I’ve started this post at least a dozen times this year alone, and every time I delete it and tell myself things will get better, I will feel better, and I will find the space to think, dream, research, and write. The truth is, and this is clearly well overdue, this chapter that has been the Main Street Gazette for the past fifteen years has come to a close. My constant companion of Rheumatoid…
It’s been a long while since we’ve done an honest to goodness trip report, but given that this was our first trip back to Walt Disney World in several years and, if you’re anything like we were before our trip, you have more questions than answers about what I trip looks and feels like now. I don’t know that we can answer all of the questions, or even most of them, but let me tell you what we saw…
Walt Disney World has played an important role in my life, throughout my whole life. From the first trip to Fort Wilderness at a couple of months old in a pup tent with my parents, a moment I definitely have no memory of, to the friends who have become family through our Disney connection over recent years, it’s omnipresent. It is in the kitschy souvenirs and artifacts I display in my house,…
At the time of its inception Walt Disney World stretched out for approximately 30,000 acres. The comparison has always been that the resort is the same size as San Francisco or twice the size of the island of Manhattan, with much of this land still being undeveloped. Yet when the Vacation Kingdom opened it was not nearly as expansive in terms of its built spaces as we currently think of the area,…
Once upon a time Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional did not take place at Epcot. Even though EPCOT Center opened in 1982, it wouldn't become host to the choir, orchestra, and narrated pageantry until 1984. For the first thirteen years of the resort's existence, from 1971 through 1983, the winter spectacle took place in the Magic Kingdom. There were still guest narrators who were popular…
It’s hard to not look at Walt Disney World celebrations from the past and not think about the 25th anniversary and the castle birthday cake. For me, however, the best celebrations, seared into my childhood memories, is the anniversary that took place a decade earlier. From October 1, 1986 until September 30, 1987 there was a spectacular held in Walt Disney World that still influences today’s…
With all of the hubbub and goings on of the opening day and first month of Walt Disney World's operation in October of 1971, it's easy to forget that some things we now consider classics, or hold fond memories of, weren't even open during that first month. As Walt Disney World was entering its second month of sharing their brand of recreation with the world, Cast Members were still getting used to…
Most of us don’t remember how we celebrated our first birthday, thankfully there always seemed to be someone around with a camera to capture the precious, and often embarrassingly cute, moments. Walt Disney World is no different than the rest of us. With the Magic Kingdom, and the entire Vacation Kingdom, celebrating their 50th birthday next week, is there any better time take a look back at one…
Guests of the Magic Kingdom can view a castle across a lagoon and a turn-of-the-century train station at the turnstiles, while at Epcot the giant geodesic sphere known as Spaceship Earth beckons. When it came time to select a suitable draw for the entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios, then known as Disney-MGM Studios, the design was simple and sleek, not extravagant like its predecessors and it…
Discovery Island is the central hub at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but its namesake animal sanctuary once sat off the shores of Fort Wilderness. The history of this particular island in the middle of Bay Lake has always intrigued me. From Raz Island to Discovery Island and all the little stories in between, there is a whole history to this island that many are unaware of. My fascination with…
Those crazy Country Bears really put on a show! But what if you couldn’t get to Walt Disney World in 1971 when the bears made their debut? The answer is obvious, bring the band to your house! Okay, so it might not seem feasible, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen in some form or fashion. We all remember paper dolls, right? The flimsy figures of a boy or girl that you could cover with a variety…
There is a lot of delicious food to be had from all of the resorts around the Seven Seas Lagoon. The Grand Floridian Resort, or the Grand Floridian Beach Resort as it was known once upon a time, has a ton of restaurants worthy of your dining time just by itself. With so many options for dining and upscale dining, it is easy for a restaurant or dish to go under the radar. Certainly, the Grand…
