Old times at Disney

[KAT4DISNEY]

I assume that this was before we all had to bail out Bank of America. (As soon in the background.)

I was thinking when we were at WDW a couple of weeks ago how much less obvious the branding is. I wonder if it's choice or if Disney can't get those $$$'s out of companies as easily?

KAt - I remember those cars - And I've never been to Knotts Berry Farm - I thought they were over there near Toon Town someplace....
I'll wait & see what the experts say....

Interesting! For a long time I thought the mule ride I remembered was also from Knotts but learned that DL did do that so maybe this was Disney as well.

I
1983 - Double-decker busses were still running around Epcot World Showcase:

I had forgotten about these!

1983 - Who remembers Horizons? Before there was a Mission Space:

I do! And I have a photo from when they were building Mission Space.

I think that pictures are also great to see. There is a picture I do not want to see though. The 25th anniversary Pepto Bismol castle! Please if you have one, spare us all!

Trust me if you have not seen it you do not want to!

Oh, you know someone won't be able to resist now! I was there that year but haven't run across that photo in a long time.

you look like you were one groovy, in fashion chick with those pants

Wasn't I!?!?! I don't believe I had my smiley face sneakers on though!

 

[ukcatfan]

Ah, River Country. I really wish Disney could do something to bring it back, but I think pollution in the Lake has prevented it.

We actually cannot blame this one on pollution. It is b/c of a deadly amoeba that lurks in stagnate FL waters. While RC might have been closed for other reasons, this is the one that keeps it from coming back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri The capital funds to make the location a closed off filtered system are too high to justify b/c the payoff would be too long. Basically, the capacity of RC is too small to make any money given the needed repairs. I have also heard stories of gators wandering into the swimming lagoon of RC while guests were in it!

 

[annnewjerz]

We actually cannot blame this one on pollution. It is b/c of a deadly amoeba that lurks in stagnate FL waters. While RC might have been closed for other reasons, this is the one that keeps it from coming back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri The capital funds to make the location a closed off filtered system are too high to justify b/c the payoff would be too long. Basically, the capacity of RC is too small to make any money given the needed repairs. I have also heard stories of gators wandering into the swimming lagoon of RC while guests were in it!

Waaaaaay OT but this is why I almost keel over every time I see someone letting their kid wade into Bay Lake.

1. There are signs everywhere that you can't swim, even if they don't know it's because of the amoebas that brings me to my next point which is 2. It's Florida people!!! I've seen an alligator wandering around POR when we visited and have heard stories of them being seen in the MK---why would ANYONE put their kid in a huge, murky Florida lake when there are "clean" pools to use?!


"McFly?????"

 

[ukcatfan]

Waaaaaay OT but this is why I almost keel over every time I see someone letting their kid wade into Bay Lake.

1. There are signs everywhere that you can't swim, even if they don't know it's because of the amoebas that brings me to my next point which is 2. It's Florida people!!! I've seen an alligator wandering around POR when we visited and have heard stories of them being seen in the MK---why would ANYONE put their kid in a huge, murky Florida lake when there are "clean" pools to use?!


"McFly?????"

Thank you! Thank you very much!!! Living down here, I will not even step close to a standing body of water that is not a chlorinated swimming pool!!!!!!!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

---why would ANYONE put their kid in a huge, murky Florida lake when there are "clean" pools to use?!


"McFly?????"

B/C it's DISNEY and they don't have the same stuff that the rest of Florida does! There's a current thread on the DVC boards about an alligator at BCV that they are trying to relocate. People feed it from the bridge - nice of them to encourage it to start "snacking" around humans.

 

[ukcatfan]

B/C it's DISNEY and they don't have the same stuff that the rest of Florida does! There's a current thread on the DVC boards about an alligator at BCV that they are trying to relocate. People feed it from the bridge - nice of them to encourage it to start "snacking" around humans.

WOW!!! It is a good thing that they are on WDW property and "somewhat" protected from the local authorities. Not too long ago down here, a guy got about 2-3 years in prison for feeding a gator. I believe it is a felony in all of Florida and ignorance is not a defense.

 

[juligrl]

I have so got to find something to scan my family's slides - you all have inspired me! Our first family trip to Disney was in 1982 (I was 4) and my Dad got all the pictures on slides - so frustrating now. They also did all of our first western trip on slides - some great shots in there but the only time anyone I can enjoy them is when we pull out the screen and projector.

What are those of you who are converting slides using?

 

[zackiedawg]

Most of my 80's ones were scanned from slides. I have a Canon Canoscan 4400F that I picked up for $85 that is simple and reliable. It has a slide insert in the lid, with backlighting (needed for scanning slides), that holds 4 slides at a time. I can use simple pre-sets and autocropping, or I can handselect the areas to crop and control resolution of the scan as needed. It supports up to 4800x9600 resolution, scans 4 slides in around 2 minutes. It isn't the fastest, but it is one of the cheapest, and gives pretty good quality results (depending on your originals, of course!).

 

[Groucho]

Want more detail? Here's a 100% crop of the scan (4000dpi on my Nikon Coolscan 4000.)

