Walt Disney World in 1973

[spiegel]

My Dad was so cool he took me out of school in the early 70s so we could go on vacations to Disney World. One year we stayed at the Polynesian and the other year at the Contemporary. It was a magical time. I've reflected fondly on those trips for the rest of my life. My Dad is gone now but I'm so thankful for those times.

[jackstearns]

Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never

[alangeorge]

This is the Disney World that I remember... innocent and natural! Our family went there in 73-75. It was so much good fun for a 11 year old like me. The President's Hall was so patriotic!

[travkinder]

Wow. Life seemed much more simple/better without cell phones glued to our hands. People actually talked to each other…even complete strangers!

[rickkhanna]

I went as a kid in the 80s and it was still just like this.

[texsion]

I love these style video they used to make back then, we need them back

[sirenemoon]

I cannot thank you enough for this video! My parents took us there in 1973 and this brought back so many memories. I started crying when the nightly water parade was shown. I thought I would never hear that music or see it again. The first night we were there (stayed at the Contemporary) my parents had just gotten us down for the night when the water parade music started playing. I remember my mother saying "Now what?" Once we saw what it was, my father whipped out his recording camera. Unfortunately those home movies were lost to time. I wish Disney World was still like that.

[andyny]

I first went to DW in October, 1976. I was in Navy boot camp and my class was bused there. Wonderful times!

[sensitivecuriosity]

Saw this on tv at 12 years old. Wanted to go so bad. Finally went 22 years later. Cried.

[rotlex]

Love this and the memories it brings back. A truly different, and better time for Walt Disney World.

[domingopacheco]

We marched in the Main Street parade with our HS band back in 1978. What a thrill !!

[ryanjones]

My grandparents both worked at WDW from 2000-2018. During that time I visited them quite often and every summer we’d visit the parks together. A blessing I’ll always be grateful for.

As someone that visited quite often, the magic seen in this video was still present in the early 2000s. But sadly as the years went on, after about 2010 or so, I can’t put my finger on it but the magic started to disappear. And it wasn’t just because I was getting older.

Something genuinely changed about the energy and vibe in the place. But at least I’ll always have the memories of how it used to be before smartphones and corporate IP integration into the parks.

[BOSTON]

Disney was ahead of there time!! This is amazing to watch

[jeffraines]

I envy all you folks who got to visit Disney world in the '70s. I always wanted to go as a child, but we were too poor so I didn't make my first trip to Disney world until 2010 when I was 40 years old. Better late than never I guess. I was like a kid at 40 years old having finally made it 😀

[jeanzaleski]

Visited for the first time on my honeymoon in 1980. Cried when I left to fly there, and cried when I exited the gates to go home. We were lucky enough to return four more times over the years, (2015 was our last). Honestly, the changes in navigating the park are intimidating to us now, but hopefully we'll make it back for our 50th anniversary!

[randomcommenterfromdownund]

It took me until 1980 to get there. Fortunately by then, not much had changed except that things like Space Mountain had been added. I spent 7 years trying to figure out how to get there as a kid. Then someone against all odds, my high school senior class voted for WDW over a Caribbean cruise, as our senior class trip, and OMG, my dream would come true.

I came back with over $100 of merch, consisting of most of my savings as a 17 year old, LOL, and lots of tales about how it was as wonderful as I thought it would be.

Apparently cue the parental guilt, because the next thing I knew I was given an ultimatum: I could choose whether my high school graduation present was the graduation party I'd wanted since I missed out on a party for my 8th grade graduation (I'd also never had a birthday party; mom was an agoraphobic, and back then having a kids' party meant having people over and the idea freaked mom out), or a family trip to WDW so that I could go again and my siblings could see it for the first time. I of course chose the latter. So after YEARS of wanting to go to WDW and not getting there, I got to go twice in 6 months.

To save money, we stayed off property for a week, but I insisted on a couple days before that on a higher floor at the Contemporary Tower, Bay Lake view because I wanted to show them WDW as it was designed to be experienced. We got there and the bellman opened the drapes to reveal the view and my mother looked at me with an expression that said, "OMG. This is breath-taking. And you knew this all along and tried to tell us. I should have listened years ago." I offered to take my siblings to the park for a while if they wanted some time to relax without us around after travel, and said we could stay at the park until after the fireworks if they'd provide money for us to eat some burgers for dinner at the park and get a snack later. LOL, that was some of the easiest money I'd ever gotten out of them.

[lisafehlman]

This is what I remember as a kid born in the 50s. I love Disney anything so much.😊

[BarrySmith]

I first visited Disney World in 1974 (I was 4 years old) not too long after this film was made! I still have my home movies

[dougchervek]

This is the Disney that I miss and the one I wish I could take my family to experience.

[alisontopalian]

This the disney I remember and loved. Thank you for posting this