Guide to WDW Pages 24 & 25

We are now in the downstretch of looking through the Walt Disney World guide from 1979. Two more resorts are on pages 24 and 25. The first is a resort geared towards sports and relaxation--Golf Resort Hotel. Two courses are available for guests to play, the Palm and the Magnolia.

The following page has you staying out in the wilderness with deer, opossums, armadillos, and other creatures at the Fort Wilderness Resort. This place is ideal for kids to run around and explore the outdoors. There is River Country, canoeing, campfires, and the Wilderness Line steam train. The activities continue at night with the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue and Disney movies outside around the campfire while roasting marshmallows. Yum! I must admit, this place is still my favorite resort, even without the railroad.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 22 & 23

What other activities are there to do around Walt Disney World in 1979 you ask? Well, the Walt Disney World guide answers that question on the remaining pages of the guide. Starting with pages 22 and 23, you can find the two resort staples that are still around three decades later with the Contemporary Resort Hotel and Polynesian Village Resort Hotel, respectively. Both have short descriptions for guests to get an idea of the atmosphere of each resort including the activities available for them to enjoy.

Both pages features pictures of the actual resort. It is interesting to look at and compare the impact that plants have on the visual aesthetics of these two resorts in just 30 short years. Although the buildings might look the same, the greenery is much different.

In addition to the customary resort pictures are those of the various activities that can be found at the resorts. The one that sticks out to me is the picture of the Luau girl doing her hula dance. A picture like that makes me want to go put on a lei, eat some Polynesian feast, and enjoy the nighttime fire-lit entertainment. Enjoy.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 20 & 21

Pages 20 & 21 of the Walt Disney World guide from 1979 is filled with words. And, lots of them especially when you are talking about a park guide. The only picture on this page is an image of Pinocchio. The first page deals with some more tips, specifically tips aimed at your visit to help you save time and maximize your enjoyment at the park. The second page gives some details of what else you must see on your visit to Walt Disney World outside of the Magic Kingdom.

Well, there is a lot of reading to do, so, click on the image and get reading. Enjoy.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 18 & 19

On to pages 18 & 19 of the Walt Disney World guide from 1979. These are Polaroid's tips for taking better pictures and better movies at Walt Disney World. It is broken into two sections, you guessed it, pictures and movies.

I actually found these pages kind of interesting. Many of these tips still apply today. It is funny to see things like the movies tip #2 where the cassettes only held about 3 minutes of video. My how times have changed. Page 19 has some examples of pictures along with some tips on how to take interesting pictures. And, if you can't get enough help from the guide, you can always head to the Polaroid Camera Center down on Main Street, U.S.A. Enjoy the tips.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 16 & 17

Pages 16 and 17 of the Walt Disney World guide from 1979 feature yet another map, one that is just as cool as the one on the previous pages. But, instead of a map of the Magic Kingdom, this is a full spread map of the entire Walt Disney World resort as it looked in 1979. This very colorful map is wonderfully drawn and properly labeled. It is great seeing forgotten resorts such as River Country, Discovery Island, and WDW Village prominent on the map. Enjoy.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 14 & 15

We are now half way through the Walt Disney World guide from 1979. On pages 14 and 15, we have a two page full map of the Magic Kingdom. This is a very cool map. It is color coded by attractions, shops, and restaurants. Just like with the descriptions of the attractions on the earlier pages, many of the attractions on the map are also accompanied by a sketch. It really is cool to see attractions like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea featured on the map. Take a few minutes to look at the map and see what all has changed in 30 years to this iconic park.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 12 & 13

Now we move into the future of Tomorrowland with pages 12 and 13 of the Guide to Walt Disney World from 1979. I love these vintage images, especially the Star Jets. There are several attractions I miss from Tomorrowland, with the most obvious for me being Mission to Mars. Ok, I also miss the Skyway, "If You Had Wings", and of course, I wish the TTA were still called the WEDway People Mover. Enjoy.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 10 & 11

Fantasyland. The epitome of all the places in Walt Disney World. When most people think of Walt Disney World, they think of the Magic Kingdom. When they think of The Magic Kingdom, one of two things immediately come to mind...Cinderella Castle and Fantasyland. No land in any of the Disney parks captivates the hearts and minds of children, and even adults, more than the land that brings to life all the fabulous characters from the Disney animated features that generations of children have loved starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

With pages 10 & 11 of the Walt Disney World guide from 1979, we are thrown into this imaginary land. We are treated with several pictures on these pages, including the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on page 10 and Pinocchio Village Haus and Dumbo, the Flying Elephant on page 11.

