Share your experiences for those that went to shortly after it opened

[Walt Disney1955]

How long did you stay on the resort for those that went there in 1971 or shortly after? Even River Country didn't open until 1976 so there was only the Magic Kingdom for a while as far as theme parks go. Did you spend a few days at the resort? A week? Was there still enough to do to fill in your time? What was the general mood of how people reacted to WDW? There would have been many on the east coast that had never been to Disneyland and this would have been there first time.

 

[John park hopper]

I got out of the service in May 72 and my wife (now ex) went for the day. Magic Kingdom was all that was there. I can remember you bought tickets for the attractions, at the time it was not crowded like it is now and it was somrthing you could do all in one day. I can remember the cast members were extremely nice, characters roamed the park and the park was spotless, the monorail was clean and new.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

My first time was in 1979. I was still in junior high and my teacher, despite nearly forty, in the weekends did some pole dancing on the side and one day as I was alone in the gym coming out of the shower sh

....wait, wrong thread

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I didn't go, but my parents did in l971, just after opening. They were completely thrilled, amazed at WDW's few rides. At that time, they had Country Bears, and a few others. Mom and Dad said that even those few attractions had problems with a lot of shut downs while they were there. So, there are the same problems we have now with closures/shutdowns. They said the park was super clean and the CM's were great. They just gushed about WDW when they came home. It seems it was so unique that everyone loved it, even though there were not many attractions right after opening.
They made me and my family want to go, but we had to wait til l983 to go. We found it amazing too.

 

[Minnie Mum]

My first time was in 1975. I was crew on an aircraft that had an unexpected layover when we needed to wait for repairs. A friend and I rented a car for the day and got to MK mid morning. Stayed until we'd used up all the tickets in our little booklets - around dinner time. We were both gobsmacked by the place. The thing that stuck with me was the degree of detail that went into every little thing, right down to theming the trash cans. A few months later we went back. This time we camped at a campground for a few days and went back to MK twice. And we could get great spots to watch the parades only minutes before they started.

 

[Rumrunner]

Went in 76 and returned in 77 with my son and wife. There was only the MK and tickets were a booklet with A rides, B rides, C rides , etc. . We still have some of the original booklets with tickets we did not use. We stayed at Holiday Inn in Orlando and if their were resort hotels I was not aware of them-besides at that time in my life I would not be able to afford them if they even existed.
The fireworks shows were impressive with the patriotic music to accompany the show. It sure made me proud to be a part of this country.
We were totally impressed and captured by the magic. Wish I could remember more of the details. The rides I do remember were Mr Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Race Cars, Singing Bears, and some simulated space ride. I am not sure if Pirates was there-it seems like it was but just don't remember.
We stayed until 1 or 2 in the morning every day.
Had to add a late edit Haunted Mansion was probably the most impressive ride-just forgot about it when I first posted.

 

[Bullseye1967]

We started going in 1971 shortly after WDW opened. We would camp at FW. My Grandparents had a large travel trailer and my family had a smaller one. We would usually stay about 10 days, which was a 2 week vacation with travel time. We would go to the park about every other day, but take multiple day trips to the Tampa beaches, Cape Canaveral, Cypress Gardens, and other spots around central FL. The Magic Kingdom was always fun, and we went through multiple ticket books per child. We also had a blast playing at the campground. I fondly remember the huge "forts" my brother and I would build out of palm fronds. My Grandpa and Dad were always game to take us over to MK, while the other adults relaxed at the campsite. It was a far different Florida back then, but it was still a lot of fun.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I didn't go until 1991, but my dad and his parents went in March of 1973. My grandparents were in their 60s, my dad in his 20s and my dad took one of his buddies with him. Their trip didn't revolve around WDW, but they did go for a day. They also did Cypress Gardens. Dad said everyone loved it. It was different. Stuff like the Country Bear Jamboree was a favourite of theirs. He said he remembered a woman fainting in the waiting area because it was so hot. Funny thing is, they loved the place and we look back at 1973 and think that there were no Splash, Space or Thunder Mountains. Pirates didn't arrive until late 1973. Despite all of that the park was still probably the best theme park in the world (save Disneyland perhaps).