We have to cover three parks, a shopping district, Pleasure Island, and hotels; and I’m going to have to spread this out over the next few months. We should still be around, even if we get bumped to page 2 in the forum.
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WDW Tour c. 1990 — Updated to Imagination
- Thread starter tirian
- Start date
stratman50th
Well-Known Member
Yup! I remember the days when you could get park specific souvenirs in the shops. A bonus for spending your money and actually going there. Been there, done that, have the souvenir to prove it. Now you can go to any mall in the country with a Disney Store and buy the same things as in the park.
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You can sit on the toilet and order the Disney stuff off your phone.
Or you can get it in Target, Hot Topic, Kohl’s, BoxLunch, Attic Salt, etc. Disney definitely isn’t giving guests reasons to buy “real” merch in their parks.
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Now for a land that’s getting a lot of attention in the Rumors forum.
TOMORROWLAND
from Birnbaum’s 1990 Official Guide to WDW
ATTRACTIONS:
The guide notes that even on busy days, most attractions except Space Mountain are “high capacity” and “may require no waits...so Tomorrowland is a good area to visit during a busy time...”
My, how the MagicBand/FastPass+ shell game has changed things.
Because Imagineers kept many of the names but shuffled them to new locations over the years, I’ve specified where those restaurants were located.
TOMORROWLAND
from Birnbaum’s 1990 Official Guide to WDW
ATTRACTIONS:
The guide notes that even on busy days, most attractions except Space Mountain are “high capacity” and “may require no waits...so Tomorrowland is a good area to visit during a busy time...”
My, how the MagicBand/FastPass+ shell game has changed things.
- Space Mountain
- RCA/Dream of a New World — the scenes along the speed ramp exiting out of Space Mt. In 1990, a highlight was the set of “...RCA Broadcast Systems ($70,000 to $80,000 each) that allow guests to see themselves on television...”
- Skyway to Fantasyland — the system “...is notable for being the nation’s first conveyance of its type able to make a 90-degree turn.”
- Starjets—became the Astro Orbiter
- WEDway PeopleMover
- Mission to Mars — “Seats tilt and shake, sub-audible waves are sent out, and oversized speakers let out great roars and hisses that sound like a washing machine during a spin cycle; corny though the idea is, the realization is okay.” Yes, this was an official guidebook being allowed to be honest about the attractions.
- Carousel of Progress
- Circlevision 360 “American Journeys” — a Circlevision trip across American landscapes. The book notes it’s almost always busy but swallows huge crowds at a time and processes up to 3,100 guests per hour: “...one of a handful of spots where the queues on a busy afternoon are the least discouraging.”
- Grand Prix Raceway
- DreamFlight — “a whimsical look at the adventure and romance of flight ... A mixture of 2- and 3-dimensional media combine with special effects and ... music to take visitors on an entirely delightful journey.”
- Walt Disney World Marching Band — same guys who played in various configurations throughout the park
- Special events in Tomorrowland Terrace (check the day’s times guide) *this location is now Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Diner*
- Tomorrowland Theater stage
- Mickey’s Mart — Disney souvenirs
- Skyway Station Shop
- Space Port — “contemporary decorative gifts that teens and preteens seem to love...one of the Magic Kingdom’s most popular shops”
- Space Place — Florida souvenirs and candy
Because Imagineers kept many of the names but shuffled them to new locations over the years, I’ve specified where those restaurants were located.
- Tomorrowland Terrace — “the largest fast-food spot in the Magic Kingdom”; today this is Cosmic Ray’s
- The Lunching Pad — now Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies; same menu
- Plaza Pavilion — pizza; now the Tomorrowland Terrace
- WEDway Space Bar — handwiches (“small bread cones with a variety of fillings”); now the Lunching Pad at the base of the PeopleMover
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This is great stuff. Brings back fond memories. Thanks for posting!!!
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure this is the reason all those unique stores no longer exist. As great as they were for the theme (and I wish they were all still there if only for that reason), Disney would probably lose money on most of those stores if they were still in the parks today. People aren't going to buy antiques, silver, etc. at Disney World when they could find it online and likely pay less for it.
stratman50th
Well-Known Member
I posted this in the resorts photos thread, but I'm going to put it here too because this is the thread that made me hunt it down. This was the Tree House Villa we stayed at in Sept. 1989. Maybe someone could fill in the history blanks of these places as I've lost track. You could rent them like any other room on property. After awhile they closed them to the public and were used for Disney University students (I think). They may now be available for common folk again. 
Sorry for the quality but it's a scan of an old photo.
EDIT: My wife just informed me that we were in this villa 30 years ago this week. Damn that was a long time ago! LOL
Sorry for the quality but it's a scan of an old photo.
EDIT: My wife just informed me that we were in this villa 30 years ago this week. Damn that was a long time ago! LOL
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UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I posted this in the resorts photos thread, but I'm going to put it here too because this is the thread that made me hunt it down. This was the Tree House Villa we stayed at in Sept. 1989. Maybe someone could fill in the history blanks of these places as I've lost track. You could rent them like any other room on property. After awhile they closed them to the public and were used for Disney University students (I think). They may now be available for common folk again.
They're available as regular hotel rooms again. Considered part of Saratoga Springs Resort.
Guests rarely purchased that stuff. Disney considered it all part of the show, and when someone actually bought something, that was a bonus. Many Imagineering books talk about this.
The stores were closed long before internet shopping became popular. Those decisions go back to Eisner-era mandates that every square inch of the parks had to be profitable.
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The originals were replaced about a decade ago, and newer, slightly larger ones opened roughly at the same time as Bay Lake Tower.
Not picking on your post, but I just realized you might’ve misinterpreted my comment about ordering off the toilet! I was talking about actual Disney merch, not the stuff in unique shops.
The unique merch is harder to browse online because someone has to curate a collection. For example, average shoppers don’t know where to begin looking for random antiques from the 1700s, and they probably wouldn’t be as interested as they would while standing in Liberty Square.
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
Great to read!! I’m excited to see about the Resorts!! The WDW waterways used to be bustling with affordable water sprites. Really added excitement and kinetic energy to the waterways.
