MKC also managed other membership programs, including Disney’s Executive Club for business entertainment at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the Disneyland Alumni Club and the Disneyland Annual Passports.

The MKC Gold Card required a fee, so it was fancier. In the 1980s, spinoff programs were created including the MKC Gold Card, which provided membership for a fee to those who didn’t work for a participating company, and the Magic Years Club for seniors. MKC published and distributed millions of pieces of literature each year, including an annual membership guide, color posters and the quarterly Disney News Magazine (later named The Disney Magazine). (the bottom Application for Membership stub is missing). The 1979 membership card is typical of the four-part MKC card of the era At its peak, MKC had over 30,000 member companies with six million card-carrying members making it undisputedly the largest employee leisure benefit program in the country. With the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, Disney rolled out the program nationwide and it expanded dramatically, both in terms of size and scope, to include benefits like vacation packages, group travel, and discounts with preferred providers such as the Disney Stores and catalog, airlines, cruise lines, rental cars and hotels. MKC provided posters to member companies for employee bulletin boards. In many ways, MKC was the forerunner of today’s airline and hotel loyalty membership programs by instilling the sense of a special beneficial relationship. It was an immediate win-win formula: MKC provided a free employee benefit while the participating organizations promoted Disneyland by distributing membership cards and materials.

The Club offered discounted and special-value ticket media to the employees of large companies, industry and military throughout Southern California. Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom Club (MKC) was created in 1957 as a unique marketing vehicle for the new Park. Sample Magic Kingdom Club card from an advertisementīy Bob Baldwin, former Worldwide Director, Magic Kingdom Club

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