5 Attractions That Came to Disney World in the 80s

After the success of Disneyland, Walt wanted to build another park that was even more exciting and bigger. He envisioned Walt Disney World in 1965 in Bay Lake, FL working tirelessly with engineers and countless contractors. After six years of careful planning, detailing and refinements, Walt Disney World finally opened on October 1st, 1971, along with its two first resorts: the Contemporary Resort Hotel and Polynesian Village.

Since then, Walt Disney World has brought the Walt Disney Company billions of dollars in revenue. Of course, they faced a number of challenges along the way, such as one of the riverboats sinking with guests on it. But by the 80s, their success and revenue had bought them a world of opportunities, and they were ready to expand. Here’s everything that came to Disney World in the 1980s.

1. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (1980)

Anyone who’s been to Disney World has been on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom at least once. It’s faster than Dumbo, but not quite a roller coaster. Imagineers put more focus on the sights around guests than the thrill of the ride. As guests board a runaway mine train that takes them through a Gold Rush, they’re whipped into tight turns as they’re immersed into a wild west experience. Synthetic props are also added in the ride’s wait lines to keep kids busy.

2. Mickey’s Country House and Judge’s Tent (1988)

While it’s last day of operation was long ago, Mickey’s Country House was the self-guided tour through the famous Mickey Mouse House, into his backyard, where you could also see Pluto’s doghouse. Guests also had the option to cut the tour short by just touring the house and skipping meeting Mickey in his tent.

The Country House was so well planned that it boosted anticipation as it housed a ton of Disney memorabilia. Kids could touch everything as it was all welded into the set, completely unbreakable.

3. Walt Disney World Railroad – Fantasyland (1988)

Who knew this famous railroad and train were built in 1988? Starting in the Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland and moving clockwise into Main Street, U.S.A, it then ends at Frontierland. It’s best used when guests’ feet are about to fall off, but not so great when they’re in a hurry. Almost as a ride in itself, guests can get the best peaks into each areas of the park as the real-life locomotive takes them into behind-the-scenes infrastructure. The best part in my opinion is between Frontierland and Main Street, U.S.A. stations.

4. Epcot (1982)

Opening on October 1, 1982, Epcot was the single most expensive private construction project in the world. Disney fans had seen the giant sphere as a shadow of Walt Disney’s dream of utopia, building a dynamic city of innovation and technology.

Epcot was originally intended to be a real city with transit systems, an active city center and even residents. Walt had explained in a 1966 film just before his death that corporations were to use Epcot as a proving ground for new innovations. He believed that during the 1960s, the best way to solve America’s solutions was not fixing the problem but starting from scratch. This would have included moving in multinational corporations and people from all over the world. But after Walt Disney’s death in 1966, the “the Florida project” faltered tremendously and was scaled down to a theme park. EPCOT – the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow was to be a permanent World’s Fair at the end of the World Fair’s golden age.

Here are all the opening day attractions at Epcot:

• The American Adventure
• American Adventure Pavilion
• Canada Pavilion
• France Pavilion
• Germany Pavilion
• Imagination Pavilion
• Impressions de France
• Italy Pavilion
• Japan Pavilion
• The Land Pavilion
• Living with the Land
• Main Entrance
• Mexico Pavilion
• Norway Pavilion
• O Canada!
• Spaceship Earth
• United Kingdom Pavilion

Since opening day, here are the attractions that opened throughout the 80s:

• Morocco Pavilion
• The Living Seas
• The Seas Main Tank and Exhibits
• IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
• Maelstrom
• Body Wars
• Cranium Command
• Wonders of Life Pavilion
• The Making of Me

5. MGM Studios (1989)

As the third theme park to open its doors at Walt Disney World after Epcot in 1982, Disney-MGM Studios opened on May 1st, 1989. Although it didn’t carry this name for long; on January 6th, 2008, Disney decided to change the name of the park to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Beginning with an idea for a movie-themed pavilion that resembled a film soundstage to be built at Epcot, Imagineers decided to form it into its own theme park, stretching over 135 acres. As a result of licensing contract between Disney and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio signed in 1985, Disney was given the rights to use the MGM name and logo for the studio-themed park.

Contract with MGM

In the original idea, Disney-MGM studios was to operate in more than just a theme park; it was supposed to be a fully function movie production and television studio. Feature films, including Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) were produced here before the official opening of the park. As this brought up issues with MGM, they filed a lawsuit against Disney in 1988 for allegedly using the park as a production studio which violated their contract. But Disney later countersued, which finally settled in 1992, allowing Disney to continue using the MGM name and logo on the films produced at the park facility and MGM to open a movie-themed park of its own. They did in 1993 in Las Vegas, but it officially closed in 2000.

Name Change to Hollywood Studios in 2008

Finally, in January of 2008, Disney decided to change its name to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Meg Crofton, the president of Disney at the time, said, “The new name reflects how the park has grown from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today’s Hollywood has to offer-in music, television, movies and theater.” Disney World also rolled out some new attractions with the name-change, including interactive exhibits based on High School Musical and its sequels, Toy Story and Pixar Entertainment, The Chronicles of Narnia and American Idol.

Here are all of the attractions that opened with MGM Studios in 1989:

• The Great Movie Ride
• SuperStar Television
• The Monster Sound Show
• The Magic of Disney Animation
• The Backstage Studio Tour
• Theater of the Stars

Which Attractions Do You Remember?

Do you remember when these rides at Magic Kingdom first opened? Or remember the opening days of Epcot or MGM Studios? We’d love to see pictures if you have them! Please let us know in the comments below.