Back in May of 2023, we walked through the Main Gate at Disneyland Paris bound for a day of fun and adventure in Disney’s one and only European theme park, located 20 miles east of Paris in the quaint town of Marne-la-Vallee.

After walking under the train station and into Town Square, we looked around for a guide map to help us plan our day.

A few futile minutes later, we found a cast member and asked her where the guide maps were located.

In a thick French accent, she said: “So sorry. We don’t have them anymore.”

Sacre bleu! No guide maps at a Disney park? Were they kidding me?!

Hadn’t they heard about my obsession with Disney guide maps? Didn’t they know that ever since the first time I entered a Disney theme park in 1972, I have made it a point to get my hands on three maps – one to use during the visit, another to save for posterity, and a third just in case something happens to the other two?

After the shock wore off, I made a beeline to Guest Relations, where I pleaded my case. The cast member behind the window was sympathetic to my plight and managed to rustle up two maps.

“They’re from last year,” she said, “but not much has changed.”

I’ve built up quite a collection of Disney Guide Maps over the years. When I return home from a Disney trip, I usually put the new additions to my collection in an envelope and mark it with the date of the trip.

I have some pretty diverse maps in my collection. The Disneyland Paris guides – when they were available – were all-inclusive, with maps and details for both Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios.

I even have two maps from Tokyo Disneyland [thanks to our son, who visited there during a business trip a few years ago] … in both English and Japanese!

I have an exclusive map from opening day at Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998, and one that was available on the 20^th anniversary celebration of the park on April 22, 2018.

One of my absolute favorites is a Disneyland guide map with [gasp!] a typographical error: On the back of the guide map, which we obtained during a 1998 visit, is a headline asking you to Make a name for yourself in Disneyand Park! That typo sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

I also have maps for Disney’s two water parks, as well as two of Disney Springs’ previous iterations [Downtown Disney and the Disney Village Marketplace], and the special events Disney throws during the year at the Magic Kingdom, including the Not So Scary Halloween  [2018] and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas [2016] parties.

Often, I refer to these maps when I’m writing a blog, particularly when I want to get the exact name or the correct spelling of a show or attraction.

But if truth be told, the maps also are trips down Memory Lane. Looking back at these guides is like leafing through the pages of a Disney history book; it allows me to get historical perspective – and, indeed, an accurate record – of the way things were in Disney’s ever-changing world.

Remember Cinderella Castle decorated as a birthday cake during WDW’s 25th anniversary? Like it or not, the bright pink “castle cake” was featured on the Magic Kingdom Guide Maps in 1996 and 1997.

During WDW’s 50th anniversary in 2021, the castle was a lot more subdued and that was reflected in the stately, almost elegant “Commemorative” Guide Map guests received on Oct. 1, the actual date of the 50th.

Or how about the bizarre [to me, anyway] Nahtazu promotion plastered on Animal Kingdom’s maps a year or two after it opened? After a few months of being clueless on the subject, it dawned on me exactly what they were talking about – that Nahtazu meant Animal Kingdom was NOT A ZOO.

Speaking of Animal Kingdom, Disney’s map makers went the extra mile in creating the truly unique guide map for the park’s 20^th anniversary. In addition to a park map and attractions guide, there was an elaborate year-by-year history of the park when you unfolded it.

By far the most comprehensive map in my collection was distributed at EPCOT in 1986, four years after the park opened. It was actually called a Guide BOOK and was available in conjunction with WDW’s 15^th anniversary.

It came with 18 pages, stapled in the middle, and featured detailed descriptions of every attraction and food option in World Showcase and Future World.

But my prize possession is a guide map from the Magic Kingdom in 1972. It’s the earliest one in my collection, which I obtained during our first visit to WDW in November of 1972, a little over a year after the Magic Kingdom opened.

The cover of the 1972 guide map featured a beautiful color photo [now a bit faded!] of Cinderella Castle, with the original Walt Disney World logo above it. Trees, green grass and a canal also are visible.

Several flags can be seen flying in the castle forecourt. The map, compliments of the camera company GAF, is subtitled “Information Guide.” It totals 34 pages and includes colorful maps of each themed land and numerous black-and-white photos of attractions in the park and on the property.

The information inside never would cut it today as a viable tool to lead you around the park.

