1980

November 8th marked the opening of the Magic Kingdom’s second roller coaster, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a year after the same attraction debuted at Disneyland.

1988

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After a number of years of inactivity at the Magic Kingdom, the park received renewed attention with Mickey’s Birthdayland, a section of the Magic Kingdom devoted to celebrating Mickey Mouse’s sixtieth anniversary. It included attractions such Mickey’s House, Mickey’s Playground, and Grandma’ Duck’s Petting farm, tents where you can spend time with the Mickey Mouse cast, and live shows like the very popular Minnie’s Surprise Birthday Party. Mickey’s Birthdayland stuck around in different forms after 1988 (Mickey’s Starland, Mickey’s Toyland and Mickey’s Toontown Fair) until it was finally closed in 2011 to build an extension on to Fantasyland.

1992

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Twelve years after its last major attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Magic Kingdom wowed Disney fans with Splash Mountain, which opened July 17 and had a dedication ceremony on October 2. 

1994

Tomorrowland, which was starting to look extremely dated, received a major upgrade. It’s extremely easy for science fiction to stop feeling relevant; obviously we know now that the future will be nothing like what it was portrayed as in Star Trek in the 1960s. To avoid that problem in the future the Imagineers shifted to using a more general futuristic design for Tomorrowland.

1998

To fit in characters from recent very successful animated movies, Walt Disney World replaced Tropical Serenade with The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), which featuring Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from The Lion King.

2005

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After the massive success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Disney's Imagineers were swayed to adjust the ride that inspired it so that it would match the film. Audio-Animatronics of the Johnny Depp Captain Jack Sparrow were added to the attraction.

2007

Arguably the last major change to the Magic Kingdom came in 2007, when the Haunted Mansion went through a major overhaul. The biggest difference was that the ghost ride story, not originally an official part of the attraction, was added to the canon!

2014

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2014, of course, has seen the completion of the New Fantasyland expansion with the opening of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster. The area has been completely transformed, with the diamond mine that sits at the heart of the coaster becoming New Fantasyland's centerpiece.

We’re sure to have many more exciting years as time rolls on. The above list is made up of ones that struck me as particularly fascinating; you might have other ideas. Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!