Fun Stuff: Late 1980s Park Maps!

So far during coronavirus lockdown I’ve made half a dozen jigsaw puzzles, baked many loaves of bread, and started an herb garden. I’m now moving onto the next stereotype and cleaning out my attic. And HUZZAH! – I finally found some scrapbooks that I thought were gone forever. The scrapbooks include photos and memorabilia from my first two young adult trips to Walt Disney World.

First up are remnants from a March/April 1989 trip, which included maps from Magic Kingdom and Epcot (this was just a few weeks before Disney MGM Studios opened, so those were the only WDW parks that existed), as well as Sea World and Busch Gardens.

MAGIC KINGDOM MAP

I LOVE how much actual, you know, information is included in the 1989 map booklets. This was a few years before the internet was a tool for regular people, so unless you had read a guidebook in advance, you were probably arriving at the parks blind, with no pre-planning information. Everything you needed to know had to be in one easy to grab place.

With the omission of New Fantasyland (opened in 2012) and the inclusion of Mickey’s Birthdayland (which later became Toontown and has since been folded into New Fantasyland), much of this old map is similar to the current Magic Kingdom layout. I’m most amused here by prominence of the many mail drop locations along Main Street – as if people just couldn’t wait another second to find out where they could mail their postcards home.

Fun tidbits on the general information pages include:

• The “Wonders of Walt Disney World” behind the scenes program. I assume that this content is now part of the Y.E.S. program, but I’d love to know more about this iteration.
• The statement that “food or drink may not be brought into the Magic Kingdom.” That’s certainly not the case now.
• The word “handwiches” as a menu item at the Space Bar.
• The word “buffeteria” to describe The Crystal Palace.
• You can rent an RCA Videocamcorder to capture your memories.

Here are the pages for the various Magic Kingdom lands.

The macro resort page advertises “Seven Sensational Resorts.” Today, there are many multiples of that. Other anomalies are the now defunct “Broadway at the Top” show at the Contemporary, the Disney Village Marketplace, and River Country.

The Magic Kingdom map also cross-sells Epcot and advertises upcoming attractions like MGM Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, and the Wonders of Life Pavilion.

And of course there are photo tips from Kodak!

EPCOT MAP

Information pages feature WorldKey Information Satellites – like information ATMs – and mentions of the Communicore.

The maps all have insets with mini-maps of the pavilion layouts.

The macro resort Epcot page is similar to the Magic Kingdom macro resort page.

And – Kodak!

SEA WORLD MAP

My stash of ephemera from this trip also included a map from Sea World.

BUSCH GARDENS MAP

And a map from Busch Gardens, Tampa.

TRAVELODGE PAMPHLET

And the piece de resistance from this trip is the Travelodge Kissimmee pamphlet which features super swanky bedspreads and an arcade with Pac Man.

What’s your favorite part of these old maps? Let us know in the comments.