Your Guide to the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom - Late 1980

I wrote about a Magic Kingdom guide that my family actually used during a March, 1981 visit to the parks, however that guide was actually published in early 1980 and the one pictured here published later on. How do I know? Because this guide shows Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on the park map and the Mickey Mouse Revue has been removed. Big Thunder opened in the Magic Kingdom on September 23, 1980, while the Mickey Mouse Revue closed in Florida on September 14, 1980.

The early and late 1980 guides are essentially the same other than those two attractions and advertising different Disney movies inside the back cover.

Your Complete Guide to Walt Disney World - 1975

The 1975 version of "Your Complete Guide to Walt Disney World" is very similar in structure and content to what was once contained in the Walt Disney World Information Guide and would later appear in a different looking Complete Guide. The brochure begins by highlighting some of the ways the Magic Kingdom celebrated the bicentennial, including a description of America on Parade and promoting the fact that Hall of Presidents, previously an E-ticket attraction, would be available to all park guests for free in 1975 and, "continuing through the summer of 1976."

The section on Magic Kingdom admission pricing is expanded from earlier guides, with additional ticket books offered, including one encouraging 2 day visits, though with less specificity on how many of each category of tickets are part of each ticket book. The sections describing the Magic Kingdom is consolidated, so attractions, shopping, and dining are all listed together for each land, while the detailed maps for each land that appeared in older guides have been removed, replaced by a detailed foldout map of the entire park, located in the center of the guide. Sections titled, "Tips on Your Visit," and "Helpful Information," which continued into future guides also appear in this brochure, as do four full pages of GAF Photo tips.

The Guide also includes detailed descriptions of each Disney resort, starting with the Polynesian Village (which previously was listed after the Contemporary), followed by the Contemporary Resort Golf Resort, Fort Wilderness, and Lake Buena Vista. The descriptions of the amenities at the larger resorts also now include information about which floor to find restaurants, shops, and other important locations in each hotel's main building. The concludes with a whimsically draw map of the full Walt Disney World property, accompanied by transportation information, along with ads for Disney's big theater release of No Deposit No Return and for the park's photography sponsor, GAF.

 

 

 

 

Walt Disney World Vacation Guide - 1981

This Walt Disney World Vacation Guide, published to detail activities around the resort during the time of the Tencennial celebration, covering the end of 1981 through most of 1982. The Guide is very similar to the 1980 version, with the notable addition of some discussion and promotion of the soon to be completed EPCOT Center, an insert encouraging guests to purchase the first edition of Steve Birnbaum's Official Guide to Walt Disney World, and replacing the colorful resort map at the end of the book with a more utilitarian rendering of the resort.

The Vacation Information packed inserted into the center of the guide also increased in size, to 16 pages. Some additions are somewhat mundane, with a discussion of the Car Care Center, the "Babysitting" heading changing to "Child Care," a new section talking about the Mouseketeer Clubhouse at the Polynesian and Contemporary, and a mention of on-site Rotary Club meetings. More significantly, ticket books are no longer mentioned, but a 1-Day "Unlimited Passport" has been added, offering access to all the rides in the Magic Kingdom as often as you wish to ride them. Also of note is an offer to tear out and mail-in an offer for a commemorative ticket to EPCOT Center and another new mail-in form encouraging guests to try Wonders of Walt Disney World learning programs.

A few other changes on the dining front are noticeable, including a new Moonlight Review, featuring "Specialty cocktails and appetizers with South Seas entertainment" added to the entertainment offerings at the Polynesian. Also at the Polynesian is a second character breakfast on property (joining Breakfast a la Disney on the Empress Lilly), Minnie's Menehune Breakfast, a sign of the increasing popularity of character meals around the resort.