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.

Guide to WDW 1979 Pages (i) & 1

The first page, or page (i) rather, is the Table of Contents. The guide is broken up into three sections as can be seen in the TOC--Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resorts, Lake Buena Vista. At the bottom of this first page is a little interesting Disney PSA reminding you that if you brought your pet to WDW, then, make sure you protect it by taking it to the Walt Disney World Kennel Club. This reminds me of when I went through Seminars on the College Program. We were told that guests are so excited to get to the park that they forget things, such as locking there keys in the car with the ignition running, leaving their kids behind, and leaving their pets behind. So, this little PSA might just serve as a reminder to guests who were just a little rambunctious getting to the park and neglected their poor little critters.

The next page, which is actually page 1, has a detailed explanation of the WDW Transportation Schedule. At the top of the page is a cool sketch map of the entire WDW resort showing the transporataion available for guests. Below the map is a detailed description of each mode of WDW transportation which are motor coaches, monorail, ferryboats, and motor launches. The descriptions include everything from route, to times, to durations, to prices. It also includes the colors of the routes. Go ahead and click on the image to read the routes. It is pretty interesting to see all the different hotels and resorts listed.

As you can see, even the first couple of pages have a lot of information for guests to absorb and immediately throws them into the World of Disney.

All Aboard A Christmas Carol Train

All Aboard! Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour made its stop in Louisville, Kentucky today, is a new marketing vehicle (no pun intended) Disney is utilizing to promote this new incarnation of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey. The stop will last from September 11 through the 13th and is FREE. This makes two days in a row that our family has participated in a Disney event away from any Disney park. However, today's event was much more entertaining than yesterday's. Obviously, the train and the theater were the main attractions, but, a few booths were set up outside offering drawings and games for prizes. One of those booths was Radio Disney, which gave away mini movie posters and t-shirts. Now, without going into a ton of detail on this tour, I'll give a quick overview and then let the pictures tell the story.



































































As you approach the train, your party is given a boarding pass, which made for a great souvenir. The train was beautifully painted and was basically a moving billboard advertising Dickens' story. The first car introduces guests to the film through displaying character art and costume reference, as well as some historical Dickens memorabilia. The next car features concept art displayed on high definition screens. The screens also change pictures every few seconds. Next, some maquettes and models were displayed. The next car featured motion picture cameras as well as behind the scenes look at the process in the movie. The next car no pictures were allowed. Here, several screens displayed more behind the scenes clips followed by an interactive couple of cars where guests could get their picture morphed into one of the characters from the film including Scrooge and Tiny Tim. The last car featured final art and some live carolers as you exited. Overall, the train tour was very reminiscent of the Narnia attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the various props and behind the scenes videos.







































After exiting the train, we headed over for about a 15 minutes sneak peek the portable theater. All I can say is Disney's digital 3-D looks amazing. Ok, one more thing to say. I am very excited about this film which hits theaters on November 6th. This looks like no previous interpretation of A Christmas Carol I have ever seen before. The motion capture, which most associate with The Polar Express, has improved in these past five years.













After the movie, it was time to head over to the booths. We got some tattoos of Scrooge, snowflakes, and heart-shaped candy canes. Yes, we signed up for a the Disney Movie Surfers raffle, and then headed over to the Radio Disney booth. For the next hour, the kids played games and won prizes. Of course, I had to hit all the booths and get the free advertising ephemera. So, has anyone been to this tour in your city? If the tour is stopping at your city in the next few weeks, definitely try to hitch a ride. I hope you are as excited as I am about this upcoming release. If not, well, "Bah Humbug"!

WDW Transportation Cards

One of my recent favorite Disneyphemera items is the Official Walt Disney World Transportation Collector Card series. There are 18 cards total in this series covering the three WDW modes of transportation. The breakdown includes 12 monorail and three each of the boats and buses. These cards are fantastic looking by any standard. Bright, colorful, detailed, and educational. Each card has a beautiful illustration of a different WDW vehicle. And, it doesn't stop there. Each illustration also has a hidden Mickey! Go ahead, click on the images and see if you can find them.

