What were the Differences between Magic Kingdom and Disneyland from 1971

[MK-fan]

What were the differences between the attractions that opened at Magic Kingdom during its early years compared to Disneyland, what updates were made, new scenes, different vehicles, etc.?

Here’s a list I made but I would love to know more

1) Jungle Cruise (New Temple Scene)
2) Tropical Serenade (New Animatronic Pre-Show)
3) The Haunted Mansion (New Piano Ghost/Library Scene)
4) Peter Pan’s Flight (Reimagined Version)
5) Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Reimagined Version with 2 different Experiences)
6) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (New Vehicle Exterior and some new scenes)
7) Snow White’s Adventures (Reimagined Version)
8) Mad Tea Party (Tent Roof Added)
9) It’s a Small World (Showrooms now submerged in water)
10) Grand Circuit Raceway (Different Track Layout and Raceway)
11) Pirates of the Caribbean (New Treasure Room Scene and Old Bill)
12) Star Jets (Different Rocket Vehicles)

New Attractions/rides:
1) Country Bear Jamboree
2) The Hall of Presidents
3) The Mickey Mouse Revue
4) Plaza Swan Boats
5) If You Had Wings
6) Space Mountain


Would love more detailed insights on this topic.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Pretty good list!

 

[lazyboy97o]

8) Mad Tea Party (Tent Roof Added)

The roof was not added until 1974.

 

[Phroobar]

The Country Bear Jamboree opened in MK Oct 1, 1971 while it opened at DL on March 4,1972. Both were identical except the exterior and lobby.
Space Mountain opened in the MK Jan 15,1975 and had duel tracks and same layout as the Matterhorn. DL version opened on May 27, 1977 with one track and different loading area.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Space Mountain opened in the MK Jan 15,1975 and had duel tracks and same layout as the Matterhorn.

Space Mountain does not have the same track layout at the Matterhorn.

 

[MK-fan]

The track layout is similar but not identical

 

[TP2000]

The roof was not added until 1974.

Here's the Teacups in its 1971-73 roofless version.

Appropriately, it is closed in this photo because it has just rained (again), as it often does in Florida and the Teacups ride system doesn't work in the rain. Somehow they forgot that when they built this in Florida to look just like the roofless Anaheim version, because it never rains in Southern California ("But man, it pours").

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

There's no way Space Mountain has the same track design as Matterhorn. I mean, from the start, you go down a long tunnel in Space Mountain with flashing lights whereas the Matterhorn goes up the hill.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The track layout is similar but not identical

They’re similar in that there are two sides, but that is about it. Space Mountain‘s tracks are largely independent of one another versus the interaction between the sides of the Matterhorn.

 

[Rich T]

Some of the things taken away for the MK versions:

Pirates of the Caribbean: MK version omitted the first half of the ride, including the bayou, the restaurant float-by, the big first drop, the haunted caves and most of the skeletons. Omitted drunken gun battle finale. Changed the general story from DL’s Cursed-Treasure-That-Sends-You-Back-In-Time to MK’s Escape-The-Pirates-Attacking-the-Loading-Area-Fort.

Tiki Room: Dropped the Lanai preshow with its cast of gods and goddesses.

When Country Bears opened at Disneyland, it had double capacity, with two identical theaters loading from the same lobby. The woodsy exterior was themed to make you feel that the lobby and show were located underground within a hillside. Unfortunately, having two theaters made the show seem less popular, since the capacity was greater than the demand, and this contributed to the eventual Poohmagedon.

Just a personal note: I loved the original terrifying, relentless version of MK’s Snow White ride before it was toned down. It was so wonderfully, diabolically twisted, and the Imagineers knew darn well what they were doing.

And while I found MK’s Mr. Toad less intense than DL’s, I loved Rolly Crump’s designs and the Intertwining of two very different journeys.

 

[TP2000]

The Country Bear Jamboree opened in MK Oct 1, 1971 while it opened at DL on March 4,1972. Both were identical except the exterior and lobby.

The Disneyland version had two separate theaters, as they wanted more capacity in Disneyland. Here is the Disneyland lobby with two sets of theater doors; blue doors to Theater 1, followed by red doors to Theater 2 further down the lobby. Close to showtime the hostess would announce which doors you should line up in front of. When the blue doors opened you basically walked straight into the theater, but when the red set of doors opened you made a hard right turn and walked down a hallway before turning left and into the second theater.

At Disneyland with both theaters running, the doors to the 15 minute long show in a 300 seat theater opened every 10 minutes.

Ironically, the show was wildly popular with WDW audiences from the South and Midwest, and only mildly popular with Disneyland audiences from the West. On a Saturday night in 1972 folks in South Carolina would tune in to watch Hee-Haw, while folks in California would tune in to watch Laugh-In. Their entertainment choices on vacation were similar.

Like so many weird things done at WDW, they wedged the single theater up against the Tiki Room theater on the other side of the wall, effectively preventing them from expanding.

