WDW Tour c. 1990 — Updated to Imagination

[UNCgolf]

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.

This is true to an extent (especially with regards to the antiques) but not overall. Most of the things sold in those stores (or at least something comparable) could be purchased online pretty easily these days.

As for the other point regarding profitability -- that was really what I meant. There was no chance those kind of stores were going to last to the present day; if they'd somehow survived Eisner, Iger/Chapek would have immediately shut them down. They would never sell enough product (from the combination of online shopping and other factors) to make it worth keeping them open when you could fill them with items that actually do sell regularly. I'm not saying I like that (I don't; I desperately wish all those unique, themed stores still existed) but it's a reality of the current economic climate for publicly traded companies.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The specialty stores at Epcot surely make a profit? For that matter one of the few specialty stores that remains in magic kingdom, Aribas Brothers, has got to be making a profit.

 

[tirian]

MAGIC KINGDOM SPECIAL EVENTS

Main Street Electrical Parade

“Since it premiered on June 9, 1977, this dazzler has been WDW’s biggest hit. Featuring a million twinkling lights, some 100 performers, and 30 floats, it is presented in busy seasons — usually during Easter, summer vacations, and when the park is open until midnight, usually at 9 PM and 11 PM each evening — and it’s a little like all the world’s best Christmas trees rolled into one...”

• At the time, the MSEP was considerably longer than the version we’ve had intermittently since the early 2000s, and the current 2019 run in DL is even shorter.
• Units included the Blue Fairy, opening MSEP train, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Dumbo’s circus and its calliope, the Beautiful Briny Sea (a musical portion barely connected to “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” despite using its music), Peter Pan, Snow White, Pete’s Dragon, It’s a Small World, Pinocchio, and America — not necessarily in the order I’ve listed them.
• Most of those units comprised a few floats, smaller vehicles (e.g. the bugs and turtle and caterpillar in Wonderland), walk-around characters, and dancers.
• For especially crowded nights, the entertainment department would sometimes mix in additional costumes that weren’t part of the parade’s typical run. For example, the haunted forest trees would sometimes accompany the Snow White unit. I can’t find pictures of this online, but you can see the costumes in a HM segment on Disneyland’s 35th Anniversary singalong video.
• In 2019, the two special event parades (i.e. Halloween and Christmas) are the closest equivalents to the scale of the MSEP in 1990.

In 1991, SpectroMagic replaced the MSEP, and was initially even longer and more impressive than its predecessor.

 

[tirian]

Promo shot from the era:

 

[tirian]

The MSEP Project, which has attempted to assemble a complete history of the parade’s units:

 

[tirian]

Yesterland’s collection of pics from this era, including the circus units and the old Capt. Hook costume:

 

[tirian]

A few more pics of the circus:

 

[tirian]

Another promo shot:

 

[tirian]

Small World and the Blue Fairy

Also, here’s a quick look at those haunted trees I mentioned. Like I said, these were not a regular part of the MSEP and only added for especially busy nights (probably to lengthen the parade). This GIF is from the Disneyland singalong video released around 1990.

 

[tirian]

Other Special Events:

• Fantasy in the Sky fireworks (select nights and the summer season)
• Easter promenade
• Christmas — special parade and decorations
• Various concert nights (e.g. Grad Nights, Night of Joy, etc.)

 

[tirian]

Coming Soon: Epcot Center!

 

[baymenxpac]

this thread is amazing. thanks @tirian for doing it (and dad for pinging it for me, i know you're lurking).

 

[tirian]

EPCOT Center

Tips:

Entertainment
Illuminations — “A spectacular display of lasers, fireworks, and dancing fountains to the accompaniment of symphonic music is one of the highlights of any Epcot Center visit. The extravaganza is scheduled nightly at closing time...”

Getting Around
The guide suggest water taxis and double-decker buses to travel around World Showcase Promenade.

Touring Future World
“...[C]hoose one pavilion from those listed below — or perhaps two, if you’ve arrived early enough ... and then head to World Showcase ... Then in the afternoon, when the majority of guests are ... at World Showcase pavilions, return to Future World.”