Accompanying the vehicle is a different Disney character ranging from animation shorts to features to Pixar and even to our favorite Epcot character. The back of the each card has a trivia question relating to the Disney character as well as three facts about the particular mode of transportation. This is just a fantastic series.


Now, for the really good news. These cards are absolutely free. This is a great way to get your kids involved in the Disney magic early in the day before you venture to a park. All you have to do is politely ask one of the transportation cast members if they have any of the transportation cards. This also offers a great opportunity to strike up a conversation with the bus driver, boat captain, or monorail driver to find out more about the vehicles, WDW, and even about them and their job. This has become one of those magical moments for our kids. They love asking for the cards and get excited about seeing if they get a new one to complete their collection. In fact, it is very common for the cast member to give out one of each type they have to the kids. But, you better do this early in the morning as these cards usually go fast. Happy collecting!

WDW Bus Transportation Routes 1989

Yesterday I wrote about the Fort Wilderness welcome packet and mentioned ten brochures were included in this packet. So, lets start looking at those items.

The first item is a card from 1989 displaying the Walt Disney World Bus Transportation Routes. The card, once folded, measures 3.5" x 6" and is on heavy stock paper. The front has a nice black and white sketch of a bus leaving the Magic Kingdom with Cinderella Castle in the background.


The inside and back display the individual routes. Each route informs guests of the properties a particular bus will stop. Then, beside these routes a colorful flag is displayed to distinguish that bus route. Each bus will have this particular flag emblazoned on its side so guests know which bus they need to hop aboard and reach their destination.

Fort Wilderness Welcome Packet 1989

Every vacation I have taken to Walt Disney World with my parents, whether the summer of 1973 to the fall of 2008, we have always camped at Fort Wilderness. I have many fond memories of this much under-appreciated and overlooked resort, but, I'll save those stories for future posts. What I want to show here is a Fort Wilderness piece from my Disneyphemera collection. This is a welcome packet from 1989. However, it should be noted that the folder itself is dated 1988. The folder is 6" x 10" which is actually a smaller version than one I also have from a vacations a couple years earlier. This packet came with 10 brochures showcasing the various activities in and around Fort Wilderness. The dates on the brochures are from 1988 and 1989, which means this packet was obviously given to guests in 1989. I'll be posting each one of these individual items over the next couple of weeks.


Now, what I love the most about this packet is the detail in the artwork on the cover. This was back when each resort had its own customized welcome packet as opposed to the generic blue one we've become accustomed the last few years. The artwork appears to be a simple pencil sketch, but very detailed. This single cover tells new guests everything available at this one resort. The background is of the Settlement Trading Post including Pioneer Hall. In the foreground, you see a cowboy mounted on a horse. This image is simple and immediately informs guests that horseback riding can be on the agenda at this resort. Various water activities are displayed including fishing, swimming/tubing, and canoing. Another activity shown is the Petting Farm. And lastly, the night time activities including performers from the Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue and roasting marshmellows and singing around a campfire. Before you even had a chance to open up this packet, your heart was already racing and your mind jumping back and forth on which activity to do first. And, this is just the place you are staying!


On the back of the folder is a map of the entire resort including the bus routes. Back in 1988 & 1989, there were only two bus routes--the Silver Flag Route and the Brown Flag Route. Now, I will admit, the routes on this map are a little hard to follow, as you can see. The map itself doesn't have the actual route, but instead, a little side box has the routes. But, it is just the routes...no map. So, you have to use your imagination and overlay the routes onto the actual map.

Disney has definitely lost some of the magic when it comes to the theming of the welcome packets. Here's hoping, or more aptly, wishing, that we'll see these customized packets return in some form in the coming years.