Monthly Archives: January 2012
Monday Memories (1/30/12)
Jan 31
Author: Josh Taylor
Sometimes the little things are what surprise you when you go on vacation. I can plan forever and get everything booked down to hotel, restaurant reservations, and I can plan out each days iteneraries, but every now and then something catches me off guard that I just stays with me. I have so many unexpected memories that I wish I could share if only this site was about vacation spots in general, but despite my meandering around the subject, I would like to share one great unexpected Disney memory I have from a few years back.
In the summer of 2006, I gathered a few friends to make a road trip out to Anaheim and spend a few days at Disneyland. We booked a few days during the week in the off season so we got to ride most everything. What was unexpected was how great our day was made at California Adventure by some of the cast members there. I can say that I really do like the California Adventure park because it is a unique contrast to the Disneyland park and I will miss some of the non-Disney-esque parts of that park when it fully opens again, but despite all that my friends and I ended up in the Napa Valley section of that park and we were in amazement of the amount of wine they had in stock. With everyone in our group being of drinking age, we decided to sit down for a glass and take a breather from all of the attractions. This is where the unexpected memory really kicks in.
Being the off season and what not, the cast members in that area weren’t busy in the slightest and they could have talked up a storm with each other, but instead turned their focus on us. We were given a seat at a table along with some flights of wine and cheese. One of the cast member, I wish I could remember his name, sat down with us and personally explained the subtle tastes and how they paired with each individual cheese. Trust me, I like drinking, so I’ve done a few tastings of wine and never have I had someone sit down and explain to me everything I should love about a particular wine. He told us where it was from, how it was made, why Disney was carrying it, how it paired with other foods, etc… He provided such quality service on a level most high class restaurants don’t give.
The personalization and excitement that went into our time at the California Adventure park made that time stand out as a great trip and that particular cast member created a memory that will stick with me forever.
(If you’d like to see your memory featured on our site, please email it to Remember to leave your name and keep it around 1000 words. If you’d also like to submit a picture, you may attach it to your email and I will post it with your memory. As always, thanks for reading!)
The World That Never Was: Asian Resort
Jan 26
During Walt Disney World’s early days, the Disney Company wanted to keep people on the World’s property instead of staying in a cheap motel just outside Orlando. They had struggled with cheap motels and trashy streets at Disneyland and they didn’t want that again, so when Walt Disney went to purchase land in Florida, he bought tons of land knowing he would build several hotels that would suit a Disney theme park. By the time Walt Disney World was being built, the plan was to have several major themed hotels just a Monorail jump away from the Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary was branded as the “flagship” hotel and the Polynesian Village was the next in line on the Monoral line, however that was just phase one and there were several other hotels to follow that would sit along the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. The next in line to be built was The Asian Resort.
The Asian resort was to sit in between the Polynesian Village and the Magic Kingdom in the same spot that is now occupied by the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. In fact, that land was purposefully held for several years to be occupied by the Asian Resort and it would become the third major Disney resort on property, and what a beautiful hotel it could have been. Imagine a hotel sitting out on the lake from the shore line with the center tower rising 160 feet high while the hotel room wings lay out over the lake giving at least half of the rooms lake views and some rooms Magic Kingdom views. All of this connected to the Monorail for easy access to the Magic Kingdom as well as other hotels on the Seven Seas Lagoon loop.
Much like the Contemporary Hotel’s Top of the World lounge/restaurant/supper club/whatever you want to call it, the Asian Resort was to have a fine dining restaurant and entertainment club at the top of the center tower. The club would have a Royal Thai theme, much like the rest of the resort, and the entertainment and food would rely heavily on Asian culture.
To accompany the new Asian Resort, there would also be a convention center. The convention center would be located underneath the main lobby, suggesting the same use of space that was used at the Magic Kingdom, making the second level the main level and the lower level much more private and for conventioners and staff only.
Mentioning the main level, this floor, most likely featuring the lobby, was to also have a recreation center and swimming pool, no surprise there, as well as other dining and entertainment options. Disney even went as far as to advertise the resort in brochures and guide maps, even showing a road, Asian Way, that led down to the Polynesian and up to the Magic Kingdom.
So what happened to this planned resort? Obviously Disney Imagineers had made it quite far into the planning process. The answer simply comes down to supply and demand. During the 1970s, wehn the U.S. had an energy crises, hotel stays saw a decline in the Orlando area and across the States. That includes not just the Disney resorts but even some of the cheaper off property hotels and motels. If Disney isn’t going to make money on a property they had put tons of money into, then why bother building another resort at all. The plans were put on hold for several years, and Asian Way was still left without a resort at its end.
