CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Oct. 1 marks the 50th anniversary of when guests were first allowed into Florida’s Walt Disney World, “The Most Magical Place on Earth.”

The famed park opened in 1971 and is the brainchild of Walt Disney, but he died four years before the resort opened.

Disneyland, the first Disney amusement park, opened 16 years prior in Southern California. Since then, more parks were created: Epcot in 1982, Hollywood Studios in 1989 and Animal Kingdom in 1998. Now, Disney has 12 parks and six different resorts on three different continents.

Celebrations of the milestone anniversary will continue for 18 months. To mark the occasion, there are new rides like “Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure,” a new light show, “Harmonious,” along with fresh merchandise, dining options, and the debut of its “Disney Enchantment’’ fireworks show.

Four parks will follow its “EARidescent” theme of bright colors and gold accents.

Gold trim and embellishments now adorn Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom Park, parks will sell EARidescent colored merchandise, cast members got sparkly new name tags for the occasion and Mickey and the crew will have outfit upgrades, too.

“The World’s Most Magical Celebration” starts Friday. Read more about the celebrations here.