Listen to the Episode:
Welcome to Episode 71 of the RetroWDW Podcast: The WDW 50th Anniversary Special – 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!
Corrections & Comments
We start off this episode with some corrections and comments from the last couple of months.
- We heard from many of you about the Monster Sound Show, but one question stuck out and was asked by multiple people. The sound booths: everyone wanted to know if they were moved to Animal Kingdom. We explain our thoughts, how we missed these, and also get into Animal Kingdom a bit, which we hardly ever do. Dave also chimed in with details about the nature sounds – thanks everyone, this was great!
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 first 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 celebrities appearing in more than one attraction. We discuss a few of these that were emailed to us, along with some other ideas listeners had.
Main Topic
As we get started, this episode will be a little different than what you are used to. For the 50th Anniversary, how do we celebrate that at RetroWDW? We bounced many ideas around, including lists, top 50, sharing memories, and even going back to cover the various anniversary specials. Brian gets us started discussing the way things used to be, which all of us can do for hours on end, you the listener included. Each of us has stories and special things that we remember from the past fifty years. Experiences, memories, family trips, events; we all have so many things to share and reminisce about. This episode is all about that.
Throughout Episode 71, we don’t sit on just one topic or park. Many of the stories are personal and lead to more tangents, but we think you’re really going to connect and relate to many of these observations from the past fifty years. As we worked our way through this recording, it’s tough to bring together fifty years of vacationing. The kingdom has so many things for so many people, including us. We are always looking for what’s next, our future trips, and making memories. This podcast is all about memories at Walt Disney World, even if they are super detailed and take us all down a rabbit hole. From Episode 71 all the way back to Episode 1, this show, website, videos, and our events have added another layer of WDW to all of our lives. As we continue to add to our individual and group stories about trips to WDW, we hope you continue to join us each month.
RetroMagic Fifty
We have set our date for the next big Lake Buena Vista Historical Society event: RetroMagic 50. We will all be back at Walt Disney World in 2022 for this weekend-long event which takes place April 23-24.
Please click the following link to sign up for ticket sale information and notifications. We hope to see you all real soon!
2021: Year Two of The 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.
RetroWDW Merchandise
Be sure to get your shirt, iPhone case, tote bag, pillow or coffee mug today: www.retrowdw.com/supportus
Some of Our Latest Designs
Post-Show Fun
- Join us next time for Episode 72, as we get things back to normal for a full-on attraction-based episode.
- We have another movie night coming soon too… Subscribe on YouTube so you are ready.
- Click Here to donate to the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society
- Follow along for updates on RetroMagic 50
Great stuff, guys. The end turned into a type of therapy session for those of us struggling with dramatic changes in the parks under Iger / Chapek. You make some very good points that made me rethink some of my despondency over the future of the parks.
I’m curious, I’ve listened to (and loved!) all of the 71 episodes and many of the mini-shows, but I need some interpretation help. What’s the “25 year rule” Todd mentions at the 20:44 mark?
He was referring to the focus of RetroWDW is the first 25 years of Disneyworld’s existence. They will stray to more current happenings and changes, but try to stay with the earlier years.
The 25 year “rule” is a general guideline that we discuss things that happened 25 years ago or later. So in 2021, we would start talking about things in 1996.
The 25 year “rule” is a general guideline that we discuss things that happened 25 years ago or later. So in 2021, we would start talking about things in 1996.
Cool, thanks for the explanation!
Also, wanted to add that How’s monologue at the end of this episode was amazing. Basically my neck is still sore from all the head nods I was doing while listening! His words perfectly reflected my own experience, and captured not only why I’ve loved Disney for the 4 decades since I was a little kid, but also why I so eagerly await every next podcast episode! Thank you for your work on this podcast series- I really enjoy it. Keep up the good work!