On page 10, all Fantasyland attractions are listed. Several of these iconic rides still exist today. Sadly, three of the more exiting rides have been replaced or dismantled. First, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1999. In fact, there is a picture of Mr. Toad handing the deed over to Owl as you first enter the ride. One of my favorites, known as 20K to cast members, was filled in toward the end of 1994. It is now the home to Pooh's Playful Spot and the backdrop for Ariel's Grotto. The Skyway saw its last passengers flying overhead in 1999. And, finally, who could forget The Mickey Mouse Revue? Here, you could see ALL of your favorite Disney characters performing a wonderful musical fantasy. One last note...I just really love the sketches on this Fantasyland page, more so than any other land. How about the scary, and controversial, witch from Snow White. Wonder what parents thought when they saw that?

On page 11, you will find the restaurants and shops. I have a soft spot for all the Fantasyland food restaurants since I did my WDW College Program work experience here back in 1990. The staple of the restaurants is still found today, and that is Pinocchio Village Haus. All of the other restaurants have gone through various name changes. The same holds true for the shops as well. Except, none of these original ones exist today. And, after the D23 Expo, we know that many, many, many more changes are in store for this most wonderful land.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 8 & 9

Here we find Frontierland and Liberty Square on pages 8 & 9 of the Walt Disney World guide from 1979, respectively. A couple of items to note on Frontierland are the Diamond Horseshoe Revue and the Mile Long Bar. Check out the picture of the ladies from the Revue.

Likewise, in Liberty Square, you can find the Mike Fink Keelboats, as well as several wayback shops including the Tricornered Hat Shoppe. Also, check out the Fife and Drum picture. Long before they entertained and inspired at the American Adventure in EPCOT Center, they tugged at your heartstrings and made you well up with patriotism in Liberty Square daily.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 6 & 7

We move on to pages 6 and 7 of the Walt Disney World guide from 1979. Page 6 finishes up the description of Main Street, U.S.A. If there is one drawback with this early guide, it is putting Main Street on back to back pages, if you can really call that a drawback. The first section has an Information & Services you can find in this land. Since this is the entryway to the hub of the Magic Kingdom, it is appropriate that you'd find all the services in this turn of the century bustling town. The next two sections list all the shops and restaurants to be found on Main Street along with a brief description of each.

We move on to Adventureland, the first "land" of the Magic Kingdom, on page 7. The attractions are listed first. The one that particularly stands out here is the Caribbean Arcade. I don't recall anything about that. I have seen it mentioned on the Walt Dated World web site, but, not much more information that what is provided in the guide. The next two sections are the restaurants & snack centers followed by the shops that can be found in Adventureland. It is really interesting to look at the names and descriptions of these places and see how the land has changed. I like the description of the Adventureland Veranda...Polynesian entrees. Ok, that tells me everything I want to know about the food. What is a Polynesian entree? Like I said, these descriptions are very brief and occassionally, not all that helpful.

Well, enjoy looking over these two pages. There is a lot of information from 1970s Walt Disney World on them.

Disney Movie Rewards Double Points Day

If you are a member of Disney Movie Rewards, today, November 5, is the day for you. DMR will be holding its firt Doubt Points Day in what they are calling A Season Wrapped In Wishes. For every DVD or Blu-Ray code you enter, you get DOUBLE POINTS! If you are not a member, well, this is the perfect time to join! Get all your codes together and start entering them. There are some great gifts in there, and, if you are like me, you can build up your points to get some really nice items. Go check it out at disneymovierewards.com!

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 4 & 5

Continuing on with our look at the 1979 Guide to Walt Disney World, we have one last "help" page from Disney. This one is aimed specifically to those guests in wheelchairs. The first part of page 4 informs guests in wheelchairs what transportation is available for them. What I find interesting is they can ride the monorail, but, they cannot board or unboard the monorail at the Contemporary Resort. I haven't looked at the law, but, this must have been before all the court cases and laws that require businesses to be wheelchair accessible.

