Podcast
Retro Disney World Podcast
Hosted by Lake Buena Vista Historical Society · EN
A monthly trip back in time to Walt Disney World - From pre-opening to 25 years ago; your four retro hosts discuss now closed, but not forgotten attractions, designs, architecture and more! Come experience the Vacation Kingdom of the World...the way it was...and the way it is in your memories!
16episodes
Episodes
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97.5 - RetroMagic 2025 - Sept. 26-28, 2025
May 25, 202500:27:22Tap to summarizeIn this mini-episode (or is it an infomercial?), we discuss our upcoming RetroMagic 2025 event, coming to the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World the weekend of September 26-28, 2025. Tickets are available at https://retromagic.net How much would you pay to see Imagineer Tony Baxter? $700?! $900?! How about $185!!! BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!! How about the creative and technical leads responsible for The Living Seas pavilion, Tim Delaney and Kym Murphy? BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! · A charming feature of Main Street USA, we’ll take a deep dive into Walt Disney World’s Penny Arcade. Arcade expert Todd Tuckey of TNT Amusements will join a panel transporting you to the cool, dark haven of novelty games of yesteryear with rare photographs of the arcade, a look at some of the vintage games that resided in the space and where some of them live on today · Historian Hastin Zylstra will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the Lake Buena Vista townhomes and their California origins including their connection to Disneyland. This oddball slice of Walt Disney World history is one you won’t want to miss. · Author and historian Foxx Nolte will revisit Lake Buena Vista shopping village. Before Disney Springs, Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island this quaint shopping and dining oasis was a charming beacon for locals and tourists alike. You’ll learn about its diverse offerings and its real-life counterpart its design was based on. · Disney Legend Tom Nabbe will reunite with members of the opening day monorail crew from October 1971. You’ll hear tales and travails of the early years of the Highway In The Sky. Panelists to be announced. · A panel of “opening crew” and executives for Walt Disney World in 1971 and EPCOT Center in 1982 will join us to reveal behind-the-scenes stories from their storied careers. Steve Baker, whose 23 year career with Disney began opening the parking lots and bus transportation in October 1971 and concluded as EPCOT Center’s Development Director will join us. Jim McCaskill was on the opening day crew in 1971 and his final role saw him overseeing relationships with corporate sponsors like MetLife and Siemens. Steve and Jim are confirmed guests for this event. More panelists to come. · It’s Time To Get Things Started: The Muppets at Walt Disney World. Some of the men and women behind Muppetvision 3D and the Here Comes The Muppets stage show at Disney-MGM Studios will join us to remember the early Muppets-Disney partnership in Florida. Guest panelists to be announced. · Showtime! – From the LBVHistory Archives: We’ve been putting aside photographic, film and video clips that left us so gobsmacked they had to be saved to share with a live audience. Historians will join us as we look at some lesser remembered bits of Walt Disney World completely forgotten or never before seen on film. · The Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village returns for guests to peruse our archive of artifacts, set pieces, souvenirs and memorabilia from Walt Disney World’s past. Authors, artists, historians and VIP’s will meet and greet attendees during the scheduled breaks · More panels, guests and experiences to be announced. DON'T DELAY, ORDER TODAY!!! OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!!!
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97 Music of EPCOT Center
Apr 16, 202502:15:12Tap to summarizeTake a deep dive into the music of the original EPCOT Center, including: How the Epcot entrance loop ripped off music from rock bands Alan Parsons Project and Trickster Hear the original, longer version of "Closer to You," the song from AT&T's "Age of Information" exhibit that predicted the future with incredible accuracy Composer George Wilkins' favorite piece of music that he wrote for Epcot The arranger who worked on Bob Moline's Epcot songs, including "Canada (You're a Lifetime Journey)." Hint: he went on to compose the music for a Spaceship Earth rehab Join us as Todd, Brian, JT, How and our listeners reveal their favorite songs from the many eras of Epcot and we reveal behind-the-scenes details about each of them and the beloved attractions they came from.
Transcribe →96 - Banking at Walt Disney World
Mar 19, 202502:29:40Tap to summarizeThis month Brian leads a discussion about banking at Walt Disney World and everything guests had to do to pay for their transactions at the parks and resorts before debit card terminals and Magic Bands became ubiquitous. Cash was king, but Traveler’s Checks and personal checks were also common before Walt Disney World began allowing credit cards. We’ll reveal how they worked, their benefits, and their frustrations. We also dive into the history of Disney’s relationship with its original banking partner, Sun Bank. Find about their full-service branches located in each of the parks and near Disney Springs, including the beautiful late-1880s-styled bank on Main Street which is now the Chamber of Commerce, and why we think the bank vault is still there. If you’re a cast member who can confirm or deny our hunch, send us an email! Todd also takes us into the many advancements in banking technologies that make paying for things in the park easier and more worry-free today.
