Then and Now - WDW Comparison Photos

[blueboxdoctor]

Misc Photos -

2011 - Polynesian Lobby

2015 - Pile of Rocks and Foliage Polynesian Lobby

2009 - Virgin Megastore

2011 - Spllitsville Luxury Lanes

These are the ones that hurt, that Polynesian pic, that just isn't right, what in the world were they thinking when they did that?! And the Virgin Megastore was awesome, but they closed up all around, so that's something I'll just have to live with.

 

[Skooterkid]

These are the ones that hurt, that Polynesian pic, that just isn't right, what in the world were they thinking when they did that?! And the Virgin Megastore was awesome, but they closed up all around, so that's something I'll just have to live with.

I loved the Virgin Megastore! I have very fond memories from 2004 of running through the store with my sister and my cousins to grab a CD of their favourite band and then all of us running into a huge pile of CDs and sending them crashing to the floor. Luckily the manager didn't make us pay for them all - and to this day we still have arguments over who knocked them down!

 

[Winnie the Pooh lover11]

Mickey's Toontown:
then:

now:

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jon81uk]

Misc Photos -

2011 - Polynesian Lobby

2015 - Pile of Rocks and Foliage Polynesian Lobby

Photos from Future World Then and Now Part 1, and Polynesian Waterfall Garden - Yesterland. com

Mickey's Toontown:
then:

now:

Thanks for sharing, but the Poly photos and toontown photos don't have the same effect as the ones that WDWTravleller was posting as they are from different angles.

 

[POLY LOVER]

These are the ones that hurt, that Polynesian pic, that just isn't right, what in the world were they thinking when they did that?! And the Virgin Megastore was awesome, but they closed up all around, so that's something I'll just have to live with.

OH IT HURTS SO BAD TO SEE THAT

 

[WDWtraveler]

For more information on the intent of this thread, please see the original post on page 1:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/then-and-now-wdw-comparison-photos.901790/#post-6796626

The photos I post here are from private collections (including mine) and not from other websites. I have really enjoyed seeing the old photos of WDW posted here, however my intent is to show comparisons in the same perspective and scale as the old photos, with specific dates to help orient the forum members. My "now" comparisons are current as of 2015 (and will be thru 2016 for Disney Springs). More photo pairs and discussion to come! Enjoy!

Third photo pair: September 2009. Pinocchio Village Haus. Open spaces with a smaller outdoor dining area to left behind the hedge. On the extreme right is a Fantasyland meet-and-greet area that was installed after 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea was removed.

July 2015. The outdoor seating area has been enlarged, with the addition of food carts. In my opinion, the number of food carts has increased all over WDW. Two new trees shade the façade of Pinocchio Village Haus. Note the red steeple roof on the building behind the Village Haus roof on the left. This is new, replacing the smaller one in the 2009 photo above (the photo perspectives are almost the same). On the right, the large bushes in front of the windows under the tall copper steeple roof have been removed, now showcasing items in the windows.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Er, so, what were you guys saying about there being more strollers in the parks nowadays?

Yup... seems like a lot of selective memories happening here.

 

[Matt_Black]

Yup... seems like a lot of selective memories happening here.

Retroactive Pixie Dust

 

[Goofyernmost]

Retroactive Pixie Dust

Or the old... "the grass is always greener behind us" syndrome. Ah, the good old days. I'm from the good old days, and frankly, they sucked just as bad as the bad old present.

 

[Matt_Black]

Or the old... "the grass is always greener behind us" syndrome. Ah, the good old days. I'm from the good old days, and frankly, they sucked just as bad as the bad old present.

"Mr. Twain, the Golden Age was never the current age."

 

[Mike S]

"Mr. Twain, the Golden Age was never the current age."

One factor for why that can be true is because people sometimes don't realize how good they have it. One good Disney example is EPCOT Center in the 80's. People who visited then didn't think it was the golden age because they probably never thought it would change so drastically in the future. To quote Cinderella (the band, not the princess), "you don't know what you got till it's gone."

 

[Matt_Black]

One factor for why that can be true is because people sometimes don't realize how good they have it. One good Disney example is EPCOT Center in the 80's. People who visited then didn't think it was the golden age because they probably never thought it would change so drastically in the future. To quote Cinderella (the band, not the princess), "you don't know what you got till it's gone."

Eh... I don't know if that's true. Look at how many people talk fondly about the 40s and 50s, when jobs were good and America was strong. It was a good time to be alive... As long as you were white and Christian and male.

 

[Nemo14]

To quote Cinderella (the band, not the princess), "you don't know what you got till it's gone."

or Joni Mitchell...

 

[blueboxdoctor]

I loved the Virgin Megastore! I have very fond memories from 2004 of running through the store with my sister and my cousins to grab a CD of their favourite band and then all of us running into a huge pile of CDs and sending them crashing to the floor. Luckily the manager didn't make us pay for them all - and to this day we still have arguments over who knocked them down!

I just remember spending far too much there and getting a live concert DVD for the band Within Temptation, that upon further inspection I later found is in PAL format and can only be played on my laptop. And when I was on senior trip in back in high school, my group all bough the greatest hits of Rick Astley, in what seemed like a never-ending supply of them on the sale rack. But the store was really good for getting some of the harder to find music.

 

[tonganprince]

Love this thread! Keep them coming.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

I like how this thread shows the iconic parts of WDW don't really ever change (Pirates and Small World look pretty much the same, even though they ruined the Polynesian both in the lobby and those buildings on the lake that ruin the view). It's kind of cool how they have some timeless areas and change things around them.

 

[WDWtraveler]

Fourth photo pair. Then: Sept 2013. Not so long ago at Downtown Disney Marketplace, before Captain Jack's Seafood restaurant and the Marketplace ferry boat landing were removed to make way for the new Marketplace causeway.

Now: July 2015.

 

[OliveMcFly]

Misc Photos -

2011 - Polynesian Lobby

2015 - Pile of Rocks and Foliage Polynesian Lobby

Our home videos show a good amount on the Polynesian lobby in 1990. I remember an imprint of a pineapple in the ash trays. I always loved the birds being there too. They had so many great touches.

 

[Andrew C]

OH IT HURTS SO BAD TO SEE THAT

The old Poly lobby pic looks like the lobby of an Embassy Suites Hotel in the 1990's (and some still look like this)....out of date