For one thing, the spots where Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain currently occupy space were just gray areas back then; Space Mountain, the WEDway PeopleMover [now the Tomorrowland Transit Authority] and Carousel of Progress were still on the drawing boards.

Some of the now-departed attractions included the Mickey Mouse Revue, Flight to the Moon, If You Had Wings, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the Mike Fink Keel Boats and Davy Crockett’s Canoes.

In Fantasyland, in the space where the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid now attract long lines, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Submarine Voyage was the featured attraction.

The book gives you detailed information on each land within the Magic Kingdom. For instance, in Adventureland, the attractions included the Swiss Family Island Treehouse, the Tropical Serenade and the Jungle Cruise.

Dining options included the Adventureland Veranda, the Veranda Juice Bar and the Sunshine Tree Terrace. The book lists shops and stores, as well as entertainment specific to that land … in this case, the Adventureland Steel Drum Band and the Safari Band.

The guide map even made note of where the nearest ticket and information kiosk was located within each land.

Speaking of which, the guide map offered three pages of detailed information on the WDW coupon book policy of the time. Back then, you paid a general admission price to get into the park, then used a coupon to gain access to each attraction.

Those attractions were broken down into thrill level, with an A coupon attraction being the mildest, B a little more thrilling, all the way up to E, which was considered the most exciting.

There are also hints on where and when to dine (before noon and after 2 p.m.) as well as a reference to Blackbeard’s Island – “A tropical paradise of colorful island flowers and birds.” Blackbeard’s Island, located in Bay Lake near the Contemporary Hotel, went on to become Treasure Island, then Discovery Island in 1976.

It received many zoological awards over the years before it was closed, returning to its original calling before WDW opened – a lush, unoccupied island in the middle of Bay Lake. Many of the inhabitants of the island – as well as the name Discovery Island – were transferred to the newly opened Animal Kingdom theme park in 1998.

There are four full pages devoted to photography tips … things like checking your equipment, how to compose your pictures, holding your camera steady and watching your focus. GAF also offers pointers for folks with movie cameras: Pan slowly, zoom sparingly and vary your scene length. There also is An Important Word About Flashbulbs … which were prohibited in most indoor attractions.

And ticket prices? General admission, which included use of the Walt Disney World transportation system and seven coupons for rides, was $4.95 for adults, $4.50 for juniors [12-17 years old] and $3.95 for a child [3-11].

There were 28 attractions in the Magic Kingdom in 1972. If you rode each attraction once, using A-through-E coupons, it would have cost you a total of $14.65.

There was complimentary same-day readmission with a hand stamp [remember doing that?] and – for your safety – shoes had to be worn at all times while on board WDW transportation [I guess it was OK to walk around barefoot on the blazing hot pavement during a mid-July day].

Some of the other little tidbits, many long outdated, featured in the 1972 guidebook:

PET CARE: The Kal Kan Kennel Club was located in the Main Entrance Complex if you wanted to board your pet. The cost was 50 cents a day or $1 for an overnight stay.

FIRST AID: Registered nurses were on duty in the first aid station next to The Crystal Palace. There also was a first aid station in Fantasyland near “it’s a small world.”

SECURITY: In most areas of the park, Walt Disney World security could be recognized by their “themed” attire.

PUBLIC TELEPHONES: Located throughout the Magic Kingdom.

CAMERA AND FILM SERVICE: Rental, service and film processing was available in the GAF Camera Center on Main Street.

STOLport: The Walt Disney World STOLport provides regularly scheduled air service to major Florida cities and connecting international flights. [STOLport stands for “short take-off and landing. They are smaller airports, usually with one runway, which accommodate single-engine planes. Guests would fly in to, say, Tampa, then hop on a small plane and fly to the WDW STOLport.]

And my personal favorite …

REST ROOMS: Located throughout the Magic Kingdom. Ask any host or hostess for directions.

Chuck Schmidt is an award-winning journalist and retired Disney cast member who has covered all things Disney since 1984 in both print and on-line. He has authored or co-authored seven books on Disney, including his On the Disney Beat and Disney’s Dream Weavers for Theme Park Press. He has written a regular blog for AllEars.Net, called Still Goofy About Disney, 2015.

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