They should have built the two-theater mega capacity version at WDW and only built Disneyland's with one theater.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Some other changes made to Tropical Serenade:
-Larger, higher capacity theater
-Redesigned theater aesthetics with tribal art styled panels
-More technologically advanced animatronic birds with better animation.

 

[disneyC97]

Some other changes made to Tropical Serenade:
-Larger, higher capacity theater
-Redesigned theater aesthetics with tribal art styled panels
-More technologically advanced animatronic birds with better animation.

And oranges in the central fountain floral display as opposed to pineapples. This reflected the original sponsor: Florida Citrus Growers.

 

[FerretAfros]

While there are a handful of individual attractions that have differences between the two parks, the biggest difference is the master planning effort that went into MK. While DL is known for its details and charm, MK and all of WDW Phase 1 focused on the layout, infrastructure, and operations to a degree that the company hasn't really considered since. People throughout the contry even today often remark that Disney should run various local utilities, transit, and services, which is testament to just how groundbreaking a lot of the planning-level decisions were.

While the individual elements may be too many to count, some of the more famous ones are DACS (Digital Animation Control System, the centralized computerized show controls), entirely sub-grade utilities and infrastructure, the Utilidors, pneumatic waste disposal, and the arrival sequence from the Transportation and Ticket Center across/around Bay Lake to the park entrance.

Like so many weird things done at WDW, they wedged the single theater up against the Tiki Room theater on the other side of the wall, effectively preventing them from expanding.

This was actually an intentional decision made early in the park planning. All of the park's original AA-heavy attractions were built in pairs, to facilitate consolidated infrastructure and maintenance. Country Bear Jamboree shared a building with Tropical Serenade, Hall of Presidents shared a building with Mickey Mouse Review, and Haunted Mansion and it's a small world were paired together. This allowed shared communications duct banks from the DACS room to the individual facilities, along with shared storage facilities for routine maintenance. In a clever move, each of these pairs was split between two lands, to make their proximity less obvious.

Attractions with less complex figures (Jungle Cruise, Fantasyland dark rides, etc.) or fewer AAs (Flight to the Moon) were scattered around to help balance things out. When Pirates of the Caribbean, Carousel of Progress, and Splash Mountain were added after park opening, they were unable to share infrastructure due to the piecemeal build-out. When the resort transitioned from magnetic tape storage to compact disc in the 80's and 90's, the centralized DACs system was abandoned, since the media had gotten small enough that it could be managed within each individual facility.

Similarly, several of the park's largest restaurants were paired together, sharing walls and kitchen facilities between the Adventureland Veranda and Diamond Horseshoe, Liberty Tree Tavern and Columbia Harbor House, and Pecos Bill and (when Caribbean Plaza was added in 1973) El Pirata Y El Perico.



Interestingly, one of the biggest differences between DL and MK today was actually a similarity at one point. While DL's parade route now ends at it's a small world, it originally turned left at the castle, snaked along Rivers of America, and exited the park near the Frontierland train station. Documentation of this is tough to find, as the park's parades were more infrequent and had considerably smaller floats than the daily rolling barges we see today (which require a much larger route), but as best I can tell the change occurred some time in the second half of the 1960's, around the time New Orleans Square and Small World Mall were added. While it had likely already switched prior to MK's opening, the similarity was there during the park's planning stages

Here are some cards from Wonderland walking through the Frontierland gate

This one is a little harder to make out, but the sign on the right side appears to be for Aunt Jemima's Kitchen, which was in the building that is currently home to the Riverbelle Terrace

 

[disneyC97]

While there are a handful of individual attractions that have differences between the two parks, the biggest difference is the master planning effort that went into MK. While DL is known for its details and charm, MK and all of WDW Phase 1 focused on the layout, infrastructure, and operations to a degree that the company hasn't really considered since. People throughout the contry even today often remark that Disney should run various local utilities, transit, and services, which is testament to just how groundbreaking a lot of the planning-level decisions were.

While the individual elements may be too many to count, some of the more famous ones are DACS (Digital Animation Control System, the centralized computerized show controls), entirely sub-grade utilities and infrastructure, the Utilidors, pneumatic waste disposal, and the arrival sequence from the Transportation and Ticket Center across/around Bay Lake to the park entrance.


This was actually an intentional decision made early in the park planning. All of the park's original AA-heavy attractions were built in pairs, to facilitate consolidated infrastructure and maintenance. Country Bear Jamboree shared a building with Tropical Serenade, Hall of Presidents shared a building with Mickey Mouse Review, and Haunted Mansion and it's a small world were paired together. This allowed shared communications duct banks from the DACS room to the individual facilities, along with shared storage facilities for routine maintenance. In a clever move, each of these pairs was split between two lands, to make their proximity less obvious.

Attractions with less complex figures (Jungle Cruise, Fantasyland dark rides, etc.) or fewer AAs (Flight to the Moon) were scattered around to help balance things out. When Pirates of the Caribbean, Carousel of Progress, and Splash Mountain were added after park opening, they were unable to share infrastructure due to the piecemeal build-out. When the resort transitioned from magnetic tape storage to compact disc in the 80's and 90's, the centralized DACs system was abandoned, since the media had gotten small enough that it could be managed within each individual facility.

