National Disability Independence Day – Accommodations Guide at Walt Disney World 1972

July 27th is National Disability Independence Day marking 33 years since President George H.W. Bush signed the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act into law in 1990. While visitors today are familiar with the myriad accommodations for individuals with disabilities available at Disney parks and resorts you may wonder what the experience was like in the Magic Kingdom’s opening year. To mark the occasion we are adding to our archive the very first accessibility guide produced for...Read More...

Is the Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza arch from Wonders of Life? Let us find the Truth…

Note: On the upcoming RetroWDW Podcast Episode 78 – Wonders of Life Part II we discuss the arches, but it didn’t seem right to just share our findings in the podcast. This article is a companion to this episode and will prep you for the upcoming discussion which may be hard to follow at times! We’ve all heard the story of how the Wonders of Life (WOL) entrance arch was repurposed as the Magic Kingdom Toll...Read More...

Christmas 1989 Isotoner Ad Filmed At Disney-MGM Studios

Over the years nary a fortnight passes between the last “Back to School” commercial on television and the first Christmas or holiday-themed ad starts running.  In simpler times, in this case 1989, you usually didn’t start seeing holiday ads on television until a week or two before Thanksgiving.  This past year the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society acquired over 400 internal Walt Disney World public relations slides.  A lot of them were promotional images we’d seen...Read More...

1990 Walt Disney World Easter Parade Press Kit

Shortly after last year’s Easter holiday, we acquired a press kit promoting the 1990 Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade. By nature, most seasonal promotional materials are specific to a single season and usually not retained. While hundreds of these were sent to television stations around the country, finding a completely intact kit 30 years later is extraordinary. The kit would have been sent to ABC affiliate stations around the country to promote the parade broadcast....Read More...

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort: Bonfamille’s Cafe Menu – 1990

Bonfamille’s Cafe was the table service restaurant for Port Orleans Resort when it opened in 1990.  In 2001 the resort merged with Dixie Landings to become Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter resorts, respectively.  Bonfamille’s closed that year and never reopened.  The restaurant got its name from Madame Adelaide Bonfamille from Disney’s 1973 film “The Aristocats”.  Children’s menus from the time the resort opened drew on this inspiration with a coloring book that explained the backstory...Read More...

Walt Disney World Seminar Productions Brochure – 1985

The first decade of EPCOT Center’s life was the only time its purpose and vision were clear and understandable.  From its 1982 opening until its first major overhaul in the mid 1990’s EPCOT envisioned itself as an entertaining and informative place to learn about the world and its many cultures and possible solutions to global problems shared by humanity. The EPCOT Outreach and Teacher’s Center was one feature that emphasized this – where educators were encouraged...Read More...