WYWHW: Sorcery in the Sky Postcard

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Sorcery in the Sky (ST-2)

An aerial view of the studio entrance at Hollywood BLVD. on special evenings shows Mickey as The Sorcerer's Apprentice ready to dazzle guests with fireworks, music and excitement.

Another great postcard with a view of a very crowded Hollywood BLVD.

Did you ever see Sorcery in the Sky during the first few years of the park?

WYWHW: Mickey and Minnie on Flower Street

This postcard from the mid-1990s reads: Mickey & Minnie enjoy the flowers on Main Street, USA in the Magic Kingdom.

Check out my post at Mice Chat for a look at Center Street to find out what happened to West Center Street at the Magic Kingdom.

WYWHW: Echo Lake at Disney-MGM Studios

Wish You Were Here Wednesday

LAKESIDE TREATS, TREATS, TREATS (ST-7)
At Echo Lake, in the Disney MGM-Studios, you have two great places to meat and eat: Min & Bill's Dockside Diner and Dinosaur Gertie's.

Min & Bill's Dockside Diner

Only in Hollywood could you find a freighter ship offering tasty sandwiches, seafood, salads, snacks and beverages.

Dinosaur Gertie's Ice Cream of Extinction

The architecture is California Crazy, but the flavor is simply scrumptious. Ice cream novelties.

Lakeside

(L-R) Sights & Sounds - Record your own music video! Presented by Selah. Lakeside News - Hollywood's best selection of comic books. (Backside of) Keystone Clothiers - Disney character clothing, jewelry and accessories with a Hollywood flair.

Special thanks to Todd at DisneyParksEarchive for the 1989 guide map descriptions.

Pleasure Island at Mice Chat

My latest article for Mice Chat takes a look at a Pleasure Island brochure from 1989. It's a fascinating time for the nighttime entertainment spot since it was one of the first big projects greenlit by Eisner. A lot has changed over the years.

Did you ever get to experience these clubs from 1989/1990?

Any great memories?

All the Coins Thrown into Disney Fountains and Waterways

If you look online to see what happens to all of the coins that people throw into almost every body of water at Disney parks, you'll see a variety of answers; most of them revolve around donating the monies to charities.

Please don't throw coins in water areas with fish!

I work for library with a fountain and people do throw in lots of change. When the city workers clean out the fountain, they bring the scooped out change to us. Sadly, the coins start to oxidize almost immediately when they're removed from the water and the cost to clean the coins far outstrips the value.

On the pathway that leads from the Sir Mickey side of Cinderella Castle to the Merida meet and greet in the Fairytale Garden is a fountain. There is a small plaque near the base of the fountain that reads: Your wishes will help the Dreams of Children come true.

Your wishes will help the Dreams of Children come true.

The fountain is decorated with the birds and mice from Cinderella.

Back in the day...

It was slightly different story. According to the July 1, 1972 Eyes & Ears cast member publication, the money was used a little bit differently.

Milton Mills, a member of the Landscape Maintenance Department, has worked at Walt Disney World almost a year. Milton asked EYES & EARS about money thrown into Magic Kingdom waterways. 

A quick check indicates the waterways are cleaned once and sometimes twice a week. Three men do the work and the money is given to employees through the Recreation Club. 

Thorn Murphy, Rec Club director, told us that between $4,500 and $4,800 has gone into equipment purchases for employee athletic and recreational programs. Thorn said money not immediately used is put into the club's treasury and held for rainy days ..... The Editor

Do you usually make a wish and toss coins into the fountains and waterways of Disney parks?

Walt Disney World Information Guide

I posted an article at Mice Chat a few weeks ago about a 1984 Walt Disney Travel Company package that I ran across. I'm always interested in how Disney promoted themselves before Eisner and this package was a gem.

• 1984 Walt Disney Travel Company Vacation Package (part one)
• Walt Disney World 1984 Vacation Guide (part two)

The cover of the vacation package folder was pretty interesting because it highlighted 14 different aspects of a Walt Disney World vacation.

Right off the bat, the font choice for the cover is a more futuristic and EPCOT Center related.

The first box has three quadrants, all related to the Magic Kingdom.

• Jungle Cruise
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Cinderella's Castle (and flowers)

The second set has three images.

• it's a small world
• Big Thunder mountain Railroad
• Spaceship Earth

The third set has four images and does not have a park icon (of course, there were only two parks at the time).

• Golfing at the Lake Buena Vista Gold Course (is that the LBV Clubhouse in the background?)
• Camping at Fort Wilderness, which also includes eating and bike riding
• River Country. Good ole' River Country...
• The Contemporary Resort

The fourth image includes three photos.

• Journey into Imagination (and the monorail) at EPCOT Center
• The Canada Pavilion
• Frolicking at a beach near the monorail. My guess is that this is near the Polynesian (probably near the Transportation and Ticket Center). Like most every photgraph of water of the beach in the 1970s and 1980s, you will see one of the pontoon sailboats or smaller sailboats.
• Captain Jack's Oyster Bar at the Walt Disney World Village

So, what do you think about how Disney promoted the Vacation Kingdom of the World back in the 1970s and 1980s?

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Photos

I was doing some research and ran into some great images from the 1994 Disney News in an article about the Twilight Zone Tower or Terror.

A rather candid shot of the doomed family.

The couple!

The hotel sign under construction.

So, just a few great images from the article. Didn't you love seeing the closeup of the couple and the shot of the family in the elevator?

Orville Redenbacher and Walt Disney World

A shot of a young boy at EPCOT enjoying some popcorn. Notice the box and the logos. Image from a late 1980s Souvenir Guidebook.

Popcorn.

It is hard to think of a Walt Disney World trip that doesn't involve sharing a box of popcorn on Main Street, USA.

But you know, we didn't always have the Orville Redenbacher that we know, love and can smell the moment you hit Main Street. From the February 4, 1977 Eyes and Ears:

Walt Disney World welcomes Orville Redenbacher and his Gourmet Popping Corn as our new official popcorn. And Orville himself will be "popping" in at the Village this weekend to head up the ceremonies.

Orville will arrive in his popcorn - shaped hot air balloon at 2 pm on Saturday, February 5, staying until 5 pm; then return Sunday from 12 noon to 2 pm. Besides an opportunity to meet Orville, there will be free samples of his Gourmet Popping Corn, entertainment, popcorn recipe books, and of course, the balloon itself! 

Walt Disney World sells an average of 90 tons of popcorn to our guests every year! (1977 figure)

That's right. Orville flew into the Village in a popcorn-shaped hot air balloon.

For all of us detail-obsessed theme parkeologists, I included a scan of the photo from the issue because it shows how the boxes debuted.

Stargate Restaurant at EPCOT Center

Andy at Make the Magic posted about a character breakfast that she had loved and lamented the lack of information available on the Stargate Restaurant at EPCOT Center.

I quickly turned to my trusty Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia (Third Edition) by Dave Smith.

Fast-Food facility in Communicore East at Epcot, from October 1, 1982 to April 10, 1994. It later became the  Electric Umbrella.

Photo from Making the Magic. 

Andy had posted this information, already, so I needed to find another resource.

I pulled out my 1984 Birnbaum's Official Guide and found a lengthier description.

Stargate Restaurant: This large fast-tood establishment, located in CommuniCore East, is handsomely decorated in shades of blue, mauve, and magenta. It's a particularly good bet when the weather is temperate enough to allow dining on the tables on the terrace outside—or when bound for World Showcase with finicky eaters in tow. It's also one of the few Epcot Center restaurants open for breaktast. Cold cereals, Danish pastries, fruit cups. blueberry muffins, and cheese omelets served with creditable home-fried potatoes are available then. But the real specialty is the extremely satisfying. if extravagantly named. "Stellar Scramble." Made of cheese, tomatoes, ham, onions, green pepper, and scrambled eggs, this “breakfast pizza“ might not win any prizes among connoisseurs of haute cuisine, but it's unquestionably tasty. At lunch and dinner, offerings include pepperoni or cheese pizzas, hamburgers, and chefs salads. The peanut butter cookies are good, too. The Stargate Restaurant stays open until the park closes. B, L, D. S.

