Retro Disney World Podcast

Welcome to Episode 53 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Cute Stories With Rolly" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows!

The mail bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write us at [email protected].

1. Jason Burley wrote in about the EPCOT Center Book we reference often. Jason wants a Magic Kingdom book... Which we recommend a few, including "Walt Disney World: 20 Magical Years".

[listenerfeedback]

Our audio rewind this month turned out to The Haunted Mansion- Thank you for all the guesses and emails.

We have a winner! Congratulations Marty Darling!  - you won a Vacation Kingdom Poster and a copy of the film "Walt's Frozen Head".

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! [email protected] - This month, the winner will be getting some vintage ticket stubs courtesy of Joe Barlow and also some great ephemera - All entries due 12/5/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

We take a few minutes to discuss our latest event, RetroMagic. This was our biggest undertaking for the site, podcast and society. Needless to say, we are still catching up on sleep and also our sanity after everything wrapped up. Join us for a our recap, thank yous and just our overall take on what went on throughout this amazing weekend.

Back in May 2019, we traveled to California to have a chat with Disney Legend Rolly Crump. For this episode, we are releasing the audio from our interview with Rolly. You get to hear all the various questions and responses from this time and this is the sections we played during RetroMagic. Rolly is quite colorful and has a bit of language, so be cautious with who you play this around. The majority of our conversations with him focus on Walt Disney World, which are super interesting and relate to the park he is not asked about too often.

If you attended RetroMagic, you were given a set of three Christmas Ornaments. The Journey into Imagination ride vehicle, The RetroMagic Logo/Float and The Mouse - Walt's original plane. 

We have extras and we are giving them away with any donation of $50. To donate to the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society, please visit www.RetroMagic.org - there are many different donation options and gifts. We thank you for your support and hope you enjoy this unique gift set for the upcoming holiday season.

We have quite a year coming up and we want you to be a part of it, every step of the way. The 'How Bowers Archive' has been digitized, we have tons of restored film movies and so much more, just waiting to get posted. To make sure you are the first to know when items are released, subscribe to us on YouTube. Be sure to click the notification bell too, that way you are alerted when we post.  Finally, be sure to check out Vimeo if that is your thing, as we will post there as well.

• Join us next time for Episode 54, which we have not fully planned out, but we probably will end up with a holiday theme.  Thanks for joining us!

Welcome to Episode 52 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Twenty Questions" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows and also look into Twin Pines Chalet!

1. Our first set of corrections/notes comes from an anonymous source - after they listened to some of our previous episodes they had a few notes:

1. From Episode #2 Amongst the Plexiglass Trees – The Contemporary - the third floor of the Contemporary Resort actually houses the restrooms for Chef Mickey's and is accessed from the fourth floor. How explains the details.

The mail bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write us at [email protected].

1. Mr. Williams asked if we could produce a second episode on WDW radio loops. JT & Todd give us details on when/if that will be coming up in the near future. We plan to review our stockpile and release a mini-episode soon.

[listenerfeedback]

Are you ready for our big event celebrating our 5th anniversary? No, well what are you waiting for? Head over to RetroMagic.net and grab your tickets before they're all gone.

Tickets are now on sale at this link:

• RetroMagic Celebration and Luncheon (Sunday October 13th) - 10a-5p, Contemporary Resort - Join us in the historic Ballroom of the Americas at the Contemporary resort for a day filled with stories and never before seen photos and artifacts from Disney legends, Cast Members, music and more!

All presentation content is tentative and subject to change.

Learn more at RetroMagic.net!

And grab some custom Magic Band covers for the event - including some RetroWDW, RetroMagic and Lake Buena Vista Historical Society stickers only available via MagicYourBand.com. Search for the keyword "Retro" to see all our designs:

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be Big Al from the Country Bear Jamboree - Thank you for all the guesses and emails.

We have a winner! Congratulations Christopher Smith!  - you won a Vacation Kingdom Poster!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! [email protected] - This month, the winner will be getting a Vacation Kingdom Poster & a DVD copy of the independent film, Walt's Frozen Head - All entries due 10/13/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

This month the entire episode is dedicated to your questions!  We opened up our floodgates to anybody and everybody. You all had the opportunity to send in questions, as us anything and possibly get on the show.

The event has taken a huge amount of time from all of us, so for this episode, we shoot from the hip a bit. Brian took the lead on this and we felt we could pull new questions, old questions and so much more. We even hit up some current topics at the Walt Disney World Resort, based on listener mail.

We hope you enjoy this unique topic and show idea! Thank you to all our fans and listeners for reaching out to participate.  This is going to be a fun listen!

• Join us next time for Episode 53. As we are hard at work on RetroMagic, please check for updates on when the next episode will release.
  

