Under The Mouse Ears

by Sam 11.11.21 So you're walking around World Showcase with the whole family. You've got plans set on getting a margarita from Mexico, maybe seeing how long the line is for the Gran Fiesta ride. Perhaps you'll grab a yard at the Rose and Crown or watch that cool drum show in Japan. But hey wait a minute - what's this weird, gated off blue pavilion between England and Canada? It's hard to imagine now, but rounding the millennium mark was a very odd time in this country. With Y2K fast approaching, people literally didn't know what to do. The world pre-9/11 obviously had a certain kind of innocence to it that looking back, kind of clashes with the Disney we know today - especially post pandemic. Still, the mouse wasn't going to miss an opportunity to theme things out and make a little money off it. Enter the Epcot World Showcase Millennium Village. Check this out from our friends from The Kingdom Insider: https://thekingdominsider.com/35-epcot-35-countdown-da

by Sam 11.5.21 Although there aren't many left, 1971's opening of Walt Disney World offered guests to enjoy some attractions that were replicas of (or at least similar to) their counterpart in Disneyland. WDW's Magic Kingdom's original Fantasyland has some familiar faces - like Snow White, Peter Pan, Dumbo, etc.. but a few of those original rides are sadly no longer with us. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - a strange attraction based on the moderately successful animated feature, 1949's Wind In The Willows, was just that. I personally remember going on this ride in both 1984 and 1988 and being like "what is this? This is dumb. Who are these characters...?" Well it took a little longer than that, but Michael Eisner obviously agreed, and in 1998, closed the ride for good. Luckily, the internet offers no shortage of websites dedicated to Mr. Toad. And luckily you can still ride it in Disneyland all day long if you want. I've done this too in recent memory and

by Sam 11.3.21 Finally... a blog on plants, right! Ok, yeah I know. It's not the most interesting thing in the world but face it - everybody probably has some early memories of seeing the world famous Disney topiaries at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. In fact, even I remember looking out the window of a speeding monorail as a kid, thinking I was in some kind of technological future and seeing a giraffe cut out of a bush. It's the little things sometimes. If you've ever wondered about these structure's history... maybe about Walt's fascination with the 3000 year history of the topiary, check out this story and interview from our good friends at All Ears: https://allears.net/wdw-chronicles-the-history-of-disney-topiary/ Old school. While they are sometimes taken for granted today, Disney topiaries helped popularize the use of the art in the United States. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Disney topiaries, which are distinctly different than the traditional o

Theme Park History: Walt Disney and the beginning of his 'World' Derek Potter, Dec 2013 From Theme Park Insider: https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201312/3819/ When the Magic Kingdom opened its doors in 1971, it marked the beginning of an era for Disney, the theme park industry, and the state of Florida. The park would eventually eclipse its predecessor, both in size and popularity. The modest sized city of Orlando would quickly be transformed into an international city visited by more than 50 million people per year. Disney World's opening is a story over 10 years in the making. It involved a near five-year search for a site, secret land dealings, questionable business tactics, controversial political deals, a gargantuan engineering feat, and the death of Walt, the heart and soul it all. Disney World was not built as intended, meant to be not just another theme park, but also a city that would be a model for the future. While Walt's utopian would never come to pa

by Sam. 10.19.21 One of those things that's tough to pass up on a trip to Disney is dining at the top of the Contemporary Resort. Aptly originally named "Top Of The World", the restaurant was one of those can't misses when you were talking up 1970's WDW. While it still had those incredible views it still boasts today, the original vibes the Top of the World put out were alarmingly different. I often make the comment that walking through the lobby of the Contemporary still feels like walking through a JC Penny's catalog you found in your parent's magazine rack 30 years ago. If anything, this was essentially the the restaurant version of that lobby. In 1981, the "Broadway at the Top" dinner show debuted at the restaurant and ran until Sept 1993. Come for the fireworks but stay for the, um, entertainment? Check out ImagiNERDing's incredible blog for so much more: http://www.imaginerding.com/2015/08/21/top-of-the-world-contemporary/ Top of the Wo