Image from the 1984 Official Guide to Walt Disney World

Andy also talked about eating a character breakfast at the Stargate Restaurant. I have an odd fascination with the history of dining at Walt Disney World. The earliest character breakfasts were always centered around the hotels and campgrounds. I wondered what Andy had experience. I wasn't doubting her memories or her photographs, but I needed to do some more research.

The Official Guide from 1991 still states that there were only a handful of character breakfasts at Walt Disney World at the time, with none at EPCOT Center. We see the usual: Empress Lilly, Contemporary, Ft. Wilderness, the Contemporary and the Polynesian. It is the same information for the 1993 Official Guide. We don';t see a major change until later; the 1997 Official Guide mentions a few other character locations, but it is still not the experience we know today (in 1984 and 1989, reservation were not needed for the character buffets at the Contemporary or the Polynesian).

Once again, we run into the wall for people researching the history of Walt Disney World. Relying on official resources can be tenuous, at best, and it makes it difficult to confirm or deny certain facts. Relevancy is important and we still need access to primary documents.

Does anyone have more information about the Stargate Restaurant? Email me at George@Imaginerding.com  with any photos, receipts or tales of eating there.

Related articles

• Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World and America, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)
• Walt Disney's EPCOT, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)
• Walt and the Promise of Progress City, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)

Vintage Walt Disney World Photos

So, what makes something vintage? Is it 20 years? 40? Something from a certain time period?

I have some interesting photos I captured from a 1997 trip. That is only 15 years, but so much has changed since then. If something has changed or disappeared, does that make it qualify for vintage status? Or is it simply vintage if I can look back at the images a little wistfully and with nostalgia?

Who doesn't love the Lucite statue that welcomed you to EPCOT Center. The shocking blue was not the approved John Hench purple. I am assuming it was part of the 1994 Eisner mandated redo of Epcot.

I'm not sure what inspired me to take this picture and not one of what the floor looked like. I do remember there was an art show displaying small painted works. From what I understand, the second floor of Journey into Imagination has a lot of the older equipment up there.

A fantastic scene from Journey into Imagination. There are some great details.

This is the first example of using an image capture system in a Disney attraction. I didn't take this photo; my brother-in-law snapped it quickly. I imagine that Dreamfinder would have been quite cross!

A dinosaur topiary outside of the Universe of Energy. Notice the brontosaurus in the right-hand corner?

We hop over to the Magic Kingdom to visit Mickey's house at Mickey's Toontown Fair. I wish I had taken a better shot of the photos behind the lamp. But I also wish I had taken 1400 more photos.

Our last photo is if the arch that served as a gateway between New York Street and Residential Street. You can learn more about this area by visiting Werner Weiss' Yesterland site.

Related articles

• Walt Disney's EPCOT, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)
• Walt and the Promise of Progress City, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)
• Visiting Epcot with a Young Child: Future World (disneynavigator.com)
• Well That Ain't Cinderella's Castle (imaginerding.com)
• In Service to the Mouse, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)
• What Mickey Mouse Reads (imaginerding.com)
• Skyway at the Magic Kingdom (imaginerding.com)

Remnants of Pleasure island

On a few recent trips to Walt Disney World, I ran into some remnants of Pleasure Island.

This was that last Mr. Funnmeister at Pleasure island. This photograph was taken in August 2010 and it was not in a very accessible area.

The remaining photos were taken around the Rivefront District of Pleasure island. By the former 8-Trax and the Lombard Promenade. It is where the 14 is designated on the map.

Leftover theming for the Riverfront. The buoy has the logo and PI initials.

A lone person using his cell phone under the pavilion. Being the serious Disney enthusiast, I couldn't resist getting an upshot!

You can see the lighting equipment that is still there.

