Retro Disney World Podcast

For the main topic this month, we head back to Pleasure Island for more fun and excitement. This is Part IV and if you haven’t enjoyed Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3, we highly recommend you take a listen back as these were recorded years ago!  How gives us a little recap of how each episode went in the past. The story on this episode though is changes. How gets us into each club and how they changed after a few years, including themes and names. These include Cage, The Wildhorse Saloon, 8-Trax, Planet Hollywood, Motion, Fulton’s Crab House, BET Club and more. We go through our memories of each of the various iterations and also what we thought of them over the years. The interesting aspect we get into here with Pleasure Island is that it evolved frequently and for the most part, was done to keep people attending and trying to find that club that hit. This episode also has us reflecting on fads of the era from Wine Coolers, The Chicken Dance, Zima, Planet Hollywood, and line dancing. Even though this area has come

For Episode 88, we are ready to Ride the Movies! Universal Studios in the late 80s brought their A-Game to central Florida and Back to the Future: The Ride was one of their top attractions.  For this episode, we solely focus on Back to the Future and go from start to finish, from development to closing. How is our lead this month and for all of us having experienced this, the movie quotes are plentiful and the ride experiences come from all directions. We initially get into why this ride came to be and how it was somewhat of a mess to start. The entire ride system was pretty groundbreaking for the time, really capturing all of us as parkgoers. Before you get too far into this though, if you have not seen Back to the Future, we recommend you pause the episode and check it out. We go through the entire facility, the pre-show, and even the ride mechanics. The neat part about this ride is many people have documented it over the years, including the BTTF Bluray’s that include the ride in a somewhat remastered form

This mini-episode is a compliment to our 2022 holiday episode.  We promised we'd eventually track down the fellow responsible for bringing the Lights of Winter to EPCOT Center.  Brian and Todd talk to Jim Heffelfinger whose 20 year career with Walt Disney World began as stage manager at the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review at Pioneer Hall (where he met and shares a great story about our friend Billy Flanigan). Over the next two decades he worked with Disney Legend Ron Logan and the rest of the entertainment team to bring Christmas as we know it to EPCOT, Fantasmic to Florida, the Muppets to Hollywood Boulevard, the holidays and a parade to Animal Kingdom and the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights to Disney-MGM Studios. Some of his shows, like Beauty & The Beast Live on Stage are still running today much as he designed them while others are very fondly remembered. This is a fun interview where you’ll learn a lot and, of course, we ask him for memories of Ron Logan and Dick Nunis and invite him to a future Retro

Welcome to Episode 87 of the RetroWDW Podcast: Hungry For Hollywood - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. Listener Mail We open the mailbag monthly and are ready to hear from you. Be sure to reach out with questions, stories, memories, and more. You never know if your letter will be read on a future episode: podcast@retrowdw.com Our first letter is from Mike and he is curious about a particular stairway at Magic Kingdom. We need some experts out there to help Mike out with this stairway and what happened to it.... Amy is our next letter and she is a new listener, welcome! Amy gives us some great information about working at The Disney Institute and how she was able to take courses for free as an employee. Thanks for the fun stories Amy. Another Amy, another letter. This Amy is talking about Episode 32 which was a

We take you back to an attraction and for our fans that wanted us to go way back, we are going way back. The Mickey Mouse Revue which opened October 1, 1971 last about nine years closing in the fall of 1980. How is leading us this month which only means one thing: we are going super deep into this topic. He begins by going over the homophone of Revue vs. Review and also how little is out there on the Mickey Mouse Revue. This attraction was located where the current Mickey’s PhilharMagic is playing each day, so you can get a feeling as to how this played and where it was in the 70s. Throughout this episode, we walk you through the history and how the show plays out from start to finish. We recommend you watch the following video, just so you can get a visual of this attraction. How also gets us into how the attraction felt, which I appreciated very much because many of us have not seen this one in person. The voice of Mickey is discussed from this episode and it is not one of the better versions… This quirky

So our last episode, Episode 84: Disney Vacation Club, we dug into the history of the vacation club and the original resort. Throughout this episode, we were able to discuss our personal experiences with DVC and also our opinions. While going over all of the details in Episode 84, we asked for your feedback and your own opinions on DVC. You as the listeners did not disappoint! We had an amazing response and received tons of great messages. Throughout episode 84.5, we dig into all of these messages. As we state at the start of the episodes, we received numerous emails with varying levels of detail. All of us especially liked the amount of detail in some of these that broke down facts, figures, and even the needs of your family. While these slowly trickled in over the month, we felt the need to bring them all to a ‘mini-episode’ which ends up running just about two hours. If you are a DVC member, a prospective member, someone who rents points, or even a WDW vacationer who has no interest in DVC, this episode

