Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Walt Disney World Holiday Brochure, 1973

With Christmas just around the corner, today seemed like a good day to share Ken Martinez's scan of a 1973 Walt Disney World holiday brochure. Here's Ken:

Walt Disney World Holiday Brochure/pamphlet 1973

Today we have a vintage Walt Disney World Holiday Fantasy brochure from 1973.  I always like the original fonts and mouse-eared globe for the spelling of “Walt Disney World”.  I don’t understand why they changed it when its’ such a great iconic image.  I would assume this pamphlet was handed out at the gate or available as a brochure in one of the hotel lobbies.


Looks like this year Rock Hudson will be narrating the Christmas Story for the Candlelight Processional.   According to the Rock Hudson Project, he narrated the very first one and narrated again in 1973, 1974, 1977 and 1980.  I must stay those ticket book prices for Walt Disney World admission, transportation and tickets are incredible.   


I always loved these maps found in the early WDW guide booklets.   By this time, the new additions at the Magic Kingdom were Tom Sawyer Island, Pirates of the Caribbean with its Caribbean Plaza, If You Had Wings and the Plaza Swan Boats.  Space Mountain, WEDway PeopleMover, Carousel of Progress and the Star Jets would not appear until around 1975.


The attractions listed in the “Morning” section were all the ‘E’ ticket attractions at the time except “it’s a small world” which I guess didn’t draw the crowd to recommend catching it before midday.  The only main outdoor evening entertainment at Walt Disney World was the “Fantasy in the Sky” fireworks show and the “Electrical Water Pageant”, predecessor to the Main Street Electrical Parade which would not show up in the Magic Kingdom until 1977.


And here we have entertainment, leisure and shopping excitement.  So much awaits you at Walt Disney World.  Can’t say I’ve heard of any of those entertainers at the “Top of the World” though.  I’d imagine if you did stay a week at Walt Disney World you might actually be able to do and see everything.   Not anymore.


Hope you enjoyed today’s post about early Walt Disney World holiday entertainment.  More Walt Disney World to come.

THANKS as always to Ken Martinez for sharing more goodies from his collection!

11 comments:

Nanook said...

Ken-

I had sort of forgotten Disney chose to alter the look of their original logo. I agree the original logo for WDW was truly iconic and worthy of a long life. (Apparently I wasn't consulted when the 'powers that be' decided to give it the heave-ho).

Gotta love that $6.75 price [$37.04, today] for a 12 Adventure Ticket Book. Oh my.

As for the talent Disney chose for entertaining in its parks, often it was less-than the 'A-listers'. However, Helen O'Connell & Bob Eberly, although certainly beyond their prime, were quite famous for their association with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and especially-so for their singing on such hit tunes as: Tangerine & Green Eyes.

Thanks again Ken, for sharing this brochure.

Scott Lane said...

Thanks for the blast from the past, Ken!

Chuck said...

I can remember still being able to do pretty much everything at WDW in a week as late as May of '79. While I've always loved the INA Disneyland guidebooks, this map of the MK (and its later incarnations) has always been my favorite pocket "all-view" map of a Disney Park.

I'm still sort of stunned at how little there was to do in Tomorrowland before 1975. In '71, there were only four attractions, and one of them was a way to escape the barren expanses of future expansion. By '73 they'd only added one more. Still, they were pretty iconic, and not one of them remains today in its original form.

Thanks again, Ken!

Pegleg Pete said...

I still get a frisson of excitement whenever I see that original WDW logo. And I wholeheartedly agree with Chuck about that map. Pirates Of The Caribbean opened in mid-December 1973 so it was brand new for the holidays. My family had been in August and so we just missed out on its debut. By the time of our next trip to WDW a couple of years later, Tomorrowland had finally come into its own and the Magic Kingdom had reached its prime! Thanks Ken and Major.

Anonymous said...

I can't get used to a park without a Matterhorn.

Thanks Major and Ken.

JG

K. Martinez said...

Nanook, the new WDW logo with the "Walt Disney" signature is awful! Of course that's just my opinion. Less than "A-listers" is okay with me. In those days, Disney always had awesome entertainment.

Scott Lane, Glad you enjoyed. GDB is certainly the place for blasts from the past.

Chuck, I love the 1970's WDW guide booklets with their maps, graphics, logos and little attraction photos. And yeah, WDW's Tomorrowland was the same as Disneyland's in the sense that it really wasn't fully ready upon opening.

Pegleg Pete, I especially love the original WDW logo with the "Florida" banner/flag.

JG, Disneyland is the one and only Disney Park with a Matterhorn. I hope it stays that way to remain unique. I never was a fan of cloning attractions.

Melissa said...

This is so beautiful! Not only that iconic logo, but also those familiar old fonts!

I've only been to the Candlelight Processional once, in 2012, but it was such a great experience that I love being reminded of it. The musicians were top notch, and Neil Patrick Harris was a great host. You could tell he was struggling not to join in every single song, but he finally couldn't help himself and sang along with the Hallelujah! Chorus at the end. (I can never resist that one, either!) And he joked about how now that he has children, all he wants is a SlowPass to the Nap Ride.

I've always loved Rock Hudson, especially his voice. I would have loved to be able to hear his Candlelight Processional narration.

Tom said...

Only in a Disney park can they make the words "Electrical", "Water", and "Pageant" work together without disastrous results.

MIKE COZART said...

Interesting that Rock Hudson narrated Candlight Procession that year as he also dedicated the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean - probably because of the popularity of his tv show MacMillian and Wide.

MIKE COZART said...

Correction : MacMillian and WIFE . ( Susan St. James was never "wide")

Dean Finder said...

Now I want to visit WDW and just do the things that were available in the 1970s. Well, as much as possible.