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 time with a boat previously used for the Animal Kingdom Discovery River Cruise attraction!
Come along as we take you to some of the famed but not forgotten sights and landmarks including Roy’s Cabin, Rile’s Island, Polynesian Wave machine, the shoe tree, special monorail beams and more! Your RetroWDW hosts will explain the history of each as you cruise the lake. If you joined us or were unable to make it, this is a great way to relive the magic of days gone by!
In addition to the Lake and Lagoon Tour, come with us on a historical walk through EPCOT Center! Starting at the entrance fountain we take you through lost and forgotten areas including Computer Cental, Communicore and even show you where you’d be 3 feet underwater if it was 1985!
Special thanks to the entire Miles family for helping us out that day and editing this video for us. We’re humbled by your continued efforts to help us bring these tours and videos to our follows. Thank you!
You can get your very own copy of 
the special map created by RetroWDW’s own artist, Jason Bartel! This map celebrates the Vacation Kingdom of the World, and more specifically, “The way it was, and the way it is in your memories”. Taking the style and cues of the 1975 map (and the updated version from the 1976 edition of The Story of Walt Disney World) our version of the encompasses a world that used to be as well as some things that just didn’t make it. You may think Jason just traced the map, not the case…he hand drew every building, attraction, road, tree and detail, right down to the 71 hidden features and easter eggs included!
So just what are these hidden easter eggs? The entire map contains references to the stories, legends, and lore as discussed on our podcast. In total there are 71 specifically hidden features! We’ll give you one to get started, on the right you’ll see Pablo Cruise kicking out “World’s Away” as discussed in podcast episode 35! The band was featured in the 1978 TV special “Christmas at Walt Disney World”. And there is another hidden gem in this picture as well, did you find it yet?
You can get your own 24″ x 36″ copy of the map by making a $25 tax deductible donation to The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society!
GREAT tour! But I would like to offer some gentle clarifications/corrections, if I could. I am a former Watercraft pilot from the mid ’70’s – early ’80’s. During your tour, you mentioned a bit about the Admiral Joe Fowler steamboat ‘accident’. The details you provided for that story suggest to me that you may have that confused with the “Southern Seas” accident that resulted from a Dry Dock maintenance person removing a stern thruster and going to lunch, during which time the boat partially sank. I *DO* have pictures of this accident. Do your pictures show a *SIDE-WHEELER* or a stern-wheeler? The Southern Seas was a SIDE-WHEELER. I am aware there was an episode with the Fowler in Dry dock, but likely not the one related on the tour.
Also with the Eastern Winds: The boat was difficult to maintain, but the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was when the Area Manager for Watercraft — Pete Crimmings — was piloting the Eastern Winds while in the water channel (from Seven Seas Lagoon to Bay Lake), and chose to pass the monorail pylons on the SOUTH side of the pylons. It was brought to Pete’s attention that the height of the mast on the Eastern Winds would only be accommodated ont the NORTHERN side of the pylons, but Pete insisted, and BOOM! The mast *DID* strike the monorail bea,m breaking the mast of the Eastern Winds and I believe the power supply for the monorail. Pete reportedly uttered, “Looks like I f%@ked up again!” The boat was anchored offshore of the North Eastern corner of Bay Lake (where I first saw her), and never used again. Eventually purchased from Disney by none other than Broadway Joe Namath. http://www.wdwradio.com/2009/04/whatever-became-of-the-eastern-winds/?fbclid=IwAR3u3t3eNu7HpMWAfgjqtELhxG2hoQhisGYZJU0422GKyXVSo5pd1L543Lc
Dick Nunis story (that you probably will NOT be able to use): There was an evening charter on the (then “Kingdom Queen” now the “General Joe Potter”) ferryboat arranged for one sultry summer evening to be attended by Dick Nunis and other Disney bigwigs.
The crew consisted of 3 of my co-workers, one being a young lady by the name of Sally, and two others whose names are long-since forgotten. Sally was the pilot — wearing a “Salle” nametag. At one point in the cruise, Dick Nunis, with drink in hand (not his first) comes up to Sally, looks at her nametag and inquires as to the pronunciation of her name. Sally knew exactly who Dick Nunis was and quite nervously replys “Salle” (or “Sal”). Dick says, “GREAT! You LOOK like a “Sal”. Sally fires back with “Thanks! You look like a Dick”. Sally was wondering at that point whether she would be relieved of her employment when the cruise was over, but apparently, Mr. Nunis smiled, took another sip of his drink, and with a sparkle in his eye, returned to his previous activities.
James, thank you! I mashed together the two stores about the Southern Seas and the Fowler — I appreciate the correction. The Joe Namath story is, unfortunately, incorrect. I did a lot of research on the topic for the show and there were quite a few news stories about the refitting of the Eastern Winds in the local St. Pete paper after two gentlemen who owned a yacht company here bought it from Disney. My friend’s father worked for a local stereo company that refit her with speakers after the purchase and he supposedly has a scrapbook of photos that i’m dying to see. From what I’ve been able to piece together, Namath probably rented the boat often when it was owned by a charter company in Texas, but never directly owned it. That’s what I think I know for now, but there’s always the chance I’ll discover something new eventually.
Also, Old (fun) Watercraft tradition: In the course of piloting the various boats, should anyone run aground, that part of the lake would be known as ” Reef”. Also, the ‘barge fire’ referred to in the tour….it was a “Lightshow (utility) whaler” that was carrying the fuel cans for the Electrical Water Pagaent outboards for use later in the evening. I also have pictures of the burnt-out hull of THAT boat as well.