'World' title appropriate at opening?

darrelljon

Active Member
Original Poster
At the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 were there any thoughts on the appropriateness of the title 'World' since it only consisted of Magic Kingdom with the next park EPCOT opening over a decade away.
 

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
At the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 were there any thoughts on the appropriateness of the title 'World' since it only consisted of Magic Kingdom with the next park EPCOT opening over a decade away.
Not really. Most people back then didn't call the theme park with the castle the "Magic Kingdom". If you said you were going to "Walt Disney World" the castle park was the implied destination. To this day you will still find people who refer to the Magic Kingdom as Walt Disney World because, when they went, that park was basically the only thing that was there.
 
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Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Not really. Most people back then didn't call the theme park with the castle the "Magic Kingdom". If you said you were going to "Walt Disney World" the castle park was the implied destination. To this day you will still find people who refer to the Magic Kingdom as Walt Disney World because, when they went, that park was basically the only thing that was there.

During my trip to DL I heard someone say that they were going to Epcot's Animal Studios...I had to think about that at first...Then figured out they were referring to DCA...Since many of the rides were cloned...:hilarious:
 
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marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Absolutely it was a world. There was nothing like it.

The park. 2 hotels. Golf. Campground. Lakes. Canals. Monorail. Hotel plaza and the starts of the shopping village.

Not to mention the north and east service areas, infrastructure and ever growing road system.

Plus every year it grew inside - and out of - the park.
 

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
Walt named it 'Disney World' due to the size of the land he bought and unlike Disneyland which was just a theme park, Disney World was intended to be the huge futuristic city of EPCOT where people lived, worked and vacationed and so people wouldn't need to leave this perfect 'World' Walt had dreamed up. Walt was forced to build Magic Kingdom against his wishes so investors would invest in EPCOT as they did not see it as a viable project without it. Of course these plans didn't come to fruition and we have what we have today which was probably for the better since Disney would have gone bankrupt.

The WDC tried to fulfill Walt's wish with the much smaller scale town of Celebration which was once on WDW property but got sold off a few years back. They tried again recently with Golden Oak near Magic Kingdom.

I think the name still suits given it its size and the amount of things to see and do there.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
A Phase 1 not being your complete planned build out does not mean a project is some sort of deception. It was known before construction began on Phase 1 that the Florida property was intended for much more than just a second Disneyland.

The WDC tried to fulfill Walt's wish with the much smaller scale town of Celebration which was once on WDW property but got sold off a few years back. They tried again recently with Golden Oak near Magic Kingdom
Celebration was about avoiding property taxes. Philosophically it has organizational similarities to EPCOT but was never about 'completing' that project. The land was also sold off immediately to keep residents from voting inside the Reedy Creek Inprovement District. Golden Oak is the complete antithesis of EPCOT.
 

Tom

Beta Return
At the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 were there any thoughts on the appropriateness of the title 'World' since it only consisted of Magic Kingdom with the next park EPCOT opening over a decade away.

The people who started it all actually had foresight, unlike the people who run it today. They KNEW what it was, and what it would become.
 

ShoalFox

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Compared to Disneyland both at opening day and modern times, YES. Disneyland is entirely surrounded by the city of Anaheim, and as a result doesn't have much room to expand. Disney World, on the other hand, takes up an area in Florida bigger than the size of Manhattan. It has the most attractions and accommodations of any Disney park around the world BY FAR and there's still plenty of room to spare. It's the only Disney property where a transportation service is required because of how massive it is. Even though there wasn't as much in 1971, it was still much more of a "world" than Anaheim was in 1971.
 

matt9112

Well-Known Member
Compared to Disneyland both at opening day and modern times, YES. Disneyland is entirely surrounded by the city of Anaheim, and as a result doesn't have much room to expand. Disney World, on the other hand, takes up an area in Florida bigger than the size of Manhattan. It has the most attractions and accommodations of any Disney park around the world BY FAR and there's still plenty of room to spare. It's the only Disney property where a transportation service is required because of how massive it is. Even though there wasn't as much in 1971, it was still much more of a "world" than Anaheim was in 1971.

When you consider anything an attraction sure.....Disneyland has more "real rides" than all four WDW parks I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong somebody on here did the math.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
When you consider anything an attraction sure.....Disneyland has more "real rides" than all four WDW parks I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong somebody on here did the math.
Whether or not that is true, World is appropriate for WDW and really doesn't have anything to do with the number of attractions. First, it was the name that Walt gave it after he let go of "Florida Project" title (i.e. Disney World, Walt was added later by Roy). It had MK, but it also had hotels, a number of restaurants, Shopping area, water park, Camp ground and land/sea recreational areas plus Golf Courses. It had enough entry road to get to MK to classify it as a World anyway.
 

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