Similarly, several of the park's largest restaurants were paired together, sharing walls and kitchen facilities between the Adventureland Veranda and Diamond Horseshoe, Liberty Tree Tavern and Columbia Harbor House, and Pecos Bill and (when Caribbean Plaza was added in 1973) El Pirata Y El Perico.



Interestingly, one of the biggest differences between DL and MK today was actually a similarity at one point. While DL's parade route now ends at it's a small world, it originally turned left at the castle, snaked along Rivers of America, and exited the park near the Frontierland train station. Documentation of this is tough to find, as the park's parades were more infrequent and had considerably smaller floats than the daily rolling barges we see today (which require a much larger route), but as best I can tell the change occurred some time in the second half of the 1960's, around the time New Orleans Square and Small World Mall were added. While it had likely already switched prior to MK's opening, the similarity was there during the park's planning stages

Here are some cards from Wonderland walking through the Frontierland gate

This one is a little harder to make out, but the sign on the right side appears to be for Aunt Jemima's Kitchen, which was in the building that is currently home to the Riverbelle Terrace

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing all of this information!

 

[SuddenStorm]

While there are a handful of individual attractions that have differences between the two parks, the biggest difference is the master planning effort that went into MK. While DL is known for its details and charm, MK and all of WDW Phase 1 focused on the layout, infrastructure, and operations to a degree that the company hasn't really considered since. People throughout the contry even today often remark that Disney should run various local utilities, transit, and services, which is testament to just how groundbreaking a lot of the planning-level decisions were.

While the individual elements may be too many to count, some of the more famous ones are DACS (Digital Animation Control System, the centralized computerized show controls), entirely sub-grade utilities and infrastructure, the Utilidors, pneumatic waste disposal, and the arrival sequence from the Transportation and Ticket Center across/around Bay Lake to the park entrance.


This was actually an intentional decision made early in the park planning. All of the park's original AA-heavy attractions were built in pairs, to facilitate consolidated infrastructure and maintenance. Country Bear Jamboree shared a building with Tropical Serenade, Hall of Presidents shared a building with Mickey Mouse Review, and Haunted Mansion and it's a small world were paired together. This allowed shared communications duct banks from the DACS room to the individual facilities, along with shared storage facilities for routine maintenance. In a clever move, each of these pairs was split between two lands, to make their proximity less obvious.

Attractions with less complex figures (Jungle Cruise, Fantasyland dark rides, etc.) or fewer AAs (Flight to the Moon) were scattered around to help balance things out. When Pirates of the Caribbean, Carousel of Progress, and Splash Mountain were added after park opening, they were unable to share infrastructure due to the piecemeal build-out. When the resort transitioned from magnetic tape storage to compact disc in the 80's and 90's, the centralized DACs system was abandoned, since the media had gotten small enough that it could be managed within each individual facility.

Similarly, several of the park's largest restaurants were paired together, sharing walls and kitchen facilities between the Adventureland Veranda and Diamond Horseshoe, Liberty Tree Tavern and Columbia Harbor House, and Pecos Bill and (when Caribbean Plaza was added in 1973) El Pirata Y El Perico.



Interestingly, one of the biggest differences between DL and MK today was actually a similarity at one point. While DL's parade route now ends at it's a small world, it originally turned left at the castle, snaked along Rivers of America, and exited the park near the Frontierland train station. Documentation of this is tough to find, as the park's parades were more infrequent and had considerably smaller floats than the daily rolling barges we see today (which require a much larger route), but as best I can tell the change occurred some time in the second half of the 1960's, around the time New Orleans Square and Small World Mall were added. While it had likely already switched prior to MK's opening, the similarity was there during the park's planning stages

Here are some cards from Wonderland walking through the Frontierland gate

This one is a little harder to make out, but the sign on the right side appears to be for Aunt Jemima's Kitchen, which was in the building that is currently home to the Riverbelle Terrace

Baxter often talks about looking into the area underneath the Haunted Mansion during the 1960s while on the Disneyland Railroad and seeing parade floats stored there. The original parade route is one of those things that's not really discussed- thanks for sharing those two excellent photos!

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Since PotC was not originally intended to ever be part of Magic Kingdom, I've always wondered what they had in mind for that plot of land. Was there a concept or was it just land banked for something that was to though up later?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Since PotC was not originally intended to ever be part of Magic Kingdom, I've always wondered what they had in mind for that plot of land. Was there a concept or was it just land banked for something that was to though up later?

I’m not sure if it was meant for the same plot of land, but Western River Expedition was the original replacement for Pirates.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I’m not sure if it was meant for the same plot of land, but Western River Expedition was the original replacement for Pirates.

Sounds right. I think it was to go where Big Thunder and Splash are now though, not Caribbean Plaza.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Sounds right. I think it was to go where Big Thunder and Splash are now though, not Caribbean Plaza.

Here is the image Passports to Dreams has based off of images of the original model which can also be found online. So it was just the Big Thunder plot, although it would've also taken up some of the Splash Mountain site.