Transcribe →95 - Camera Shops and Film at WDW
Feb 7, 202502:32:25Tap to summarizeThis episode is about a long-lost art form that used to be very prominent at Walt Disney World. The idea of lugging camera equipment around, having it serviced at WDW, and even developing your pictures all on-site are almost laughable this day in age. When we look back through history, Walt Disney World is brought back to us from family photos and film/video. Depending on your era, the method could vary drastically and so did the technical aspects. In this episode, we dive into nearly every aspect of capturing the memories of your trip. With different sources, being professional resources and personal stories, this episode should hit with anyone who has captured their trip on some sort of film. The theme parks were very different 50 years ago, including things like a bank, card shops, flowers to purchase, and even furniture. Disney took on the memory business and you could do everything from bringing all your own equipment to renting on site. Film purchases, VHS tapes, servicing your camera and more; the different parks and resorts had an immense list of services and supplies for everyone. Nowadays, you are lucky to find a disposable camera, which we dare you to locate… We try our best to not get into the weeds too much, but at the same time you will get a little bit of a techy history in this episode, which is almost needed if you did not live in this era. As you listen to this one, drop us a note about your experiences with the camera centers or even having Walt Disney World develop your photographs in under an hour. Enjoy!
Transcribe →94 - Cranium Command with Jerry Rees
Dec 13, 202401:43:31Tap to summarizeWe're back with Episode 94 where we get to interview the great Jerry Rees. Over the years, we have had Jerry at our different events to discuss Cranium Command and the various projects he has done for the Walt Disney Company. While we have gotten to know Jerry very well, we found that our post-event interview has been in the archives for several years and we are very excited to bring it to you. The interview begins with us discussing how this all came to be. Jerry gives us some amazing first-hand knowledge on meeting many Disney higher-ups, giving him some directives and also asking him to save some attractions. One of the highlights of this time at Disney is how they worked in the old Magic of Disney Animation building while in development of the attractions. You could actually see Jerry and his team down in the 'pits', storyboarding and making it all work. There is a chance you might have some old home video of them working their magic in this attraction. Go check after you finish this episode! Jerry gets into Cranium Command as well, which has such a unique history. The development and how it originally started is very interesting and we get that information about how it changed into the attraction we all saw at EPCOT. Jerry has always been super kind and fun to speak to, especially if you enjoy how films and movies are made. Jerry's career kind of blurs the line of Disney Imagineer and film director which is why the attractions he worked on always seem to be unique and different. We hope you enjoy this chat with Jerry; be sure to check out the different films we have of us and also some of the archive footage he has sent our way, which is on our YouTube Channel.
Transcribe →56 - Good Neighbors - Sea World
Mar 13, 2020Tap to summarizeWelcome to Episode 56 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Good Neighbors" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows! Comments & Corrections Jake Nelson wrote in about a possible hidden skeleton somewhere inside Catastrophe Canyon. We give our take on this one from the old days of MGM. Reuben wrote us asking about the old shop to the left right inside the entrance to the Disney-MGM Studios. He is referring to Sid Cahuenga's of course! We discuss this store and the various items we have seen there over the years. Joe Barlow wrote in about some backlot vehicles, mainly the Hardcastle and McCormick car. We misidentified it as a Lamborghini, but Joe tells us it really is a kit car from back then. Listener Mail The mailbag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Tom Potter is our first letter and it is all about time capsules. Tom brings up the opening of Coronado Springs and how they placed a capsule back in 1997. Next up is Ron. He asks us about trucks being buried at the Magic Kingdom from way back during the late 60s construction. We hear about some trucks out in the lakes, but as far as the parks, we aren't really sure... John wrote us and has been a binge listener since August. He is curious about the EPCOT Center pavilion logos and who designed them and why. This is right in How's wheel-well and is super fun to learn about. Finally, we got a tweet from Michael, giving some major props on the upcoming Horizons release we have coming. Todd gives us the updates next... Audio Rewind Our audio rewind this month is El Rio del Tiempo - Thank you for all the guesses and emails! We have a winner! Congratulations Jimmy Tucker! - you won the book by Marty Sklar from Brian. If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! contest@retrowdw.com - This month, the winner will be getting 3 books from author Christopher Smith - All entries due 4/15/2020 and a random winner will be selected. Main Topic This month, our main topic is Good Neighbors mostly focusing on Sea World. The early days of Lake Buena Vista had just one theme park so people needed more to do and more places to stay. A few years back, we discussed some of the good neighbor hotels and that program back on Episode 39. Brian leads us this month through some of the history and how Sea World got it's start. This includes California, Ohio and the other locations as this is all an important part of the story. We walk you through every attraction through the years with personal experiences and also lots of great memories. This includes things like the Dolphin Feeding Pool, original Whale and Dolphin Stadium, Fountain Fantasy, Water Skiing and so much more. The construction history is also discussed, which has changed quite a bit over the years. This wouldn't be an episode of the RetroWDW Podcast without some food discussions. We take a deep-dive into the Hawaiian Punch Village along with some very detailed discussion about 'Hula Pie'. If you have ever been to Sea World since it opened, this episode will for sure take you back and also give you a look at how it has changed over the years. We hope you enjoy this look at one of our favorite 'Good Neighbors'. 2020: The Year of Film To make sure you are the first to know when items are released, subscribe to us on YouTube. Be sure to click the notification bell too, that way you are alerted when we post. Finally, be sure to check out Vimeo if that is your thing, as we will post there as well. This past month we have posted a great resort tour from The Disney Channel, The original DVC Resort Tour, and a great Innoventions commercial from the mid-90s. As a bonus, to accompany this episode we have released a great new video from 1980 Sea World. This was shot on Super8 with sound! You are going to love this vintage footage that looks amazing - especially the Whale & Dolphin show. Next Month Join us next time for Episode 57, which we have not fully planned out, but you won't want to miss it Thanks for joining us!
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