If you had wings...thanks Mom and Dad!

MissM

MissM

Well-Known Member
that_L_do_pig said:
Turns out, I had never experienced the 'If you had wings' attraction. I looked at the photos and nothing is jogging the cobwebs upstairs.
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Yeah I know what you mean. My Love takes about it reverently; he fondly remembers riding it when he was little (and recalls that it was great because it was a "free" ride - no ticket required).

I on the other hand, who have been to WDW starting in 1984 and am obsessive with learning things about the World, don't recall it at all. Not even a little. So I don't think I ever went on it either. :(
-m
 
hbrady77

hbrady77

Member
Man... that brings back memories.. I can picture my dear departed mom and I climbing into those cars with our bell bottom pants on.. for some reason I associated that ride with Eastern Airlines when I was younger.. maybe because their logos were similar??

Ahhh the memories....
 
hbrady77

hbrady77

Member
hbrady77 said:
Man... that brings back memories.. I can picture my dear departed mom and I climbing into those cars with our bell bottom pants on.. for some reason I associated that ride with Eastern Airlines when I was younger.. maybe because their logos were similar??

Ahhh the memories....
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Dohhh.. I should have read the main page 1st :brick: Now I know why I associated that ride with Eastern Airlines :brick:
 
joel_maxwell

joel_maxwell

Permanent Resident of EPCOT
General Grizz said:
Best part I remember - final speedroom flying in the clouds. Oh, so wonderful. :D
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WOW, that was the coolest. i like the get the sensation of really going fast in that part and then looking at the ground or something and realize that we were probably moving 2 miles and hour as opposed to the visual minipulation.

my mom (ill try to find the shot) has a picture of a bird resting on top of the sign. i remember her like running through the crowd to get the shot, she did. it is classic.
 
barnum42

barnum42

New Member
It was there on my first visit in 1987. All I can remember is that after World of Motion and Horizons, lots of back projected images did not really cut it for me.
 
Sloan

Sloan

Well-Known Member
the theme song is burned in to my brain

While I certainly recall the final 'exit sequence' of the 'ride' when you took flight in the large-scale projection room, an even stronger memory is of the "if you had wings" theme-song. I know that there was at least one occasion when I was stuck on the ride, and the chorus of "if you had wings" played over, and over, and over, and over ..... well, you get the idea. While its nostalgic to remember it, this is not one that you need to be too envious about having missed - (compared to say, 20,000 leagues, which, while it would seem a bit silly and dated now, was a one-of-a-kind that I'm so happy to have been on, in its day)
 
R

rosebud's mom

Active Member
I remember this one fondly too. I always liked the scenes where they had moving pictures laid over top of still scenes. - ( sorry, I know what I'm trying to say but I'm afraid not explaining it well ! ) One that stands out in my mind was a huge flock of seagulls that sort of came up from the floor below your view and then flew "out into the distance" through the screens on the walls.

Rode this one a lot those first few trips. My mother was sort of wussy and this was one of the few things she liked. This one and COP. At least its still there.......for now anyway.
 
PeeplMoovr

PeeplMoovr

Active Member
Loved that ride.
My favorite part: the fish that got bigger and smaller as the wife's camera got closer or farther away. Kinda like fish stories my dad used to tell.
I also loved the traffic scene.

"If you had wings, you could do many things. You could widen your world, if you had wings"
 
SpongeScott

SpongeScott

Well-Known Member
Man, have you people brought back some memories....

The final scene was my favorite part too. It really was a treat to ride since it was "free".

And that song! If you had wings...if you had wings...if you had wings, had wings, had wings.
 
Expo_Seeker40

Expo_Seeker40

Well-Known Member
Oh memory lane!

Do any of you recall that when you walked through the entrance, you could hear an orchestra playing, and the giant departure signs would light up and a man would say: "Attention please, Eastern Airlines flight [blah], your holiday fiesta to the [blah] will depart at gate 23." Oh I can't remember, but there were various fake boarding calls, and the sign would always light up and blink on and off occasionly. It was sooo cool in there. Air conditioning! The slanted blue walls with the baby blue omvnimovers sailing into them under the globe with the Eastern Jet on it.

