Changes

What is today known as the Town Square Theater, originally opened in March 1973 as the Walt Disney Story Theater<ref name="widen"> http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wds.htm </ref>. This new structure , which was built specifically to house the Walt Disney Story attraction, was located in the Town Square section of [[Main Street USA]] next to the Gulf Hospitality House.

When guests entered the Walt Disney Theater, they found themselves in a long hallway filled with personal artifacts and memorabilia from Walt Disney's life. Exhibits here included : the eight unique Academy Awards presented to Walt for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a scale model of the Nautilus submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, letter written to Walt Disney, and various pictures of Walt's many achievements<ref name="widen"/>.

After reaching the end of the hallway, guests reached the entrance to the building's two theaters. Here, a large mural created by Disney artist Bill Justice could be found. The mural, which featured over 170 characters, took four months to complete<ref name="widen"/>. As new Disney films were released, characters from the new animated feature would be added to the mural (this practice ended in 1986 with the release of the Great Mouse Detective) <ref> http://www.imagineeringdisney.com/blog/2011/12/29/mural-removin-season-at-disney.html </ref>.

After entering the theater, guests would watch the attraction's film, which was a - 23 minuted biography of Walt Disney. The film was narrated by Walt himself, and began with his early childhood in Marcelene Missouri, and ended with the creation of Disneyland, and his plans to build [[EPCOT]]..

After watching the film, guests exited the theater and entered the post-show area. Initially, guests would see large displays of Walt Disney World's Phase One, EPCOT, Walt's Carolwood Pacific railroad, and early Audio Animatronicsin this area<ref name="widen"/>. This area The room was perhaps most notable , however , for its the Western River Expedition model. This preview of the intended attraction, was tied in with a nearby audio-Audio Animatronic owl named Hoot Gibson , who would introduce himself as the star of the upcoming Western River Expedition, and give a lecture on Audio-Animatronic technology<ref name="widen"/>.

The first, was in in In June of 1981, when the attraction was replaced with the [[EPCOT Center]] Preview Center. At this time, the area's postshow as restructured, and the displays about Carolwood Pacific and the Western River Expedition model were completely enclosed. At this time, Hoot Gibson gave was also given a new spiel about the upcoming EPCOT Center Animatronics<ref name="widen"/>.

Following the closure of the Walt Disney Story, the theater remained closed unused until October 1996 when the Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary Welcome Center opened. At this point, new exhibits showcasing upcoming Disney projects were presented in the preshow hallway and postshow area. A new film was also featured at this time. In 1997, the Anniversary Welcome Center closed. It was subsequently replaced with [[Disney's Animal Kingdom]] Welcome Center <ref> http://allears.net/magic-kingdom/the-walt-disney-story-magic-kingdom-archives/</ref>.