Retro Disney World Podcast

In this episode, we are taking you back to EPCOT Center and more specifically, the Norway pavilion and Maelstrom. How has been hard at work researching and also editing this episode together for your listening enjoyment. We hit on the 1988 television special, starring Willard Scott. If you have never seen this, take a minute after you listen to the episode to enjoy this: Grand Opening of Maelstrom The high seas Viking adventure was billed as a stormy boat ride with tons of excitement, danger, and thrills. Many articles were written to describe how amazing this ride was going to be and the hype machine was up and running at full speed. This really was the first thrill ride at EPCOT Center, so they played that angle as much as possible. How guides us through so many neat aspects about how this ride came to be, including the items the sponsors wanted to see on the ride. You have to remember how these early EPCOT Center rides came to be and how they were funded. This was a very different era at Walt Disney World

As we get started on our main topic, get out your old pamphlets, flyers, books, magazines, and leaflets. This month we are talking all about planning your Walt Disney World Vacation from the early years all the way up to the mid-90s. The ways this has changed over the years is fascinating when you dig into all the details and ways to book. Todd takes the lead for Episode 74, digging into old planning guides and comparing them to some of his own trips, especially his 1980 visit. Throughout this episode, you are going to notice a world of vacation packages that you might have never heard of before. Everything from small trips to massive all-inclusive style trips with camcorders and meals included. The inflation calculator is brought out often so we can get a somewhat accurate comparison to what we have nowadays. We were super curious if one of our listeners would be sitting down with their slide rule and spreadsheets to compare what the best deal was and when it took place back then... Todd also digs into so

Let us take you back to the New Years Eve of old as we run through all the events of the past and their included musical numbers! Nearly 50 clips of the hottest-bands at the time, and some wash-ups as well!

Welcome to Episode 71.5 of the RetroWDW Podcast: 50th Anniversary Memories - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will take you back to WDW each month. For this episode, we are focusing on you the listener, and all the feedback you sent us from Episode 71. The outpouring of memories was overwhelming and we felt we needed to showcase this on an episode. While we do not have time to get through everyone, this episode features many of you and also what you had to say. If you enjoy memories, you won't want to skip this one. We get into lots of great stories that were shared with us and we hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Main Topic / Listener Mail For this main topic, the plan is to give you a short synopsis of each letter we discus

Listener Mail The mailbag is full and ready to sift through. Be sure to reach out with questions, stories, memories, and more. You never know if your letter will be read on a future episode: podcast@retrowdw.com Brian is up next with a celebrity sighting at WDW. He spotted Mick Foley at Cinderella’s Royal Table, tried to snap a photo and made a minor mistake… This is a great story and we would love to see that photo! Katie wrote us about Mariah Carey and what she required to stay in the castle. This leads to a major tangent about couches, which of course is why you tune in to the RetroWDW Podcast. We heard from Michael Landis about the infamous Monorail Pilots License – if you have never seen one of these, check it out. Obviously, these aren’t around anymore, but this was a neat perk of riding upfront in the monorail. Miranda has a question – When did the Plaza Restaurant inside the Magic Kingdom open up at the current location? Joe, among many others, reached out about our challenge in regards to celebr

Corrections & Comments We start off this episode with some corrections and comments from the last couple of months. Jim is our first correction, which was very similar to some others we received. We were all corrected on our Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman relationship history, which we wrongly stated they met during Far and Away filming. It was actually on the set of Days of Thunder - thanks for helping us out with that one. How gives us some insight into the 2003 Adventurer's Club from an anonymous source. This person saw the backside of the genie head bureau, cast wardrobe, and offers up some backstage secrets regarding The Adventurer's Club. If you didn't catch last month, be sure to listen to our podcast focusing mostly on this club. Listener Mail The mailbag is full and ready to sift through. Be sure to reach out with questions, stories, memories, and more. You never know if your letter will be read on a future episode: podcast@retrowdw.com Jeremy scanned some photos from 1986 and shared them wi

Welcome to Episode 69 of the RetroWDW Podcast: Pleasure Island Part II – We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will take you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy! Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top-tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Joie is up first this month – sharing a photo collection of every page from ‘The Magic of Disneyland & Walt Disney World’ from 1979. Click Here to see all this hard work – thank you!! Joie also shared packaging from Todd’s infamous “Squeaky Mickey”. This is HUGE! From 1978, this mickey toots his ow

Welcome to Episode 68 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Magic Journeys - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will take you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy! Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top-tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Our first letter is from Andy all about the Mannequins - he goes through this photo, explaining what each piece of hardware does. This is super helpful and also neat to look back; the system also included the classic 3.5" Floppy Disk! Going back to September, Jason sent us a tweet about his trip to WDW. So man

Welcome to Episode 67 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Pleasure Island Part II - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will take you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy! Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top-tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Our first letter is from way back in July of 2020! Jimmy Tucker wrote us about 'Walt Disney World: The First Decade'. We discuss the various hardcover books that have come out as souvenir books and they are loaded with pictures. Everyone chimes in with the various ones in their collections, as these we

Welcome to Episode 66 of the RetroWDW Podcast: “Retro Food Part II” – We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will take you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy! Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at Also, top-tier donors can even join us on a show! . Troy is our first letter of the episode. He is looking for early photos of the Fort Wilderness reception outpost and possibly of the old trailer that was out there. Do you have any of those? Let us know! Our good friend Ed is on Episode 46 and is getting caught up. We always love our binge listeners and hearing from you! Ed has been digging into some photos from old trips from the early 70s

Welcome to Episode 65 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Pleasure Island - Part 1" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will bring you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy! Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top-tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Dan, The Person of the Century, wrote in about the Swan & Dolphin. He shared an amazing photo with us that you have to see! Jennifer is up next. She picked our collective brains all about the 'walkways around the world'. This has been newly updated, but we get into the history of this whole thi

