One of the mandates during the creation of EPCOT Center was to differentiate its offerings from what could be found in Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. One of the more famous elements of that agenda was the lack of traditional Disney characters in the park; instead of Mickey and friends, EPCOT would showcase [...]]]>

One of the mandates during the creation of EPCOT Center was to differentiate its offerings from what could be found in Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. One of the more famous elements of that agenda was the lack of traditional Disney characters in the park; instead of Mickey and friends, EPCOT would showcase new characters.

The best known of these are, of course, Dreamfinder and Figment from Kodak’s Journey into Imagination pavilion. The professorial Dreamfinder was an evolution of “Professor Marvel,” a character conceived for Tony Baxter’s unbuilt “Discovery Bay” Disneyland expansion. He migrated east when a host was needed for the Kodak pavilion, becoming the character we know today.

These images are from March of 1981, when the character was starting to come to life in the workshops of WED Enterprises.

Dreamfinder, host of the Journey into Imagination Pavilion in Epcot Center, nears the final approval stage in the Sculpture Shop. Pictured [below] is the full-scale clay model, which recently took on a whole new look as fittings were made for his wardrobe.

The model stands 5’6″ and has reddish-blonde hair. Wayne Strong, who set aside his sculpting tools and did the make-up for Dreamfinder, revealed that early conceptual drawings specified white hair, but were changed when the character began to look a bit too much like Santa Claus.

"And-a-one, and-a-two, and..."

Dreamfinder has been gone from Epcot for more than a decade now, but we live in hope of his eventual return…

We’ve spoken before about the Lake Buena Vista STOLport, the long-abandoned airstrip that allowed guests to fly directly in to Walt Disney World in its earliest years. Sadly, the commuter flights from Tampa, Orlando, and other locations quickly ended, and the plans to [...]]]>

"Mickey and Shawnee Airline's Al Porter pick the winning ticket"

We’ve spoken before about the Lake Buena Vista STOLport, the long-abandoned airstrip that allowed guests to fly directly in to Walt Disney World in its earliest years. Sadly, the commuter flights from Tampa, Orlando, and other locations quickly ended, and the plans to add terminal and hangar facilities to the STOLport never materialized.

But back in the spring of 1972, hopes were still high at Disney for the exciting possibilities provided by owning your own airstrip. Even cast members got in on the act, with Walt Disney World’s Springtime STOLport Getaway – an opportunity for lucky employees to win a flight to the Bahamas directly from Disney property!

And entering was so easy!

A final Bahama Island Holiday is still to be won in Walt Disney World’s Springtime STOLport Stowaway contest.

Clip the coupon and deposit it in one of 10 Stowaway Suitcases throughout the Vacation Kingdom no later than Friday afternoon, May 12.

Suitcases are located in the North Service Lot Time Shack, Polynesian Village Employee Cafeteria, Contemporary Resort Employee Cafeteria, ISC Building lobby, Fort Wilderness Registration lobby, Employment Center, Recreation Club trailer, Mill shop and Administration Building lobby.

But don’t get any funny ideas…

One reminder – those who have submitted duplicate entries have been disqualified – so remember, one entry per person, please.

Dick Nunis will not abide cheaters!

One winner was lucky 19-year-old Kathie McGuire, whose name was pulled from a basket by Mickey Mouse with an assist from Shawnee Airlines official Al Porter. Shawnee Airlines partnered with Disney on the STOLport, providing regular flights to the resort.

"A surprised Kathie McGuire gets the good news"

Talk about a smiling face!

An ear to ear grin lit the lobby of the Contemporary Resort last Saturday when 19-year old Kathie McGuire became Walt Disney World’s first STOLport Stowaway contest winner.

Kathie, a Reception Hostess who handles mail and messages, couldn’t have been happier when Mickey sauntered up and presented her the winning ticket.

One final drawing remains for another lucky employee and his or her guest who, compliments of Shawnee Airlines, fly south for a two night/three day holiday in the Bahama Islands.

“Sauntered”!