Welcome to Episode 84 of the RetroWDW Podcast Episode 83.5 - Tammy Tuckey - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. Main Topic For episode 83.5, we have a special guest joining us and we are so excited. Tammy Tuckey who has joined us in the past for numerous events and happenings is on the show to discuss her new album, Glowing in Timeless Places. If you need a refresher, Tammy joined us during RetroMagic with Ali Olmo back in 2019. They entertained us all with a great duet of Two Brothers, which is from The American Adventure. Be sure to enjoy this amazing performance after the episode ends. Tammy was able to join us once again, but this time at RetroMagic 50. How ran a great panel with George Wilkins and Tammy, which was absolutely perfect. Tammy was able to sing classic Disney World songs while George gave tons of

For our main topic, we take you back to the late 80s and early 90s and get into the history of the Disney Vacation Club. We all know what the vacation club is nowadays, but how did it start, and why? In this era of Walt Disney World, things were much different, and the concept of a timeshare at Disney World seemed impossible. Disney decided to change this and tackled the concept of taking ownership in their properties. The Disney Vacation Club Resort was the original, changing names to Old Key West as it is called now. To kick this one off, we get into some personal stories about timeshares, how people get picked to purchase, some of the trickery that has occurred over the years, and more. As we move along, the episode discusses what Old Key West was upon opening. How actually spent some time there in the early years, describing how different it was compared to now. Take a look at this video from May of 1992. If you look at Old Key West on an aerial view, you can really take in what they were going for bac

In this episode, we go back to the mid-1980s when Michael Eisner decided to bring The Chautauqua Institution’s blend of enrichment, entertainment, and fun back to Florida with a “uniquely Disney” touch. Originally conceived to be part of Celebration, The Disney Institute opened in February of 1996, offering “Discovery Vacations” where guests could choose from a variety of classes on the topics of Culinary Arts, Design Arts, Entertainment Arts, Environment, Lifestyles, Story Arts, and Sport and Fitness.

Welcome to another episode of the RetroWDW Podcast. We have quite a few things in the works, but we felt it was best to put those aside and focus on a Disney Legend who recently passed, Rolly Crump. If you remember back to 2019, the crew from The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society made the journey to California to meet with Rolly. What was initially planned as a quick Q&A, turned into a multi-hour interview with a film crew to properly document this influential imagineer. For this episode, we are using the audio from our YouTube Live event where we honored and discussed Rolly. Throughout this episode, you will hear from our usual team but also special guests Ryan Ritchey, Jeff Heimbuch, and Michael Crawford. Each guest on this episode has a unique connection and perspective with Rolly, which leads to an amazing bunch of stories and memories. Rolly was one of a kind and the main idea that came out of this was his amazing personality and warmth toward fans of his work. We will never forget Rolly and we ho

We are heading back into the golden dome which is known as Wonders of Life. Over the months, we have taken you through many different episodes all about Wonders of Life including: Body Wars/Making of Me, the pavilion and sponsorship, the original concept, and finally the heated debate on the Magic Kingdom toll plaza sign. As we continue into this amazing pavilion, this episode we decided to take a deep dive into the classic show, Cranium Command. We could not have done this episode or concluded with Wonders of Life without involving some guest stars. This is a huge deal and we are super excited to welcome @bunny_wars and @DreamFinderGuy. Brian welcomes our two guests into the episode and we get a brief history of their EPCOT love, Wonders of Life experiences, and also how they are preserving the history of Wonders of Life. As we get started, make sure as you listen you check out the Wonders of Life Archive. Bunny and DFG have an amazing passion for the pavilion and also Cranium Command. They have spent hour

It’s the most wonderful time of the year again, and the RetroWDW crew is here with another festive holiday episode. Brian takes up back to the Walt Disney World in the early 1990s when the seasonal festivities shifted their focus from the Magic Kingdom to EPCOT Center. He tells us about Epcot’s much beloved “Lights of Winter” musical light show and its European origins, as well as other early holiday offerings at the park. Then we make a stop at each of the monorail resorts and finally the Disney Marketplace and Pleasure Island. From chestnuts roasting on an open fire to electrical boat shows, the 1990s made WDW visitors’ seasons bright. 

