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By Michael - September 29th, 2009 When last we met around the metaphorical campfire, we learned the history of Dixie Landings’ Ol’ Man Island. But if residents of Dixie Landings were going to be able to access the hidden swimmin’ hole, they needed a safe way to reach the isolated island. Thus we’re reintroduced to Colonel J.C. (Hidden religious allegory? You decide!*) who, along with businessman Buford Honeyworth (more on him later), organized the construction of a series of bridges for the community. Yes, I get excited about infrastructure legislation even if it’s fictional.
So the next time you’re stumbling groggily to the Colonel’s Cotton Mill for your breakfast pizza, you’ll know that the bridge you’re crossing is more than a century old!
* The answer is no. This was only a joke.
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By Michael - September 28th, 2009 This should be interesting…
Welcome to the blogosphere, Disney. The internet is a wild and unscripted place, so it’ll be interesting to see how it and official Disney communications get along. Maybe we’ll take over and have Horizons 2.0 up and running by 2012.
Now how about a link??
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By Michael - September 26th, 2009  Walt Disney stops to chat with employees, 1966 (L.A. Times Photo Archive) I don’t really have a lot to say on this one; I just really liked this photo.
It’s also especially timely because, now that I’ve been to Disneyland, I finally understand the mystique and prestige that Pirates of the Caribbean holds in the Disney theme park pantheon. I’ve known since I was a child that Disneyland’s version was “better” because it was longer, but not until I rode it this month did I realize that it’s also better because it’s better. The ride is a masterpiece and a true apex of Disney design; I had always known that but it’s another thing entirely to experience it and really internalize its greatness. I’ve always loved Florida’s version, of course, but I never really got why the attraction was such a big deal to so many people. After riding the true platonic ideal of the ride at Disneyland, it clicked.
The only problem is, Florida’s Pirates will never satisfy again.
And I am really, really craving a Monte Cristo sandwich.
Really, really badly.
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By Michael - September 26th, 2009  Artist’s concept for possible Arab nations pavilion, World Showcase This rendering is for yet another unbuilt World Showcase pavilion, this time with the rather nebulous theme of “Arab nations.” This is not one of the well-known abandoned concepts for present day World Showcase, but rather an attraction intended for the original separately-gated iteration of the Showcase that would have been built near the Transportation & Ticket Center. The rendering dates to early 1976; later that year, the World Showcase concept would be combined with that for the Future World Theme Center and start to resemble the park that would eventually open in 1982.
The original design for World Showcase consisted of two large, multi-level semicircular buildings. Between ten and thirty nations would be represented in these structures, occupying wedge-shaped pavilions of various sizes. The buildings would be linked by WEDway PeopleMovers, which as you can see in the rendering would also pass through the show buildings.
This original World Showcase was supposed to begin construction near the Seven Seas Lagoon in 1977, with an anticipated opening date of 1979.
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By Michael - September 25th, 2009 My favorite of the so-called “moderate” resorts at Walt Disney World is Dixie Landings (known today as “Port Orleans – Riverside,” it’ll always be Dixie Landings to me). I prefer its atmosphere and location to many of the pricier hotels on property, even though its amenities have suffered over the years from the constant and merciless cuts of the Eisner years. Still, its relaxed atmosphere and convenient location remain a draw; a nighttime trip down the Sassagoula is one of Walt Disney World’s most enjoyable, obscure and free attractions.
At the geographical center of Dixie Landings is Ol’ Man Island, where the resort’s main swimming area lies under the shade of towering oaks. As with most of the new construction from the early Eisner period, Dixie Landings is loaded with an enormous and obscure back-story to explain its origins. This was the period when we started to hear the constant refrain of “it all starts with story,” and when we were introduced to the legends of such apocryphal greats such as Merriweather Adam Pleasure or, in this case, brothers “Colonel” Jonathon Colby and Everette Peace. Who, you say? Why the Ol’ Man Everette Peace himself. Read on, from a 1995 issue of The Sassagoula Times:
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The Progress City Primer
 From the Progress City archives comes this collection of 33 tall tales and true from Disney history. Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats. |
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