Shining the Spotlight: The Original Attractions of Walt Disney World! Archives ~ On the Road With Mickey

Shining the Spotlight: The Original Attractions of Walt Disney World!

Hey everyone, I’m Mike, she’s Sophie, that’s Brenda, and he’s Grogu, and We’re On the Road with Mickey! This is episode 281, and our feature topic this week is Shining the Spotlight: The Original Attractions of Walt Disney World! This is part two of our two week series, where we’re talking about the original attractions that were open on October 1, 1971 (or October 1, 1982 in the case of EPCOT) and that are still here! Here’s what we talked about:

Cheddar from the Big Cheese:
- Mike: In this D23 edition of Cheddar, one of the big announcements is that Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress is going to be updated and INCLUDE an Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney for the opening of the show.
- Brenda: One of the biggest announcements was that Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom will be going back to its classic look – with grays, creams, blues, and touches of gold!
- Sophie: In Villains Land news out of D23, it was announced that Andreas Deja, Disney Legend and former animator, will be consulting on the project. Deja is known for helping to bring to the screen such characters as Gaston, Jafar, and Scar. Imagineers traveled to Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain to study Art Nouveau architecture design to help come up with the look of how the structures for Villains Land will look. They also drew inspiration from the animation that was originally done for the movies where the villains appeared to help get the overall look of how the land would develop.
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Question of the Week Feedback:
- What is the first ride that you remember riding at Disneyland or Walt Disney World?
  - Chandler said “Haunted Mansion. I was probably 6-ish, so most details have faded over time. But somewhere there is a photo where my parents tried to take a picture with one of the ghosts riding with us in our doom buggy.”
  - Kourtney said “Space Mountain! It was back in the early 80s and I was with my grandparents. I remember being terrified!”
  - Paula said “This is a fun one. I remember It’s a Small World from when I was a kid.”
  - Cindy H. said “If You Had Wings. I guess that makes me old. ”
  - Sheila said “Dumbo with my daughter.”
  - CC Said “Dumbo when I was 6 @ Disneyland.”
  - Brenda said “The Matterhorn when I was 8.”
  - Cindy said “Space Mountain with Mike. Found out he is not a front row kind of person. Me on the other hand front row is the most excellent place to be ”
  - John said “I remember Pirates of the Caribbean and Small World.”
  - Annette said “Small World Disneyland, I was 11”
  - Erin said “Tower of Terror when I was 4 (about to turn 5) on my first trip to WDW! My cousins took me on it 5 times in a row!”
  - Jennifer said “I remember Small World from summer of 1976 or 1977 when I would have been 6 or 7 riding between my grandparents for the first time. The first time I went back as an adult, I remembered it as clearly and it was like they were sitting there with me again.”
  - Kelly said “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Haunted Mansion. Not sure which was first but some of the memories of my first trip in 1976.”
  - Sherry Ann said “I remember space ship earth and space mountain the most!”
  - Joanne said “20,000 leagues under the sea with my Grandma”
  - Kelly said “Journey into imagination in 1986. I also remember meeting figment and dream finder by the fountains. And from that same trip I remember 20,000 leagues under the sea.”
Feature Topic: Shining the Spotlight: The Original Attractions of Walt Disney World!
- Magic Kingdom (Opened October 1, 1971)
  - Walt Disney World Railroad
    - Love the WDW Railroad!
  - Jungle Cruise
    - Iconic.
  - Swiss Family Treehouse
    - Walking attraction from the 1962 film.
  - The Hall of Presidents
    - History personified.
  - Country Bear Jamboree
    - One of a kind at the Magic Kingdom
  - Haunted Mansion
    - A whole bunch of lore from both versions of the attraction
  - It’s a Small World
    - A huge representation of World Peace
  - Peter Pan’s Flight
    - An incredible use of perspective to feel like you are hundreds of feet above London.
  - Dumbo the Flying Elephant
    - “Dueling Dumbos”
  - Mad Tea Party
    - Riding the (affectionately dubbed) “Teacups”
  - Tomorrowland Speedway
    - Fun memories from the Tomorrowland Speedway.
  - Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
    - Under New Management from 1998 – 2011. Reverted back to original (but scaled down a bit) in 2011.
- EPCOT (Opened October 1, 1982)
  - Spaceship Earth
    - Ray Bradberry consulted in project
  - Living with the Land (originally Listen to the Land)
    - The world learns of hydroponics
  - The American Adventure
    - Mark Twain & Ben Franklin
  - Canada Pavilion – Circle-Vision 360 Movie “O Canada!”
    - See how Canadians live
  - France Pavilion – Impressions de France
    - Theater show, also shows Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along
  - Mexico Pavilion – Gran Fiesta Tour (originally El Río del Tiempo)
    - Where’s Donald?
  - China Pavilion – Circle-Vision 360 Movie “Wonders of China”
    - Now called Reflections of China
Sophie’s Question of the Week:
- If you could add a country to World Showcase, which country would you add?
  - Sophie: Something out of left field. Something from South America. Argentina or Chile. Or New Zealand
  - Brenda: Portugal
  - Mike: Antarctica!
This Day in Disney History for 9/8:
- 1996: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has its 1000th performance on Broadway!
Stump the Soph!
- Dean Hardscrabble from Monsters University
A little bit of Walt
- “But the most exciting and by far the most important part of our Florida project… in fact, the heart of everything we’ll be doing in Disney World… will be our Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow! We call it E.P.C.O.T.” – Walt Disney
Coming next week: This or That at Disney!

As always, thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun talking Disney, and I’m glad you are enjoying it as well! Remember, you can reach us in many ways — by email to info@ontheroadwithmickey.com. You can also talk to us on our Facebook Page, On the Road with Mickey or in our On the Road with Mickey Group. Feel free to join us! Have a great week, and we’ll be back to talk with you again next week!