Retro Disney World

These articles are written by The Retro Disney World staff and pertain directly to the day-to-day happenings, operations, and background/history of the site.

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...

RetroWDW Presents: Platinum Movie Night on 4/15/21!

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The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society and RetroWDW are proud to present their first-ever Platinum Movie Night! This view-by-donation event will take place on April 15, 2021, at 8:00 pm Eastern and will feature some of the rarest historical films from Walt Disney World, rare and exclusive slides, give-a-ways, and more! The donation amount you choose will go to help cover the cost of the acquisition, transfer, and restoration of the films which was in the...Read More...

RetroMagic: A 50th Celebration Postponed

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Since the conclusion of our RetroMagic 2019 event, we have been discussing our plans to celebrate Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary the first weekend of October 2021. An essential benchmark to permitting us to host a 50th Anniversary event is the development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19. As a vaccine becomes closer to reality we discussed whether logistically we COULD host the event we have planned in eleven months and whether or not we were...Read More...

Christmas In July: RetroWDW Ornament Sale

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We have one case left of the limited edition ornament set created for our 2019 RetroMagic event. All attendees at the October event received a set and we’ve given them as gifts to all Lake Buena Vista Historical Society donors at the $50 or above level. It’s never too early to start thinking about the 2020 holiday season. While vaccines and the freedom to spend time with your friends and family is the first item on...Read More...

You’re Invited: Home Movie Night

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Mark your calendars and get the popcorn ready for this Thursday, July 23 at 8:30 PM eastern time and join us for our 8th live home movie night! We’ll have 3 newly restored movies to share with live commentary plus some Walt Disney World ephemera show and tell afterwards.Read More...

Thought You’d Never Ask – A Collection of WDW Dining recipes from the early years

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The first publication of a book of Walt Disney World recipes was in 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. A dutiful volunteer archivist has been scanning those individual recipe publications in an ongoing process. We are pleased today to bring…Read More...

RetroWDW announces RetroMagic video release!

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On Sunday, October 13, 2019, the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society hosted RetroMagic at Disney’s Contemporary Resort – After months of editing by our volunteers, we’re now happy to announce that we’ll be releasing videos of the day’s stories and never before seen photos and artifacts from Disney Legends, Imagineers, Cast Members, music and more! All videos will be released on their respective dates at 8pm Eastern via our YouTube Channel and our special RetroMagic Playlist....Read More...

Pleasure Island – May 1992 – New Year’s Eve Countdown

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So here we are, just a few days away from New Years and we have a gem for you. This takes us back to 1992, May 28th to be exact. Some say this was the heyday of Pleasure Island where a nightly New Year’s Eve countdown happened and it was just crazy fun. This entire video is roughly six minutes long and features the stage show and buildup to the countdown. Dancers, fireworks, confetti, spotlights –...Read More...

Save the Date – RetroWDW’s 5th Anniversary Celebration!

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Traveling to WDW this fall? RetroWDW’s 5th Anniversary event benefiting the Lake Buena Vista Historical Society is coming Columbus Day weekend 2019! Disney’s Contemporary Resort Historic Location Exclusive interviews and appearances with Disney Legends Multiple Panel Presentations Exclusive never before seen footage Rare Artifacts Topics including Disney-MGM’s 30th and all the October birthdays; Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center Additional special topics in the planning stages! Exclusive Gift VIP Meet and Greet Event Details...Read More...

Video: @RetroWDW Lake and Lagoon Tour: Discovery Edition & EPCOT Walking Tour

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In 2016 we held the Lake and Lagoon Tour where we commandeered a number of pontoon boats and sailed with our listeners on a tour of Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. Due to the small size of the boats we had a limited number of tickets to sell, as a result the event sold out in 9 minutes! We always knew we could do better, and in 2018 we held the tour again, only this...Read More...