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By Michael - November 8th, 2011 I considered many titles for this article.
The typically punny things, naturally – things like “Why We Deride” and things like that. But I think it’s important to underline the fact that this is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen at Walt Disney World. That might be quite the buildup, as I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but this one left me standing in the street, mouth agape, and laughing maniacally. It’s just so strange.
It’s well documented that I have a bone to pick with the Studios Formerly Known As Disney-MGM. Not only is it generally bursting to the seams with fail…
 "What was that you were saying about visual contradictions, Mr. Hench?" …But among all the Florida parks it has fallen furthest from its potential for greatness (Yes, yes, I know current Future World might qualify for that dubious honor, but at least it used to be brilliant and EPCOT still has Showcase). I’ve always been enthralled by the classic era of Hollywood filmmaking, as well as the iconic look of that period’s architecture and design. Studios should be a slam dunk, with such rich material to draw on; it also gives designers leeway to explore themes and periods that are absorbing but wouldn’t fit in a Kingdom-class park. The western frontier and tropical jungle were dangerous places that Disneyland distilled and made safe and accessible; to modern audiences the mean streets of Los Angeles and New York City might seem equally threatening but they’re just as full of rich iconography and deeply-ingrained lore to exploit in a theme park environment. Studio whiffs on that potential and lacks a clear vision or purpose.
But that’s all beside the point. While my subject here might possibly be used to illustrate the unfocused and sub-par aspects of the Studios, it’s just so incredibly bizarre and random that it transcends lack of theming (or veneer-thin theming) and poor spatial layout. It’s so absurdist it almost becomes art in and of itself; there’s simply no reason why this existed. The fact that it did exist means that somewhere there’s a story that I desperately want to know.
Continue reading Literally The Strangest Thing I’ve Ever Seen At Walt Disney World
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By Michael - November 8th, 2011 
In a speech during the 1970s, author Ray Bradbury famously referred to Imagineering as a “Renaissance organization.” That was an apt metaphor; that first generation of Imagineers contained a remarkable collection of what could legitimately be called Renaissance men (and a handful of Renaissance women as well). These artists, many of whom had been culled from the realm of live-action motion picture art direction as well as Disney’s own animation studio, had not grown up going to Disneyland and dreaming of theme parks; they had seen the world and, like Walt himself, were fascinated with a slew of seemingly unrelated and esoteric subjects.
Over the years, though, the mantle of Imagineering’s resident “intellectual” seems to have settled on John Hench. Another long-time Disney staffer and former artist at the animation studio, Hench was the reserved, studious sort. After Walt’s death, when individual Imagineers started to come to the fore in the media, Hench’s position at the top of the WED pile ensured that he received lots of print coverage as Disney tried to figure out what they were going to do about EPCOT. During this time, he publicly began to discuss his philosophies about “the architecture of reassurance” and what, exactly, made Disney Disney.
Continue reading Hench On Hench
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By Michael - November 5th, 2011  "Just ignore her Morris, and she'll go away!"
Alternate Proposed Caption: "Do these change your mind about seeing the dessert tray?"
Tertiary Proposed Caption: "Giant Pepper Mills = Classy." As I just said, it’s extremely difficult to take notes from 1970s issues of Eyes and Ears without finding one or two things per issue that I need to share. I’ve been trying and control myself; to keep my powder dry. But some things are just… amazing.
By the time the Shopping Village opened at Lake Buena Vista, things had gotten fancy. Part and parcel of being an old-school Walt Disney World fan is a constant desire to have access to a time machine. Usually we’d want it to go ride Horizons or If You Had Wings, but then you see something like this…
Honestly, this one had me at the headline.
ATTENTION CLERICAL GALS
The next quarterly get-together of female clerical cast members is set for Wednesday, March 3, at 11 am. The place will be the Village Restaurant, and special entertainment for the luncheon will be a fashion show, featuring fashions from Carolyn’s Couture, Country Address and Miss Merrily’s Madness … modeled by hostesses from Lake Buena Vista.