A subject that comes up often when discussing EPCOT of old is the strange giant dolls that used to roam the promenade around World Showcase before characters were allowed in the parks. Disney wanted to offer a completely different theme park experience at EPCOT; if people wanted characters, went the thinking, they could [...]]]>

A subject that comes up often when discussing EPCOT of old is the strange giant dolls that used to roam the promenade around World Showcase before characters were allowed in the parks. Disney wanted to offer a completely different theme park experience at EPCOT; if people wanted characters, went the thinking, they could go to the Magic Kingdom. There was no need for EPCOT to re-hash what had been done before.

Yet the need to have something for guests to interact with led to some hits and misses, and perhaps the oddest of these were the World Showcase dolls. But seeing pictures of these characters don’t convey their true ominous nature – years before the fancy new interactive Mickey, these characters could move their eyes and blink. Witness for yourself the chilling effect.

What’s strange is that unlike so many elements that were cobbled together for EPCOT at the last minute, these dolls were in the works long before the park’s 1982 opening. In September of 1980, the cast newsletter for Walt Disney World’s Maintenance Division published a blurb about the work being done in their machine shops to make these dolls “come to life”. And, naturally, there’s a creepy picture!

"Tim Taylor, Staff Shop and Bob Dooley, Machine Shop"

SPEAKING OF CHARACTERS

A new dimension has been added to the latest character heads being manufactured by the Staff Shop for use in the World Showcase to represent each participating nation. These new doll heads are made of a fiberglass reinforced plastic shell. The Machine Shop has developed a mechanism that provides the dolls with the capability to roll their eyes from right to left and/or blink the eyelids.

The eye-movement mechanism consists of an aluminum frame containing an intricate system of pivots and linkages operated by two servomechanisms. The servomechanisms and some small hardware (balljoint pivots, swivel links, etc.) are of the same type found in radio-controlled model aircraft. The servos are powered by a detachable, belt-worn “Battery-Pack” and are actuated by three micro-switches contained in a hand-held control unit; thus the character can activate eye moment at will as a manner of expression.

Frames and major components are manufactured in the Machine and Metal Shops. The Machine Shop is also responsible for the assembly and adjustment of linkages and limit switches, as well as the final testing.

As you wander through the World Showcase extravaganza and see any one of these one hundred twenty dolls of various nationalities, you can credit their final “characterization” to our Staff Shop personnel, who apply the final touches with their expert detailing.

In 1987 The Walt Disney Company released a brochure to promote “Euro Disneyland”, their newly-planned resort complex near Paris. Since the design of the project itself was still in its early phases, a simple conceptual layout was the only piece of original artwork contained in the publication. The rest [...]]]> This is a strange one.

In 1987 The Walt Disney Company released a brochure to promote “Euro Disneyland”, their newly-planned resort complex near Paris. Since the design of the project itself was still in its early phases, a simple conceptual layout was the only piece of original artwork contained in the publication. The rest of the concept art, which purported to show the delights soon to arrive on the Gallic shore, was culled from the Imagineering vaults and consisted of pieces originally created for Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland.

Many of them are familiar; there’s the mandatory Ryman painting of Cinderella castle, as well as his concept for the hub in Tokyo. There are pirates by Davis, Tomorrowland by Hench, and even Walt Disney World’s planned but never built Persian hotel. It might be a surprise to find them in this particular place, but to the savvy fan they’re nothing new. All of them, that is, except for this one.

"Ethel, pass the gnocci and the baked beans..."

I’d never seen this before. In fact, it took me a second to realize what I was looking at. In all the conceptual art for pre-opening Walt Disney World that I’ve seen, this vintage illustration was never included. But here it is, showing up years later as a depiction of what resort opportunities awaited guests at Euro Disneyland.

The scene is inviting – there’s the old world charm in the background, the swooping line of the monorail track, and the building to the right that looks like one of those mod Welcome Centers that promised innumerable adventures (and free juice!) to excited interstate travelers of the era. And Coleman coolers always mean fun is in the offing.

It’s a little bit disorienting at first. But what makes this piece really special is that depicts two – yes, two – Never-Neverworld concepts in one.

