Rediscovering (Walt) Disney

“Land ho!” The Nautilus makes its way through the streets of Tampa on the way to Magic Kingdom Park.   All photos copyright The Walt Disney Company. All photos via the ' A Timeline of Fantasyland ' site.

While professional racecar drivers have been racing at Indianapolis for 100 years, guests have been enjoying races of their own at the  Tomorrowland Speedway  since  Magic Kingdom Park  opened in 1971. But guests aren’t the only ones who like to go out for a spin at Magic Kingdom Park. Take a look at this photograph from the 1971 Christmas Parade when everyone’s favorite chipmunks had their own matching Herbie the Love Bug cars to greet guests on the parade route. Here, Chip ‘n Dale, (look closely in the back left-hand corner, you’ll see Dale driving into the photograph) are making their way through Liberty Square. Aren’t their mini Love Bug cars awesome? I’m pretty sure if we had audio to go along with this picture we’d be hearing “Chipmunks, start your engines!” all the way from the grandstands over in Tomorrowland.   Vintage Walt Disney World  Disney Parks Blog

On October 2nd Lisa, Maddy, Scott, Martha and I will be winging our way south to a certain 43 square miles of swampland in Florida. Walt Disney World has become our favorite home-away-from home and official family vacation spot since the arrival of Princess Maddy. Having vacationed there individually, and as a couple, Lisa and I were already enamored with WDW. But when we took our first trip there with Maddy we started seeing the parks in a whole new light. It didn't take long for us to make the investment in the Disney Vacation Club and to begin making annual pilgrimages to the Magic Kingdom (and DHS, DAK and Epcot) as a way to celebrate Maddy's birthday, pre-celebrate our anniversary, and just get away from it all. So with a little less than two weeks to go, I'm going to make a few posts to help get us in the mood. We'll be taking a look back at previous trips and previewing our upcoming adventure. Here is a look back at my first trip to WDW in 1978 (my parents to...

Fantasyland WDW - a History - part 1 of 3 from Martins Videos on Vimeo . It`s a Small World original version 1971-2003 multi camera and source audio, plus a look at the rehab Skyway to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland day and night - multi camera with lots of points of interest from days gone by (16:03) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - the attractions history and demise, multi camera ride thru and remastered soundtrack.

Another good day on eBay and we have some more amateur shots of the 20k ride, I've also included three Disney press photos of the ride under construction, so enjoy! The first two photos were shot in 1974. This photo was taken in 1985 from the Skyway ride. Here's an overhead shot of the ride, you can see the layout of the track for the subs to follow and the building that housed the dark portion of the ride. Its interesting to note that this building shares a very similar footprint to the one that was contructed for the Ariel/Little Mermaid ride in the Fantasyland expansion. Check it out HERE . Here an Imagineer is applying gold leaf to one of the underwater sculpture pieces. Interior work on one of the Nautilus submarines.

I only rode this ride a handful of times, on one visit to WDW, in the late '70's. But the skill of Disney's Imagineers, the magic of the Disney film and the Victorian steampunk sci-fi of Jules Verne has left a lasting impression. I am (almost) heart broken that Maddy will never get to experience the mysteries of the deep or the thrill of a giant squid attack for herself, good thing we have the movie for her to watch! Anyway, I made a couple of purchases on eBay this week and picked up some great vintage photos of Walt Disney World. Among them are a Disney publicity shot of the 20k lagoon and one of the Nautilus subs... I love the crew members in costume walking her deck, as if preparing to set sail from Vulcania! These next pix are by the gentleman I purchased the photos from - Bill Cotter. check out his website for more great vintage photos on sale: World's Fair Photos And here are some aerial views, shot during helicopter tours of the Magic Kingdom (I've highlight...

Home movies (not so well shot) from WDW in 1979... Music: "The Bare Necessities" by Los Lobos

In Rediscovering [Walt] Disney: Part 1 I included two images from Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. One of the Nautilus submarine from the 20k ride and another of the "Banjo Kings" on Main Street USA. What I didn't mention is that these two pix are actually postcards that we picked up on our trip in '78. I did post them on my facebook page along with the others from '78 and 1991. So now I am going to post them here for your enjoyment, and under each card is the description from the back of the card. Click on the postcard to see a larger version. "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" - Mysterious sunken worlds and strange deep sea creatures lie ahead for guests joining Captain Nemo aboard the submarine Nautilus, for a voyage 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. "Cinderella Castle" - Beautiful Cinderella Castle, with spires reaching to the sky, marks the gateway to the happiest land of them all... FANTASYLAND "The Country Bear Jamboree...

The first time I visited Walt Disney World was in 1978. My parents, my mother's parents, myself and a friend made the long drive from Albany, NY to Orlando, Florida in my fathers van. I'm sure the trauma of having to drive that far to Disney has been blocked out as a survival mechanism by my brain! But drive we did. And as with a lot of things that happened prior to say yesterday, I don't remember much about it. I do have some memories that stick out still, Space Mountain, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Skyway ride. Two out of these three experiences are now gone from WDW. Skyway closed in '91 and 20K closed in '94. I was terrified of Space Mountain, but my friend and I had met a couple of girls and well, I wasn't about to wimp out at that point. But please note I have never ridden another roller coaster since then, and probably never will. The Skyway was a very low-key, non-scary ride that allowed us to fly over WDW from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland....