Meet the World has a new post up of a photo essay of Tom Sawyers Island in 1974. It’s pretty interesting to see how little has changed on the Island save the very significant growth of foliage. I went back to some pictures I took last year on a visit to WDW, and decided to share them with you all. You should really go back and catch the other article first to see how much the trees have grown! Enjoy – you can click on the pictures to see a larger photo slideshow on Picasa.
PS – Thanks to George at Imaginerding for putting the Meet the World article up on his Geek End Update so I could catch wind of it…
OK, I’m actually at work so I can’t linger but I’ll bet that when you woke up this morning you didn’t think your day would involve seeing a 1977 Bollywood musical that was filmed guerrilla-style at Walt Disney World. I mean, I always hope my day will wind up that way but it never does. Except for today. There’s even something in there for you Magic Mountain fans…
It just goes to show ya, anything can happen in the movies. Care to take odds on anyone getting away with something like this today?
Beacon Joe has returned from his shanty on the Rivers of America to continue a series started in OCTOBER 2008! Though much has changed since this article was written, you should read the first part of this series before continuing further….
Yes, I know. My blog posting frequency or (lack thereof) is absurd. Yet I feel that this series about nightlife at Walt Disney World is just as valid as it was when WDW execs decided to shutter Pleasure Island in late 2008.
Much has changed on the Island since last we spoke, most notably the additions of Ragalin Road (very popular) and right next door the monstrous T Rex (completing the bookend volcano look for Marketplace that goes so well with craftsmen architecture).
Good news is, no awful plan has come into place for Pleasure Island yet – we’ve got a giant balloon which seems rather unoffensive, and West Side is changing various third party forces – yet Pleasure Island seems more or less untouched at the moment.
So great! Let’s continue where we left off, shall we? In the first article I explained my opinion that the blandness of the Pleasure Island experience most likely lead to its downfall, but it provides an interesting template and supplies a necessary need for the Walt Disney World experience – nightlife! Walt Disney World seems to die off fairly early in the evening, and it’s fairly hard to find something to do into the wee hours of the evening, and I’d love to see that change. I’d love to see the unique Disney experience extend to adults who want to stay up and maybe enjoy a cocktail or two.
So instead of a sweeping armchair quarterback idea of a new themed nighttime district, I came up with a few essentials to what I think would work (and has already worked) to address this problem.
Back In Walt’s Day…. there was Disneyland
DISNEYLAND! Disneyland? Oh yes, there are Date Night at Disneyland and Disneyland After Dark specials I love, which show a hoppin theme park, with Louis Armstrong on the Mark Twain, and…. this….
Okay, so Bobby Rydell might not be the answer anymore, but perhaps keeping the parks open till a decent time might help. E Ticket nights were popular, as are the current extra magical hours. But even more intriguing about these specials is….
THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Live entertainment works at Disneyland, and it hasn’t been working too great, or just as much, at Walt Disney World. Michael and I were shocked to see how many viable musical ensembles exist in Disneyland, most likely due to the difference in crowd perhaps (more local Annual Passholder folk). Even so, live entertainment – good, unique live entertainment, has been a Disney staple leading back to its formative days in Anaheim, where some of the first contractors were the Marching Band.
Frankie and the West End Boys covered Smashmouth, I’m more interested in these guys -
… and here’s a shiny example to show you I’m not all grumps. YeHaa Bob at the River Roost Lounge at Dixie Landings, or umm Riverside – is a glimpse into what I’m talking about. A more unique experience than listening to poor covers of Barenaked Ladies. There’s nothing too unique about that. To boot, at Disneyland, local or otherwise unknown bands often played and made waves on the national scene – including The Osmonds and No Doubt. Could there be a venue other than House of Blues for up and comers to play at Walt Disney World?
There’s a question that I’ve seen pop up often over the years in the search results by which people are redirected to this site. With all the hubbub leading up to yesterday’s return of Captain EO to Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, I’ve seen a new explosion of people asking this question:
What does Captain “EO” stand for?
I’m assuming they mean as an abbreviation, not what does he stand for philosophically. Because you do not want to know.
Anyway, to answer that question I’ll quote myself – a citation from my old, old, old original Disney website, WEBCOT:
The name ‘Captain EO’ comes from Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn. Yes, Imagineers sometimes take drugs.
So there you go. Officially, EO doesn’t stand for anything. Not even Earl Owensby. It’s just a shout-out to all those ancient Greeks who happen to be Jacko fans.
And now, because it’s apropos, I repost this video:
While I’m no EO fan, doesn’t the fact that we’re still saddled with Honey, I Shrunk the Audience seem like another instance of Walt Disney World getting a swift kick to the batch while Disneyland points and laughs? Let’s see how John Lasseter would like it if he could only ever see Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management in perpetuity.
I’ll keep reminding myself – we have the WEDway, we have the WEDway…
From the Eyes & Ears of Walt Disney World, March 18, 1977:
Frozen Meat Sale!!!
I don’t know exactly why this amuses me as much as it does. Perhaps it’s the boldly declarative title announcing, without apparent excitement, “FROZEN MEAT SALE.” Perhaps it’s the fact that the Gourmet Pantry somehow found themselves with an “abundance” of frozen meat – enough of a surplus, in fact, that they’re being forced to offer it to cast members at a deep discount. Wait a minute – why does the Gourmet Pantry have frozen meat in the first place?
Please remember, though – whatever you do, do not telephone the Gourmet Pantry asking them to hold meat for you. That’s just rude. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?