The next section is broken down by each land with a list of all the attractions in each land. Then, each attraction is designated whether or not it is wheelchair accessible. The final section, highlighted in a blue box, is general helpful information for guests in wheelchairs.

Finally, on page 5, we get to our first land. And, what better land to start with than the first one you encounter upon entering the park--Main Street, U.S.A. There is a nice picture of Main Street, U.S.A. leading right up to Cinderella Castle. You can see a couple of horse-drawn trolleys, known as Horse Cars, transporting guests up and down the street to take in all the excitement. If you look closely, I think that is the Tobaccanist sign you can see on the left.

Each attraction and mode of transportation found on Main Street is listed with a short description of each. Now, I mentioned on my original post for this 1979 guide that one of my favorite things was the little sketches you could find to the left of each description. Well, here is where they begin. I just love this little touch.

As for the shops and restaurants to be found on Main Street? Well, I'm only doing two pages a day, and, unfortunately, they are on the next page, which will be tomorrow. But, this is the only land where this will happen.

Walt Disney Treasures Wave 9 - Zorro Seasons 1 & 2

Today, Wave 9 of Walt Disney Treasures hits stores with the release of Zorro Seasons 1 & 2. I took my lunch break running over to Best Buy and purchasing both sets. I can't wait to start watching these tonight with my kids. The last time I saw these were back in the 80s or 90s when they ran syndicated on The Disney Channel. You can find some reviews on Imaginerding and Ultimate Disney.
The Walt Disney Treasures series is by far my favorite DVD series. This series, spear-headed by the highly respected movie critic and Disney aficionado Leonard Maltin, delves deep into the Disney vaults to restore, organize, and present classic Disney programs to Disney fans. The packaging is classic on these as they come in limited edition tins. The norm is a standard silver tin, with the exception of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit which came in a gold tin. But, now, guess what color Zorro comes? Yep, black! And, it pops out when you look at it.


The WDT releases come in "waves" and usually include 3 to 4 different program anthologies. Just like with the color of the tins, this wave breaks the norm by only including the two Zorro seasons. Now, the first wave came out in December 2001 and included Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Silly Symphonies, Disneyland USA, and Davy Crockett. Unfortunately, I was on Disney hiatus at this time and wasn't aware of this series until Wave 4 which came out in December of 2004. Since then, I have been faithfully buying each new wave on the day it hits the stores.

As for the missed waves? Well, I have been asking relatives to buy them for me for Christmas each year. This year, I know I am getting The Complete Goofy from my parents since I recently purchased it on eBay "for them" to give me. You can find a nice list of all the waves and reviews at Ultimate Disney.

Now, don't make the mistake I made in the past by not buying these as soon as they come out. They are limited, and this wave is extremely limited. There are only 30,000 copies available. So, if you want it and don't want to pay double or triple for the DVD, you better head over to Amazon, Best Buy, or Target as soon as you can to pick these up and add to your Disney collection.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages 2 & 3

Here are pages 2 and 3 of the 1979 Guide to Walt Disney World. This is the first picture in the guide and is so cute. It has a cute little boy apparently showing a Security Cast Member something. And, what makes it more special is the Cast Member is down on the child's level. Such a warm and welcome site for parents when they open the guide.

Now, these two pages are the Helpful Information for guests from ticket information, reservations, first aid, lost and found, cameras, and other needs to help guests enjoy their visit. If you forgot to pack your camera, no problem, you can rent one. Didn't want to pack your kid's stroller? No problem. Rentals are available. Oh no, you forgot the formula for your baby! Not a problem there either. Wait, your baby wants WARM milk. Hey, covered again. You can also find all the important Disney phone numbers. Can there be any more helpful information? Well, apparently there is more on page 4, which is tomorrow. And, we also will get to our first land.

The Princess and the Frog Article (USA Weekend - Nov. 1, 2009)

Here's a nice little Sunday surprise I'd share with everyone. This Sunday's USA Weekend edition in the (Louisville) Courier-Journal has a nice article about Anika Noni Rose who voices Tiana in Disney's The Princess and the Frog. I always love when I open up the paper and find something Disney related. Enjoy the read.