By the mid 1980s, the economic stage across the U.S. had changed and the Disney resorts saw a boom in occupancy. This brought the company to plan for more hotels and resorts on their property. When the plot of land reserved for the Asian Resort was brought up, it was decided that another hotel in the works would fit well in that spot. The Grand Floridian Resort Hotel and Spa opened in 1988 in that plot of land sitting out on the Seven Seas Lagoon which meant that the Asian Resort had no place to call home.
Will the Asian Resort ever be built? Anything is possible, but as it sits on the shelf and other new ideas emerge at Disney Imagineering, one has to wonder if the Asian Resort designs will ever be dusted off and added to list over Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World. In my personal opinion, with the opening of Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary, I see no reason why Bay Lake couldn’t be used as yet another Monorail loop with several resorts attached to it. Make the connection at Magic Kingdom for both loops and make the Asian Resort one of the hot properties on that lake. Disney Vacation Club condos? Maybe, but even if it was a smaller resort geared to a cheaper price tag audience, I think the Asian theme is popular enough in this day and age to sell out it’s rooms.
Give your thoughts on this weeks topic. Would you like to see the Asian Resort come to life? Would you prefer it over the Grand Floridian or would you rather see it somwhere else on Disney property? Let me know your thoughts this week!
Josh Taylor
Monday Memories (1/23/12)
Jan 23
Author: Josh Taylor
in the early 1990s, the coolest thing around for boys, which includes myself, was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles were everywhere from television to video games, movies, clothing, and even live shows at Disney-MGM Studios. I was nine years old the first time my family went to Walt Disney World which would mean it was the summer of 1994. I’m not sure how long our vacation was, but I remember that we visited all three of the theme parks at Walt Disney World. I remember visiting Epcot and filling in a passport while going around World Showcase. The most important thing to remember on my first trip to Walt Disney World was my time meeting the Ninja Turtles.
At the time, the Disney-MGM studios, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, was a working television studio with theme park attractions, although not very many. There was construction happening at the end of Sunset Blvd. which became the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but nothing else was down on that side of the park. What the Studios did have were live shows which made you feel as though you were watching a film or television show being filmed. The Turtles show was part dance show andpart rock concert with lots of crowd participation. After the show, like any good actor or actress, the Turtles, and of course April O’Neil signed autographs before leaving the scene and having the park return to normal.
I was so excited to see the show and meet the Ninja Turtles for the first time. I’m not sure if I thought they were real or not, but I do know I wanted to meet them. (After watching Hook and Peter Pan, I thought happy thoughts would make me fly so I’m not sure if I really did buy into how real the Ninja Turtles were.) Because the Turtles were from New York, the show took place on New York Street and I made my family focus the whole day around being on New York Street just in time for the show to start. I knew we would be sticking around for a while too so I could get all the autographs, except for Leonardo’s because I didn’t really like him much.
Anyways, I remember being overjoyed when I finally got to hand over my autograph book to these characters. It was something I will never forget and for that I will always hold onto my little autograph book from when I was a child. I know that it wasn’t a real Ninja Turtle and the guy signing my autograph book was probably named Conner Smith or something, but it is a memory I have and won’t ever let go of, and I would love to do the same for my children when the “it” thing they love performs at Walt Disney World.
(If you would like to share your Disney memory, please send it to with your name. Please keep your post to 1000 words or less and keep your story clean. If you’d like to share photos along with your memory, you are more than welcome to send them.)
Monday Memories (1/16/12)
Jan 17
Adding content to a new blog in a niche like this is sometimes difficult, but with the idea of this being a history site and the caption to the site being “reliving fond memories of the past”, I see it only fitting to actually post memories, either from myself or others, from their visits to the Disney Parks whether it was yesterday or 50 years ago. All great stories are worth something and these Disney stories are no different, so I hope you enjoy this new idea I am adding to the blog, and I hope to see others contribute.
Author: Josh Taylor
The best trip I have ever taken was to California in the summer of 2005 with my best friend Ryan Stanton. At this point, I had already become a “Disney geek”, but this trip was radically different than any other I had before it. This was the first time I went on vacation without a parent or guardian, it was just myself and a friend on a road trip from Denver to Anaheim and back. The trip itself was fantastic, but to me, one memory sticks out more than any.
On our last night at Disneyland, before departing back to Denver the next morning, we got lucky. We were able to get in line for Space Mountain right before closing, which the rules at Disneyland state that if you are in line when the park closes they will allow you to wait in line and ride that last attraction before leaving. Of course, this was right after Space Mountain had reopened with great new music and effects so the line was pretty long, even at 11:59pm. We were literally the last “space ships” to depart that evening after waiting in line for about an hour.
After our final attraction of the trip, we made out way out of Tomorrowland, into the hub and down Main Street U.S.A. Both my friend and I had noticed that we were one of the last visitors in the park that day and it had to be close to 1:30am while we were walking towards the exit. I felt the warmth of the air and stopped myself from walking because I knew that if I turned around, there would be nothing between myself and that castle at the end of the street.