Reservations are limited to 100, and will be on a paid-in advance basis only. For reservations, call or see: Julia Switlick, LBV Preview Center, 828-3465; Gloria Jacobs, The Center, 824-4283; or Alvina Evans, WDDC, 828-2172.
Fashion modeling was actually something that happened quite often back in the day at the Shopping Village; what better way to spent an afternoon at the Village Restaurant than with tea sandwiches and Lake Buena Vista cast members parading back and forth in diaphanous gowns? Answer: There is no better way.
Some bonus trivia: Julia Switlick, your contact for this little party, was the very first Walt Disney World employee – although she didn’t know it at the time. Hired on February 1st, 1966, she served as secretary to lawyer Phil Smith who had come to Orlando from Miami to oversee the purchase, in secret, of land for Walt Disney World. In the years leading up to this party, which took place in March of 1976, she had also served as District Clerk for the Reedy Creek Improvement District, City Clerk for both the City of Bay Lake and City of Lake Buena Vista, and as Executive Secretary and Office Manager for Lake Buena Vista Communities.
Thanks to Foxx for the swanky picture!
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By Michael - November 4th, 2011 As you can no doubt tell, I’ve been digging through my old issues of Eyes and Ears lately trying to do some research. The perilous part of this is that any given issue from the 1970s can be full of distractions, from interesting historical tidbits that need sharing to things that are simply strange. Or, occasionally, borderline deranged.
Another running theme is simply the fact that Walt Disney World and the Disney company itself has changed a lot in ensuing years. Walt Disney World in the 1970s was a goofy organization with this weird sense of humor. From endless cast softball games to Cast Activities collecting lists of everyone’s CB handles to warnings to look out for all these “big city hucksters” coming to Orlando selling fake watches, the overall feel conveyed evokes some provincial mom-and-pop operation.
But another big difference appears in the snapshots we get of resort operations at the time. From swanky nightlife to cocktail cruises, things had a different vibe. We’ve lamented in the past the decline of resort merchandise; whereas Liberty Square used to offer a silversmith and antique store, today every inch of retail space seems packed with pirates, princesses and pixies. The heavy focus on “princesses” in the last decade made the following story all the more shocking when I happened upon it. From April 12, 1975, it describes a Magic Kingdom without… Cinderella?
 "He's still looking at me, isn't he? I feel like he's still looking at me. Is he still looking at me?"
Bob Colburn, Assistant Supervisor of the Crystal Palace, wrote EYES & EARS and said … “Many times a little girl has come up to me and asked where Cinderella is at. They are usually confused because they see Cinderella castle, but no Cinderella. I wonder how many little girls come to Walt Disney World excited about the idea of meeting their fantasy idol, Cinderella, and are disappointed when she is not here.”
A spokesman for the Entertainment Division told us that there is quite a history behind the use of Cinderella in the Magic Kingdom. Actually, there are two different Cinderellas … one in rags and one in her ball gown. Her formal gown is made of satin to give it an elegant look. From past experience, they found that her gown does not wear well when used everyday in the Theme Park. And synthetic materials do not give it that real “look of elegance” that her character needs. So Entertainment Division saves Cinderella in her formal gown for special events, parades and grand openings.
But what about putting the Cinder Girl in Rags into the Magic Kingdom? They tried it and none of the guests recognized her, even when she was with Gus Gus and Jacques. However, the Entertainment Division experimented using Cinderella in the Magic Kingdom over the Easter Holidays and found a place on the Fantasyland side of the castle where she could meet our guests and still have her gown protected. The spokesman told EYES & EARS that presently plans call for Cinderella to be there daily starting this summer.
Not having a walkaround Cinderella because a synthetic gown just wouldn’t look fancy enough? Wow. Also, I totally wish they still used hobo Cinderella in the park. That would be fantastic.
If all that wasn’t jarring enough, the next story was about how Walt Disney World used to refuse to allow weddings on-property. That’s right, Walt Disney World was once free of the yoke of the wedding-industrial complex.
