Disney – can you ever remember a time without it?
Mickey’s steamboat train ride. Fireworks above Cinderella’s castle. Ariel’s mermaid hair flick.
Iconic Disney moments are ingrained in our memory, but you may be wondering how we got here. At Walt Disney World, you can uncover Disney’s storied history as you live your own fairytale.
This Orlando theme park alone has been open for more than 5 decades, and is an ever-growing place of charm and adventure, adding state-of-the-art rides and attractions to its collection each year. Yet every new or refreshed Disney experience contains a nod to its past. To point you in the right direction, here are our favourite historical artefacts and finds at Disney World for a timeless family holiday…
Window Names on Main Street USA
Any Disney lover will know that there’s significance in even the smallest of details around the parks. Some of the most famous are the names on the shop windows along Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom, which honour many of the original Imagineers, executives, prominent Disney family members and other valuable contributors involved with creating and designing the parks.
Notable names include Bob Gurr, a ride vehicle designer, Elias Disney, the father of Walt and Roy Disney, and Tony Baxter, who oversaw the construction of legendary attractions including Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and The Indiana Jones Adventure.
Mr. Toad
One of the original opening day attractions at the Magic Kingdom in 1971, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is a classic and much-beloved ride that was eventually replaced in 1999 by Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Disgruntled fans even took to protesting its closure outside the ride! But in homage to this cherished favourite, the Imagineers placed a Mr. Toad statue in the pet graveyard at the exit of the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square, where you can go to and pay your respects.
Also, look out for the picture of Mr. Toad in the Winnie the Pooh ride as he hands the deeds to Toad Hall over to Owl (we’re not crying you are!).
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage
Another OG member of the Magic Kingdom’s catalogue of opening day attractions is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage. The ride was based around the characters and 1954 Disney film of the same name, which was adapted from the original Jules Verne novel. The ride featured a twenty-minute underwater adventure through a lagoon; it eventually closed in 1994 and transformed into Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, which is now situated in the new Fantasyland area of the park.
Imagineers kept many elements of the original ride and guests will discover thoughtful tributes nearby, including a fossilised outline of the Nautilus submarine in the rocks around the current Little Mermaid attraction. You can also spot a small inscription of the Nautilus inside a tree at the entrance to the Winnie the Pooh ride if you’re willing to crouch down and take a look!
Hall of Presidents
The Hall of Presidents is one of Walt Disney World’s original attractions, not only because it was there on opening day but also because it’s one of the few that wasn’t adapted from one of the rides already at Disneyland in Anaheim. Situated in Liberty Square, the Hall of Presidents is part-museum, part-ride, and features several artefacts used by former presidents, including a microscope belonging to John Quincy Adams and a beer stein used by George Washington.
Designed to educate and entertain, this long-serving attraction holds strikingly lifelike audio-animatronics of all 46 presidents to date, with recorded speeches and performances depicting the history behind the Constitution, American Revolution, and Civil War. Not only is the attraction a great piece of Disney history, but it’s also a wonderful insight into America’s past!
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
This nostalgic attraction holds the title of the longest-running stage show in American theatre history and was originally conceived and featured at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The Carousel of Progress stands as one of the most enduring attractions at Walt Disney World Resort and has graced the Magic Kingdom with its presence since 1975.
Set within a rotating theatre, the show explores technology through the eyes of a typical American family and holds the distinction of being the oldest attraction in the Resort that Walt Disney personally designed and worked on. It’s been refurbished five times to keep it up to date with the times, too!
Aladdin’s Spitting Golden Camels
If you’ve been coming to Florida since the 90s, you may recall the magnificent MGM Studios (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios). Around the time of the release of the Aladdin animated film, one of the park’s excellent parades featured a glittering float complete with golden spitting camels, which have now been repurposed and today sit happily outside the Magic Carpets of Aladdin in Adventureland, adding another touch of nostalgia to your visit!
Japanese Lantern
There’s a mystery behind this Magic Kingdom relic and even the diehard Disney fans aren’t sure of its true origin. Thought to have been presented by the emperor of Japan when the park first opened, the lantern is said to honour Roy for overseeing its launch in 1971, five years after Walt died.
It’s well known that when Walt visited Disneyland in California—his first park—he always had a candle burning in his apartment above the fire station to show he was there. A light still shines in the window to this day in memory of Walt, while the Japanese lantern is seen as a representation of Roy’s light, offering respect to the man who fulfilled his brother’s dream. Today, the Japanese lantern rests in the rock garden of the Japan pavilion at EPCOT, offering a location of quiet reflection and a place to pay respects to Roy.
River Country Water Park
One of Walt Disney World’s greatest mysteries is the abandoned River Country, a groundbreaking water park that opened in 1976 near the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and inexplicably closed in 2001. What remained for almost two decades was a cordoned-off area that was left to deteriorate, achieving almost cult-like fame among curious Disney fans wanting to sneak in and get a glimpse of its crumbling slides and swamp-like pools.
In 2016, Disney began work removing and refurbishing the area—with no official explanation as to why—then in 2018 it was announced that a new resort would be built on the site called ‘Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge’. To date, nothing has actually opened, and no further details have been given, so watch this space!
For your own exploration into Disney magic and lore, discover why we’re Trustpilot’s Highest Rated Florida Specialist, and book your Walt Disney World Holiday today. 
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