Pictures of things No Longer Seen at WDW

[amandals2007]

View attachment 79492

that was the first castle i ever got to see. everyone thinks its ugly but i just love it, especially since its my first memory of my most favorite place on earth.

 

[Geoff_M]

Yes, they were definitely around in 1999. That was when I did my college program. They were there then, in fact, they were shut down while I was on my college program. I remember a CM died while cleaning them or servicing them when they began operating unexpectedly (my memory could be a bit foggy but there was definitely an incident). They were shut down not too long after that incident. I'm not sure that that the death was the reason they were shut down, but it couldn't have helped.

The CM that died was sweeping up trash in the narrow trench where the gondolas exited the loading station when the park wasn't open, and the ride was started. As a gondola reached him, (to prevent it running over him) he chose to grab on to the outside with the apparent thought that he'd try to climb inside of it as it rose off the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to climb inside and his grip eventually gave away. IIRC, he landed in some landscaping (which he might have opted for in the thought that it might have softened his landing) and was seriously injured and died as a result. I believe that WDW was later found to have violated occupational safety rules and fined for not having proper "lock out" procedures in place to prevent someone starting the ride while a worker was in a vulnerable position.

As for the reason of the Skyway's demise, it's often said that the ADA was a key reason as Disney would have spent large sums of money making the ride ADA-compliant the next time they refurbished it, but that theory's been shown to be incorrect as the attraction would be "grandfathered". In the end, the only real likely reason is the one stated in the Yesterland link: It was a slow-loading, expensive attraction to operate. It's demise also probably removed the headache of having people constantly dropping things, or spitting, from the gondolas (be honest, pretty much every kid that rode this ride without adult supervision did this at least once in their youth!)

I also recall that Disney ran into another problem in the dismantling process: the reason that the "tower" poles remained in place for so long after the rest of the ride was gone was due to the discovery of them being painted with lead-based paint and required proper environmental abatement before they could be removed.

 

[uberman6191]

Castle with gold characters for Disneyland 50th Anniversary
Everest under construction.

 

[JimmyV]

View attachment 80835 Everest under construction.

This one should be disqualified. Cranes are definitely something that you can see today at Disney World!!

 

[Murron]

There was once a preshow before Honey I Shrunk the Audience that used the song True Colors. It was sponsored by Kodak and we always liked it more than the main show itself. I wonder how many remember it?

I don't have pictures and couldn't find much except this:

I loved this pre show.....still have that song on my iTunes. =)

 

[W.E.D.]

The "old school" version of a Fireworks Cruise:

Wow! Didn't know that ever existed. AND, the entire family for $10. That would probably be $500 today.

 

[Murron]

View attachment 80511 Pre-Donald

I really miss this!! I just never enjoyed the new version of the ride with Donald. The old ride was so pretty and romantic.

 

[OKW Lover]

Before Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory.....before Dreamflight.....before the Timekeeper......there was:

"America The Beautiful" in CircleVision 360

Just to be clear, Dreamflight was never in this space. Dream flight was over where Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin is now. Before it was Dream Flight, it was "If you had Wings" sponsored by Eastern Airlines.

 

[JimmyV]

Just to be clear, Dreamflight was never in this space. Dream flight was over where Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin is now. Before it was Dream Flight, it was "If you had Wings" sponsored by Eastern Airlines.

Yes. I meant to write "Timekeeper." Oops.

 

[OKW Lover]

I miss Timekeeper

 

[SparkleMommy]

Step into the the Cinema for a short spell and cool off while watching Mickey and Charlie Chaplin...

That would have been awesome!!

 

[BattyKoda]

No. The whole "poacher" theme has been eliminated. Now, it is more of just a "guided tour" without a fictional sub-plot. From Wikipedia (So you know it is true...)

"On February 10, 2012 it was announced that the "Little Red" portion of the ride would be replaced with a zebra exhibit. It opened in the fall of 2012."

My daughter loved that part of the tour, she'll be disappointed when it doesn't happen again.

This is a great thread, but it's making me doubt how much I will enjoy this next trip when i see how many things I used loved that have since been replaced. I didn't notice so much the last time we were there because I was mostly watching though my daughter's eyes, but when we got back my wife and I were like, did we miss .....?

Going to be tough to replace some of these memories. This is a thread that someone at Disney needs to look at.

 

[MIGrandma]

Just went through all 31 pages, love this thread!!

My first visit was in 1973 so I remember a lot of what has been posted/talked about and so many things I do miss.

I may be in the minority but I liked the castle decorated like a cake.

Loved the photo of the castle all toilet papered!!

 

[andreajanowiak]

Mickey Hand on Spaceship Earth



Yellow Mickey ponchos and ((possibly)) Honey I Shrunk the Kids



Creepy masquerade people wandering around World Showcase

 

[mcd2745]

Came across this creepy picture! I guess the Tremaines weren't always "face" characters.

Anyone ever see a move called "The Strangers" (do a Google Images search of 'the strangers movie')? I think this picture may have been the inspiration for the movie.

 

[JimmyV]

 

[BayouMickey]

Want to get all gooey inside? Watch this....

 

[BayouMickey]

More:

 

[BayouMickey]

Last One.. I promise!

 

[L&Lfan]

Don't you think the 1980 promo was a bit hokey? That song! Today's advertising is more hip hop, youth oriented. Times change.