The Wild Slide

Last week on the Disney Parks Blog, Nate Rasmussen had a great glimpse back looking at a pair of construction and attraction photos from Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach Water Parks. It got me thinking of the original Vacation Kingdom spot to cool down during the high heat of summer, River Country.

Here’s a great overhead shot of Whoop-‘N-Holler Hollow, River Country main attraction, with guests and Goofy twisting and turning their way down to the swimmin’ hole below. Of course, River Country was more than a one trick pony, and you can see lots of great moments further on back in this photograph. There’s volleyball taking place in the water, the Cypress Point Trail that ran along the shores of Bay Lake and through the willows and cypresses, the tire swing, rope climb, and, of course, picnic areas.  My personal favorite is also here, the Cable Ride, aka the zip line. How long were you able to hold on as you raced across the all-natural pool before you took a plunge into the cold water below?

There were a lot of great things happening at River Country that can’t be seen here. Attractions such as the Boom Swing, White Water Rapids, Kiddie Cove, Slippery Slide Falls, and Upstream Plunge each had their own fans that couldn’t wait to visit their favorite corner of the swimmin’ hole. I don’t know about you, but my favorite place to swim back home, never quite cut it once I had my first taste of Fort Wilderness’ version!

Silent Saturday - Galaxy Palace Theater (September 2008)

Education Tools for Today's Teachers

I have been an educator in some form or fashion for my entire adult life, which is one of the reasons I’ve always talked about the ideals and principles that founded EPCOT Center in such passionate ways. But here’s a glimpse of something that I wish still existed at the Epcot of today.

Located in CommuniCore West, this is the EPCOT Teacher’s Center. To be more specific, this is actually the Teacher’s Center lounge. The EPCOT Teacher’s Center was a part of the EPCOT Outreach Library, which itself was where guest could ask questions and obtain more information on the various topics covered by EPCOT Center. The Teacher’s Center was exclusively open to educators and parents and provided them with educational materials, such as classroom guides and multimedia presentations they could view while at EPCOT Center, that they could in turn utilize in a classroom or home study setting.

The Outreach Library and Teacher’s Center only lasted until 1994, but it certainly represented a cornerstone of what EPCOT Center was all about.

Coincidentally, I would love to peruse and archive those classroom guides that used to be available! You know, in case anyone has any extras just laying around that you need to go a good home.

Have You Ever Looked Beyond Today

A couple of nights ago I had a dream. I had arrived at Epcot early, waiting for rope drop. It was one of those dead times of year, late January or something along those lines, and crowds were extremely light. When the park opened I walked right through the park, took a left, and walk straight up the hill and into Horizons. I took my time, meandered amongst the mirrored travel posters, and then boarded my Horizons 1 shuttle to depart for the future. There were no lines, so I was able to stay on my ride vehicle and ride through a couple of times. I woke up as I exited the building. At first my heart was full, but then that fullness became a heaviness in my chest as I realized this was just a dream that could never be a reality.

But do you want to know something? I’m okay with that.

No, this isn’t a speech about how Walt Disney always wanted his parks to continually evolve, and how in support of that belief I like to see continual change in the parks. Instead, let’s talk about human nature for a few moments. It is, in the very fiber of our beings to fight change all the while searching for something better. In other words, if Epcot were to have never removed or refurbished old attractions, it would likely have fallen off of vacationers’ radars by now for someplace far more grand. So, it adapts to survive. Am I okay with all the changes I’ve seen in the park over the last 30 some-odd years? Well, we’ll get to that.

What I cherish about Horizons being closed and only able to visit it through videos and dreams is the fact that it is complete. What I mean is that there will never be another change to Horizons, and we can only examine it from a historical perspective and gleam bits of wisdom from what we find there. Seeing where scientists and storytellers thought we would be by now, and comparing the ‘what might have been’ against the ‘what really happened.’ But it doesn’t stop there. You can also explore the manner in which Imagineers put the attraction together, from track systems and layout to storytelling tools such as IMAX screens, scenes filled Audio-Animatronics, and previous videos from the futures of yesterday. There is a lot to explore and understand about Horizons, and that is never going to change, only our perception and understanding of what it was can.

I enjoy reading and viewing documentaries on the World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. I was never able to visit, never able to set foot on the first Ferris Wheel, marvel at the White City, take in the overwhelming number of artifacts presented, or engage in the fun and debauchery of the Midway. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t lived it vicariously or stopped studying about it in the hopes that I will find or learn something new, and most of the time I do find something new to get excited about. Horizons, and EPCOT Center as a whole for that matter, can be see through very much the same lens.

