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By Michael - March 29th, 2012 EPCOT Center was well-received upon its debut in 1982, but in the endless amount of press coverage at the time a number of issues frequently bubbled to the surface. Amid all the grumbling about long lines and technical breakdowns, or of a lack of attractions in World Showcase, a glaring and oft-repeated complaint was the [...]
By Michael - March 28th, 2012 In 1981, The Walt Disney Story – the attraction which once occupied the area in the Magic Kingdom where the Town Square Theater currently resides – took a brief absence as its queue, theater area, and postshow area were appropriated to become The EPCOT Center Preview Center. In the year leading up to EPCOT’s October, [...]
By Michael - March 18th, 2012 Long, long ago…
Before the California Grill occupied the top floor of the Contemporary Resort Hotel at Walt Disney World, the site was home to the swanky, adults-only domain of the Top of the World Restaurant. It was an era of carpet with garishly-colored polygons, large glass lighting fixtures, and lots and lots of mirrors.
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By Michael - March 8th, 2012 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 [...]
By Michael - March 1st, 2012 Too often in the modern era the role of a Disney observer is to chronicle the slow loss of special things, as the parks’ offerings are pared down in service of cutbacks and streamlining. It’s a slow, depressing process that columnist Kevin Yee has termed “declining by degrees”.
Every now and then, though, we win [...]
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Four Decades of Magic

Essays about the first forty years of Walt Disney World, including two pieces by yours truly. Available in print and for Kindle.
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