Obviously, the park's added many more attractions over the years - including Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. But with 22 more acres to work with that the original Disneyland (107 acres to 85), the Magic Kingdom's not had to close that many attractions over the years to make room for new adventures.
In fact, there are just five rides from Disney World's opening month that you won't find today in the Magic Kingdom (according to this opening-day map from Disney).
Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes - Paddle your canoe around the Rivers of America on a guided tour around Tom Sawyer's Island. You'll do the work, while your guides crack the jokes. My favorite? "Over yonder you'll see a popular sight - Fort Sam Clemens. Can anyone tell me the connection between Fort Sam Clemens and Tom Sawyer's Island?" The canoe host will pause for a moment while some literate guest explains pen names and such, then stare incredulously at him/her before replying: "No, you library-loving city slicker. The connection is a bridge!"
The Mike Fink Keelboats - Another trip around the Rivers of America, except this time you don't need to "stroke, stroke, stroke." You'll ride on the Bertha Mae or Gullywhumper while your host points out the highlights around the river, often telling many of the same jokes you might hear on the canoes. The ride closed in 1997, after the Gullywhumper capsized at Disneyland.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - This is one of two rides you can still experience at Disneyland in California. (The canoes is the other.) Based on the classic "The Wind in the Willows," Mr. Toad's Wild Ride earned the love of a generation of somewhat sarcastic fans for being a Disney ride in which you, literally, ended up in Hell.
Skyway to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland - The "sky buckets" provided high-in-the-sky aerial views of the Magic Kingdom, but Disney closed all of its skyways in the 1990s, a decade in which cost-cutting claimed many older rides around the Disney empire. The Magic Kingdom's closure in 1999 came months after a fatal accident claimed the life of a park maintenance worker.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Walt Disney World's version of Disneyland's submarine ride put the Anaheim original to creative shame. Instead of unthemed subs on an expedition to the North Pole, here you rode with Captain Nemo in a scaled-down recreation of the Nautilus itself, visiting not just the Pole but what might have been the lost continent of Atlantis, in a much more detailed storyline. Today, the old 20K sub lagoon's been filled in and is the work site of the new Fantasyland expansion.
In addition to those rides, two of the parks' opening-day shows are no longer part of the park - The Mickey Mouse Revue, which was shipped off to Tokyo Disneyland, and the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree, which fell victim to 1990s cost-cutting. (The Main Street Cinema's gone now, too.)
Many other attractions have come and gone during the past four decades, including the Swan Boats, Magic Journeys, Legend of the Lion King, Mission to Mars, Alien Encounter, If You Had Wings/Could Fly, Delta Dreamflight, several CircleVision movies, Timekeeper and the entire Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland/Toontown Fair. Several others have changed their names. (A great source for a virtual revisit to the Disney World of yesteryear is Widen Your World. Check it out sometime... when you've got hours to spare. You'll need them.)
But which one, of those now-gone original five rides, do you miss most? Or, if you never experienced them, which one sounds like the one you'd most wish for the chance to ride?
I'm sorry that I can't be in Florida tomorrow for the 40th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World. (Perhaps ironically, I'll be at Disneyland that day instead. Disney's throwing a big Halloween media event that day, and since I live in California I'm going to stick close to home. How strange would it be if Disney's largest media event on the day of WDW's 40th birthday actually turns out to be at Disneyland?)
If you visit the Magic Kingdom on Saturday, I'd love to see your photos and trip reports. If you email them to me at themeparkinsider@gmail.com, I'll share them with the rest of the Theme Park Insider community in a post this weekend.
Finally, if you - like me - can't make it to Orlando for the birthday this weekend, but are still in the mood for a Disney fix, might I suggest downloading a copy of "Stories from a Theme Park Insider"? Our eBook includes 40 stories about life working inside the Magic Kingdom, from me and other Theme Park Insider readers. 
At just $3.99 for Amazon Kindle or Apple iPad it's a "fantastic read for a WDW fan," according to reader reviews.
Unlike some other books in this genre, "Stories from a Theme Park Insider" doesn't dwell on life outside the parks, or wallow in the debauchery of 20-something cast members. Sure, there are some embarrassing moments (I will never again wear a "Randy" nametag), but the book is really just a fun celebration of life working in a wonderful theme park.
So, in that spirit of celebration: Happy birthday, Disney World!
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I still love the original toad in Disneyland, but the was just something about the 2 track WDW version that made it special (and I am not referring to the painting of the naked lady that hung in the pub scene).
One attraction I really miss that opened a few years after the park was the House of Future Living, which was a short diversion that occupied the Speedramp that takes you out of Space Mountain. It was a blatant commercial for RCA products, but it was a fun blatant commercial for RCA products.
Alien Encounter
If You Had Wings - nostalgia, Soarin' is much better
Snow White - oh wait that's still there for now.
I have been on all of the aforementioned rides.
Sort of related to this topic: My cast member pals are all keeping their "eyes and ears" open awaiting word on the final day for "Dumbo's Flight" -- which will close in lieu of the dueling Dumbo attraction slated for the Fantasyland expansion.
I really would like to see a 2.0 version of it, with the trackless ride system used in Tokio's Pooh ride (also scheduled to be used in the newFrance's Ratatoille ride).
What i really loved about Disney was all the recorded voices, seemingly from the 50s. I especially remember this from the People Movers. it just made everything feel homey and hearkened back to a simpler time. I am not doing a very good job describing, but i loved the old voice overs/narrations. And i loved the kitschy old rides, like the Mars ride.
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Mr. Toads would be the second place for me of what is on the list. I also miss "If you had wings" that was in the Buzz Lightyear spot, and of course "Snow White's Scary Adventures (too soon?)..... but loosing both of those made way for new rides that I also enjoy too. I wish they would not have taken so long to do something with the 20,000 leagues space after it closed. I also hope one day they will utilize the submarine ride system for something in the Florida resort again like they did at Disneyland. Maybe do something with the subs at Animal Kingdom?