Wow....

Ok, so I havent been writing on here too much recently... well actually over 2 months..... `tut tut` I hear my granma saying, but her I am, and with a book full of information that is waiting to be typed and subsiquently read. Hopefully someone out there will one day find what I have written; read it and find it useful and informative.

Anyone reading this, please feel free to leave comments, or send me an email. I would love to hear what you know want to know, so I can write about things that you want to read.

Hope to chat to yall soon. Best get to typing!

Timeline: 1981 - 1989

1981: Walt Disney World recieves the Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence.

1982: EPCOT opened on October 1st as the 2nd theme park at Walt Disney World Resort with Future World Pavilions that included The Land, Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy and World of Motion as well as nine world Showcase Pavilions; (USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Germany, Italy, China and Japan). A four mile stretch of the Walt Disney World Monarail system is completed from the ticket and transportation center to EPCOT.

1983: Horizons attraction opens in Future World, EPCOT, alongside Journey into Imaginations.
The Plaza Swan boats sailed for the last time this year.

1984: Michael Eisner becomes Chairman and CEO and Frank Wells becomes President and Chief of Operation officer of Walt Disney Productions.
The Morocco Pavilion opens in the world showcase between France and Japan.
The Country Bear Christmas special debuts at the Country Bear Jamboree at Magic Kingdom.

1985: Walt Disney Productions signs a licensing agreement with MGM/VA Entertainment, paving the way for the developement of a 3rd theme park, Disney's MGM Studios.

1986: Living Seas Pavilion opens in Future World, EPCOT.
The Golf resort adds 150 new guest rooms and its name is changed to The Disney Inn.
Construction began on Disney's MGM studios.
The Walt Disney Company announces plans for the construction of Pleasure Island.

1987: Ground-breaking ceremonies are held for Typhoon Lagoon.

1988: Mickey's Birthdayland opens at Magic Kingdom.
The Norway Pavilion opens in the World Showcase at EPCOT.
New additions to the resorts accommodations included the Grand Floridian Beach Resort, and the the Caribbean Beach Resort.
Illuminations premieres at EPCOT

1989: Disney's MGM Studio's opens on May 1st; Michael Eisner dedicates the new theme park to "Hollywood - not a place on a map but a state of mind that exists whenever people dream and wonder and imagine, a place where illusion and reality are fused by technological magic"
Typhoon Lagoon opens with one of the largest wave pools in the world. Pleasure Island also opens with 8 nightclubs.
Near EPCOT two new resorts opened. Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, and the Walt Disney World Swan Resort.
In September, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular debuts while in the December Star Tours joined the list of attractions.
Tony's Town Square Restaurant opened in Magic Kingdom on Main Street USA.

Timeline: 1971 - 1980

1971: Disney's Magic Kingdom first opened its doors on October 1st for approximately 10,000 visitors. The park opened with the following attractions: Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Country Bear Jamboree, Diamond Horseshoe Revue, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Frontier Shooting Gallery, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, It's a small world, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, Mickey Mouse Revue, Mike Fink Keel Boats, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, Skyway, Snow Whites Adventure, Swiss Family Tree House, Tiki Room, Tomorrowland Speedway and the Walt Disney Railroad.
The Liberty Square Riverboat and Rivers of America opened on October 2nd; the day after the grand opening.
In 1971 adult admission cost $3.50, while a seven-ride attraction ticket book cost $4.75 and a eleven ride book $5.75.
Disney's contemporary resort, Disney's Polynesian and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground all opened this year at Walt Disney World Resort.
Walt Disney World Resort was officially dedicated on October 23rd by Roy O. Disney; Walt's Brother.
NBC aired a Disney Tv special on October 29th; Grand Opening of Walt Disney World
Two Championship Golf Courses also opened, the Palm and Magnolia.
Jack Nicklaus became the first champion at the Inagrual Walt Disney World Open Invitational.
Several other attractions also opened by the end of 1971 including Flight to the Moon and Circle Vision 360.
Roy O. Disney died December 20th 1971 and Donn Tatum became Chairman of the Board at Walt Disney Productions.

1972: If you had wings opened in tomorrowland and featured state of the art OmniMover vehicles. The Walt Disney Story also made its debut in Town Square of Magic Kingdom.

1973: The Carousel of Progress is moved from Disneyland, CA where it first opened in 1967 to the Magic Kingdom. Tom Sawyer Island debuts in Frontierland while Pirates of the Caribbean opened in adventureland's caribbean plaza.
The Golf Resort opens its doors adjacent to the Magic Kingdom.
The Walt Disney World Open Invitational changes its name to the Walt Disney World Golf Classic and the the Swan Boat ride opens in the plaza at Magic Kingdom.

1974: Star Jets, later to be known as Astro Orbiter opened in tomorrowland, Magic Kingdom along with Treasure Island, now known as Discovery Cove which was opened at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Hoop-Dee-Doo musical revue makes a debut at the Pioneer Hall in Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.
The Lake Buena Vista Golf course opens at Lake Buena Vista Village.
The Disney president, Card Walker announced the plans for EPCOT.


1975: The Carousel of Progress opened in tomorrowland with a new theme song, "The best time of your life".
Astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gorden Cooper and Jim Irvin take the first ride during the grand opening of RCA's Space Mountain, while Flight to the Moon evolves into Mission to Mars in tomorrowland.
Treehouse Village, a complex of 60 vacation townhomes and The Lake Buena Vista Village, (later to be known as the Disney Village Marketplace, opened in the Walt Disney World Resort.
Attendance at the Walt Disney World was recorded at surpassing 50 million guests!

