A couple weeks ago we talked about some of the little things we miss at Walt Disney World. And to be honest there were tons more on my list I didn’t even get to! So in the spirit of sequels and “let’s keep this fun going,” here are five more little things at Walt Disney World thatI will never forget. Before we get started, I wanted to let everyone know that Lou Mongello and I did a podcast on this very topic last week (you can check it out here, it will be airing soon!), and Lou also had plenty he didn’t even get to….so we will also be doing a Part Two (our first!) show to talk about even more, stay tuned! In the spirit of sharing the magic, I also wanted to invite you to send in some of YOUR favorite little lost moments; lots of you sent in great memories in our last post that I wanted to let you share even more of your faves….and I’m sure some of these will make it on the WDW Radio podcast! So (once again), without any further ado…here are Five More Gone-But-Not-Forgotten Memories I Miss at Walt Disney World.
Kidcot Crafts
I love Kidcot. Everything about it. Most of my favorite memories are of taking my daughter around and visiting all the countries in World Showcase, filling in her passport, collecting stamps on her mask, and getting autographs. (Nowadays you can draw, color and collect activity cards at every country throughout World Showcase, fun!). But years ago, there as a time when Kidcot was slightly different. It was a wonderful new concept: to give children a chance to explore World Showcase, which is mostly renowned for its great shops and restaurants. Though the shops and restaurants are amazing (as is the wealth of cultural details found in every pavilion), for little ones the trip around the world could be a bit, well, boring. So along came Kidcot! And what a great idea it was (and still is). Back in the early days, you didn’t just collect passport stamps and the like; each country offered up their own craft project that you could work on. I confess my memory is a bit blurry as to what each craft was, though I clearly remember making a troll out of corks and pipe cleaners in the Norway pavilion (well, my daughter made it, I just, um, helped!). The crafts were fun, unique, and best of all gave us a great chance to sit with the Cast Members and get to the know them better. Kidcot is still a wonderful activity, and of course it’s changed over the years, but I will always remember the fun my daughter and I had making our own special souvenirs for each and every country in World Showcase.
The Beast’s Rose
This was always a favorite stop of mine as I wandered around World Showcase; the library in the France pavilion. Though nowadays that space is occupied by a few wonderfully themed shops, at one time you could find a library tucked away in the back (this was in the building right behind the hedge garden…and by the way, don’t forget to look for the hedge Hidden Mickey hiding in the garden somewhere!). The library wasn’t a shop in of itself, though it was attached to one. To most Guests it probably appeared to be an ornately decorated room that served little purpose beyond adding some French ambiance to the shops (which it certainly did). But if you wandered around and looked carefully, you’d discover tons of little secret details. There are too many to list here, but a couple of my favorites were the old French fairy tale books (with titles in French, including Cendrillon and Le Belle et La Beté), and the Beast’s rose itself, sitting majestically in its case next to the books. I always loved pointing them out to my family and friends, and while they were just tiny, out of the way details, I always thought of them as special hidden treasures placed there just for me.
The British Invasion
As long as we’re in World Showcase, let’s wander over to the United Kingdom pavilion. World Showcase is well known for its live entertainment, from the acrobats in China to the Japanese Taiko drummers. But my favorite will always be the British Invasion, a Beatles tribute band that for years entertained Guests in the courtyard of the UK pavilion. As a huge Beatles fan, I could never get enough of them, and often saw them several times a day. In fact, as I look back through my old trip journals, I would write down entire set lists (and boy did they do a lot of songs!). The band that plays there today is great of course, but the difference is they play a wide range of songs representing many English artists past and present. But for that true Beatles experience, nothing beat the British Invasion. Perhaps my favorite memory was when they were leaving the stage and I walked over to ask if I could get their picture. Without skipping a beat, “John” said (in his best Liverpudlion accent), “ ’old on lads, photo op!” Fab!
The Concourse Steakhouse/Contemporary 4th Floor
Ah, the Concourse Steakhouse! Don’t get me wrong, I love the Contempo Café (oh, those delicious cupcakes!), but the Concourse was always a “must do” on our trips back in the late 90s. There was just something about the retro-futuristic décor (and those circular booths!) and the monorail gliding overhead that made you say “yes, THIS is the future!” And the food was amazing….my favorite memory was of our server Dan (or, as we came to call him, “Super Waiter”) who, in answer to my request “say, can I have creamed spinach instead of the veggie mix” said “of course, I’m Super Waiter!” (oh wait, I guess that’s where we got that nickname from…). And going hand in hand with our Concourse Steakhouse memories are our memories of the fourth floor in general. Before it was home to the Fantasia gift shop, the area was wide open, with a few places to sit and giant snow globe sculpture. We used to sit there and marvel at the grand expanse of the A-frame structure, the massive glass panels, the beautiful Mary Blair mural…everything. It was a great place to relax, and to soak in all of the futuristic touches of the Contemporary Resort. For those few moments, we did indeed feel like we were living in the city of the future.
Life Before the Internet
This last one may seem a bit odd (particularly since you’re reading this courtesy of the Internet), but I can remember (and I’m showing my age a bit here) the days of Disney before the Internet. Before the days of blogs, podcasts, My Disney Experience…even the explosion of guide books that would soon come; discovering the secrets of Walt Disney World was extra special. This isn’t an argument for those “simpler times before all those gizmos and whatchamacallits took over the world…how do you work this interweb anyways???”, but rather a time when all the “secrets” weren’t as well-known as they are today. This was the time when you found the fishing bobber Hidden Mickey on Splash Mountain and felt like you just discovered a treasure that no one knew about…and best of all, YOU were now a bona fide Disney expert! You felt so empowered when you would point this out to your family and friends…enjoying the look of bewilderment on their faces. (“How did you know THAT?? Are you a wizard…???”) It was fun to seek out and discover all of these things, whether they were Hidden Mickeys, references to Disney Imagineers, clever puns and inside jokes…and the more you found the more empowered you felt…you were indeed a true Disney genius! It’s still fun to look for these things today, though with the explosion of the Internet and guidebooks and the like, things aren’t as “secret” as they once were. Not that that’s better or worse, it was just…different. So yes, maybe this is a bit of nostalgia for the days of old. (But it’s still fun to point out that Splash Mountain Hidden Mickey to my parents who don’t go on the internets too much.)
So that’s my latest list of Gone-But-Not-Forgotten Disney Moments. Please let us know some of years, and don’t forget, Lou and I will be doing a Part Two of that episode of WDW Radio, and I would love to mention some of yours!
