxed, old-fashioned "park" vibe. I like that.

 

[Plowboy]

Great pics!!! I was especially taken with the ones of the Skyway. Brings back very fond memories.

 

[angelahoward]

Oh, these are fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing them with us!

 

[angelahoward]

Oh, and by the way, as someone who sells vintage clothing for a living, Becky's tunic top is an item I covet.