Welcome to Episode 51 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Horizons - Part 3: The Legacy" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

Listen to Horizons Part 1 - The Prologue

1. We had a correction about The Living Seas from @Futureport on Twitter, the name we were looking for was 'Moon Pool'.

The mail bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write us!

1. Jimmy wrote in to discuss some old souvenir items you would find in Tomorrowland. The bulb spinner and Spacewarp Toy Coaster were somewhat rare, but available places other than Disney. We get into these things and some other items being sold at WDW.

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

[listenerfeedback]

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be Food Rapper from Food Rocks! Voiced by Tone Loc - Thank you for all the guesses and emails.

We have a winner! Congratulations Christian!  - you win a Vacation Kingdom Poster!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! [email protected] - This month, the winner will be getting a Vacation Kingdom Poster - All entries due 8/15/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

The Speed Ramp Onesie winner has been picked!  Matt Gahs is our winner and his baby is due this coming November.  That will be shipped out asap!  Thanks for all the kind words and congratulations to all the new parents out there.

We spend some time updating everybody on RetroMagic - This two day event is coming soon and tickets are on sale now!  We also have some exciting news from MagicYourBand.com - they have some great covers for your Magic Band that feature RetroWDW, LBVHS & RetroMagic.  Check them out!

We finalize the ride this month, as the last episode was just insanely long and had to be cut off. Todd gets us back in the ride vehicles and we talk about choosing your own ending. How has everything worked out in detail, as to how this worked as a ride.... Ted even chimes in with some official wording on how all of this functioned day in and day out, using the Horizons Ride Control System manual. Very techy stuff, part numbers, duty cycles and so much - insanely detailed.

With the help of Ted Linhart, we've reconstructed the original cast member guide  that details each and every scene in Horizons. Click the cover to download and read along with us as we discuss Horizons in this episode:

1983 Horizons Cast Member Guide

• EPCOT 1976 Introduction

Read more about the design and construction of Horizons from:

• "From Horizons to Space Mountain - The Life of a Disney Imagineer." by Horizons show designer, Imagineer George McGinnis  

• Join us next time as Brian chooses our topic. It's a surprise!
  

1. Rick wrote in, regarding The Timekeeper. At one point in the film, The Timekeeper mentions something about “If you had wings”. We find out if that was intentional or not from the director himself.

Read the Horizons Book by Norman Bel Geddes via Archives.org

The mail bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write us!

1. Park wrote in asking about Mizner’s and where the name came from. How discusses who it was actually named after and why…

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

We love feedback and hearing your memories!

Drop us a line at [email protected] or call us and leave a voice mail at 978-71-RETRO. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be The American Adventure! (Listen to Episode 9 – Building the Golden Dream – American Adventure)

We have a winner! Congratulations Heather Manning – you win the VHS copy of ‘A Day at The Magic Kingdom’. You can pick the version you want too! 

If you think you know the answer to this month’s audio rewind, email us! [email protected] – This month, the winner will be getting a Vacation Kingdom Poster – All entries due 7/8/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

For a Summer Bonus Prize, drop JT an email if you would like to win a new 6-month old ‘Speedramp’ Onesie. This doesn’t fit my son and is blue with the yellow Speedramp logo on the front.  [email protected] 

The moment you have been waiting for is finally here. The classic attraction from EPCOT Center is finally getting time on our podcast and we couldn’t be more excited. Horizons is here and get ready: this is going to take more than one episode!

For Part 2 – The Promise, this is the meat and potatoes episode, ride throughs, scene discussions and so much more. Our discussion starts though with a simple questions: Was Horizons under construction on opening day? Well we get into this with some aerial photography (footings, construction after opening).  From here though, we start this main topic off walking through the front door.  No waiting around and no discussion about the company who made the seals on the front door – although I’m sure some of you would enjoy that fact.

The main entrance had an amazing quote, which has been a controversy for many, many years. The Disney Company misquoted it, many people claim ownership, but we have some BREAKING NEWS on the topic of “If you can dream it, You can do it“. 

We’ve reconstructed the original cast member guide that details each and every scene in Horizons. Click the cover to download and read along with us as we discuss Horizons in this episode:

1983 Horizons Cast Member Guide

• EPCOT 1976 Introduction

Read more about the design and construction of Horizons from:

• “From Horizons to Space Mountain – The Life of a Disney Imagineer.” by Horizons show designer, Imagineer George McGinnis  

( Links go to Amazon & helps support the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society and the RetroWDW podcast)

Tickets will go on sale May 18th at 1pm EST at this link:

• EPCOT Forever VIP Reception and Viewing* (Saturday October 12th) – Approx 8:30p-10:30p – Enjoy a beverage and selection of snacks on the shore of the World Showcase Lagoon for a once in a lifetime chance to watch the new nightime show alongside all of our RetroMagic VIPs! (Includes admission RetroMagic Celebration on 10/13)

The event schedule will be published in plenty of time to plan your day.  Our VIP presenters and the RetroWDW/LBVHistory team will include presentations related to:

• Walt Disney World: A Kingdom in Florida with Disney Legends Bob Gurr and Tom Nabbe

*All presentation content is tentative and subject to change.