Yes, back in 1990, all of Epcot, including World Showcase, opened at 9 am, and all Future World pavilions remained open until the park closed.

 

[tirian]

Illuminations

The show was intended as a “musical passport” around the world and used technology that was cutting-edge for its premiere in 1988.

The presentation had two parts. The first eight minutes contained no pyro, but included lasers, fountains, lighting effects, projection effects, and illuminated props for a roll call of the countries around World Showcase Lagoon. All were synchronized to a mix of recognizable classical pieces and folk songs from the corresponding countries. This tour concluded with the American Adventure, and “Rhapsody in Blue” segued into another eight minutes of nonstop pyrotechnics in addition to the aforementioned effects.

Here’s an excellent video from @marni1971 :

 

[tirian]

Disney promo images for the original Illuminations. Notice the projections on the Germany pavilion.

 

[tirian]

One more pic and the source audio:

 

[tirian]

EPCOT Center — Future World

Spaceship Earth Pavilion
Presented by AT&T

Note: the guide includes the ride, two stores, and Earth Station as the pavilion.

“Weighing 1 million pounds, measuring 164 feet in diameter and 180 feet in height, and encompassing 2,200,000 cubic feet of space, this geosphere is held aloft by 6 legs supported by pylons sunk 100 feet into the ground. The distinctive sheen of its covering derived from a sort of quarter-inch-thick sandwich made of 2 anodized aluminum faces and a polyethylene core. This sheath is made up of 954 panels, not all of equal size or shape.”



Spaceship Earth Show:

The guidebook devotes nearly three pages to a very detailed description of the attraction’s scenes, historical detail, and trivia. Here are a few notes.

• “The symbols on the wall of that Egyptian temple really are hieroglyphics, and the content of the letter being dictated by the pharaoh was excerpted from a missive actually received by an agent of a ruler of the period.”
• “The actor in the Greek theater scene is delivering lines from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.”
• The type on Johann Gutenberg’s press actually moves, and the page that the celebrated 15th-century printer is examining is a replica from a Bible in the ... Huntington Library.”
• “The musical instruments [in the Renaissance scene] are a lute and a lyra da braccio, both replicas of real period pieces.”
• Radio excerpts: “The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, a commentary by Walter Winchell, and the Joe Louis-Max Schmeling 1938 rematch.”
• Television excerpts: “Walter Cronkite’s reports from the March 10, 1964, New Hampshire Republican primary; Walt Disney introducing The Wonderful World of Color; Ed Sullivan and the Harlem Globetrotters; the Colts versus Browns NFL Championship game (1964); and Ozzie and Harriet...”
• Movie clips: “Girl Shy with Harold Lloyd...Top Hat with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers...and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
• The 180-top projections are thrown “by the state ball,’ created by the Disney special effects department when it was discovered that the inside ceiling ... was too large for conventional equipment.”

Gateway Gifts and Camera Center
Epcot souvenirs, film, Kodak products, RCA camcorder rentals, and same-day film processing.



Earth Station
“The principal source of Epcot Center information ... also the spot to make dinner reservations via the easy-to-use touch-sensitive TV screens found in abundance at Epcot Center.”

This was Guest Relations and included WorldKey videoconference touch screens along with live CMs.

 

[tirian]

Promo Shots — all (C) Disney, of course. Some include the original Communicore Plaza and its system of ponds and streams.

 

[tirian]

A WDWMagic classic!!! The long-standing “Spaceship in Spaceship Earth” thread, our favorite forum’s tribute to the satellite/space-station scene that existed in the 180° top from 1982–1994.

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/https://i1.wp.com/www.disneytouristblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Bruce-Heidel-5.jpg?ssl=1/spaceship-in-spaceship-earth.76004/

 

[tirian]

Martin’s video of the Walter Cronkite-narrated SSE ‘86 that replaced the ‘82 originals (including a shirt-lived version with no soundtrack on the descent).