Not pictured: Dick Nunis piloting a gondola in a striped polo shirt

The first is probably the most familiar. Thanks to the internet, Walt Disney World fans who weren’t around in the early 1970s now know that there were five hotels originally planned for the Florida resort. By around 1975, the Asian, Venetian and Persian hotels would have joined the Polynesian and Contemporary around the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. Due to a number of factors this didn’t happen, but these Neverworld resorts still loom large in Walt Disney World legend.

So the campanile tower (which would appear in altered form years later in EPCOT Center’s Italy pavilion) seen in our mystery rendering comes from the planned Venetian hotel, which would have been located between the Transportation and Ticket Center and the Contemporary’s water bridge.

The second, and less obvious, element of this piece of artwork is in the foreground, where happy families enjoy a tasty picnic and some of the recreational amenities provided in the Vacation Kingdom of the World.

This is Fort Wilderness. No, not the Fort Wilderness we now know. It wasn’t even called Fort Wilderness at this point. But a campground was in the plans for Walt Disney World, located roughly where the Wilderness Lodge is today. Here’s an overview from 1969 – the planned Polynesian high rise is on the left, the Asian is at the top where the Grand Floridian would later be built, and the campground is at the bottom, adjacent to the Venetian.

For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these - 'what might have been!'

So that is the site of our mystery rendering. A long way from Paris, perhaps, but a nice place for a picnic!

“Celebrities like Lawrence Welk participated in the Pro-Am … part of the 1975 WDW Golf Classic”

Thank yeh, boys…

The longer one is a fan of anything, the more likely they are to pine for past glories, and those of us interested in the history of the ever-fluid theme park industry are no different. Wonders big and small have been lost over the years, and the Disney parks are no exception to [...]]]>

The longer one is a fan of anything, the more likely they are to pine for past glories, and those of us interested in the history of the ever-fluid theme park industry are no different. Wonders big and small have been lost over the years, and the Disney parks are no exception to this wistful truth. In fact, of all eleven Disney parks I would personally only say that three are currently at their historical peak; one is Tokyo DisneySea, which has only added to its roster in its short ten years; another is Hong Kong Disneyland, only six years old; and, ironically, the last is California Adventure, which really had nowhere to go but up (Some might argue for the inclusion of Walt Disney Studios park in Paris, but I believe its historical peak came when it was still a vacant lot of grass). The point is, for those of us who are long-time followers, there is a lot in the scrapheap of history to sift through and explore.

Some of these are obvious – the “big ticket” cornerstones of nostalgia, if you will. They’re the first things that spring to mind when thinking retrospectively – Horizons, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride – the big ones that got away. But the deeper you dig – or if you were there back in the day – the more obscure the objects of ones affection become. You get into the territory of Disney Handwiches(TM) and frapping and the Get Jet Set game. And somewhere, at the intersection of these realms, sits the Little Orange Bird.

The Orange Bird used to belong squarely in the realm of the super-obscure. Designed by Disney as a mascot for their sponsorship deal with the Florida Citrus Growers, Orange Bird dominated Adventureland with his citrusy presence in the 1970s but had mostly disappeared in the parks by the time EPCOT Center opened. He was completely unknown to me until the internet arrived and his history began to be chronicled. He remained nearly forgotten, though, until he began to appear on merchandise at Tokyo Disneyland – a park where he had never been featured during his glory days – about five years ago. As the Disney online community grew, his existence became known to more recent fans, and the company finally began to exploit Orange Bird’s cult status with a line of merchandise leading up to Walt Disney World’s 40th anniversary.

He’s even made appearances online in a series of increasingly zany sketches posted to Twitter by various artists including a handful of Disney Imagineers. Orange Bird is in the air.

All this naturally begs the question, why hasn’t our orange feathered friend made an actual return to the Magic Kingdom? After all, a core component of nostalgia is the desire to see the return of lost wonders. This is typically easier said than done; not all potential revivals are created equal. It’s hard to imagine, for instance, the return of something as lavish and expensive as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But it seems to me that the little things, like, say, our friend the Orange Bird, are low-hanging (delicious citrus) fruit that could make a marked impact on a minimal budget.