• Contemporary Resort’s Executive Chef and his team will present History in the Baking: The original Handwich. A build your own Handwich luncheon buffet is included with your ticket.  Of course that won’t be the only throwback surprise in the lunch offerings.

• EPCOT Forever VIP Reception* (Saturday October 12th) & Retromagic (Sunday, October 13th)  – $225 per person – Tickets are limited due to venue restrictions!

*Theme Park admission is required for EPCOT Forever VIP Reception.

** Appearing via pre-recorded video interview

Tickets do NOT include admission to any Walt Disney World Theme Park, parking or other Disney imposed fees/charges. All ticket purchases are final; refunds will only be provided if the entire event is cancelled. RetroWDW reserves the right to change venues and modify the plans to as required by Disney Event Services. This is a private event is not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney World or D23.

Merchandise: T-shirts and more are available at www.retrowdw.com/supportus

Proceeds of this event benefit the Lake Buena Vista Historical Socieyt. Event Sponsorships welcome; Interesting service trades will be considered, please contact [email protected] for more information.

Notice: Filming, photography, and other recording will take place this event. By attending, you consent to and authorize RetroWDW and LBVHS to record you via audio, video or the similar to be used for distribution on our website.

Welcome to Episode 49 of the RetroWDW Podcast: “Horizons – Part 1: The Prologue” – We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

For this episode, one of our top donors Ted Linhart got to sit in because of his generous donation and also because of his amazing archive. Take a look at what he has going on, over at DisneyDocs.net – If you would be interested in joining us to get a behind the scenes listen, be sure to check out our Donation Page. Thank you Anthony!

1. Lucy wrote us to discuss The Timekeeper, regarding a scene filmed for the movie. We reached out to the director to get the facts for Lucy.  Thanks for writing!

The mail bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write us!

1. Rick Webster wrote in about The Timekeeper, letting us know about the grand opening of EuroDisney. Rick is asking about the wording “If you had wings, I’d let you go”. We discuss how this is before nodding to other attractions. Once again, we reach out to Jeff and he said it wasn’t a deliberate plug, but many writers were swimming in the same Disney Soup. So yes and no… We actually got more information on this after we recorded the episode.

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

We love feedback and hearing your memories!

Drop us a line at [email protected] or call us and leave a voice mail at 978-71-RETRO. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be the Star Tours! We have three winners this month, each getting a LBVHS Vacation Kingdom Poster and a shirt, size small. Nathan Hartman, Trenton Gladding & Kelly Daly all win! Congratulations everybody and thank you for playing.

If you think you know the answer to this month’s audio rewind, email us! [email protected] – This month, the winner will be getting a VHS copy of ‘A Day at The Magic Kingdom’ – All entries due 5/20/2019 and a random winner will be selected. In our discussion, we talk about the ‘Day at The Disney Studios’ VHS as well and how the word ‘MGM’ is digitally blocked out.  If you’d like to watch that, click here.

The moment you have been waiting for is finally here. The classic attraction from EPCOT Center is finally getting time on our podcast and we couldn’t be more excited. Horizons is here and get ready: this is going to take more than one episode!

Welcome to Episode 48.5 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "A Chat With Jeff Blyth" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

Jeff Blyth joins us on this bonus episode, which is a follow-up to Episode 48, which is all about The Timekeeper. Jeff has been a film director for many years, getting his start in Circlevision with the original China film at EPCOT Center. We take a massively deep dive into what it takes to make these types of films. As you listen, your mind is going to be blown and you are in for a few surprises. Jeff has so many personal experiences with this type of film making and some of the techniques, skills and even issues all come up.

• Join us very soon, as we finally get into Horizons. Our listeners have asked, begged and pleaded - we are finally ready to take you back to the gone, but never forgotten attraction. We thank you for your support and welcome you to enjoy all of our other offerings including our photos, restored films & The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society. 

Welcome to Episode 48 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "The Timekeeper" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

Tonight we have a special guest joining us, Anthony got to sit in because of his generous donation. If you would be interested in joining us to get a behind the scenes listen, be sure to check out our Donation Page. Thank you Anthony!

1. Andy Hudson wrote in regarding the current state of the old Penny Arcade games. We discuss this a bit and give some insight into his question / concern.

We're getting quite a bit of listener mail and we love to hear from ya! Keep the emails, tweet and calls comin' in!

1. Amy wrote in, asking us what the average stay was back in the 1970s. We discuss this in detail, basing this on postcard collections, films and attractions. This is a deep question and this is a pretty thorough answer. 

