WDW in 1998

Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
1587353719519.png


Earlier today I was thinking about this map that I used to have along with others from a May 1998 trip to WDW.

This then had me thinking about what WDW was like in '98 and how much has changed since. Back in 1998 WDW had:

- 4 theme parks (including the then new AK)
- 3 water parks (still had River Country!)
- Discovery Island
- Pleasure Island
- The Disney Institute
- Disney Quest (brand new that June)

That's a lot, and sadly many of those gone. Back then the parks still had:

Magic Kingdom

Alien Encounter
TimeKeeper
Take Flight (until Jan 5)
Diamond Horseshoe Saloon Revue
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Mike Fink Keelboats
Skyway
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (until Labor Day)
Country Bear Christmas
Pirates with no movie tie-in
Mickey's Toontown Fair
Main Street Cinema (until they changed it later that year)
Galaxy Palace Theater
Sword in the Stone Ceremony


Epcot

Wonders of Life
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Horizons (seasonal)
Journey into Imagination (until October)
Spaceship Earth with an ending
Innoventions
The Living Seas (no Nemo!)
Maelstrom
El Rio del Tiempo


Disney-MGM Studios

Great Movie Ride
Backlot Tour
Disney Animation (with real animators!)
Hunchback stage show
Mulan parade
Soundstage Restaurant


Then you think about the price differences, how much easier it was to get a reservation, no expiration on park hoppers, etc.

I know some will say WDW's prime was earlier that decade, or before that, but in hindsight 1998 was pretty good too!
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
View attachment 464918

Earlier today I was thinking about this map that I used to have along with others from a May 1998 trip to WDW.

This then had me thinking about what WDW was like in '98 and how much has changed since. Back in 1998 WDW had:

- 4 theme parks (including the then new AK)
- 3 water parks (still had River Country!)
- Discovery Island
- Pleasure Island
- The Disney Institute
- Disney Quest (brand new that June)

That's a lot, and sadly many of those gone. Back then the parks still had:

Magic Kingdom

Alien Encounter
TimeKeeper
Take Flight (until Jan 5)
Diamond Horseshoe Saloon Revue
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Mike Fink Keelboats
Skyway
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (until Labor Day)
Country Bear Christmas
Pirates with no movie tie-in
Mickey's Toontown Fair
Main Street Cinema (until they changed it later that year)
Galaxy Palace Theater
Sword in the Stone Ceremony


Epcot

Wonders of Life
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Horizons (seasonal)
Journey into Imagination (until October)
Spaceship Earth with an ending
Innoventions
The Living Seas (no Nemo!)
Maelstrom
El Rio del Tiempo


Disney-MGM Studios

Great Movie Ride
Backlot Tour
Disney Animation (with real animators!)
Hunchback stage show
Mulan parade
Soundstage Restaurant


Then you think about the price differences, how much easier it was to get a reservation, no expiration on park hoppers, etc.

I know some will say WDW's prime was earlier that decade, or before that, but in hindsight 1998 was pretty good too!
Click to expand...
The downward spiral had begun by then but I’d take It over today. I’d even take ten years ago over today. Corona notwithstanding.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
View attachment 464918

Then you think about the price differences, how much easier it was to get a reservation, no expiration on park hoppers, etc.
Click to expand...
At that time, there was no expiration of any ticket. Expiration station is a very recent, We got your money and we're keeping it, policy. We get to charge you for a day or more admission and then keep your money when we decide you took to long to use what you paid for. Seems honest and fair to us! Just look at it as your contribution to Executive Bonus's.
 
SteamboatJoe

SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
The downward spiral had begun by then but I’d take It over today. I’d even take ten years ago over today. Corona notwithstanding.
Click to expand...

Fair to say that the peak was around August 1994? The Future World pavilions were in need of TLC but were all still open. Timekeeper and Alien Encounter weren't yet open but 20,000 Leagues, Toad, and the Skyway could still be enjoyed along with a still relatively fresh SpectroMagic parade. Tower of Terror had just opened at MGM while the Backlot Tour was still in its prime. Fantasmic! was not yet a thing but Sorcery in the Sky was holding its own. Or would you say the peak was closer to Summer of '89 as everything was still pretty fresh and maintained?
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
SteamboatJoe said:
Fair to say that the peak was around August 1994? The Future World pavilions were in need of TLC but were all still open. Timekeeper and Alien Encounter weren't yet open but 20,000 Leagues, Toad, and the Skyway could still be enjoyed along with a still relatively fresh SpectroMagic parade. Tower of Terror had just opened at MGM while the Backlot Tour was still in its prime. Fantasmic! was not yet a thing but Sorcery in the Sky was holding its own. Or would you say the peak was closer to Summer of '89 as everything was still pretty fresh and maintained?
Click to expand...
Personally I’d say 90ish. Consensus from those who were there seems to be 89-94/5 ish. But of course it’s all subjective.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Our first trip was "95 and returned for a second in "98. And for quite a while the successive trips into the ""00's we could say were quite enjoyable. We had such a great time pre massive crowd era, pre attraction closures, pre FP and FP+ fiasco, pre massive competition for ADR's. As the years progressed our WDW enjoyment factor has continually taken a downturn in comparison. Having pleasant memories and the ability to look back to compare is both a blessing and a curse.
 
SteamboatJoe

SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
Personally I’d say 90ish. Consensus from those who were there seems to be 89-94/5 ish. But of course it’s all subjective.
Click to expand...

I remember how weirded-out I was when I went back in '96 after my first trip in '93. I mean I still had a blast. The 25th Anniversary was great and there were some new things to do (Tower of Terror) but there had been a lot of change in that short period of time.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
The downward spiral had begun by then but I’d take It over today. I’d even take ten years ago over today. Corona notwithstanding.
Click to expand...
Sometimes when I see a list as in this thread I think the downfall is really just fifteen rides and a price increase.

