Ah, the Disney travel planning video.
Disney’s been sending out these little gems for years now, first on VHS videotape and now on the much more compact DVD disc. The videos themselves have changed a lot over the years; nowadays, more often than not, they center on whatever the promotion-of-the-moment is. There’s typically a very annoying host or hosts who are attempting to convince you how off-the-chain it is to go to Walt Disney World. There is focus-grouped video showing actors of every conceivable race and life situation frolicking in canted-angle, fish-eye-lensed bliss.
Occasionally – just occasionally! – they mention the parks. They rarely mention the resorts. And they never, ever mention Horizons.
Things were different in 1993, when Disney and Delta teamed up to bring us this amazing travel planner video for Walt Disney World. All your old favorites are there, including a golden-era EPCOT Center.
What’s funny is that when this video came out, I remember Beacon Joe and I ridiculing it because they chose to have guests provide on-camera testimonial about the parks, attractions, and resorts. I thought at the time that it was an obviously far more cheesy approach than the good old days of omniscient narrators, but in those pre-internet days it was as close to the classic in-room videos as we could get.
Now, of course, it’s almost charming how unpolished most of the people are. They’re not actors – fake “guest” testimonials would start appearing in later years – and they’re kind of goofy and real just like anyone you’d approach in the park and ask to be filmed.
So enjoy this little time capsule of Walt Disney World before everything changed in 1994. Pick your favorite guest commentator, and post in the comments below!
Interesting how things took a turn the next year, which was also the first year of Epcot.
Thanks for posting these!
Wow, there went my Friday night.
There were a LOT of great comments in there, but I keep coming back to the British guest about six minutes into the first video. “The Country Bear Jamboree… You go inside and, uh, see a load of bears dancing and singing. It’s country music!” Yup, that about sums it up.
Goods stuff, seeing this does actually remind me of how much the general perception of Walt Disney Word has changed over the years. Don’t get me going on the new assinine vacation planners, they play like a circular euphoria feed, devoid of any content. Kinda like my comments actually.
Oh crap, Im doomed, posted my email by mistake.
It’s great to see that this has made it to the internet. I still have this on tape… this video was pretty much my childhood.
Oh, OH, the red-haired British boy who talks the teacups is just awesome! But my best bit is how this Mom says “If you’ve never been on It’s a small world, you have to go” and she goes on to explains that there’s TONS of dolls, looking mid-sentence as if she realized she wasn’t really selling this, you know? 😀 Yeah, Lady, I’m with you, there’s no non-deceiving way to accurately describe this attraction whilst not scaring the crap out of people.
OK, it’s my last one, I swear, but it’s too funny to see the two teenage boys discuss the Backdtage Tour, where one is all manly man when referencing Dick Tracy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s costumes and his friends can’t help but talk about Pretty Woman… and Oh, also Mary Poppins!
I have a feeling this boy turned up at Mannequins on Thursday night a couple years later! 😉
“My favorite pavilion is the Universe of Energy. There’s, like, dinosaurs. And then it smells all like sulfur. It’s WONDERFUL.”
Huh? All the brilliance of EPCOT, and it’s sulfur that keeps you coming back? Ok.
This is right in my wheelhouse of planning videos, too. I wore that thing out.
The craziest thing about this video? I remember that you had to BUY IT at the Disney Store! (At least I did.) Yes, you had to SPEND MONEY for this giant advertisement. And as I suspect many of you did too, I never regretted it for a second. Those were the days, hah?
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