Listen to the Episode:
Welcome to Episode 74 of the RetroWDW Podcast: Vacation Planning – 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 are back with a full episode and our first release of 2022.
Listener Mail
We open the mailbag every month and we are ready to hear from you. 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
- Natalie is our first message and she is asking all about the area that is now Steakhouse 71. We get into this and we also discuss the gone, but not forgotten Fiesta Fun Center. We discuss this in Episode 47 of our podcast.
- John wrote in about Spaceship Earth, wondering all about the newspaper boy scene. He wonders if the little guy has a face or not… We talk about the tour we took, the legends, and more. Also, check out this ride-through from 1991.
- Next up, we heard from Marianne and she shared with us a ton of vacation planning ephemera. We’d love to high-res scan all of this stuff! Thanks so much!
’81 Guidebook | EPCOT Guide | Inside - Bill wrote in about Pleasure Island in the early/mid-90s, with tons of great bands playing on various stages for New Year’s Eve.
Main Topic
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 some tickets and options for each package back then, which we discuss how you went about booking in the 70s and 80s. There was no internet and there was no google to check on what was being offered. The options seemed to be always changing and always evolving, which isn’t too different when compared to trips of today.
As always, we also go off on a bit of a tangent about rental cars, vehicles in the 70s/80s, and of course the Chevrolet Citation. While we were talking, Brian remembered the old Citation commercial and he also reminisces a bit about his mid-80s rental car being an Oldsmobile Calais. This episode led most of us to dig into our ephemera boxes again to compare notes and also look at the various vacation packages that we seem to overlook for more exciting imagery over planning details. Do you have anything unique in your piles at home? Send them in so we can add them to the archive of ephemera on the site. Also, take a look at our gallery of ephemera that is loaded with tons of great stuff.
RetroMagic Fifty
Join us this April for RetroMagic 50. Tickets are now on sale and the event is coming together as we work through details and line up our schedule of events. Have questions? Reach out to us and we will be happy to help you out. info@lbvhistory.org
We hope to see you this April for one of our biggest events yet!
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Post-Show Fun
- Join us next time for another amazing episode of the RetroWDW Podcast!
- We have another movie night coming soon too… Subscribe on YouTube so you are ready.
- Check out SpectroRadio for all their music, including Throwback Thursday at 9am.
- Click Here to donate to the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society
- Get your LBVHS Magic Band Skin from Magic Your Band, just in time for RetroMagic!
- Follow along for updates on RetroMagic 50
That Brian times the Soarin’ music to take off is MAYBE the best thing I’ve ever heard!