Now this is not meant to be spam at all. You can now purchase a DVD of "If You Had Wings", and its entire history and all of its incarnations, with full ride video, including "If You Could Fly". There is also some audio, including how "El Rio Del Tiempo" is more or less the boat ride version of "If You Had Wings". The quality for the video is OK. I stress ok, but what really counts is that we have the opportunity to go back and time and relive this ride. You can purchase your copy of the "If You Had Wings" DVD at http://www.extinct-attractions-club.com
 
waltdisny

waltdisny

New Member
If You Had Wings was great! Sorely missed. It was the kind of ride that you could ride over-and-over and still see something new each time. I liked the Jazz band on the NewOrleans street.

As a trivia point, everyplace in the ride was somewhere Eastern (the sponsor) flew. Even the take-off in the first high-speed room was filmed at Atlanta-Hartsfield, Eastern's home field. This explains why the destinations tended to be tropical, in those glory days of regulated air-travel Eastern flew in the south and east, and had many of the routes in the Carribean.

In the mid 1970's, they had a travel agent right in the exit area to book a trip for you on the spot. They would occasionally hand out plastic EAL pilot wings to kids (I still have mine). Later that person got replaced with a bank of really cool airplane shaped telephones. Of course, thinking that someone on vacation would want to book ANOTHER vacation was a bit optimistic on Eastern's part.

The ride's demise was caused Not by Disney, but by outside influences that ultimatlely ruined the airline industry in this country. Oops, I digress. Sorry, my real life was intruding.:brick:
 
MGMBoy

MGMBoy

Well-Known Member
That area has changed more times then I can count. I still remember when it was sponsored by Eastern (before they disappeared). It was also Take Flight & Dreamflight before Buzz Lightyear. I can't think of another permenant structure on property that has housed so many attractions since the park opened.
 
barnum42

barnum42

New Member
MGMBoy said:
That area has changed more times then I can count. I still remember when it was sponsored by Eastern (before they disappeared). It was also Take Flight & Dreamflight before Buzz Lightyear. I can't think of another permenant structure on property that has housed so many attractions since the park opened.
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Off the top of my head - The theatre where Philarmagic now resides has also been Legend of the Lion king and Magic Journeys in the time I have known it and I believe it was The Mickey Mouse Revue before that - so that's four distinctly different shows.

I know - stop being a smartarse :lol:
 
MGMBoy

MGMBoy

Well-Known Member
barnum42 said:
Off the top of my head - The theatre where Philarmagic now resides has also been Legend of the Lion king and Magic Journeys in the time I have known it and I believe it was The Mickey Mouse Revue before that - so that's four distinctly different shows.

I know - stop being a smartarse :lol:
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You have a point. That one HAS had more shows in it. (Good call) I guess this one has just had more names. I can only think of three different actual shows in there which means that (once Stitch opens, both those places will have had three shows in them).
 
mrtoad

mrtoad

Well-Known Member
General Grizz said:
Best part I remember - final speedroom flying in the clouds. Oh, so wonderful. :D
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I actually remember there being different films they played in the speed room. One that comes to mind was you were on the ice and there were people ice sailing all around you.

That room was excellent. I loved they way you would be pushed into your seat and then look down and you are going abot 1/2 a mile an hour, then you would pick your head up and get pushed into you seat again. Great effect!
 
that_L_do_pig

that_L_do_pig

New Member
Original Poster
Well thanks to the wonder of the internet and the courtesy of scottnj1966 I have now ridden 'If you had wings.' I definitely have never ridden that attraction before which is very, very ODD to me. I need to go listen to IASW to get that song out of my head.

I now understand the comparisons to River Del Tiempo that I did not understand before.

This is a great forum...
 
mrtoad

mrtoad

Well-Known Member
I just watched it as well and reminds me that I loved it more than anything else that has been in it’s place ever since. It was a great attraction!
 

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