And then I watch a video of classic MK, of EPCOT in the eighties...
And I remember again. I remember the thousand little declines. I remember how divine WDW was.

Pre-94 MK was heaven on earth. Modern MK is a stressful, mean, exhausting experience. They are night and day.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The Empress Lilly said:
1998 - MK open until midnight or 01:00. Three parades per day, 3pm, 9pm, 11pm. Fireworks at 10pm.

Parades at every non-MK park too....

In 1998 the Empress Lilly had already closed so by default WDW was past its prime. -_-
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Past its prime, yes, but still much worth doing.

In the 90s there was such a rapid amount of new things being added, you could forget the bad ideas that were starting to spread across WDW.

After the Millennium Celebration that changed. The ratio of bad to good swung in the opposite direction and the losses were more obvious.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
SteamboatJoe said:
I miss the old hub with the trees, benches, garden landscaping, and no Partners statue; especially at twlight.
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All of this. Yes. So much.

I was surprised Foxfurr loved the new hub. For me it is one of the greatest losses in all of WDW history. The hub is where you reflect, fall in love, gaze at the castle, float away with the fireworks.

I understand that there are customers who apparently feel the same about the modern hub. A hot, desolate, uninviting parking lot with antenba poles and garden center aesthetics where you watch video projections. But okay, to each his own.

I loved the moat, the trees, the enchantment of the twinkling lights, the gentleness of the rose garden. The perspective down MS with trees but without side towers. I appreciate they hid the technical stuff in themed turrets, but they throw off the scale and perspective. I don't have any emotional connection to the Partners statue either. A superfluous monument - the very MK *is* Walt's monument.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
Past its prime, yes, but still much worth doing.

In the 90s there was such a rapid amount of new things being added, you could forget the bad ideas that were starting to spread across WDW.

After the Millennium Celebration that changed. The ratio of bad to good swung in the opposite direction and the losses were more obvious.
Click to expand...
For me the 90s were a disaster. Up until 1994 Disney could do no wrong. Then everything just collapsed. The Epcotalypse happened - one after another the great EPCOT rides were felled. The Empress Lilly was destroyed for a mediocre seafood restaurant that are a dime a dozen. Standards slipped. The crass commercialism and cheesy pop culture that had quietly creeped in since Eisners first day now became the norm.

But yes, the well hadn't dried up completely by 94. DAK was an underfunded, underbuilt park. But as by miracle the designers managed to not make it look like its ugly twin sisters of DCA and WDSP. The millennium celebration was one of the best things to ever come to EPCOT. A bittersweet realisation, as it showed that EPCOT was by no means dead whatsoever. Illuminations is what 21st century EPCOT was born to be. Blizzard Beach is a delight. Probably other stuff too that eludes me at the moment.
 
George

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
It is a blessing and a curse if you went regularly in the 70s, 80s, and even most of the 90s. The last weekend in February, an old friend organized a trip for his birthday. There were 5 of us. We all had 3 season salute passes when were in high school (1986-1988). We stayed in a Fort Wilderness cabin. Two of our group hadn't been since around 1990. The fellow who organized it had, but he's busy and he never took the time to figure out how the app and fastpass worked. FP+ really agitates him. Everyone was local (think Lakeland, Tampa, Miami) except me. I explained about getting tickets in advance. We got fastpasses. All were amazed and thought this was a pain in the butt. A myriad of comments. One bright spot was the two who hadn't been in a long time rode Splash and liked it. One thing that stood out to me was the visit to Tom Sawyer's Island and Aunt Pollys. I had explained Aunt Pollys was closed, but one of us had worked there for multiple spring breaks in high school. Disappointment. I should note that two of the four that weren't me have a fair bit of money and kids (MD and engineer). They're not taking their kids. Probably would have if they had been more impressed. The biggest thing is no one wanted the hassle of fastpasses. Or organizing the trip.

I wish I could've recorded the looks on their faces when I explained the status of the night time parade or the boarding group process for Rise of the Resistance. Also, disappointment about counter serve options and I had to explain that without reservations you'd have trouble getting in a nicer place. They double checked me on that (the engineer downloaded MDE, made an account and messed around. For about 10 minutes. He then said, "I paid over 100 hundred bucks for today. I'm not looking at this thing anymore."). They did like some stuff. The changes to HM were meant with approval. Pirates, not so much. All were impressed by HEA. I also got asked about Mission to Mars, Alien Encounter, Timekeeper. They actually quit asking me about EPCOT (we didn't go there on my recommendation) when they confirmed that I wasn't joking every time they asked about something and I said, "that's gone. Also, the place is a construction zone." I had to show everyone on ye olde iPhone that the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster wasn't a joke. On the whole, it was very interesting for me to be with my original non-family WDW group. They aren't super serious fans, but on the whole they weren't pleased.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
JIMINYCR said:
Our first trip was "95 and returned for a second in "98. And for quite a while the successive trips into the ""00's we could say were quite enjoyable. We had such a great time pre massive crowd era, pre attraction closures, pre FP and FP+ fiasco, pre massive competition for ADR's. As the years progressed our WDW enjoyment factor has continually taken a downturn in comparison. Having pleasant memories and the ability to look back to compare is both a blessing and a curse.
Click to expand...
It's going to take quite a while for our current situation to be made up for by a lot of families, so I would guess that the post-massive crowd era is a comin'. That little relief check will not make up for weeks and weeks of no pay.
 
WondersOfLife

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Of course I had to be born ON the year that was one of the best...

Didn't Animal Kingdom open that year too?
 

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