50 MAGICal Enhancements for the 50th ...

[Kman101]

My first was Indiana Jones, for obvious reasons

That was third!

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

BW was an odd duck - it was a strangely unlikeable ride, with the tone and aesthetic of a low-budget late-70s sci-fi film. It's one of only a few non-IP-based WDW properties that didn't produce a character that nostalgia (and marketing) can latch on to.

This opinion may be more personal, but I also never loved the subs. If it weren't for the decades long wait, the trade-off for NFL would be a good one.

Toad was a genuine loss, even if it was a simple little ride. FL should be packed with dark rides (see DL) and Toad was probably my favorite. A new Toad done with modern tech (mystic manor style trackless, with several reckless drivers veering around each other?) would be great.

I always thought a trackless Haunted Mansion where vehicles randomly explore unique paths and rooms would be amazing! Think of the repeatability!

 

[Nemo14]

OK, Grammy ... when was your first visit to WDW?

It was the summer of 1974, hotter than blazes, - I was traveling with a friend on our way to New Orleans, so we decided to spend a day checking out "Disneyworld".
It was only Magic Kingdom then, and Space Mountain was under construction. I liked it, and I was thrilled that we had an East coast "Disneyland" to go to now since we had done the cross-country drive a few times by then, but to be honest, I didn't love it then. It wasn't until we took my daughter for her first Disney trip in 1987 that I fell in love with it. Nothing compares with seeing it all through the eyes of your children. My first visit to EPCOT totally hooked me and my husband.

 

[The Mom]

Ah, but since you are still so beautiful no one would ever guess you could be older than me (please recall that most people here view me as a 70-something, not a 40-something!)

But it's no different than anything else. You can have a great mind and be well-read and have lots of knowledge on a subject ... but living it is very different. When someone tells me that WDW is great and their first visit was in 2007 or even 1997, I don't discount them as an intelligent person with an opinion deserving a listen. But they are comparing apples and grape Pop-Tarts. It's just not the same. I still have my pre-opening EPCOT Center tickets. I have my opening day Disney-MGM entertainment schedule signed by Michael Eisner and Bob Hope and ... and the dude who played Colonel Klink on Hogan's Heros (yeah, that is one interesting trio!) I even have my vomit-stained press kit from the opening of DCA. And so many other reminders of all of that experience.

BTW, drinks on me at the Top of the World if you're ever around when I am!

Time to replace that 15 year old photo. Before you ask, my first visit to WDW was in October 1982, after my husband and I moved down to Florida. I took my now deceased parents, who had come down for a visit. My mother's observation "EPCOT is the MK for grownups." I'm not sure that's true anymore, except for the alcohol. We had to actually go to a restaurant and order food to get a drink!

 

[Princess Leia]

Well, Alaska is amazing (until the government decides to destroy it) so no sympathy there. I have been trying to get back there since I was there last in 2003! ... But I will give you a short lecture that @WDWFigment is much better at. And that is a trip to Tokyo is not nearly as pricey as you may think and 'can' (doesn't mean will) be less expensive than a similar visit to WDW.

We are in the midst of finalizing plans for our trip and everything from hotels (4-star caliber) to admission media to food (again, depending on where we eat) is less than what people pay in O-Town. And the flights are quite reasonable now as well ... not the old days where a fare under $1,800 would be considered great. Now, flights from the west coast can often be had for not much more than $500 round trip.

People make a lot of excuses, and some have valid reasons, but the bottom line is a visit to Tokyo may well be less expensive than a visit to the swamps.

Oh don't get me wrong, I am very much looking forward to Alaska. I was supposed to go last year, but plans fell through. My aunt suggested that I look at Alaska Airlines this week, and it would cost $350 for a roundtrip ticket That's way cheaper than Delta (I was looking at prices between upper $600s and lower $900s).

What airline do you typically fly when you go to Asia?

 

[KrzyKtty]

I was pricing it out last night, and a trip to Tokyo would be about 2-3k more expensive than WDW. Granted that was a similar time frame so that we could take some time and enjoy JP as well. Alas, we probably won't be going for a few years though; the children are still a bit young.

 

[disneyC97]

Yup. The Character shop was located right where WoD is now. That was the largest WDW shop until 1995, but the rest of the Village was largely Disney free for years.

I still want some blogger to write about the hair salon and pet shop that existed at WDW Village for a brief time in the 70s because I never saw them and they are most definitely a piece of the tapestry that no one ever talks about.

There was actually the smaller "Pooh's Character Shop" roughly where I think Earl is today before the 1985/1986 shop that predated WoD. It had a Pooh figure inside "floating" on a balloon (via a wire) across the ceiling from Owl's house.

