Magic Kingdom Park is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The official park name has changed slightly over the years, from Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017). The park was initialized by Walt Disney and designed by WED Enterprises. The park layout and attractions were based on Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.
The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the Goodyear PeopleMover and WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that opened on July 2, 1967, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Guests boarded small trains that ran on elevated tracks for a "grand circle tour" above Tomorrowland. The term "people mover", now in wider use to describe many forms of automated public transport, was first coined as the name for this attraction. PeopleMover was originally only a working title, but became attached to the project over time. The attraction was initially seen as a serious prototype for intercity public transport. The ride closed on August 21, 1995, but its station and track infrastructure—which it shared with its short-lived successor, Rocket Rods—remain standing as of 2024. A second PeopleMover opened on July 1, 1975 in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida near Orlando, Florida, and is still operating today.
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. The company also operates Disney Live Entertainment and The Muppets Studio and manages Disney's properties, from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to New Amsterdam Theatre and Times Square Studios Ltd. in New York City. Founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland, it was originally known as Walt Disney, Inc. then WED Enterprises, from the initials meaning "Walter Elias Disney", the company co-founder's full name. Headquartered in Glendale, California, Imagineering is composed of "Imagineers", who are illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers.
Roger Edward Broggie was an American mechanical engineer who worked with Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Company. He is considered the first Disney Imagineer.
The Happiest Homecoming on Earth or the Happiest Celebration on Earth was the eighteen-month-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Disneyland theme park, which opened on July 17, 1955. It commemorated fifty years of Disney theme parks and celebrated Disneyland's milestone throughout Disney parks all over the globe. The "Homecoming" name was only used for Disneyland Resort; all the other Disney Parks resorts used the "Celebration" name.
Martin A. "Marty" Sklar was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs and constructs Disney theme parks and resorts across the world. He was formerly vice president of Concepts and Planning for the company, before being promoted to president, then vice chairman and principal creative executive before his final role. Disney honored him with a Disneyland window dedication ceremony on his date of retirement, July 17, 2009.
The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 3-foot narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction located within the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, in the United States. Its route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length and encircles most of the park, with train stations in three different park areas. The rail line, constructed by WED Enterprises, operates with four historic steam locomotives originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's main line loop. On a typical day, the railroad has two trains in operation; on busy days, it has three trains.
Liberty Square is one of six "themed lands" and is exclusive to the Magic Kingdom, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Themed after colonial America, Liberty Square contains replicas of both the Liberty Bell and Liberty Tree. One of the most popular attractions in the Magic Kingdom, the Haunted Mansion, is located in this land. Presiding over the square is the Hall of Presidents, an American history show featuring an audio-animatronic figure of every President of the United States. Liberty Square has a long waterfront on the Rivers of America and the Liberty Belle steam paddleboat departs from a landing here.
Disney Live Entertainment is the theatrical live entertainment production division of Walt Disney Imagineering, the design and development arm of Disney Experiences, a division and business segment of The Walt Disney Company.
Robert Henry Gurr is an American amusement ride designer and Imagineer. His most famous work was for Walt Disney's Disneyland Park, and its subsequent sister parks. Gurr is said to have designed most, if not all, of the ride vehicles of the Disneyland attractions when the park opened, including Autopia, The Haunted Mansion, the Disneyland Monorail, the Submarine Voyage, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. He was named a Disney Legend in 2004. He also worked on the King Kong Encounter animatronic for Universal Studios Hollywood.
Tony Wayne Baxter is the former senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering and was responsible for creating designs and carrying out the construction of attractions all over the world. He announced his departure from his full-time position to become a part-time adviser on February 1, 2013, which was also his 66th birthday. During his 47-year tenure with the company, he oversaw the construction of multiple contemporary Disney theme park attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, The Indiana Jones Adventure, and Journey Into Imagination, and served as the executive producer of Disneyland Paris.
Disney Sea was an aquatic-themed amusement park proposed by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Disney Sea, California was unveiled on July 31, 1990 as one part of the Disney Decade Expansion. This part of the expansion would be focused on the development of Disney Port, as part of the canceled resort complex, Port Disney, in Long Beach, California.
WEDway is a people mover system using linear induction motor (LIM) technology to propel vehicles along a pair of steel rails.
Joyce Carlson was an American artist and designer credited with creating the idyllic universe of singing children at "It's a Small World" rides at Walt Disney theme parks around the world. Carlson also worked as an ink artist in the Walt Disney Animation Studios, on such films as Cinderella, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. She was the lead ink artist for the 1955 Disney film Lady and the Tramp. She spent 56 years working on Disney's animated films and theme park attractions.
Disneyland is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, and opened on July 17, 1955.
Pixie Hollow is a character meet and greet attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland, offering guests the opportunity to meet Tinker Bell and her friends from the Disney Fairies franchise, including Vidia, Terrence, Fawn, Rosetta, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Periwinkle. The attraction is designed to create the illusion of gradually shrinking to Pixie size as the scenic elements in the queue increase in scale as guests approach Tinker Bell's teapot house.
Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, U.S.A. is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th Century. In Tokyo Disneyland, it is called World Bazaar and covered by a glass Victorian-style conservatory roof to shield guests from the weather there. At Shanghai Disneyland, it is called Mickey Avenue and is orientated to help introduce visitors to Disney characters.
Ahmad Jafari is an architect based in USA whose career began in the 1960s. He was with Disney Imagineering as an Architect and Art Director from 1966 to 2004 and has worked alongside Walt Disney and many Disney Legends. In 2006, he received the NFFC Disney Legend awards.
Fred Joerger (1913-2005) was one of Disneyland's original model makers, or "imagineers". He was recruited from Warner Bros by Walt Disney himself in 1953, and created models for most of Disneyland's original attractions, including the steamboat Mark Twain, Main Street, the Matterhorn and the Sleeping Beauty Castle.