I had totally forgot that I was there during it until I found these negatives. This was on my first trip with the woman who is now my wife (and her first trip since she was two or three.) No wonder we didn't go back for six or seven years!

 

[kim]

We saw an alligator in the water under the walk way in the Frontierland area in July 2004 at MK. We noticed Disney management standing there looking down in the water at something, and there he was. It looked to be maybe 2 ft long...?? He was really still in the water, but on the bank right next to the edge, there were those birds that have those really long beaks and skinny little legs in the bushes waiting for people to feed them.

It was wild to see one right there in the Magic Kingdom!! I dug the pictures out of a photo album and took a picture of it (sorry for the bad image) --I've seen it myself.

kim

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

WOW!!! It is a good thing that they are on WDW property and "somewhat" protected from the local authorities. Not too long ago down here, a guy got about 2-3 years in prison for feeding a gator. I believe it is a felony in all of Florida and ignorance is not a defense.

That was being talked about as well - it wasn't something I was aware of but then I won't even toss bread to a duck much less an alligator!

A couple of years ago DH spotted a 2-3 foot gator on one of the banks at AK back by Tusker House. We mentioned it to a CM who asked us to show it to them and said she would report it right away to management so they are concerned.

 

[YesDear]

Definitely back in the dark days of Disney. Imagineering gone amuck! I think the person that thought that up produced the Black Cauldron!

 

[Todd_H]

We actually cannot blame this one on pollution. It is b/c of a deadly amoeba that lurks in stagnate FL waters. While RC might have been closed for other reasons, this is the one that keeps it from coming back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri The capital funds to make the location a closed off filtered system are too high to justify b/c the payoff would be too long. Basically, the capacity of RC is too small to make any money given the needed repairs. I have also heard stories of gators wandering into the swimming lagoon of RC while guests were in it!

That's really interesting... hadn't heard that. So all those years that RC was in operation, I wonder if they were having some reported deaths that they linked back to the water or if it was just a preemptive closing? I spent A LOT of time at RC when we stayed at Ft Wilderness as a kid.

 

[Todd_H]

Definitely back in the dark days of Disney. Imagineering gone amuck! I think the person that thought that up produced the Black Cauldron!

Or "Ernest Scared Stupid"

 

[Amy]

I have to chime in! Here's a photo from Disneyland in 1963 - I was 4 years old, and my brother was 8. Love the hands on the dwarf! (And look at my awful haircut! My mom used to cut my bangs, and they'd always be crooked and she'd try to get them straight and they'd get shorter and shorter......)

Needless to say, I don't remember a thing from that trip, way too young. Didn't visit a Disney park again for a long time - WDW in the early '80s.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

WAW that disney castle is insane! Vere neat, tho I won't lie I like the original better that's incredible, thank you for sharing!

 

[ukcatfan]

That's really interesting... hadn't heard that. So all those years that RC was in operation, I wonder if they were having some reported deaths that they linked back to the water or if it was just a preemptive closing? I spent A LOT of time at RC when we stayed at Ft Wilderness as a kid.

I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, but they supposedly closed it with plans to just keep it closed for a couple years to refurb it. B/c the other water parks were doing so well, the funds kept getting delayed until more years had passed. Around that same time, the amoeba scare really came to light in the media. While the risk at RC is probably so minimal that it would not need to be addressed, they knew the media would slam them for ignoring it, so now it is "permanently" temporarily closed.

The amoeba also affects water sports in FL. It only grows in shallow calm waters, so when doing water sports in FL, stay in the deeper areas of the lake. It enters through the nose, so it is pretty easy to get infected if the water is splashed up in your face (i.e. spray from water skiing, jet skis, boats, etc) Oh, and gators also like to lurk in calm shallow waters as well...

As for gators at WDW, I believe the un-official length is around 5-6 feet before they even try to do anything about them. The little ones are too hard to catch anyway.

 

[jann1033]

That's really interesting... hadn't heard that. So all those years that RC was in operation, I wonder if they were having some reported deaths that they linked back to the water or if it was just a preemptive closing? I spent A LOT of time at RC when we stayed at Ft Wilderness as a kid.

i remember a number of yrs ago a child got grabbed( but survived) by a gator feeding ducks or fish or something similar in Fort Wilderness...it scared me since we tent camped there and i try to avoid areas with predators when i am sleeping in a cloth tent that doesn't afford a whole lot of protection. i had assumed they kept them out somehow but last time i asked they told me any over 4 feet get moved to a part of the grounds that are undeveloped. ot but i just don't get it with swimming, i've see people including kids in swimming with gators floating only a few feet away( ie think it's called blue hole state park, blue something anyway, they have manatees there as well)

 

[jann1033]

(And look at my awful haircut! My mom used to cut my bangs, and they'd always be crooked and she'd try to get them straight and they'd get shorter and shorter......)

.

my mon gave me those bangs too except my normally straight hair had frizzy pseudo curls from bobby pins. talk about traumatizing your kid..
however thinking the Disney costume dept has gotten a little better at their task over the yrs wonder how many kids had nightmares after grabbing that dead hand

 

[Dis-Wiz]

Another castle cake! My sister and I's first visit was with a castle cake...

Little did my sister know she'd be working there 11 years later....