Ep.13- F-Yeah Holiday History of WDW

Ep.13:The History of the Holidays in The Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Happy Holidays Everyone..... This episode is the first in a series of Disney History episodes that we are excited to share. We wanted to give a different take on areas of Disney history that have been covered by others as we really wanted an excuse to dive deep into the lore that is Disney.      Since the opening of Magic Kingdom in 1971, Christmas has been an annual celebration. Disney shares the spirit of Christmas with a massive tree covered in oversized ornaments and thousands of sparkling lights, store fronts adorned with garland, enormous wreaths, and window displays showing the magic being sold inside each shop.

On December 12th, 1971 the Orlando Sentinel newspaper announced: “Walt Disney World’s first Christmas will be a spirited two-week holiday full of gaiety, tradition, colorful Disney character parades, and commemorative religious pageantry of the season. Yuletide decorations will bring added sparkle to the already fun-filled Magic kingdom — ‘decked out’ literally for Christmas with a giant tree and hundreds of wreaths of hemlock and holly.

“Special daily Holiday Parades (beginning December 20) and two mammoth candlelight processionals are part of the spectacular events scheduled for the holidays.  “Florally adorned by poinsettias, snapdragons, petunias and 50,000 pansies, the theme park will feature lights and decorations in each of the Main Street shop windows. And in Town Square, a snowy, 50-foot Christmas tree, especially selected and cut from a forest in Paradise, Michigan, will serve as a colorful centerpiece for the festive theme park celebration. More than 1,200 lights and a thousand giant ornaments adorn the tree.”

 This excited future guests who planned on visiting during the inaugural holiday season at The Magic Kingdom. With admission to the park running $4.75 which included 7-ride tickets and transportation,  guests filled the 1500-rooms between the Contemporary and Polynesian resorts to capacity for the two weeks leading up to Christmas. With an exception to Christmas day the park was opened from 9am till midnight and a holiday parade featuring  “marching toy soldiers, dancing reindeer, marching bands, girls playing glockenspiels and 50 famous Disney characters came to life.”

 Disney legend Charlie Ridgway who at the time was Disney's press agent and oversaw the public relations department of the company stated that the first year the Magic Kingdom was opened “Our 1,500 rooms in the Contemporary and the Polynesian were booked up for a year. Attendance (at Magic Kingdom) increased steadily. It rose to 600,000 in (the month of) December. Hours were extended to midnight for the Christmas holidays. For three successive days at Christmastime, the gate total approached 70,000.”

For the inaugural holiday season Disney began their  first holiday parade on December 20th. It ran every day until January 2nd and was complete with marching toy soldiers, dancing reindeer, school marching bands, and 50 of Disney’s famous characters and of course jolly old Saint Nick. This parade was similar to the parade that ran simultaneously in Disneyland during the holiday season.  Another special event that started during the first year of Magic Kingdoms Holiday Celebration was the Candlelight Processional.

  Starting at Disneyland in 1958, The Candlelight Processional became an honored tradition. Singers from The University of Southern California along with local choirs were joined by school bands and performed in Town Square with a celebrity narrator who performed a dramatic reading of the Christmas story.  Dennis Morgan, an American actor and singer, held this position from 1961 to 1964, and Dick Van Dyke took on the honor in 1965 to promote Mary Poppins. Like in Disneyland, the show was performed in front of the Walt Disney World Railroad Main Street USA Station in Town Square. The show took place on two nights, December 18th and 19th, at 6pm with 1200 carolers and Rock Hudson, another American actor, performing the narration both nights. Frederick Fennell conducted the orchestra and boys’ choirs made up the Christmas tree.

   The Candlelight Processional was moved to Epcot in 1994 after guests expressed that they wanted more shows. The America Gardens Theater in The American Adventure Pavilion, was capable of holding larger audiences of around 1000 guests becoming the dedicated location for such a performance. There were 30 performances that year spanning 15 nights, and the show was expanded even more in 1994 with 60 performances across 30 nights. This year, 2019, 108 performa