I was as giddy as a school girl, and trust me, thats not a pretty thing to see coming from me. As I made that turn to see the castle, I noticed that, because people were still in the park, the lights were still lit everywhere. Not a single bulb turned off. I looked at that castle for what felt like minutes. It was just the castle and me, in all of its pink and blue glow. I couldn’t pay for a better shot, and I didn’t even think to see if I had a camera or not. It was too overwhelming for that kind of thought, in fact, I was too overwhelmed to have any thoughts at all.
In that moment, I knew I was hooked for life. I would never relive that moment again, but I wanted to create bigger and better moments from then on. It’s truly how I got to where I am now, writing for this site as well as the WDW Radio site. I love it and couldn’t be more excited to see the memories I will create in the future.
(If you would like to contribute a memory of yours from any Disney park from around the world, please do so by emailing Please make sure to leave your name so I can post it up with your memory.)
Don’t Look into the Eye!
Jan 12
Within the vast jungles and far reaches of India, sitting along the bank of a river sits a temple rich in ancient history and jewels…well, not really, but thats what it looks like from the que right outside of the Indiana Jones Adventure in Adventureland in Disneyland. With the success of the Indiana Jones movies and the connection with George Lucas, Disney Imagineering decided to take advantage of what they saw as a lucrative property and add the Indiana Jones character to Disneyland.
Prior to Indiana Jones coming to Disneyland, George Lucas was asked for the use of the Indiana Jones character in a show that was desperately needed for the new MGM-Disney Studios at the Walt Disney World resort. When the Studios park opened on May 1st of 1989, the park was seriously lacking attractions, with only the Backlot Tour and the Great Movie Ride being the only two que attractions. Imagineers quickly added in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular in August of 1989 to keep guests in the new park. The show was groundbreaking with the use of computers triggering all of the effects in the show, and with the live actors and crowd involvement, the show was a smash hit. Disney jumped at the chance to bring the Indiana Jones character to Disneyland but how? With limited space and no storyline yet, how would the create something that made sense to build in the Happiest Place on Earth?
Like the original concepts for both Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, Imagineers planned to add in a walk-through attraction inside a temple within Adventureland. That idea was scrapped for a mine train roller coaster attraction, but that was even scrapped for something much more unique. What Disney Imagineering finally decided on was the most elaborate dark ride to date along thanks to what would become known as the enhanced motion vehicle.
The enhanced motion vehicle is the a travelling motion simulator on wheels. With the use of hydraulics, Imagineers could create the feeling of rough roads, dips, steep hills, and sharp turns on a vehicle that glides smoothly along a track. Disney, being so pleased with the ride system, put a patent on it in 1995 to keep it away from rival parks. Since the Indiana Jones Adventure, the enhanced motion vehicle has only been used twice, once in the duplicate Japanese version of the Indiana Jones Adventure, and the second in Dinosaur at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Groundbreaking began in August of 1993 with Tony Baxter leading the project. To create suck a large temple, 50,000 square feet to be exact, as well as a que for the attraction, several adjustments had to be made at Disneyland. The demolition of the Eeyore parking area was the first thing to go, but then the monorail as well as the Jungle Cruise river had to be moved in order to build the temple as big as Imagineers wanted it to be.
The que itself, attraction aside, is quite a feat on its own. Guests may not know this, but the que, spread at full length, is a half of a mile long and is lined with actual movie props from the Indiana Jones movie. The Mercedes-Benz troop truck just outside of the que is actually from the Raiders of the Lost Ark and the mine car that sits right outside the temple entrance is from the Temple of Doom film. Also, much like Star Tours, there are several interactive elements to the que at the Indiana Jones Adventure. The most noticable of these interactive elements is the “spike” room. Suddenly you’ll start to hear rumblings in the room and if you look up, you will slowly see spikes coming out of the ceiling, but there is no lowering of the ceiling so don’t panic, and yes I’m talking to all the 15 year old girls that read this.
The attraction opened on March 3rd, 1995 and a slew of celebrity guests were invited including George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, and Dan Aykroyd. (Don’t ask why Aykroyd was there as all other celebrity guests made sense. I don’t have the answer.) Opening for the general public was March 4th, 1995 and, like so many other opening attractions, people came in droves. As guests walked into the que, they were handed decoder cards to be able to read the “marabic” writings inside the temple. These cards were also advertisements for the sponsor of the attraction, AT&T, which also helped fund the construction and remained the sponsor for the first 7 years after opening.
