Opening day of Walt Disney World (Oct. 1, 1971) was highly anticipated and the state of Florida was ready for anything that might occur. Archived news stories from that day show the Highway Patrol called in extra cars to help handle traffic. Two National Guard helicopters were used to monitor traffic flow. Parking lots had been built to accommodate 12,000 cars.
Inside the theme park, an eight-acre basement running underneath the park was filled with thousands of workers getting rides ready, checking electrical systems, donning costumes and much more. About 11 miles of similar-looking tunnels in this basement led to at least 25 employees getting temporarily lost that day. Employees were also getting ready to feed hungry crowds. Hot dogs cost 40 cents and a prime rib of beef dinner could be had for $4.25; 16,000 gallons of soft drink syrup — enough to make 16 million cups of soda — was on hand.
Construction of Walt Disney World created 5,000 jobs. Here are seven archived photos of that construction from half a century ago.
Here are a couple of pages from a daily newspaper in Orlando, marking the opening of Walt Disney World.
From the front page of the Orlando Sentinenel on Oct. 2, 1971: