Disney Memories

I was just searching Usenet and found a 9 year-old post of mine about Disney memories. I figured I'd drop it here so that I can save a copy of it.

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Growing up in Florida, my grandfather was a security guard at WDW for many years. We frequented the park perhaps 2-3 times a year for many years. Learning about changes in the park always makes me feel a little anxious... it's tough to hear that the experiences that shaped some of your most sacred childhood memories have been changed to something "new and improved".

I've gone through many times when such-and-such was the "new thing" at WDW. There was a feeling of shock when BTMRR was being built. You mean, they are *adding* something to Disney World? I remember getting a booklet in the mail that described in detail everything that Epcot was to be. It was filled with "artist renditions". And then, even at Epcot, there was a time when Horizons was the new attraction.... it was still being constructed while the rest of the park was open. I've only been on it once, and now it's closed. Also, I believe that The Living Seas wasn't open at that time either.

Let's see, then Splash Mountain came on the scene... and MGM Studios. Body Wars was the new thing at one time... as was Captain EO. I still haven't been to the park since Tower of Terror was opened. Now there's Test Track.

Some of our family favorites are gone. Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Take Flight. Where did 20,000 Leagues go??? Wasn't Space Mountain always sponsored by RCA? I remember Take Flight was an Eastern presentation... incredibly hokey, but I loved it as a kid. Oh, and is it common to refer to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority as the People-Mover? In my family, it will never be anything but "The People-Mover". I remember waving to my grandfather (while he was working) from the People-Mover.

Probably the best feeling I've ever encountered at WDW was in the line for Space Mountain. There's really not much that can take me back so vividly. All of that space stuff really looked futuristic to a kid in the 70s. Then there were the after-ride exhibits that showed what life would be like. This was also during the time when the Apollo missions were ending... so the feeling that living in space was right around the corner. I also remember walking through a train that visited Florida during the bicentennial. It had numerous space-related exhibits that reminded me of Space Mountain.

And what is Downtown Disney? Is this Lake Buena Vista? My family would always go to Buena Vista and let us play in the "Salt and Pepper Shaker"... that big climb-on-able slide thing in the middle. As a kid, I never knew the connection between Buena Vista and WDW... but they were somehow connected. We would get on the buses with the colored flags from Buena Vista.

On the other hand, it's great to see old favorites remain basically untouched. Pirates of the Caribbean... the day they mess with this ride will be a sad day indeed. The Haunted Mansion, those ghosts riding in the buggys with you at the end were just magical.

Didn't Mickey's Toontown Fair used to be Mickey's Birthdayland? Regardless, I've never visited that part of the park. Is there a list available of what used to be what, and what has disappeared?

I'm heading back to WDW in two weeks, and I'm prepared to take a tape recorder for the first time to capture many of the attraction sounds. This had never occurred to me before hearing WDW wavs on the net.

Anyway... just some thoughts!