Many Disney fans are feeling anxiety as most of the Parks are still closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And although most things will be open again sometime this month, albeit in a reduced fashion, most of us still won’t be able to visit our favorite Lands!
To help, I thought I’d take one-and-all on a trip to the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World by means of ephemera… or Post Cards to the layman. Ready? Let’s start with our approach:
From the back of the card: “Guests arrive at the Magic Kingdom by old-fashioned steamboats and sleek monorail trains. Inside, they find dozens of exciting attractions in six separate theme lands… Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.”
It’s interesting (at least to me) that although most of the images on these cards are reused throughout the years, the backs change. I’ll give three examples of different card backs in this post. But now let’s get an overview of what we are going to enjoy on our Virtual Trip:
From the back of the card: “Dominant on Walt Disney World’s skyline are two attractions worlds apart, the beautiful Cinderella Castle and futuristic Space Mountain. The Magic Kingdom includes six different ‘lands’ for you to visit; Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.”
Time to check out an alternate mode of arrival:
From the back of the card: “Sleek Monorail trains carry guests over the ‘Highway in the Sky’ on a scenic journey around the Seven Seas Lagoon to the Magic Kingdom, where the spires of Cinderella Castle tower high above lands of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.”
Not wanting to travel by boat or monorail? Then we have one more alternative for you:
From the back of the card: “Old-fashioned narrow-gauge steam trains depart from Main Street for grand circle trips around the Magic Kingdom.”
And speaking of Main Street U.S.A. :
From the back of the card: “Turn-of-the-century Main Street, U.S.A. leads guests to beautiful towering Cinderella Castle, gateway to the happiest land of them all, FANTASYLAND.”
And what’s it like to hang out on Main Street?
From the back of the card: “Guests along Main Street enjoy the colorful charm and leisurely pace of America at the turn-of-the-century. Nearby is Cinderella Castle, gateway to a world of enchantment.”
You’d think Cinderella Castle was hard to find the way they’re promoting it! Be that as it may, it’s time for another Back Side of Card:
Being as we only have so much time to spend in the Magic Kingdom we had better get going down to that castle we’ve heard so much about:
From the back of the card: “Guests enjoy leisurely tours aboard horse-drawn trolleys in the Magic Kingdom. The avenue recaptures the charm of American life, before the Tin Lizzy replaced Old Dobbin.”
They’re going to replace Old Dobbin?!? Say it isn’t so! Well, no time to mourn his loss as it’s time for a parade. Actually, does anyone know when the 3 o’clock parade starts?
So we can place this post card from the year 1981. And as the rest of the cards in this post have similar backs we can assume most of the images come from the same time frame. Now before we stop for our evening meal, let’s enjoy another form of transportation:
From the back of the card: “The majestic Admiral Joe Fowler, an authentic steam-powered sternwheeler, sets sail from Liberty Square on a scenic cruise of the frontier ‘Rivers of America’.”
Now that we have disembarked, and are well fed after that great evening meal, let’s enjoy the nighttime parade:
From the back of the card: “It’s razzle-dazzle excitement. More than a half-million twinkling lights enliven scenes from favorite Disney stories in this sparkling procession of spectacular nighttime enchantment.”
By far one of my favorite parades! All of the post cards I’ve shared have been in the standard size of 3.5″ x 5.5″ but I have this exact post card in the larger 4″ x 6″ size as well. More room to write those ‘Wish You Were Here’ messages! Now it’s time for one last Back Side of Card:
I thought I’d share the back of the final card before the actual card this time because who doesn’t like a nice kiss goodnight?
From the back of the card: “The sky over the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle explodes with color in a nightly Disney tradition. The castle, towering 18 stories high, forms the gateway to ‘the happiest land of all… Fantasyland.”
Again with the castle! Did you know that the Magic Kingdom has a castle? It’s called Cinderella Castle. It’s in the middle of the fireworks there. Okay, I’ll stop!
I hope this post helps you deal with the dreaded Disney DTs. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this together, and all the more so now that we have revisited the Post Card Version of the Magic Kingdom!