Nostalgia for and the push to revive these little things goes to one of the core reasons typically cited as a secret for Disney’s success – a focus on detail. Anyone who grew up going to the parks knows how easily one can become fixated on some bizarre, out-of-the-way detail. With so many fascinating design elements populating the parks and resorts, it’s not hard to find something that enthralls you and becomes “your” personal, private touchstone. It can be something as remarkably mundane as a staircase or a hexagonal bathroom tile, but it’s something you look for every time you visit; it draws your eye, and it almost becomes ritual. And this is why, when things like his are lost, it detracts from the overall experience and the reaction from fans can be highly personal.

The most stinging wound comes when things disappear without any replacement whatsoever. This attrition has hit the Magic Kingdom hard over the years; rides were shuttered without replacement, restaurants like the Adventureland Veranda sit disused, and even fan-favorite snacks disappeared in the endless waves of menu downsizing. Yet again, this comes back around to our friend the Orange Bird. Although he flew from Adventureland in the 1980s, his perch, the fabled Sunshine Tree, continued to loom over the Sunshine Tree Terrace until it was removed in 2000. The tree had been in need of a rehab, and rather than go to the trouble of sprucing it up, they relegated it to the dumpster. Now the snack bar seems bare and bereft of its original atmosphere; even its signature item, that golden burst of flavorsome sunshine the Citrus Swirl, has disappeared in recent years. Once the site of a slate of incredible tropical treats, the Terrace now serves sodas and chocolate and vanilla soft serve – hardly worthy of the legacy of the Orange Bird.

These are things that would be easy to fix. If park management could be convinced to cough up the cash, I’m sure a scenic Sunshine Tree could be whipped up in no time. All it would take is a call to the juice distributor to get the Citrus Swirls flowing once more, and Disney would once more get my $5 every time I passed the terrace.

Those are the little things. The things that we miss that could be easily revived for a minimal expenditure. But there’s one more category of things we find ourselves nostalgic for, and it is perhaps the category that proves the most consistently amusing. There are things we miss that are high-dollar and hard to imagine returning, like Horizons. There are things we miss that are small and atmospheric which could (and should) return, like the Orange Bird and the Citrus Swirl. But then there are the things that we miss that we know probably should never return. And some of these things are extraordinary.

It really cannot be understated how different the Walt Disney World of the 1970s was from the resort today. Early Disney World seems to have had this bizarre schism in its personality; on one hand, it tried really hard to be a fancy, grown-up place with adult entertainment and restaurants with dress codes and shrimp prepared in fascinating modern ways. On the other hand, the way in which it went about this often comes off as kids dressing up in their dad’s suit and playing grown-up. Part of this was simply a function of the times; Card Walker and his executive buddies might have spent all day on the golf course, but I doubt they demanded anything fancier afterwards besides a ribeye and a pitcher of martinis. This was the era when the height of exoticism was Chow Mein noodles. In the parks you could literally order franks n’ beans and other delicacies that seem cribbed from a middle school cafeteria menu. Why, I’ll have a sliced peach on a leaf with cottage cheese, please!

The sum effect of all of this is an atmosphere that seems incredible today but I’m not totally sure would be wise to revive in toto. Sure I want my Bob-A-Round boats and the Eastern Winds, but people also ate aspic back then. Aspic!

Most of the more insane elements of vintage Walt Disney World come from the realm of dining and entertainment. Many classic attractions could be easily revived; Journey into Imagination, for instance, would be wonderfully received with minimal revisions. But the crazed menu items of 70s Walt Disney World are sort of the equivalent of If You Had Wings – awesome, beloved, fondly remembered… but if you brought them back people would look at you very strangely.

At the nexus of everything I’m talking about is this article from 1972. It’s a lengthy discussion from the Los Angeles Times of Florida Orange Growers’ sponsorship of Walt Disney World; to see how much times have changed, one need look no further than the fact that a newspaper ran such a large story about menu offerings in a theme park 3,000 miles away.

The article contains some interesting history on how the Orange Bird came to be, and Disney’s plans for him at the time, but where it really shines is in its description of how Disney incorporated citrus into its menus throughout the Magic Kingdom. Every land used citrus in a different manner! I won’t spoil it for you, because some of the items are truly insane, but you can get a glimpse of this incredible world that once existed and – perhaps – is safer staying in the past.