One of those great details that most people will stroll right by is a reference to Lombard Street in San Francisco. This could have been a regular set of stairs, but the Imagineers chose to pay tribute to the famous road in San Francisco. I imagine that someone was thinking of semi-intoxicated revelers making their way to the bottom.

LOMBARD PROMENADE

 1929 

Designed by Island founder and incurable romantic Merriweather Adam Pleasure after a trip he and wife Isabella took to San Francisco. They both fell in love with the city's back-and-forth boulevard, Lombard Street. Isabella wanted a photograph as a souvenir, but Merriweather insisted on recreating the street itself.  

It later became a favorite site for the legendary, day-long hide-and-seek tournaments organized by the Pleasure grandchildren.  

The fabled follies of Pleasure Island and its founding family are recorded on the histerical plaques at each island entrance.

8-Trax is a very interesting club because of its location and the sign hanging above the door. It took me a minute to explain to my (then) 11 year-old son what an 8-track tape was. The club started off as Videopolis East and was considered the sister club to Videopolis at Disneyland. It also catered to the under 21 crowd, which could explain its rather out-of-the-way location. By 1990 it was known as Cage and had been turned into 8-Trax by 1993.

VIDEOPOLIS EAST 

Artificial Intelligence Lab 

1929 

Built for Island founder Merriweather Pleasure's son Henry, the "mad genius of Lake Buena Vista" and Henry's life work, the Pleasure Cellular Automaton. Henry died thinking his experiments in artificial intelligence had failed. But when the building was reopened in 1987, the automaton was alive and thriving. 

In fact, it directed the refurbishing of its home and designed the sophisticated computer hardware that shows itself to best advantage.  

The complete and purely subjective saga of Pleasure Island is synthesized on the ersatz histerical plaques at the Island's entrance.

I included this photo so you could see the coloring on the door. Obviously, 8-Trax catered to the 1970s crowd.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for other pieces of Pleasure Island history. To keep up with the changes, you can always visit Save Pleasure Island blog. In addition to photo updates, the author keeps everyone up-to-date on the latest Pleasure island news.

Related articles

• Nerdy Travel: One More Disney Day (imaginerding.com)
• Disney's Adventure Guide to Florida (imaginerding.com)
• Guest Assistance Card at Walt Disney World (disneynavigator.com)
• Honey, Where Did We Park the Car? (disneynavigator.com)
• Disney ebooks for the Amazon Kindle (imaginerding.com)
• Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World and America, a Book Review (imaginerding.com)
• Magic Kingdom First Aid and Baby Care Center (disneynavigator.com)

Disney's Adventure Guide to Florida

In 1980, Walt Disney World was still a good neighbor resort—they would often publicize local and more regional attractions. I ran across this unique FODOR'S guide to Florida from 1980, a scant two years before EPCOT Center would open and the time when Disney would undergo a shift in management and outlook about their neighbors. Once EPCOT Center opened and Disney had a lot more to promote at their Florida property, they changed how they promoted themselves.

I am fascinated by how Walt Disney World was marketed before Eisner and Disney's Adventure Guide to Florida - A FODOR'S Travel Book has a great two-page layout about Walt Disney World with a pretty amazing picture. The whole book is 64 pages and features 49 other Florida attractions.

Walt Disney World, 20 miles southwest of Orlando, is the leading family attraction in Florida. There's nothing quite like it east of California's Disneyland. Comer early—and come often; one day isn't long enough to enjoy the magic world that was built by Mickey Mouse and his friends.

And the overlay is this amazing picture:

Even an 11 x 17 scanner can't get a great image of the photo. Click on it to make it larger.

Check out the layers of the composition: the Nautilus, the Sky Buckets and Space Mountain. Who wouldn't want to visit this place? It is also a fantastic angle that you didn't see very often in Walt Disney World marketing. If you click on the image to see the larger version, you can almost make out the Sky Bucket turning point to the left of Space Mountain. It looks like the buckets had to go down, make the turn and then go back up. Okay, maybe I need to get another hobby.