1976: River Country opens as Walt Disney World Resort's first water park at Fort Wilderness campground.

1977: The Main Street Electrical Light Parade made it debut in Magic Kingdom.

1978: Treasure Island is officially renamed Discovery Cove.

1979: With a initial budget of an enormous $600 million construction began at EPCOT.


1980: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opens in Frontierland. The Mickey Mouse Revue in Fantasyland is closed and shipped to Tokyo Disneyland.

Timeline: 1964 - 1970

Although I am still sorting through notes and pages of information, I thought now would be a good time to take a break and start the timeline. So this particular is for Walt Disney World itself and the years it took to get the world together and the years of progress we have witnessed.

Ok so to start.... the begining.

1964: Under the name 'Florida Project' Walt Disney secretly started buying acres of swampland in orange and osceola counties for $180 an acre with a total of 27,433 acres purchased.

1965: November 15th, Walt made a public announcement of his plans details in regards to the 'Florida Project' and the future Walt Disney World.

1966: A 24 minute video was recorded by Walt Disney on October 27. The video was a preview of the 'Florida Project' including plans for the 'Experimental prototype community of tomorrow' also known as - EPCOT.
December 15th; Walt Disney died of Lung Cancer aged 65. Walt's brother Roy would continue with the Florida Project.

A small clip that shows the video, although you will notice it is greatly different from what has been come of the EPCOT that is available to us today, although I must say that I find this video extremely informative, to the ideals and ideas that Walt Disney had.



1967: Legislation creating the Ready Creek Improvement District passed through both the Florida House of Representatives and the Senate, and was signed into law on May 12th. This legislation allowed Walt Disney Productions to continue with construction of Walt Disney World.
With this law, site preparation began for Disney's Magic Kingdom.

1969: Construction began on the Magic Kingdom, including Main Street USA and the 189 foot high Cinderella Castle.

1970: The Walt Disney World Conservation area which encompasses 7,500 acres was establised by Walt Disney Productions.
A Walt Disney World preview center opened in Lake Buena Vista in June of this year.

Disney ANIMATED Films

I thought some may be interested in some of the lists I have of Disney Films. With over 550 films made by Walt Disney World, there are several categories to break the lists down into, to make them more easier to find what you are looking for.

This particular list is of the Animated films, such as 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan.

I have yet to get the latest films listed, but this covers 1937-2004, but be sure to check back for additions of the recent movies.

Source: www.waltdisneyresource.net

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
2. Pinocchio (1940)
3. Fantasia (1940)
4. Dumbo (1941)
5. Bambi (1942)
6. Saludos Amigos (1943)
7. The Three Caballeros (1945)
8. Make Mine Music (1946)
9. Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
10. Melody Time (1948)
11. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
12. Cinderella (1950)
13. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
14. Peter Pan (1953)
15. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
16. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
17. 101 Dalmatians (1961)
18. The Sword in the Stone (1963)
19. The Jungle Book (1967)
20. The Aristocats (1970)
21. Robin Hood (1973)
22. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
23. The Rescuers (1977)
24. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
25. The Black Cauldron (1985)
26. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
27. Oliver & Company (1988)
28. The Little Mermaid (1989)
29. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
30. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
31. Aladdin (1992)
32. The Lion King (1994)
33. Pocahontas (1995)
34. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
35. Hercules (1997)
36. Mulan (1998)
37. Tarzan (1999)
38. Fantasia 2000 (2000)
39. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
40. Atlantis: The Lost Empire(2001)
41. Lilo and Stitch (2002)
42. Treasure Planet (2002)
43. Brother Bear (2003)
44. Home on the Range (2004)

The man behind the mouse.

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, director, screen writer, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist.

Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O.Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.

Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme parkdesign. He received fifty-nine Academy Award nominations and won twenty-six Oscars, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards.

He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, Japan, France and China.

Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, a few years prior to the opening of his Walt Disney World Resort dream project in Florida.

Excerpt from Wikipedia.

If you would like to read more and more in depth, you can find the article here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney

A start to a new blog!

So this is the beginning. The beginning of a new blog. A impending trip to Walt Disney World started a number of conversation and emails between a variety of people, with a variety of questions. While I have already answered all of them individually on their personal interests and topics, the thought occur ed to me that perhaps there were others, people I don't know, who are looking for those same answers and same experiences to aid them in their future Disney World trip planning.

Now I do not, nor will I ever claim to be an expert on any aspect of Disney, unless of course I am hired to work for Disney and my job description is just that 'Expert'. I am simply a fan, and some what well experienced person on the matter. My first trip to Walt Disney World was in 1992, and I have made more than a dozen trips since over the years since, experiencing the changes and learning the new.

This blog will really only apply to the Walt Disney World, in Orlando Florida, as this is where we traveled most. I made one trip to Disneyland, CA but this was when I was around 4 and subsequently know little of.

The blog however wont just apply to the complex that is Walt Disney World, but to other aspects of Disney which play a vital role such as the Productions of Walt Disney Company and even venture into the area of 'planning' with helpful tips and experiences of the vacation planning.

So while compiling 15 years of personal knowledge and other resources I thought I would start with a few, perhaps familiar images and a question.

The question.... Is there any thing you want to know?

I have have several areas I want to cover, but whats the point of reading, just for the sake of reading, if you still don't know what you wanted to know. SO... if there is something you are interested in, time lines, characters, merchandise, history. Jot it down and let me know and I will do my very best to get you a simple and easy to understand answer, as well as something interesting to read.



Cinderella Castle, Magic Kingdom




Epcot


Hollywood Studios