 

[Kman101]

I was pricing it out last night, and a trip to Tokyo would be about 2-3k more expensive than WDW. Granted that was a similar time frame so that we could take some time and enjoy JP as well. Alas, we probably won't be going for a few years though; the children are still a bit young.

I'd imagine flight is the costliest of the planning? I've personally never really priced it out yet but room/tickets/food should be fairly comparable.

 

[KrzyKtty]

I'd imagine flight is the costliest of the planning? I've personally never really priced it out yet but room/tickets/food should be fairly comparable.

Yes, because we live close enough for a 7 hour drive to WDW, the price difference is in buying 4 plane tickets. Our long range plan at the moment is to celebrate our 20th anni there in a few years as a family when the children are old enough to enjoy the experience of it. Probably take 2 weeks and spend some in Tokyo and some in Kyoto.

 

[flyerjab]

Very, very well put. And without charts and graphs. You are impressive, my friend!

I can go on and on and on about the things I loved about WDW in the 70s and 80s. Simply put, it was a better run, higher caliber product with truly world class Guest Service in the middle of no where (that was O-Town until the 90s building binge). Yes, the prices back then were high compared to the rest, but not compared to what people earned versus today.

WDW is trending upward in some areas (although what do you say to visitors to EPCOT and DHS now?), but overall it still has issues. I won't criticize the good as FINALLY there is some. And I won't get lathered up that Bob Iger really cares when he did nothing for the place from 2005 until very recently.

I still miss the original Top of the World brunches, running around EPCOT until after midnight on Spring Break, the quiet WDW Village at LBV, the steaks at Tangaroa Terrace, TREES everywhere, swimming in the lake at River Country while fireworks burst high over the Contemporary and Space Mountain, live music everywhere, the Diamond Horseshoe, the hours long studio tour at Disney-MGM, shops with cool stuff that wasn't all Disney, shops that you couldn't bring a double-wide stroller into, the original WDW Italian salad dressing (which is about 96% back at The Boathouse now), TREES everywhere, Jack Wagner on the radio and all over the resort, Mr. Toad and the submarines, walking up to EPCOT restaurants and getting a table, the amazing original music of EPCOT Center, no gates on attractions or monorails, TREES everywhere, real menus at restaurants (something back at signature locales now), Swan Boats peacefully gliding around the Hub waterways, TREES everywhere, quick serve at the Soundstage Restaurant, bad pizza at Lancer's Inn, Mickey with a Musket at FW, fountains with water (not plants and garbage) in Adventureland, no FPs, sleeping on the beach at the Poly or Contemporary, great buffets at the Terrace restaurant at Contemporary, the Empress Lilly (no, not the poster!), TREES everywhere, characters on waterskis, frozen grape juice bars, thin attractive CMs who understood English (yeah, I guess saying that means I'm as racist as some of the folks on the political forum ), the Festival of the Masters, TREES everywhere, the hope of monorail expansion and WS expansion, always something new to see or do ... yeah, I could go on and on and on ... Did I mention TREES everywhere?

I have to say that I love this post. There is something about "the way that things used to be" that always hits so close to home as they say. You and I are frighteningly close in age (and yes, I am one of those guilty of thinking that you are in your 60s ). And I have always been baffled by how visceral your verbal attacks are to the parks and their leadership. Over the years though I now see things a bit differently, and this post is one of the best you have written as to why you loved WDW at one time.

The one advantage that you and many other posters have over me is that Disney World was an integral part of your youth at a time when WDW was still so innocent. It was an oasis in the middle of Florida with no periscoping, no live streaming, no social network, no bloggers, no internet. No one carried a smart phone and strollers apparently were not a necessity in life. It was before the world became much smaller and the free market became "Walmarted" and homogenized to death.

When I was a young kid home from school for the summer in good old Berks County, PA, my mom was of the stay-at-home variety. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we would get milk delivered to our house every morning by the milk man in glass bottles. We had this old metal milk box on our porch where he would come up and fill our order that my mom had written on paper the night before. Thursday's was a real treat as the Entenmann's Bakery Truck would pull up to the house and the driver would open the door in the back. My mom would take me in and there were shelves filled with as many baked goods as one could imagine. How very Norman Rockwellian it all was in hindsight! Compared to the world of today it is almost laughable how sterile or drab similar experiences have become. Kids played outside most of the day (before the Atari 2600 and Colecovision came along) and TV was about 12 channels (with a 13th that had more adult fare that was scrambled unless you paid for it ).

