WDW Radio Show Disney Podcast #144 - November 8, 2009 The WDW Radio Show Disney Podcast Discuss WDW Radio Show Disney Podcast #144 - November 8, 2009 in the The WDW Radio Show forums; Hello and welcome to The WDW Radio Show - Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host Lou Mongello and this is show #144 for the week of ...

[Lou Mongello]

Hello and welcome to The WDW Radio Show - Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host Lou Mongello and this is show #144 for the week of November 8, 2009. Thank you for tuning in once again.

Join me as we journey aboard my Walt Disney World Wayback Machine to a year instead of to a specific attraction. And this week, we're going to set the dials to 1973. We will look at Walt Disney World less than two years after it opened, and visit the Magic Kingdom and many of its now-extinct attractions, take the monorail to the only two resorts on the loop, and look at some things that we thought were on their way, yet never came to be.

I'll have some announcements at the end of show, including a few ways you can help before playing more of your voicemails at the end of the show, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's episode of the WDW Radio Show.

You can email the show or call the voicemail TOLL FREE at 888-703-2171

Thanks for listening! Be sure to tune in next week!

[VonBaroketch]

Great podcast! A couple of things:

1. When I worked in Adventureland, the Veranda was used often for castmember activities. Even when nothing was going on in there, the punkah fans still swayed back and forth. I'm intrigued by your tease that it may not remain closed for long.

2. I have a story about Pirates I heard from Jason Surrell at the D23 Expo. When New Orleans Square was being built and the hole in the ground was dug for the Pirates attraction, it was going to be a walk-through and not a ride. After the 1964 World's Fair, the decision was made to make it a boat ride with animatronics. This required a new show building to be built outside of the train tracks. When Marc Davis and Ken Anderson asked what to do with the hole in New Orleans Square, Walt told them to fill it with caves. According to the story, Marc and Ken hated those caves and felt that they were afterthoughts to the story. This may be why the caves never appeared in WDW's version, thus making it not an abbreviated but rather a more "orthodox" version than Disneyland's. Caves aside, DL has some extra pirates that I would love to see added to WDW's, such as the ones lying underneath the barrel catching wine in their mugs in the chase scene. Heck, I want them to add the hat pirate back in the burning city (whatever happened to him?). DL is missing their dirty foot pirate, too, so maybe those two were cut in last year's Disney Company layoffs!

3. Bring up the Mike Fink Keelboats with an old-timer in Adventureland/Liberty Square if you want to hear an impassioned rant! They are sorely missed.

4. WDWToday recently had a great interview with DisneyShawn about the Liberty Square Christmas shop changes.

5. I miss the old Castle BGM. I have a particularly fond memory of sitting on a bench by the wishing well under the shadow of Cinderella Castle listening to the music and eating frozen lemonade from the Enchanted Grove.

Even though I was not to be born for another 9 years, this discussion of 1973 brought back many childhood memories of my own. That goes to show how much was preserved for so long, even though there was constant change going on. I would love to see some of those elements brought back. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[DAR]

I haven't finished the show yet but I do like the concept of visiting a specific time at a park. Perhaps Epcot circa 1987 could be an idea, hmmmmmmm

One other thing. I noticed that Ryan was coming in and out at times. I'm not sure if it was me since I was running at the time or anyone else had this problem.

[WDW4Ever]

Originally Posted by DAR

One other thing. I noticed that Ryan was coming in and out at times. I'm not sure if it was me since I was running at the time or anyone else had this problem.

No, it wasn't just you

[Gatorhead]

Can't figure out why the Monte Cristo sandwich wasn't mentioned on the show? That was one of my all time favorites!

[rowenr98]

Great show this week lou!

[iplawyer]

Lou,

I'm a first time poster but a listener of many months (thanks to my brother pointing me to your podcast site), and I wanted to let you know I really enjoyed your Wayback Machine visit to WDW 1973. This brought back some wonderful memories for me of visiting WDW for the first time on Thanksgiving weekend of 1972 with my mom, dad, and two of my brothers. Back in those days before airline deregulation and lower fare, family plane trips were much rarer than they are today and we had started the planning for this trip for at least a year in advance. However, I will admit, as lucky as I was to be going to WDW so soon after its opening, that I was disappointed when I found out that instead of staying in the A-frame of the Contemporary, we were staying in the much more modest looking Bayshore (now the South Garden Wing).

I can still remember waiting for my older brother Karl's plane to arrive. He was coming from college in Peoria, Illinois, and he had make a connection in Atlanta, which was a notorious bottleneck for many people flying to Orlando (and virtually everywhere else in the Southeast) in the 70's.

My family did take the guided tour you mentioned, probably to help us orient ourselves to the Magic Kingdom. We had last visited Disneyland in 1962 when I was 4 months old and my younger brother Steven had not yet been born, so this was an introduction to Disney parks for Steven and me. I don't remember having "options" as to which attractions to visit. Although I don't have the greatest memory on the tour, it seemed like we pretty much hit the E Tickets such as Pirates, Small World, etc. The one attraction I know we didn't see on the tour was 20,000 Leagues, which I remember going on for the first time at night, which may the trip even more exciting for my 10 year old self since I couldn’t see the bottom of the lagoon.