Welcome to Episode 64 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Crescent Lake" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will bring you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy! Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Dane wrote in about a 1976-1977 channel guide at the Contemporary, which we discussed during our Project 90 episode. Kevin is next up and he found an amazing brochure from the 15 Years of Magic promotion! Kurt sent us a great little piece from the Polynesian that has all of the character autographs.  Thanks

Welcome to Episode 63 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Project 90" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. This month, Ted Linhart joins us as one of our top tier donors - this episode is guided by Ted and his amazing set of documents. Last month we hit Thunder in Paradise pretty hard with multiple episodes. Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Scott Jensen is first with some great pics of Hogan's Beach Shop, which is actually in Clearwater and the Orlando area. Thanks Scott! Stephen Myers also wrote in about Thunder in Paradise, saying him and Terry have discussed his time at

Main Topic In the last episode, we took you back to the early 1990s and discussed the filming and history of Thunder in Paradise! Now we've got an exclusive interview with Parker Rabe who's father was the brains behind the custom modified Wellcraft Scarab boat was the pilot for the series as well!. Parker recalls filming locations, boat details, and even his interaction with the cast on set! Don't mess with Thunder! 2020: The Year of Film To make sure you are the first to know when items are released, subscribe to us on YouTube. Be sure to click the notification bell too, that way you are alerted when we post.  Finally, be sure to check out Vimeo if that is your thing, as we will post there as well. Next Month Join us next time for Episode 63, where we take you back on another fun episode about WDW history! We have another movie night coming soon too...  Subscribe on YouTube so you are ready. 

Welcome to Episode 62 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Thunder in Paradise" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Shane is first with a comment about Alien Encounter. He was curious if Tyra Banks was the only host for the pre-show at Alien Encounter. Miranda sent us some new ephemera which is a 'Vacation Kingdom' brochure from 1984. Take a look at these! Our next write-in was Daniel, who discusses the talking elevator at The Contemporary Resort. He sent us a photo of the elevator and Daniel also has one at his office building. Jared wro

Main Topic Welcome back to another mini-episode, filled with Radio Loops. We had a number of these sent in from fans, listeners and others who were thinking there might be a podcast someday that wants to share these. To start, we go way back to 1995 and this loop has an amazingly catchy theme song at the beginning of the broadcast. Quality is AM and if you are playing this in your car, this will give you all the feels of a car from the past. This loop includes ticket tips, cleaning up with Jiminy Cricket, AAA tips, and even current room rates. With this being a mini-episode, we run about 25 minutes and wrap up with the 'exit loop', which gives directions, thanks you for coming and so much more. The range seems to be an issue, as this one is not super clear and seems to almost cut out - but it's super cool to hear this once again.  We hope you enjoy this mini-episode of radio loops and can't wait for you to listen to our next full episode that will be coming soon.  2020: The Year of Film To make sure you

Comments & Corrections We start this month with some sports, weather and candy updates. The Disney World stuff will come eventually, we promise. Big update on the old school turnstiles around the parks. Carla Carle gave us the full report with pictures – thank you!! The Kugel Ball is huge – literally! We’ve been getting updates on local Kugel Balls, pictures are being sent and we love seeing this. How gives us some more information on the Tomorrowland palm trees. We discuss some of the manufacturing, history, and theories on these things. The story goes on…. Listener Mail Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode. Downey wrote in asking about the talking elevator at The Contemporary Resort. We discuss this being a real thing and also the 80s/90s talking craze. Keith touched ba

Welcome to Episode 60 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Tomorrowland '94" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows!  While you are listening, please browse through our entire album of ephemera. We have tons in there and if you click this link, be ready for an adventure that could take up an entire evening. Also, let us know if you have any images you would like to add to this collection, as we are working to make it very comprehensive.  Comments & Corrections Last month we had the great food and menu episode and the response was great. Thanks for all the feedback and items shared relating to food stories, menus, and anything else. It sure was fun to sift through and see how much everybody enjoyed it! Huge thank you for all the ephemera that was sent in. We got tons of great items and this will all be added to the site soon. Your time and effort is appreciated! Our good friend @bioreconstruct let us know about an add-on

Kat Cressida is a renowned voice actress and respected Disney historian whose connection with Disney began with her father’s work with WED and Disneyland in the 1970s. She is known not only for bringing characters to life in Disney Parks ("Little Girl Lost" in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Toy Story's Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl in shows and attractions worldwide and Constance Hatchaway, the 'Black Widow Bride' in The Haunted Mansion) but also for top AAA video game titles (Marvel Heroes, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, The Wolf Among Us, Fallout 76) as well as animation (Toy Story titles, Dexter’s Laboratory, Phineas and Ferb). Kat began her career as a Shakespeare major at UC Berkley, became a cast member at Disneyland, and after a successful on-camera career, transitioned into full-time voicer. Besides her career achievements in voice over, she’s also a professional keynote speaker – addressing pediatric cancer and patient advocacy  – leveraging her recovery from fatal cancer to help others naviga

Welcome to Episode 59 of the RetroWDW Podcast: “Tickets & Ephemera” – We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows!  While you are listening, please browse through our entire album of ephemera. We have tons in there and if you click this link, be ready for an adventure that could take up an entire evening. Also, let us know if you have any images you would like to add to this collection, as we are working to make it very comprehensive.  Comments & Corrections Last month we had the great food and menu episode and the response was great. Thanks for all the feedback and items shared relating to food stories, menus, and anything else. It sure was fun to sift through and see how much everybody enjoyed it! Zach wrote in about the breakfast at the Top of the World. His mother chimed in on this memory and confirmed this as well. Thanks so much for the help Zach! Brian also discusses the champagne brunch up there, which was