Audio Welcome to Disney World

[BeachyMouse]

Does anyone know if they still do the audio outside the park? We used to listen to it on the way in and it got everyone excited and ready to go. It was one of those little things that may have went away over the years.

 

[disneydad78]

radio FM channel? Thanks sounds cool!

 

[Quicklabs]

It totally added to the excitement. I'm guessing it's no longer available. They used to post the station several miles out; I haven't seen that sign come to think of it. I hope I'm wrong...

 

[zulemara]

It's gone. I only know of it because a long time WDW enthusiast told me about it. I think it has been gone for several years.

 

[kbelle8995]

I remember this very well when we used to come to WDW during the 70's and 80's. There was a sign posted and you would tune into that radio station. I think it was the WDW information station.

 

[BeachyMouse]

Yeah from what I could remember it was in the later 70's. You miss old things like that though. They need to bring some of those old things back.

 

[HubbDave]

I wonder if anyone ever tape recorded this and digitized it. Did the programming change daily?

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I wonder if anyone ever tape recorded this and digitized it. Did the programming change daily?

From what I remember of it on a trip in 88 to the magic kingdom it was mainly info on how full the parking lots were and the park hours with maybe some instrumental disney songs in the background. When we went in 1998 and had a rental van down there I don't think they even had it anymore. we may have tried looking for it just for fun but i think it was long gone by then.

 

[Jim Douglas]

I remember this fondly. It was AM 1030 going in, and on AM 830 on the drive out, for travel info. In the 70s and 80s, it was Disney legend Jack Wagner who delivered the "news," which consisted of park hours and entertainment times, such as Main Street Electrical parade and Fantasy in the Sky times. He also told you the ins and outs of ticket/passport info. Underneath Jack's voice, they looped Its a Small World instrumental music. It was awesome. When Jack passed away, a no-name announcer handled it with the help of Pooh and the gang. I don't remember when it stopped however.
Great memories!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MarkyMouse]

This is interesting. I often wondered why disney doesn't do this. I had no idea they once did. Why did you think they no longer do it? Any Theories?

 

[HubbDave]

Not sure if it is the same thing, but on this site they talk about an FM version that has some audio/video clips...
http://forums.tannerworld.com/showthread.php?t=23382

 

[DCTooTall]

On this Martin's Tribute, There is an example of the information radio station starting around the 3:50 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GCVTLWfbV4

This is interesting. I often wondered why disney doesn't do this. I had no idea they once did. Why did you think they no longer do it? Any Theories?

My primary guesses?

You don't see a lot of those low powered AM information stations around the country anymore. In general they've fallen out of favor as cell phones and other ways to get information have become commonplace.

The way the radio stations were formatted and advertised were geared towards those coming to the property for the day to visit the resort. As Disney grew it's onsite resort options and tried to move people away from the offsite stays... and Disney Transportation... they became a relic.

Between CD's, IPODs, Sirius/XM, etc.... In general you have less people even listening to the radio in the car on their drive in. You are also running into more and more guests visiting who may not have ever listened to an AM station even if they do listen to the radio.



So ultimately.... The changes to the resort and the way people get and consume their data ended up chipping away at a large amount of the value the stations provided, And Disney as a result determined that the money it had to spend to license, maintain, power, and staff the stations just wasn't worth it anymore.

 

[Jubilee]

They had it in the 80s too, and possibly 90s. I remember it as a kid