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.

Continue reading Little Orange Memories