Brian's Corner

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...

Podcast

Podcast Episode 80: Holiday Time at Walt Disney World

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Every December, we take a trip back in time as we always do, but we focus on the holiday season and how it took place at Walt Disney World. Christmas, New Years, and all the other December celebrations have always offered up unique experiences and sometimes once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for resort and park guests. We begin with personal stories, traditions, and even gifts we received over the years. Read More...

Videos

It’s Time for the Christmas Parade

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Merry Christmas from RetroWDW! Last week, we featured the 1983 Christmas parade on our live stream. Hosted by Joan Lunden and Michael Douglas, you can watch the parade on our YouTube channel here: But we have two more parades to share today! And of course, the original commercials are included. Here is 1985’s parade, hosted by Joan Lunden and Ben Vareen, where viewers can get a sneak peak at Captain EO and the Living Seas! And...Read More...

Videos

Restored videos – Holiday Illuminations & SpectroMagic!

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The beloved SpectroMagic night time parade replaced the Main Street Electrical parade as part of Walt Disney World’s 20th anniversary celebration, and ran until 2010. This video is from February 1999. And from December 1998, here is the holiday version of Illuminations at Epcot. While this pre-dates Reflections of Earth, fans of the holiday tag will find many familiar sequences here.Read More...

Podcast

Podcast Episode 79: Wonders of Life Part III – Body Wars & Making of Me

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For our third part discussing Wonders of Life, we have a good one for you this time around. With our expert guest Dr. Bill, we get things started with How leading the way as we jump right into Body Wars. The thing with Body Wars, it sort of lives in the memories of park guests as the sister attraction to Star Tours and is somewhat lost to history. Body Wars takes guests on a journey through…Read More...

Podcast

Podcast Episode 78: Wonders of Life Part II

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Welcome to Episode 78 of the RetroWDW Podcast: Wonder of Life 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. Thank you so much for joining us for more, Wonders of Life. In this episode, we get into the various attractions...Read More...

LBVHS

LBVHistory Announces 2022 Holiday Ornament: The Greatest of All Time GOAT

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The team at The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society has been hard at work creating a special holiday ornament or decor adornment, whatever your fancy, for 2022! We present The Greatest of All Time GOAT! Donate to Reserve your GOAT!   The GOAT is cast resin, hand-painted, and features its traditional brown background and 5 legs! This goat is 4″ tall and 3.5″ inches wide, ready to scale your tree, hang your window or adorn any...Read More...

Historical Research

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

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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...

Videos

Restored Planning Video: 100 Years of Magic

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The 100 Years of Magic commemorated Walt Disney’s 100th birthday. This planning video for Walt Disney World is a great tour of the resort following the Millennium Celebration. The video features clips of Walt, Imagineers, and guests commenting on attractions and resorts. First is the Disney Studios park featuring the new “Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Play It!” show. The video continues in Animal Kingdom showing the then new park before moving over to Epcot...Read More...