One thing I can elaborate on from your Wayback Machine visit is that in addition to being sold at the Mile Long Bar, PepsiCo products were sold throughout the West side of the Magic Kingdom and Coca-Cola products on the East side. I believe this arrangement existed until Epcot opened when Coca Cola became the exclusive soft drink provider at WDW. It is also my understanding that Coke and Pepsi were also both sold in the early days of Disneyland with Pepsi being a sponsor of the Golden Horseshoe Revue and Coke (Coca Cola Refreshment) Corner dating back to 1955 as well.

Something that my brother Steve and I really miss on Main Street is the old Penny Arcade. There was a great collection of coin operated games there, which were really fascinating to us as 8 and 10 year olds who had not yet been exposed to videogames (for reference, Pong was released as an arcade game in 1972).

My brothers and I also agree with you that Tomorrowland was really empty in the early years of the park. However, I believe you left out the Grand Prix Raceway from the description of attractions in Tomorrowland.

Another my brothers and I got a kick out of was how the way the Cast Members had to go down the monorails slamming the doors closed. That really heightened the sense of “adventure” for me in going on the monorails; it was kind of like the cast members lowering the restraining bar before you started a ride.

Some attractions under construction when we visited in 1972 that a visitor in 1973 would have seen were the Tea Cups, which had been open in 1971 but was having a roof built over it in 1972, and the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. So Frontierland was pretty much the Country Bear Jamboree and the Shooting Gallery when we visited.

Something else to notice about Walt Disney World in 1973 (or when we visited in 1972): virtually no thrill rides, other than the Skyway. In fact, about the only thing with a “drop” was Dumbo, although the Skyway did have bit of a “kick” when you were first launched from the station and when you left the turning station that angled your path toward the Fantasyland or Tomorrowland station depending on the direction you were travelling.

[Jaxum]

Originally Posted by Gatorhead

Can't figure out why the Monte Cristo sandwich wasn't mentioned on the show? That was one of my all time favorites!

We still have them in Disneyland!

[YoPaulie]

Originally Posted by WDW4Ever

No, it wasn't just you

Same here. It was the only flaw in this fantastic show. Thanks, Lou!

[Jabbawockee]

This was actually the best show in a long time. Don't get me wrong. The podcast itself is fantastic! Never miss an episode. But lately it has been "yadda yadda FOOD... blah blah RESEARCH TRIP." It was refreshing to hear Your Walt Disney World Information Station inform once again like it used to.

Great work!

[Gatorhead]

Originally Posted by Jaxum

We still have them in Disneyland!

I know and I am soooo jealous. Hopefully they'll still be serving them if I ever make it out that way.

[Jaxum]

Originally Posted by Gatorhead

I know and I am soooo jealous. Hopefully they'll still be serving them if I ever make it out that way.

They will never get rid of them out here. In fact they serve them in two different locations. The Blue Bayou, and Cafe Orleans. In fact, I'll eat one in a few weeks just for you.
However, if it will make you feel any better, the D23 magazine printed the recipe! Here's the link and the recipe:
D23 | The Official Community for Disney Fans

BLUE BAYOU MONTE CRISTO SANDWICH

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 slices egg bread (challah works well), sliced 1/2-inch thick
8 thin slices ham
8 thin slices turkey
8 thin slices Swiss cheese
3 cups canola oil
Confectioners sugar
Blackberry preserves


Directions:
1. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels; set aside.
2. Whisk the egg and water together in a mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk thoroughly for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl.
3. On one slice of bread, arrange 2 slices of ham, turkey, and cheese, covering the bread evenly. Place another slice of bread on top and slice each sandwich in half diagonally.
4. Heat oil to between 365 degrees F and 375 degrees F in a 10-inch pan. Do not let the oil reach a higher temperature than this; if the oil starts to smoke, turn the heat down. Dip half of the sandwich into the batter, allowing excess to drain, and very carefully place into the oil.
5. Repeat with the other sandwich half. Cook 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Place the cooked sandwich on the prepared cookie sheet in a warm oven until ready to serve. Repeat with the other three sandwiches. Cook one at a time, and allow the oil to reach the desired temperature between each.
6. Sprinkle with confectioner¹s sugar and serve with blackberry preserves on the side.

Enjoy!

[DRC2]

Another Great Show! It's always nice to go down memory lane and miss the way things were and enjoy the new things that are! Hopefully the changes were/are an improvement...but sometimes ...????

Keep up the great work Lou!

[DanceWaterDance]

Lou,
I want to thank you so very much for sharing the video 'Things That Make You Smile', it really did make me smile.
I don't get to go to Disney often, but your video really jogged my memory, and made me feel that much closer to the magic. It was lovely to see the Magic Kingdom as if I really was there.
Thank you again, and I hope to see more videos like this in the future!

[Spyne]

Great show this week, Lou! Your Walt Disney World Wayback Machine on the year of 1973 with Ryan Wilson was very interesting to listen to. Obviously I wasn't born until 1988, but 1973 definitely sounded like a year of transition for the Magic Kingdom and other limited WDW offerings at the time. Again, very cool show Lou, keep up the great work!