Here’s where I get up on my high-horse a little bit though. Horizons didn’t have a post-show to speak of, but many of the attractions in Future World did. They weren’t the post-shows we have today, filled with new technologies, but ultimately just places to burn a little bit of time. They found ways to engage guests, young and old, and give them a glimpse of what was coming in the next few years. Even if the best guesses of Imagineers and scientist ended up being incorrect, they instilled in each of us with a sense of bigger changes that we could be a part of. EPCOT Center, and Horizons specifically, spoke to the history of the world and humankind, showing us where we had been and where we could be going. That feel, for me, is not present in the current incarnation of Epcot.

The two lone standouts against this plight are Spaceship Earth and Living With the Land. Of course, that means there is hope for tomorrow’s children. Eventually, I believe Epcot will return to its roots, and find a way to blend the very best tools available for storytelling and given each pavilion, whether focused on energy, transportation, space travel, imagination, or any other conceivable topic, a story worth getting excited about.

My children will never step foot inside the spacecraft looking building that housed Horizons. They will never smell the loranges of Mesa Verde. They will never choose their own flight path back to the FuturePort. They will, however, know about Horizons and hopefully dream of it the way I dream of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. As for me, I’ll never ride along those tracks again myself either, but as we are the collection of our own experiences, it will always be a part of me. However it has given me a dream, and my dream for my children is that Epcot will become a better version of itself, taking the best parts of its yesterdays and tomorrows, so that my children's experiences there will become a part of them and lead them to become better people in the world they inherit.

What was it that Horizons used to advocate to us, “If we can dream it, then we can do it…”

Spectacular View of the Coral Reef

When The Living Seas opened in 1986, it invited guests to go beneath the waves of the oceans in a variety of inventive and inspiring fashions. The most fondly remembered were the Hydrolators, but they weren’t the only new experience guests were presented with. In fact, even dining was an eventful and educational experience. Guests who dined at The Coral Reef Restaurant, a part of The Living Seas complex, were not making reservations for your typical seafood restaurant.

According to 1986 EPCOT Center park maps the restaurant was billed as:

What else but the freshest seafood could be served at The Living Seas? Specialties include seafood dishes, shellfish and freshwater fish. The restaurant is actually underwater, so diners can enjoy a spectacular view of the coral reef.

The restaurant being underwater is the key to the Coral Reef experience. While we have all certainly dined in our fair share of seafood restaurants with oversized fish tanks scattered about the interior design, Coral Reef put guests in the tank itself. To be fair, at the time of The Living Seas’ opening it was the single largest aquarium in the world, so putting diners in the middle of the action was a no brainer. Giving guests the ability to learn something new, however, is really what made the Coral Reef special.

When guests were bought to their table, whether they had a window onto the reef or even towards the center of the dining room, they were presented with their menu and wine list, but they were also given a small pamphlet. Guests could be forgiven for thinking this was a second copy of the Coral Reef’s wine list or perhaps even a dessert or specials menu. In fact, it was a spotting guide. Inside the two page spread, guests were given a visual encyclopedia of the various types of sea creatures that they were dining alongside. While there is no doubt that the tiger, nurse, and bull sharks, along with the green turtles, were amongst the most sought after dining companions, there is no doubt that someone undoubtedly fell in love with the stoplight parrotfish or the queen angelfish.

The guide was no doubt a key component of the meal for children, who would make a game of being able to spot the most number of different types of sea life or keep a weathered eye out for a particular tough to spot banded butterflyfish. I’m just as certain that a meal at Coral Reef, along with the complimentary spotting guide, led more than one child to go home and begin a journey of study that would lead them to becoming marine biologist.

EPCOT Center was renowned for finding innovative ways to educate, and that type of education didn’t stop on the rides or interactive post-shows. The Coral Reef Restaurant took the ability to inform guests about the creatures of the deep and served it up right alongside their mahi mahi.

Silent Saturday - The Promise of America (April 2010)

Historical Proudly Uproarical Fourth

America on Parade was brought to the streets of the Magic Kingdom for the Bicentennial celebration in 1976. While planned to revel in two-hundred years of independence, which would culminate on July 4, 1976, it actually gave its first performance a full thirteen month earlier in June of 1975. During its short fifteen month run, the parade would have several changes to its performance schedule and presentation.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were most commonly seen in their Revolutionary era attire atop a float of an oversized drum with an eagle spreading its wings behind them. However, in the early days of the parade the three could be seen marching along with the rest of the troops.

The parade also ran during the evening hours during the Bicentennial celebration, as seen in this photograph of the soldier contingent of the People of America. Although seeing this 8-foot tall walking dolls just before they went off to sleep in their resort may have been more nightmare fuel than an infusion of national pride.

No matter what, if anything, you remember from America on Parade and it is still the most patriotic parade Walt Disney World has ever put on. I wonder if we’ll see a bit of America on Parade when the Sestercentennial rolls around in 2026?

No matter where you, and your family, are today, I hope the spirit of the American dream fills your heart, and that you have a safe and wonderful Independence Day!