Having been a regular on the boards since the Avatar deal was first announced, I remember at first being baffled by some of the people on here, talking about how terrible the state of the parks had become in pretty much every conceivable way. I started my Disney experience in 2009, and I remember walking down MSUSA for the first time as a Mickey show was being performed on the castle stage. As the sun set the show ended with a burst of fireworks. It was - I hate to say it - a 'MAGICal' moment for me. I was totally hooked, being completely drawn in to what I perceived as brilliance in amusement park design and management (remember, at this time I thought of WDW as an amusement park comparable to places like Dorney and Hershey park back home). I still feel this way for the most part, mainly because my perspective of how a theme park can be great is significantly different than those that visited in the 70s and 80s. Some of this I directly attribute to a large PM discussion I shared with @George and @sshindel about why EPCOT was so incredible and is now so bereft of the spirit and soul that it once had. And I really understand now, and feel for those that hold these parks to another standard. It is one of innocence, a standard when things were done without the weight of "how will this impact long term share holder investment". Instead, it was when decisions were still being made to honor the man that started all of this and his vision of establishing a baseline level of acceptance and then always asking "how can we make this even better?"

I am hoping that what we are seeing now will make things better. I believe that they will as the level of investment here is pretty impressive. WDW will never return to what it once was. That is like me hoping to find bottles of milk on our porch tomorrow morning when I wake up to go to work. It can, however, be much better than it has been of late. Here's hoping.

 

[RobbinsDad]

My first was Indiana Jones, for obvious reasons

Mine too, because you never know when it might break down.

 

[truecoat]

Gee, I can remember Body Wars too. Subs, Toad and Body Wars left a lasting impression. I was always terrified of Body Wars.

Becoming a Disney fan later in life, Body Wars was the first Disney ride for me. It doesn't hold any sentimental value for that and in fact I just realized today that it was the first. I'm one of the Disney fans @WDW1974 talks about. My first visit to WDW was in 2000 so I don't know what I missed but I'm aware of what came before.

 

[Kman101]

It's just funny to me what you can remember from when you were a kid. Of all the rides at Magic Kingdom, Epcot and MGM back in the day I have the attachement to the subs and toad. And as a kid BW just stuck with me, not saying it was good LOL.

I still remember the original Superstar Theater show at MGM because I was a fan of the classic sitcoms at the time. And the backlot tour with the honey I shrunk the kids bee. Vividly recall all of that. Last visit (obviously not "last visit" LOL) to MGM as a kid with memories I can recall was 1996 with the Dalmation stuff added to the backlot tour. Was also at Animal Kingdom opening year. No Asia. Didn't get back into the world until 2006. Possibly an MGM visit right after RnR opened because I refused to go on Tower. Now? I never miss it.

So yeah, I do know how it was. Sort of. I'm lucky I was born when I was and went as a kid all the time. Sure it wasn't in the 70s, but the early 90s weren't too bad. I was also on a school trip to IOA and UNI when IOA first opened. I ended up incredibly burned ...

 

[RobbinsDad]

Our family averaged about 3-4 day trips a year as early as I can remember until we moved away from CF in 1986. My most vivid memories involve Adventureland in MK and Communicore in EPCOT. I'm certain my first WDW love was the Tiki Room.

 

[Princess Leia]

My first trip was when I was a little over 3, back in early 1995. And to be honest, I really don't remember much of it. The only park that I have memories of is MGM. I remember brief bits of the Aladdin parade, the Ninja Turtles, screaming my head off during the Catastrophe Canyon portion of the Backlot Tour, and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. My shoe got stuck in the netting, but I had a great time running around.

During the next trip in 98, I remember my dad buying Figment stocking caps for me and my sister (it was a particularly chilly week in Florida, but way warmer than the Ohio weather), but I have no recollection of going on Imagination (or Horizons for that matter- was it still open then?). The only thing that I remember at Imagination was the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show. That's something my family saw on each trip that it was open (except maybe 2008). Likewise, I remember seeing signs for Body Wars, but idk if we ever went to the Wonders of Life pavilion. I really wish that I could remember the old Future World, but I enjoy learning about it through reading materials and youtube (and Martin's videos ).

I guess that what I really want for the 50th is for some of the things that I've forgotten to come back. I know there's no hope for Horizons, but maybe something new for Imagination and Wonders of Life.

 

[Kman101]

Our family averaged about 3-4 day trips a year as early as I can remember until we moved away from CF in 1986. My most vivid memories involve Adventureland in MK and Communicore in EPCOT. I'm certain my first WDW love was the Tiki Room.

Your last visit was when I was born. I just outed my age. Haha. And yes I do remember the parks from when I was a kid. Amazing what you can and cannot recall. I also have a not-so-fond memory of my parents having it out in Mel's Diner at Universal with me and my cousin fighting like brothers over a soda or something (that was the last family trip, FYI, but enough about me) ...

 

[rushtest4echo]

My first trip was when I was a little over 3, back in early 1995. And to be honest, I really don't remember much of it. The only park that I have memories of is MGM. I remember brief bits of the Aladdin parade, the Ninja Turtles, screaming my head off during the Catastrophe Canyon portion of the Backlot Tour, and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. My shoe got stuck in the netting, but I had a great time running around.

During the next trip in 98, I remember my dad buying Figment stocking caps for me and my sister (it was a particularly chilly week in Florida, but way warmer than the Ohio weather), but I have no recollection of going on Imagination (or Horizons for that matter- was it still open then?). Likewise, I remember seeing signs for Body Wars, but idk if we ever went to the Wonders of Life pavilion. I really wish that I could remember the old Future World, but I enjoy learning about it through reading materials and youtube (and Martin's videos ).

I guess that what I really want for the 50th is for some of the things that I've forgotten to come back. I know there's no hope for Horizons, but maybe something new for Imagination and Wonders of Life.

Not to worry, lots of things get better with age, especially memory.

In 30 years you'll be able to tell people about how great Spaceship Earth of the 2010's was compared to the VR attraction that replaced it in the year 2021 (even if Spaceship Earth of the 90's totally crapped all over this current 2010's version, haha). You'll be able to tell people you got to see the Figment ride before EPCOT finally just shut the whole pavilion down and let it sit/rot for a decade without a Figment ride in 2023 (despite the obviously superior 90's version of that ride). You'll be able to tell them you saw Bill Nye and Ellen talk about energy and lightly touch on global warming before it became Rex Tillerson's Journey into Drill Baby, Drill (though again, the best version of that ride was the previous one). Same with the "Florida is almost under water now due to sea level rise" pavilion that used to have the cute Nemo ride (which also had a better previous version).

Everything can get worse. EPCOT has quite a ways to go before it hits rock bottom IMO. Of course it's had better periods, but it honestly could get a lot worse.

 

[RobbinsDad]

Your last visit was when I was born. I just outed my age. Haha. And yes I do remember the parks from when I was a kid. Amazing what you can and cannot recall. I also have a not-so-fond memory of my parents having it out in Mel's Diner at Universal with me and my cousin fighting like brothers over a soda or something (that was the last family trip, FYI, but enough about me) ...

All of my Mom's family is from Polk/Highlands County, so we went back home often but the trips to the world were less-frequent. But I did get to stay in a Disney resort for the first time in 1990 - we stayed at the Disney Inn for 2 nights and visited MGM for the first time. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

 

[Kman101]

All of my Mom's family is from Polk/Highlands County, so we went back home often but the trips to the world were less-frequent. But I did get to stay in a Disney resort for the first time in 1990 - we stayed at the Disney Inn for 2 nights and visited MGM for the first time. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

I have such a fondness for MGM. I really do. I know what it sort of used to be and how good it could be. My mom and I also took several trips when they had soap opera weekend (for her, not me, LOL) so I have an attachement to the park because of our trips together. She's still living, of course, so it's not like that, but she can't stand the crowds now. She was absolutely stunned when I took her to the Magic Kingdom a year or two ago. Stunned at the crowds. And as a kid the Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie so I'm really really sad to lose that section from the GMR.

 

[Princess Leia]

Not to worry, lots of things get better with age, especially memory.

In 30 years you'll be able to tell people about how great Spaceship Earth of the 2010's was compared to the VR attraction that replaced it in the year 2021 (even if Spaceship Earth of the 90's totally crapped all over this current 2010's version, haha). You'll be able to tell people you got to see the Figment ride before EPCOT finally just shut the whole pavilion down and let it sit/rot for a decade without a Figment ride in 2023 (despite the obviously superior 90's version of that ride). You'll be able to tell them you saw Bill Nye and Ellen talk about energy and lightly touch on global warming before it became Rex Tillerson's Journey into Drill Baby, Drill (though again, the best version of that ride was the previous one). Same with the "Florida is almost under water now due to sea level rise" pavilion that used to have the cute Nemo ride (which also had a better previous version).

Everything can get worse. EPCOT has quite a ways to go before it hits rock bottom IMO. Of course it's had better periods, but it honestly could get a lot worse.

Well...
I don't think I've been on Spaceship Earth since... idk, 2002 or 2005. I don't think I've ever been in the Energy pavilion. I really cannot remember riding any incarnation of Imagination either. I can go into detail about the World Showcase though, because that's where my family spent most of the time at Epcot.

The trip I'm planning this fall includes Imagination and Energy. Even if they aren't what they once were, I'd like to at least say I've ridden their rides.