Some of it, that is. Other elements rather intensely demand revival, starting with the Sunshine Tree Terrace. A look at the descriptions from the article show how far things have fallen, and vanilla soft-serve starts to look pretty intensely shabby in comparison.

From the Los Angeles Times, March 30th, 1972:

Disney World Dreams Become Florida Reality

Representatives of the Florida Department of Citrus and Walt Disney Productions sat down July 3, 1967 to talk about a dream and how that dream could involve the Florida citrus industry.

The dream, of course, was Walt Disney World in central Florida and was the brainchild of Walt Disney, who wanted to blend an amusement center and a convention complex into the world’s largest family entertainment park.

There were many hours of negotiations following the initial contact and eventually, on Oct. 1, 1969, the Florida citrus industry became the first entity to sign an agreement to participate in Walt Disney World. Object of the long hours of conference, plus innumerable trips to California, was to determine what sort of exhibit the citrus industry of the state would sponsor. Appearance of outstanding shows, dally attendance charts and cost analyses were considered in a thorough research of the popular Disneyland complex.

Family Oriented

Based on the desire of the citrus industry for a completely family-oriented, high-volume traffic entertainment exhibit, the final choice was the Enchanted Tiki Room. This exotic attraction, with an amazing drawing power, was selected and returned to the drawing boards to emerge as the Sunshine Pavilion, complete with an audio-animatronic floor show of birds, flowers, drummers and gods borrowed from the islands.

One of the important features of the Sunshine Pavilion is the Sunshine Tree Terrace, through which audiences exit from the show. This is the area where citrus juices and products are served and where the Orange Bird is host to visitors. Focal proluct of the Terrace is the Sunshine Tree, a large replica of a citrus tree with fruit, blossoms and leaves. Disney technicians studied Florida citrus trees a long time in putting the Sunshine Tree together limb for limb.

The Orange Bird, created by Walt Disney Productions for exclusive use of the Florida citrus industry, hopped out of a meeting with Disney marketing people after Department of Citrus advertising materials were placed on a table with a request for recommendations on how to blend the advertising with the promotional promise of Walt Disney World.

Working Plans

Once the bird was suggested, a story line was developed by Vince Jefferds and plans were made for Anita Bryant to record an album about the little animated character that neither talks, sings or whistles. His only expression is through orange-colored thoughts that appear in balloons over his head. Today, Orange Bird has been featured in television commercials with Anita and is the subject of some colorful point-of-purchase materials.

Florida citrus products and dishes are being served in most of the six major attractions areas in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park.

Citrus is on the menus of at least three food serving spots in Main Street USA, the turn-of-century creation that serves as entrance to the park. Two food establishments in Adventureland also have citrus dishes, as does one spot each in Liberty Square, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

The biggest citrus menu is available in the Sunshine Tree Terrace of the Sunshine Pavilion sponsored by the Florida citrus industry. This exotic exhibit and show area is located in Adventureland.

As could be expected, orange juice and grapefruit juice are featured on the Terrace menu, but other specialties include tangerine soft freeze, a sherbet-like mixture of orange juice, tangerine concentrate, tangerine oil and sweetener; an orange juice bar on a stick and a jellied citrus salad composed of broken orange and grapefruit segments, grapefruit juice, sugar and gel.

Also offered is tangerine cheesecake, comprising cake topped with tangerine and orange glaze sauce; citrus tarts of heavy cream in an open shell, topped with orange sections and glazed orange sauce, and crepes ambrosia, a delightful mixture of oranges, tangerines, marshmallows and coconut dipped in heavy cream and rolled in a French pancake.

In the same area, Adventure Veranda is serving Fiji chicken orange chunk, made up of fried chicken breast, cantonese rice, polynesian vegetables, egg roll, grated orange rind and parsley, topped with orange or tangerine segments.

Tomorrowland Terrace has citrus on the menu in the form of a specialty hamburger plate with Florida citrus jello and french fries, citrus tarts and a special citrus salad containing orange and grapefruit segments topped with orange sherbet.

The Pinocchio Village Haus located in Fantasyland also offers the hamburger plate, citrus tarts and jellied citrus salad.

