October 1, 2025, 12:35 PM ·
Forgive theme park fans today for rolling their eyes at social media posts declaring October 1 the start of “spooky season.”That’s because we know that spooky season started for theme park fans about a month and a half ago. For us, October 1 means… it’s Walt Disney World’s birthday.The Walt Disney World Resort welcomed its first guests on October 1, 1971, making today the Magic Kingdom’s 54th birthday. Eleven years later, on October 1, 1982, EPCOT opened officially as the resort’s second theme park.Today, Walt Disney World offers four theme parks, with Disney-MGM Studios, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, having opened May 1, 1989 and Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened on April 22, 1998. Three of Disney World’s four parks are working on major construction projects. Monsters Inc.’s Monstropolis is taking over the old Muppets Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Tropical Americas – with a new Encanto-themed dark ride – is taking over the old Dinoland USA in Animal Kingdom. And Cars are taking over the former Rivers of America site at Magic Kingdom as Disney builds a new Villains land behind Big Thunder Mountain.But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty to enjoy in the parks at this moment. Walt Disney World’s offers Theme Park Insider readers’ top two attractions in the world, with Star Wars Rise of the Resistance at the Studios and Avatar Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Guardians of the Galaxy – Cosmic Rewind, Haunted Mansion, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and Expedition Everest are other top 25 ranked attractions at Disney World.Walt Disney World is the world’s most-visited themed entertainment destination, with its parks welcoming tens of millions of visitors each year. To see more of what is available at the Walt Disney World theme parks, please check out our one-page visitors guides, which include our reader rankings as well as on-ride videos and links to reviews:For assistance in planning a Walt Disney World vacation, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.Remember that whenever you buy tickets or book vacations through our partners, a small portion of that goes to support Theme Park Insider. So you can support independent media while getting a great deal at the same time.Finally, to keep up with more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekly newsletter.
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