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be the Future Corps! Keith Burton guesses right, and he will be receiving our famous Lake Buena Vista poster. Todd has some new items for this upcoming months prize - so listen carefully, as you could be a winner!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! [email protected] - This month we are picking four winners - each winner will get a poster and a shirt! All entries due 4/16/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

Welcome to Circlevision and The Timekeeper. This super unique format was used throughout Disney properties and this episode we dive into one of the last productions, The Timekeeper. Our entire crew has a great recollection of this film and animatronic show, starring Robin Williams. The show itself, featured a unique character based on the actual camera system and they called her, Nine Eyes.

• Join us very soon, as we take behind the scenes with director Jeff Blyth. He is going to take us on an amazing journey, all about how these 360 films are shot. You seriously need to hear this! We thank you for your support and welcome you to enjoy all of our other offerings including our photos, restored films & The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society. 

Welcome to Episode 47 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "A Room Full Of Fun" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

1. Our first correction is in regard to our last episode, all about Snow White's Scary Adventure. A great memory shared and we feel you!

1. Kicking things off, Tom wrote us from New Hampshire - asking what our own personal Holy Grail item would be from Walt Disney World. This could include merchandise, ride pieces and anything else.  Great question!

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be the Enchanted Tiki Room, from the original show!  The winner is Scott Chapin, winning a Vacation Kingdom poster. Great job and thanks for playing along to everybody!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! [email protected] - This month the winner will receive one of the Lake & Lagoon Vacation Kingdom posters. All entries due 3/12/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

We start off this month on Main Street, USA - more specifically the Penny Arcade! This classic is part of our overall topic of arcades and game rooms. How gives us an insanely detailed walk through, starting us off with the fortune telling machine and the old Mutoscope. We hear about 'Old San Francisco', 'Play Cowboy Rodeo Time', 'Burlesque Bouncer' and more. Todd also brings up some of the other titles shown on a stereoscope format as well.

The stories and facts continue as How tells us about the various strength testers, baseball games, love testers and so much more. If you ever spent any time in the Penny Arcade on Main Street, let us know if you have any interesting memories. We would also love to see your pictures! Finally, we let you know where the machines ended up with an interview by Todd Tuckey. 

Finally! We take you back to one of the greatest vintage spots in all of Walt Disney World – the infamous and now gone, Fiesta Fun Center. This was located on the first floor of the Contemporary Resort, down near the check-in desk. Currently, The Wave restaurant is located in the former spot of the arcade. We take a deep dive into this childhood paradise, which was absolutely massive. Originally, it was just an extra convention space, explaining the large size.

This started officially in 1973, resembling a Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse, filled with games that were similar to the ones featured in Jaws. There was even a smallish movie theater, costing $1 and it rotated various Disney movies. The theater is one place that seems to be very rarely pictured. We received some interesting facts and information relating to the caricature artists, which were there for a very long time. The shooting gallery, which was there in the middle of the Fiesta Fun Center run, is discussed as well during this segment.

We have some various videos that were dug up, relating to the Fun Center: S.A.M.I. by Midway and this great home movie from the 1990s, which covers some other parts of the resort. The Fiesta Fun Center always seemed to have some of the best machines, which we discuss. Over the top games, experiences you didn't get elsewhere and just an overall exciting experience.

• Join us next month for another great episode, all about the 'new' Tomorrowland attraction: The Timekeeper! We thank you for your support and welcome you to enjoy all of our other offerings including our photos, restored films & The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society. 

Welcome to Episode 46 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Snow White's Scary Adventures" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

1. Paul wrote in about his big prize pot victory and to discuss some of the old Birnbaum's guides.

1. Our first message is from Megan - she wants to know about an old window in the PeopleMover. What did this window once overlook?

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

[listenerfeedback]

For our latest event, we put together a really special giveaway. This one-of-a-kind collectors map is truly amazing and you really need to get one for your home or office. The details Jason drew, the small Easter eggs - it is just insane. If you would like your own, please visit our 'Donate' page - the entire donation is tax deductible and you will get this amazing work of art. Be sure to share where you end up hanging your posters and show us those custom frame jobs!

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be Pablo Cruise: Worlds Away!  The winner is Jim Collins, winning a Vacation Kingdom poster. Great job and thanks for playing along to everybody!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! [email protected] - This month the winner will receive one of the Lake & Lagoon Vacation Kingdom posters.

This month, we take you back to one of the opening day attractions and one of the more recently closed dark rides at the Magic Kingdom. How takes the lead to go through the various versions of this ride and also takes a deep dive into the word 'scary', relating to this ride. The comparisons to Mr. Toad appear in this episode as well as the vintage origins of this type of ride. Dark undertones are brought up and we also get into why they had to add the word 'scary' to the title.

• Join us next month for another great episode! We thank you for your support and welcome you to enjoy all of our other offerings including our photos, restored films & The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society.