Looking Back: Magic Kingdom in 1988

This installment of Looking Back takes a look at the Magic Kingdom from July 1988. From comparing these to the 1987 photos, my photography had improved just a bit. And in 1988, there was a big new addition to the Magic Kingdom - Mickey’s Birthdayland.

You can’t get this view of Cinderella Castle any more, unless you have a crane. This was taken from the Skyway as it went over Fantasyland. I always thought the top-to-bottom view of Cinderella Castle from high up was a good one.

This elephant from the Jungle Cruise always seems to be enjoying himself. He is still there, of course, but I always did like this photo of him.

This view of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was taken from the Walt Disney World Railroad’s Frontierland Station. But these days, this view is blocked by Splash Mountain, which was built in that area full of greenery in the foreground. Splash Mountain changed the atmosphere of Frontierland quite a bit.

And speaking of Frontierland Station, here is the original station, which was removed during Splash Mountain construction. And look at those banners for Mickey’s Birthdayland! It was a new addition to the Magic Kingdom that year, and everyone was excited to see it.

Mickey’s Birthdayland was set in the town of Duckburg, which was made popular in the Donald Duck comic books. And at the time of this photo, Duckburg was also featured prominently in the DuckTales cartoon show, which interestingly never showed Mickey Mouse in Duckburg. In Mickey’s Birthdayland, the Duckburg sign had some great puns.

Mickey’s Birthdayland was built for Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday. One of the highlights of Mickey’s Birthdayland was getting to walk through Mickey’s house. Later on when the area was changed to Mickey’s Toontown Fair, Mickey’s house received an exterior makeover to give it a more “cartoon” look than what it had originally, as shown here.

What would a summer night at the Magic Kingdom be without the Main Street Electrical parade? Sure, this photo is a little out of focus, and someone in the distance took a flash picture right when I took this, but I still like it.

The Main Street Cinema at night on Main Street USA. And this was back in the day when the Main Street Cinema actually showed movies. Except that in honor of Mickey’s 60th birthday, all the movies shown were actually old black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons.

That’s it for this time - check back for more soon!