Welcome to Episode 79: Wonders of Life Part III, which focuses on Body Wars & Making of Me. We continue on this epic journey through the golden dome and we have even more for you throughout this episode. Our entire crew is here to take us through these attractions, but also joining us is Dr. Bill who was one of our top donors to the historical society. He will be sitting in on this episode and also giving us some real-world experience when it comes to the human body and Wonders of Life. We start you off by going through the mailbag, which is filled with tons of good questions and memories. If you would like to join in on that fun, send us a message: podcast@retrowdw.com   For our main topic, we get into Body Wars, which is one of those lost attractions that has a love-it-or-hate-it type of memory for most past guests. The theming is on point we dig into how accurate this really was, thanks to Dr. Bill. Now keep in mind, the questions keep coming as we take full advantage of having a medical professional o

This is a great episode How has in store for you all this month, filled with busted myths, detailed descriptions, and so much more. The Wonders of Life Pavilion was originally developed back in the 70s and if you didn’t catch the earlier episode, take some time to listen back by clicking here. We are going to step foot into the infamous golden dome, which if you poll people nowadays, odds are most have never seen these attractions or taken a ride on the Wondercycles. This 100,000-square-foot pavilion that is 65 feet tall was set back in a way that almost didn’t invite you in like the other EPCOT pavilions. The dome concept though was super clever and useful for what they had in mind, which seems to be low maintenance and not overly expensive to build when compared to something like World of Motion. How gets into the METLife sponsorship and some of the other options that were discussed at WDI for this. One of the major things we have had in the works for quite a long time – the entrance signs over the years. I

Our main topic this month is all about Wonders of Life. With this being Part I, we are just going to scratch the surface about all this pavilion and attraction had to offer. This pavilion is actually still around, the golden dome that is next to Mission: Space, Guardians of the Galaxy, and it also served as a festival center from time to time over the years. How is leading us here in our journey through Wonder of Life, starting us off in 1976. How actually reads to us some of the original sponsorship concepts presented for the EPCOT Project, which are quite fascinating. Rolly Crump was named the show lead on this project and along with Dr. Lewis, following the mindset “If it’s a ton of fun, and an ounce of information, we’ve reached the teachable moment”. The group settled on the eight health habits, which seem to have been lost to history. How gives us his best estimate based on what he found in his research. Using these habits, attractions and shows were developed. As How goes through the early concept piec

This month, we take you through the glorious two-hour special that is The Walt Disney World Fourth of July Spectacular from 1988. This is a commentary on the entire special, which is on YouTube currently on many different channels. Here is the link we used: Click Here. As we go through this discussion, we look at each section, analyzing how things have changed and also how the special seems just a bit off. The entire show is filled with celebrity appearances, song and dance numbers, testimonials, and even the Beach Boys. We notice many instances of synergy within the company and even some super early shots of Disney-MGM and the backlot/Streets of America in 1988. Todd leads us on this one as we get into who is who throughout the special. We hope you enjoy this Fourth of July special as we take you back to 1988 and a different era for the Walt Disney Company. Enjoy!

On this episode, we are joined by Disney entertainer Ray DeForest. Ray spent many years in Walt Disney World entertainment and has a large number of stories and tales we are so excited to hear.  Throughout this episode, we discuss how Ray got his start with the Walt Disney Company in Washington, DC, and then how he made his way to central Florida. As you will learn, Ray was a pioneer in WDW entertainment, working in everything from characters, dancing, performing in the two theme parks, and more. We also hear some great side stories about flying in ‘The Mouse’, where the entertainment offices are, and also how he was able to beat the heat performing in front of the castle. Ray has two areas of performance that caught our attention though; The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue and the opening day celebration at EPCOT Center. Ray talks with JT in detail about these two exciting but different opportunities he was given at Walt Disney World.  If you have ever seen any of the guide books with photos of the opening of EP

The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure was one of the early attractions at the Disney-MGM Studios that opened in late 1990, following the success of the film Honey I Shrunk the Kids which opened in 1989. Before we start, let’s read a small blurb from a WDW press photo: ‘A Big Ride For Little Tykes: Kids who visit the ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure’ can climb on board an extra-large sized ant, just like in the hit movie! The gigantic scaled backyard play area is the newest addition to the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park and has made a ‘big’ impression on park visitors. With three-story-tall blades of grass, lifeboat-sized cereal bits, and a twenty-foot tall paper clip, the re-creation of the movie set allows guests to experience the special effects of movie-making firsthand (1991)’ In this episode we start with the film itself and the success of this movie. Back then, this movie was made way different and it lent perfectly to the Disney-MGM Studios and the reason for the park attractions.

After months of planning and organizing, RetroMagic 50 has come and gone. Over the long weekend, all of us had an amazing time putting on this event and we hope everyone that attended enjoyed themselves. When an event like this starts to take shape, we have a rough idea as to how we want the day to go. We also have learned from our past events, trying to include what people like, enjoy, and even request. Throughout all the planning though, we try to create an event that we would want to attend. In this short episode, we recap the entire weekend from start to finish: the behind-the-scenes stories, our reactions to how things went, and so much more. If you were able to attend RetroMagic 50, this episode will be a great follow-up to the whirlwind day we all experienced back in April. If you did not make it to RetroMagic this time around, we will be posting up our event videos on our YouTube channel soon. Please make sure you are subscribed and ready to enjoy these amazingly edited videos. Finally, we want to tha