The Magic Kingdom park opened Oct. 1, 1971, and soon after was dedicated on Oct. 25. Many celebrities were on hand for the festivities, as well as Walt Disney’s entire family. Arthur Fiedler conducted the World Symphony Orchestra at the base of Cinderella Castle. Roy O. Disney stood with Mickey Mouse in Town Square and read the dedication plaque. The park opened with six themed lands: Main Street, U.S.A.; Adventureland; Frontierland; Liberty Square, a land originally planned for Disneyland; Fantasyland; and Tomorrowland. (Mickey’s Birthdayland was created in 1988 to honor Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday, and eventually changed its name to Mickey’s Starland in 1990. In 1996, the land changed again to Mickey’s Toontown Fair.)

Eventually, all the lands came together with their own unique themes. Ordinary buildings were cloaked with intricately designed exteriors and interiors. Details were installed and the final coats of paint were put on. Imagineers used an architectural trick called “forced perspective” to make buildings look taller than they actually are. They shrunk windows, balconies and even furniture on the second floors and shrunk any third floors even further to achieve the illusion of tall buildings climbing far into the sky. To complete the feeling of being in a three-dimensional movie, background music was created for each particular land, as if it was part of any film’s soundtrack. In the end, it took more than 9,000 workers to build the world’s most famous vacation resort.

Magic Kingdom sits on 142 acres with the towering Cinderella Castle at its center. Similar to Disneyland in California, the park is divided into seven themed lands -- Main Street, U.S.A.; Adventureland; Frontierland; Liberty Square; Fantasyland; Mickey's Toontown Fair; and Tomorrowland

Popular attractions include Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Stitch's Great Escape!, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, "Mickey's PhilharMagic," Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it's a small world, Jungle Cruise, Hall of Presidents, Mad Tea Party, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer Island, Peter Pan's Flight and Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Cinderella Castle, the park's icon, stands 189 feet tall and includes 18 towers. Inside its main hall, five glittering mosaics created under the direction of Dorothea Redmond and Hanns-Joachim Scharff tell the story of Cinderella in 500 brilliant hues of glass

• Walt Disney World Railroad (1971): A grand circle-tour of the Magic Kingdom park aboard an authentic steam train.
• Mad Tea Party, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Snow White’s Scary Adventure and Peter Pan’s Flight (all 1971): Attractions inspired by animated Disney film classics.
• It’s a Small World (1971): Hundreds of doll-like figures sing and dance in their native costumes.
• Jungle Cruise (1971): Board from a last-outpost river landing to observe curious gorillas, playful Indian elephants in their daily bath and frolicking hippos created in life-like realism by Disney artists.
• Country Bear Jamboree (1971): The zaniest troupe of singing bears ever assembled celebrate old-time music with a foot-stompin’ beat.
• Hall of Presidents (1971): The most impressive moments in American history are presented in life-like realism with all of the nation’s chief executives on a single stage through the three-dimensional magic of Audio Animatronics®.
• Diamond Horseshoe Saloon Revue (1971): Where dance-hall ladies and elegant gents sing and dance.
• Haunted Mansion (1971): The liveliest collection of ghosts ever assembled for all to see as they travel through ancient rooms.
• Pirates of the Caribbean 1973): Aboard buccaneer launches, adventurers travel through mysterious grottos, then plunge down a waterfall and into the midst of a pirate battle for control of a harbor town.
• Tom Sawyer Island (1973): Log rafts take guests across the river where Injun Joe’s Cave, the Magnetic Mystery Mine and old Fort Sam Clemens await exploration.
• Space Mountain (1975): Action, speed and perpetual motion await as guests “blast off” into night skies for a twisting, diving “return-to-earth” aboard miniature space-shuttles.
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (1980): A wild ride on a runaway mine train.
• Splash Mountain (1992): A log-flume ride with one of the world’s longest flume drops -- a five-story, 47-degree descent reaching speeds of nearly 40 mph.
• Legend of the Lion King (1994): A mystical jungle where animators’ drawings are brought to life using an advanced form of puppeteering and special effects.
• The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (1995): A mysterious corporation from a distant planet, X-S Tech, displays a new teletransportation device that brings the audience face-to-face with an alien.
• The Timekeeper (1995): A hysterical blast through time in a Circle-Vision 360 format.
• The Barnstormer (1996): A kid-sized roller coaster zips and zooms through Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm in crop-dusting biplanes.
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (1998): Board your star cruiser, grab hold of your laser cannon and help Buzz defend the universe from the Evil Emperor Zurg.
• The Enchanted Tiki Birds -- Under New Management (1998): Hollywood featherweights Iago, from Disney’s animated feature “Aladdin,” and Zazu, from “The Lion King,” have become the new landlords of this classic attraction, creating a witty, upbeat show filled with old and new choreographed musical numbers.
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1999): The whole gang’s here, joining guests on a journey into the Hundred Acre Wood.
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (coming summer 2001): Genies, flying carpets, magic lamps and Middle East mystique inspires this new attraction.