Back in the day… wait for it… the Disney Channel showed content aimed at us theme park fans. Crazy, I know, but true! One special I remember well is 1986’s A Dream Called Walt Disney World, which aired in conjunction with the resort’s yearlong 15th anniversary celebration.
The hour-long special gives a history of the resort (which, in 1986, was probably operating at its historic peak) as well as a look at its future (which, in 1986, was incredibly exciting and promising). And for my fellow Team Nunis members, there’s plenty of good #CultOfNunis material.
Enjoy!
Hey Michael, thanks for finding this. I am a big Dick Nunis fan… I even liked his suit-shorts protocol. One of the coolest guys in my book: classy, personal connections to and passion for Walt’s m.o., a stickler for show quality standards, etc.
It’s interesting you mention when you think WDW peaked… probably has something to do with the time in our lives when when had our formative or best experiences there, but I think there are also many less-subjective standards upon which to analyze what was/is WDW at its peak versus its nadir.
I think if I had to pick a WDW peak year, it would be 1995. I was a young teenager, Future World was still intact & coherent, the best version of Illuminations was playing, MGM remained fresh and just opened Tower of Terror (which completely blew me away and redefined what a theme park ride could be for me), New Tomorrowland, new Blizzard Beach, on and on. And, of course, 1995 preceded the innumerable negatives that came in the late 90s/00s, that we so often lament. Disney giveth and Disney taketh away.
To end on a slightly positive note: there have been a couple bright spots post-peak: Animal Kingdom and the coming FLE biggest among them.