When it comes to extinct attractions we often have a moment or two in the attraction that shine brighter in our mind more than the rest of the attraction. Sometimes it is the big splashy ‘wow’ moment and sometimes it can be that small little detail from the queue that really stuck with us. You can always tell a great attraction from its ability for each guest to have a very different element that…
On November 15, 1965 Walt and Roy Disney, along with Florida Governor Haydon Burns, held a press conference to announce the construction of Disney World. Walt Disney would pass away before the groundbreaking began took place on May 30, 1967, by which time Roy had renamed the project Walt Disney World in honor of the man who had dreamed the venture up. While it would take over four years before the…
I’ve said this before, but back when film was the only way to capture memories at Walt Disney World, I would be very selective in what I chose to photograph with my little 110 camera. Postcards weren't high on my list of souvenirs, but there were a few that I would purchase here and there. I must have owned about a dozen of the same Hoop-Dee-Doo cast photo postcard over the years. These weren't to…
Guests who are waiting to meet with Mickey Mouse backstage at the Town Square Theater find themselves with time to explore the well-appointed furnishings in the queue, including reels of theater tickets right on down to a McDuck safe. The really interesting stuff, however, comes to those who explore the set of mailboxes. While each has a tale to tell, the one that struck me the most is labeled…
As we look to the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, there is a focus, and rightfully so, on the Magic Kingdom and first resorts that are celebrating their 50 years of recreation. With that, however, is also everything that came after that opening. Some brand new pieces will be added to the Disney history books this year, to go along those pieces that are 10, 15, 20, 30, or 45 years old and…
The Coral Isle Cafe was a true tropical hideaway during the first several decades of the Polynesian Village Resort. The opening day eatery was a mainstay of Polynesian dining until 1998, when it would become Kona Cafe. The menu here, particularly during the early years, was a mixed bag. There was American fare, sometimes given horribly out of place names, such as the Rueben that was presented as…
Impressions de France has a special place in the hearts of many Epcot enthusiasts. For starters, it is the sole surviving opening day film from 1982. It has had its upgrades over the years, and now shares in venerated hall with a singalong feature, there is still magic in that music and panoramas offered by the film. Speaking for myself, personally, as someone who’s grandmother came to this…
Remember when Pleasure Island had a nightclub where the hottest music would play while you enjoyed an adult beverage and roller-skated around the club? Yeah, it sounds and looks like a great concept, doesn’t it? But unless you visited Pleasure Island during its first year of operation, the likelihood that you remember this is scarce to none. The reality is that giving the imbibing public a place…
Growing up, as is still the case, I was much more intrigued by the photographs I could obtain with my 110 than I was with the assortment of postcards available in the Walt Disney World gift shops. It wasn’t that I could take better photographs, I couldn’t, and it wasn’t the fact that I lived right around the corner from the Vacation Kingdom, which I did, and could see these vistas just about any…
During its first summer of operation, Walt Disney World’s original swimming hole, River Country, garnered visits and attention from guests, media, and even Cast Members looking to splash around and relax. There were also those who wondered just how River Country worked as a cove of Bay Lake, but still managed to keep to water fresh and moving. A simple, yet inspired, solution was created to give…
I've posted this transcript twice before, in 2008 and 2015, but felt it was time for a revisit. At the 10th anniversary of Disney's Animal Kingdom the lead designer of the park, Imagineer Joe Rohde, gave a talk on the creation of the park, its themes, and the concepts intrinsic to its creation. Rohde has since left Disney, at the time of his departure he was the Executive Designer and Vice…
When we look back and think about some of the Magic Kingdom’s earliest show-stopping attractions, it is hard to not immediately focus in on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Submarine Voyage. This Fantasyland staple ran from mid-October 1971 until its closure in 1994. No trip to Walt Disney World was complete until you had boarded one of Captain Nemo’s famed Nautilus submarines and taken a journey that…
Storybook Circus has a lot of fantastic details strewn about the land, considering it is one of the latest additions to the Magic Kingdom. There is name-checking luggage, subtle and no-so-subtle nods to Walt and the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, and even some musical cues and props to take note of. Some of the most interesting details, however, come from the various train cars and wagons that can be…