Brian’s Corner

Musings and recollections by Podcast contributor, Brian Miles (@BrianPMiles).

Aunty Kaui’s Personal Collection of Slides

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A collector tasked the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society with digitizing a collection of 53 slides recovered from the cleanout of the estate of Aunty Kau’I, a fixture at the Polynesian Resort since its opening, who passed away three years ago today. The photos are mostly of performances at the International Market Place which opened in 1956 in Honolulu to serve the booming postwar travel and tourism visitors.  Aunty’s photos from this location are dated 1965...Read More...

Crossroads Shopping Center Brochure – 1986/87

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When our refurbished website is built with a document archive these are the kind of things we hope to bring to you. Crossroads shopping center was developed in the late 1980’s at the end of Hotel Plaza Boulevard on a sliver of land Disney owned just across the intersection of I-4 and 535.  Among the many restaurants and tourism-centric shops that occupied the center over the years was the anchor supermarket Gooding’s.  Once numerous in central...Read More...

Flagler’s Breakfast Menu – Grand Floridian Resort 1988

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When the Grand Floridian resort opened and replaced the Contemporary as Walt Disney World’s flagship resort it had all the luxuries and decadence you would expect.  Fine dining venues abounded and Flagler’s was an upscale sit-down restaurant that specialized in Italian cuisine in the evening (because in the 1980’s fine-dining Italian was at its peak in popularity).  In the morning’s it was the place to have a nice breakfast away from the hustle and bustle of...Read More...

Fly With “Airship Shamu” Blimp In 1992

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A while back we acquired this set of slides taken by a crew member or passenger aboard Sea World’s promotional blimp the Airship Shamu. Included with the set was a December 30, 1993 article from the Orlando Sentinel about the omnipresence of blimps in the Orlando area. The slides are from a specific flight in March 1992. Airship Shamu soared over EPCOT, Disney-MGM Studios, Lake Buena Vista, Kissimmee, and other local sites including Interstate 4 looking...Read More...

Slide Carousel: Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in November 1984

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One of the missions of the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society is to preserve the history of not just the Walt Disney World resort but some of the ancillary developments surrounding the resort.  When a set of photographic slides taken in November 1984 of the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress recently became available to us we jumped at the chance.  The gallery appears at the bottom of this post. When it opened in February 1984 the Grand...Read More...

The World Is Not Enough: Sesame Place 1985 Brochure

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Occasionally we come across something that is not directly related to Walt Disney World but piques our interest.  That is what happened when I came across this 1985 Sesame Place brochure at a flea market this past weekend.  As a Philadelphia-area resident where the first and for a long time only Sesame Place is located I’ve always had a mild interest in the place. This stems largely from the fact that, until a few years ago,...Read More...

Thought You’d Never Ask – Volume 2! Recipes From WDW Circa 1983

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Earlier this summer we shared the first publication of a book of Walt Disney World recipes from 1979. That year Dorothy Chapman, the food critic for the Orlando Sentinel, compiled some of the most requested recipes from Central Florida restaurants In “Thought You’d Never Ask”.She published weekly columns in the Sentinel and many of the recipes also appeared there. We've acquired her followup edition published in 1983 shortly after the opening of EPCOT Center.  There are…Read More...

Rare Glimpses of December 1971 Walt Disney World

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Sometimes one or two images will pique my interest in a set of slides.  This particular dual set of 35mm slides were from different film brands, were individually numbered and included some hand-assembled slides (literally film glued into a slide holder) that were photographs of images from the 1971 book The Story of Walt Disney World.  The slide set and its order indicate it was part of a presentation given by a professor or enthusiast to...Read More...

WDW Restaurants Photo Gallery – April 1975

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A remarkable set of slides dated April 1975 capture a necessary and notable part of any theme park: The dining establishments. When we get a set of slides like this with no context as to their origin we are left to speculate or create our own backstory. At RetroWDW we choose to believe this set of slides was taken by a person doing research on how Disney does counter service and buffeteria-style dining. You’ll notice photos...Read More...

Over 130 unique Magic Kingdom Slides from 1979

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Recently Brian has been scanning hundreds of slides to add to our pictorial souvenir. This latest set comes from January 1979 and has a few interesting things to see: Interior of the Town Square Barber Shop Interior of the Main Street Clock Shop Interior of Crystal Palace Interior of the Main Street Ceramics Shop Interior of King Stefan’s Banquet Hall (now Cinderella’s Royal Table) On-ride photos of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride On-ride photos of Snow White’s...Read More...