The attraction itself is massive in scope and is a 3.5 minute journey through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Riders first board the enhanced motion vehicle and head down a corridor with three doors, displaying the possible three journeys riders may go on. This in face, is an illusion as there is only one door that opens, however the walls around the door move to display other doors making it seem like you are choosing the left, right, or center door. Regardless of the choice, riders look into the eye of Mara, the temple’s deity, and are sent through the Gates of Doom. Through the gates, the transport becomes bumpy. Along for the ride, passengers now face a lava pit, snakes, skeletons, rats, bugs, and a room filled with 1,995 skulls to commemorate the year of the attraction’s opening. To top this all off, you are chased down into a cavern by the rolling boulder from the Raiders of the Lost Ark film just before Indiana Jones saves you and you return to the loading dock.
Despite the attraction being open over 15 years now, it is still a technological marvel and an attraction that changed the landscape of Adventureland, both figuratively and literally. The Indiana Jones Adventure still brings in large crowds all day long, so I suggest a fast pass for this attraction if you are looking to wait less than 30 mintues to an hour. To finish off this adventurous article on a personal note, I have to say this is one of the top attractions at the entire Disneyland resort and it excites me everytime I ride. It also excites me to think of the possibilities this attraction has opened up with its push in technology. Where will be be 15 years from now and how did this attraction help us to get there? It’s a fun journey of a ride and I have to tip my hat to those Imagineers that put in hard work to make this one a reality because they took the Indiana Jones movies and brought them to life.
Josh Taylor
The World That Never Was: New Fantasyland
Jan 4
With 2012 underway, most Walt Disney World lovers are excited about getting a taste of the new Fantasyland, and despite it being a very public announcement in 2009, the plans have changed over time and things that were on the drawing board less than 2 years ago have been scratched from the list to make way for, what Disney Imagineers considered better attractions for the new Fantasyland, but lets back up and focus on what could have been at the new Fantasyland.
In 2009, Disney introduced the D23 Expo in Anaheim. It was a way to get people excited about the years to come in all aspects of the Disney business. One of the biggest announcements from that first D23 Expo was a changing of the guard at Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland. In fact, not only were they upgrading Fantasyland, but they were expanding it by getting rid of Mickey’s ToonTown Fair, a poor man’s version of Disneyland’s ToonTown. The area, which had been renamed and redesigned several times (remember Mickey’s Birthdayland?) was finally going away to expand the area everybody first thinks of when they think of a Disney Park, Fantasyland.
The list of new attractions and upgrades was plentiful, including a bigger area for Dumbo the Flying Elephant, which would see the attraction double in size, an area completely themed to Beauty and the Beast, which also includes a brand new sit-down restaurant (my favorite announcement), and several distinct areas to meet Princesses including a newly expanded Pixie Hollow.
By the time the 2011’s D23 Expo came around, the plans for the new Fantasyland changed, including the addition of the Seven Dwarves Mine Train roller coaster. Unfortunately, because of the roller coaster addition, some other plans had to be nixed. Several meet and greet areas including Cinderella’s Chateau and Aurora’s Cottage as well as Pixie Hollow had been cut from the plans.
The original plans for Cinderella were at her Chateau where guests would either be knighted (boys) or help her change into her ball gown and dance with her (girls). Much like the Chateau, Aurora’s Cottage would see the same hands on experience with meeting Sleeping Beauty as well as the fairies, where guests would make birthday cards for Aurora and greet her for a surprise birthday party. Pixie Hollow was to be gigantic in stature so guests in Fantasyland would feel as though they had been shrunk to fairy size and you would have the chance to talk and meet Tinkerbell and all of her pixie friends.
Now, after all of that being announced, I can see why Imagineering has opted out of these particular attractions as they all fit a very specific niche, young girls. With other additions like the new Little Mermaid dark ride and the Beauty and the Beast themed area, there is already so much for young girls to take part in, but what about the young boys or maybe the few of us that are only children at heart instead of stature? That’s where Disney took a step back and restarted on the plans. The new Seven Dwarves Mine Train roller coaster will be replacing Snow White’s Scary Adventures so that Walt Disney’s first full length animated feature can still be represented at Disney World.
However, no need to fear for those of you who love Princess stories as Disney Imagineers still understand the need for princesses in the Magic Kingdom. Disney has also has plans for Princess Fairytale Hall which will indeed be the one-stop meet and greet for all things Disney Princess. And for those who will miss Pixie Hollow, fear not as Disney also has you covered. Just beyond the crossing into Adventureland from Main Street U.S.A. is Tinkerbell’s Magical Nook where you can get your picture taken with Tinkerbell and all of her friends.
Sure, Fantasyland will still have the tea cups, carrousel, Peter Pan’s flight, and It’s a Small World, which could all be for both boys and girls, but I feel strongly that Disney made the right decision in their redesign of Fantasyland to include the Seven Dwarves Mine Train instead of having so many Princess meet and greet areas.
How do you feel about the new Fantasyland expansion? Are you excited about the roller coaster or would you prefer the plans to have several houses where meet and greets take place? 2012 will be an exciting year at the Magic Kingdom and with things slowly opening, it will be great to see all of the pieces finally coming together.
Josh Taylor