A feature of the Liberty Tree Tavern in Liberty Square is Shrimp Florida, utilizing pink Florida shrimp with diced oranges in sauce louis. Another dish is Pate Maison Florida, composed of thin slices of homemade pate, with orange rounds molded into each slice.

Cottage cheese jubilee salad, consisting of cottage cheese mixed with tiny bits of oranges and pineapple is scheduled for the menu of the Crystal Palace in Main Street USA. Other menu items are orange waldorf salad, a mixture of oranges, apples and nuts.

Yes, my friends, “Pate Maison Florida.” No amount of nostalgia can justify the resurrection of that. But citrus tarts and tangerine cheesecake? Yeah, I’m down with that. It would certainly be a much more appealing fit than what’s there now.

I really appreciate how the insanity slowly escalates in this article. The first time I read it, I thought, “Hey, this is valuable background information.” Then it starts talking food and all bets are off. Suddenly you’re in the land of “Fiji chicken orange chunk” and “jellied citrus salad” and “pink Florida shrimp with diced oranges in sauce louis”. Since it’s the 70s, cottage cheese makes an appearance. So does the appetizing inclusion of “gel” as an ingredient in the citrus salad. Gel?? That is almost unnervingly vague.

I’m not sure what “tangerine oil and sweetener” is but I’m pretty sure I’m for it, and I’m glad that they clarified that a crepe was a “French pancake”. Also I approve of the frequent inclusion of “heavy cream” in things.

This is the texture that many of us miss in our Walt Disney World experience, and even if a to-the-letter revival is unwarranted, a return to the sheer feeling of runaway insanity and experimental weirdness would be interesting. The other night on Twitter, Foxxy from Passport to Dreams was reading old Disney drink recipes. One alcoholic concoction was served on a frozen apricot. How would that even work?!

I guess what I’m saying is this. Fix the Sunshine Tree Terrace. And bring back our friend the Orange Bird.

And the Citrus Swirl.

But not the Pate Maison Florida.

As I just said, it’s extremely difficult to take notes from 1970s issues of Eyes and Ears without finding one or two things per issue that [...]]]>

"Just ignore her Morris, and she'll go away!"
Alternate Proposed Caption: "Do these change your mind about seeing the dessert tray?"
Tertiary Proposed Caption: "Giant Pepper Mills = Classy."

As I just said, it’s extremely difficult to take notes from 1970s issues of Eyes and Ears without finding one or two things per issue that I need to share. I’ve been trying and control myself; to keep my powder dry. But some things are just… amazing.

By the time the Shopping Village opened at Lake Buena Vista, things had gotten fancy. Part and parcel of being an old-school Walt Disney World fan is a constant desire to have access to a time machine. Usually we’d want it to go ride Horizons or If You Had Wings, but then you see something like this…

Honestly, this one had me at the headline.

ATTENTION CLERICAL GALS

The next quarterly get-together of female clerical cast members is set for Wednesday, March 3, at 11 am. The place will be the Village Restaurant, and special entertainment for the luncheon will be a fashion show, featuring fashions from Carolyn’s Couture, Country Address and Miss Merrily’s Madness … modeled by hostesses from Lake Buena Vista.

Reservations are limited to 100, and will be on a paid-in advance basis only. For reservations, call or see: Julia Switlick, LBV Preview Center, 828-3465; Gloria Jacobs, The Center, 824-4283; or Alvina Evans, WDDC, 828-2172.

Fashion modeling was actually something that happened quite often back in the day at the Shopping Village; what better way to spent an afternoon at the Village Restaurant than with tea sandwiches and Lake Buena Vista cast members parading back and forth in diaphanous gowns? Answer: There is no better way.

Some bonus trivia: Julia Switlick, your contact for this little party, was the very first Walt Disney World employee – although she didn’t know it at the time. Hired on February 1st, 1966, she served as secretary to lawyer Phil Smith who had come to Orlando from Miami to oversee the purchase, in secret, of land for Walt Disney World. In the years leading up to this party, which took place in March of 1976, she had also served as District Clerk for the Reedy Creek Improvement District, City Clerk for both the City of Bay Lake and City of Lake Buena Vista, and as Executive Secretary and Office Manager for Lake Buena Vista Communities.