Disney Past, Present, and Future

University has kept me very busy but here I am again, already in Christmas break mode though I still have my final exams between me and carolers out in the snow or my January WDW trip.

I am excited for said trip, particularly to show my boyfriend the wonders of the World and to see the refurbishment of Space Mountain in person. I have also spent some time, while avoiding fleshing out my notes, looking through old Disney photos from many people online, in particular over at Gorillas Don't Blog. I find these retro photos engrossing even when they are focused on the random family, so I thought I would share a few of my own retro family pictures.

My First Trip to Walt Disney World, 1986-1987

Yes that is a Horizon vehicle we are riding in, we here being (from left to right) my sister, my mother, my paternal grandmother, my grandfather, and myself, being tiny and in his lap. My father was either squished into the same vehicle or in one right after us, it is hard to tell, but he is the photographer of this.

In front of the Magic Kingdom 1989-1990

This is an awesome photograph for many reasons, one being that my mom has clearly not very enthused and has the a wonderful expression making this very obvious; the second fabulous part about this, my poor adolescent, awkward sister squinting into the sun in her terrible red plastic Sally Jessie Raphael glasses. Another great part about this is my clear excitement, in contrast to my sister and mom's posture, I am doing a dance, a very excited dance. I clearly aware and am excited about being in Walt Disney World, as opposed to the previous photo where I am looking off away from the action at something else that has caught my eye.

Outside of the Grand Floridian 1989-1990

Awesome outfits, both my sister and I and the people in the background.

Mickey's Starland or Birthdayland, Daisy's Cafe

This was the original Toontown type land, it was very small, as if scaled for the real animated characters and yet the suit characters in the area were still adult human sized, very confusing, anyway.

Let's leave those terrible haircuts and really bad jeans behind and push straight onto the now.

The now in this case being the newly refurbished, recently reopened Space Mountain.

Most of the work was done on the queue not the ride itself, you can now play games with an ORAC like robot in the queue which I have heard sadly effects the Star Tunnel (entrance tunnel)'s ambiance. The Star Tunnel is pretty much my favourite part of the ride so this is rather upsetting but I won't be able to report firsthand until January.

The Princess and the Frog: OPENING 12.11.09


Yes the Princess and the Frog, the animated film that is being touted as a return to the classic Disney animation beloved by many, the classical animation style that created Snow White, Cinderella, and the Little Mermaid. I am far too excited about this but I am so glad Lasseter explained that just because the Pixar style works for Pixar stories and has been successful doesn't mean Disney should abandon their own style, a style loved for generations.

Disney World of Yore Part II

Okay,we saw a bit of the original "If You Had Wings" ride yesterday and I dug up another version of this ride, with higher quality footage and audio.This is the second version of the ride, "Delta Dreamflight," which later became "Disney's Take Flight" after Delta pulled sponsorship. This ride was totally removed and replace with Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It was never one of my favourite rides but I feel it should have a bit of a tribute nevertheless.




Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is a ride that many long time Walt Disney World guests still miss, and I am one of them, though I do appreciate the ride that replaced it in the end. If you have never been on it, or miss it desperately take heart, it is still winding about it's dangerous way in Fantasyland in Disneyland, California. This attraction displays again the dark humor of Disney Imagineers; the guests vehicle gets hit by a train and then sent to hell, a risk that they just won't take with newer attractions (in fact the only reason you "survive" Tower of Terror is because Eisner thought that people wouldn't want to purchase anything in the gift shop after if they were dead; how he and other management came to this conclusion I am unsure, but it amuses me greatly.)



I honestly miss this ride most of all the ones posted here, not only for the attraction itself but for the ambiance the water brought to Fantasyland, also having even this small body of water made if seem more like a full land. I know they needed land for Winnie the Pooh, but they used very little of it, most of it is now taken up by the place holding Pooh's Playfull Spot and Ariel's Grotto (where I hope one day they will put the Voyage of the Little Mermaid Ride, but that is a topic for a later post.) Also, I feel that Tomorrowland Speedway could and perhaps should be destroyed, it takes up a lot of real estate and could have easily been broken up to make room for maybe three other rides, it is also on the cusp of Fantasyland, allowing it to have easily become a part of it.

Hmm, some of this doesn't seem to make sense, but I am dizzy, so I will edit later.