The Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, marking an entire century of movies, theme parks, and magic. To celebrate, it’s releasing special edition merchandise at its parks and releasing a 100th anniversary short which premiered on Hulu, Disney Plus, and Disney Channel on Oct. 16, the official anniversary.
The Disney Company in and of itself isn’t the only Disney Entity that has had a big birthday to celebrate. Disney World in Orlando, Florida celebrated its 50th birthday in 2021, and park celebrations lasted for over a year after the official date.
While the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California opened its gates on July 17, 1955, its younger sister didn’t open until October 1, 1971. The four-park attraction originally consisted only of Magic Kingdom, but according to NPR, Walt Disney’s intention was always to create a theme park 10 times larger than the original location. Unfortunately, he died in 1966, five years before the park was completed.
Walt Disney’s brother Roy was left to execute his vision, and after opening the Magic Kingdom in 1971, he turned his attention to Walt’s bigger vision: a community of tomorrow. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Disney World’s EPCOT was originally envisioned to be a real city. Disney had dreamed of building a utopian city of technology and innovation which came to light through EPCOT which stands for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The “community” opened it doors on October 1, 1982, exactly 11 years after Disney World’s initial release.
Disney World’s next addition came along in May of 1989. Hollywood Studios – originally named MGM- was meant to bring some of the Hollywood appeal and glamour to the East Coast. According to All Ears, MGM was originally supposed to just be an addition to EPCOT. As it developed, then-CEO Michael Eisner wanted the new park to contain full fledged movie studios and really become the Hollywood of the west coast. When that didn’t pan out, the park went through several shifts in theming before settling on the Hollywood Entrance that transports guests to real-life versions of their favorite film franchises including Toy Story and Star Wars.
For now, Disney World’s final addition is the Animal Kingdom which opened in April of 1998. This particular park has a more educational goal than the others. According to the Disney Parks Blog, the vision behind Animal Kingdom was to create a place where guests could celebrate nature and partake in conservation efforts. A vision which has very much remained the same. Aside from some classic rides and shows, guests can walk on trails to see flamingos, lemurs, and birds or even take a safari.
As celebrations for the companies 100th anniversary continue, Disney World and Disney Land locations continue to celebrate their role in the last century. Disney World alone has seen a lot of changes, and is likely more than ready for another century of many more.