Walt Disney World receives many unusual requests each year. And a good number of them read something like this letter we received recently:
Dear Sir:
We wish to tell you how much we enjoy Disney World. We have been there a dozen times since it has opened, and we enjoy it more each time we return.
We have an unusual request to make. We enjoy Disney World so much, we would like your permission to be married there.
If possible, we would like the ceremony performed in Liberty Square. Only a few people are in the party. We would also like to make a reservation for two at the Polynesian Hotel.
We would like to hear from you as soon as possible so we can make our arrangements.
By the way, EYES & EARS looked into this request and found that we have a policy of not allowing weddings here on Walt Disney World property. However, we do have facilities for wedding receptions at our resort hotels.
I love the implication that this was such a kooky request that they had to look into it. Getting married at Disney World? Whaa? Whoever heard of such a thing!
I also like the window into a past world provided by the fact that this transaction took place through a letter. It’s hard to imagine booking a reservation by writing “Hey, I’d like a room for two at the Poly. Take care of that.” and dropping it into the mail.
But a wedding at Disney World? That’s just craaaaaaazy!
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By Michael - November 2nd, 2011 One of the many operational issues facing Walt Disney World when it opened in 1971 was inadequate transportation capacity. Walt Disney Productions simply ran out of time before the resort’s debut, and so the Magic Kingdom opened without enough operational monorails and watercraft to bring visitors in from the Transportation and Ticket Center. Every moving vehicle was pressed into service in those early days, and Disney wound up relying on a motley collection of monorails, buses, and wheezing, under-powered parking lot trams to get guests across the Seven Seas Lagoon.
Disney didn’t have the large-capacity ferries you see today until 1972; prior to that, they utilized the resort’s smaller excursion craft that were eventually run into the ground due to overuse. In 1972 the Magic Kingdom I and Magic Kingdom II, based on the famous Staten Island ferries in New York, came on line to alleviate the situation. Still, this left Disney with little margin for error if ships had to go down for refit or repair, and so in 1975 work commenced on a third ferry. This ship would eventually be christened the Kingdom Queen when it entered service in 1976.
According to the invaluable Disney Watercraft site, this new ship was designed by naval architect Ben Ostlund of Newport Beach, California. Several years later Ostlund would go on to design the FriendShip launches for EPCOT Center in 1978.
The $1.25 Million Kingdom Queen featured a more efficient internal design than its predecessors, and a number of new features. Intended to accommodate evening excursion cruises on the moonlit waters of Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon, the Kingdom Queen featured two wet bars on either end of its upper deck. The top deck was bereft of benches or seating due to its intended alternate use as a dance floor, and the ship is the only Walt Disney World ferry to feature bathrooms – which remained locked to visitors during regular operating hours. Sadly, the wet bars were removed during a 2001 refit.
In 1999, the Kingdom Queen was renamed General Joe Potter to commemorate the Army veteran who had helped lead construction of Disneyland in 1955 and Walt Disney World in 1971.
Back in 1975, though, they had just laid the keel for the new vessel and the following article appeared in the December 19th, 1975 edition of Eyes and Ears of Walt Disney World:
 "Just a skosh more to the left, Luther..."
FERRYBOAT TAKING SHAPE HERE
Our third ferryboat to transport guests from the TTC over to the Magic Kingdom is well underway behind the Shops Building in the North Service Area, with the first of June as a proposed date to launch her.
The as yet un-named vessel has a steel hull and aluminum super-structure, a dance floor on the second deck, will be diesel powered, with a hull 120 feet long by 35 feet wide. Actual construction on the massive boat began in mid-October and will continue through the winter and spring months.
The construction site is behind the Shops Building near the drydock area. Pictured above, one of the steel hull sections is lifted into place where it will be welded into the rest of the hull. EYES & EARS will be following the assembly of our newest ferryboat and will occasionally be bringing you reports on how it is going.
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