The 90s weren’t THAT long ago, right?….Throwback Trip Reports! (Updated 9/2 - 2006 Trip)

[precious pixie]

I love that you are doing this! It's so fun to see pics of Disney back then. I totally agree about it being more green. I really fell in love with the Boardwalk in the early 2000s, like all things it has changed so much

 

[Wood Nymph]

I remember the hub with all the trees. I like the new hub layout better than the old. It is easier to get around when there is a parade or fireworks.

2013 was the year we bought our first annual pass. We hadn't been frequent WDW visitors before that. Now I'm slightly addicted.

 

[cassidy57]

I am loving this throw back report!!!!!!!!!! The Good Ol Days, lol.

 

[VAtink]

I love that you have all these old photos to go through - thanks for sharing them! I'm not a morning person so rarely made rope drop but that show at the train station was super cute. I have to say, I miss the old color scheme for the castle. I much prefer the gray to the pink hues. The trees and green spaces were nice ... now it's just wall-to-wall people. Looking forward to your "retro" pictures from the other parks!

I miss the old color scheme on the castle as well, I think the old one looked more classy than the current one. It is funny you mention the crowds today, the one thing that really stood out to me going through these old photos is how empty the parks looked!

Really enjoying this!

Thank you!

I love that you are doing this! It's so fun to see pics of Disney back then. I totally agree about it being more green. I really fell in love with the Boardwalk in the early 2000s, like all things it has changed so much

Thank you! It is wild how much has changed, and how much of it I had completely forgotten about.

I remember the hub with all the trees. I like the new hub layout better than the old. It is easier to get around when there is a parade or fireworks.

2013 was the year we bought our first annual pass. We hadn't been frequent WDW visitors before that. Now I'm slightly addicted.

The treeless hub is definitely better for fireworks viewing, but I do miss the shade from the trees.

I hear you on the addiction, every year we talk about where we want to visit, and it always ends up being Disney!

I am loving this throw back report!!!!!!!!!! The Good Ol Days, lol.

Thank you!

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 7: Wild Africa Trek!​

We were up again early this morning, today we had to get to AK nice and early for our tour: The Wild Africa Trek!

We booked the earliest one, which I believe was at 8 or 8:30 AM at that point.

Once checked in we had to put all our loose items in lockers, anything we brought with us had to be secured to our vest via carabiners, which turned out to be a slight issue later, but we’ll get to that.

We then got fitted to our safety harness before heading to a waiting area for everyone else on the tour to arrive. We also got our water bottles for the journey, which we were a tad afraid to use. So leading up to this trip I had been reading reports here on the Dis about this tour, and SO many people were getting sick afterwards. A lot of people thought that there was something in the water bottles they gave us, so when we got ours I was a bit hesitant to drink out of it, but I’m happy to say that it was fine!

Now unfortunately this day was the peak day of the tropical storm, so it was pouring all day long, but fortunately no lightning, so the tour still went on.



Eventually everyone showed up and got set up for the tour, and before heading out we took a group picture!



We then headed off on the tour. It was a pretty short walk to our first animal viewing area, it was backstage, but all through the woods so it didn’t really feel backstage.

Our first stop was the Hippos!





Here our harnesses got tethered to a rail so we could go right up to the edge to look down on them. It was really cool! One of their keepers was there with food to feed them so they would get nice and close to us.



One of the CM guides was there to basically just take pictures of the group, which we loved, especially since my camera battery died soon after starting the tour and of course my spare battery was locked up in the locker! Doh!

We spent quite a bit of time at the hippo area, the guides were amazing, they took time with each party to answer questions and just chat about all things Disney.

After leaving the hippo area we walked further through the woods until we got to the big scary bridges.



These weren’t actually all that scary since you are tethered to the line above, and as rickety as they look they were more sturdy underfoot than expected.

Next up: Wild Africa Trek Part 2!​

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 8: Wild Africa Trek Part 2!​

At these bridges they kept us super spaced out, basically two people on the bridge at a time, more so I think to get pictures of that person without others really in it, so we did appreciate that!







There were multiple sets of bridges to cross, the last went over the crocodiles.



Here’s a shot of our CM guides they took, they were all so great!



Once over that last bridge we got tethered back again to get up close to the crocs!

Before leaving that area we got another shot of the group, a bit more waterlogged at this point!



Next up we made our way to a safari vehicle to head out to the savanna!

My camera was totally dead at this point so I’m using mostly pictures the CM took, which thankfully were many!





Once out on the savanna we pulled off to the side to just sit and watch the animals. This was amazing, especially since a giraffe came to investigate us! (I was SO mad my camera was dead at this point!) The giraffe actually poked his head into the truck, right next to my parents, I’m so mad I didn’t get a picture!

The CM did get a pictures of us though, a bit after the giraffe had moved on, you can see it in the background.



Next up: Wild Africa Trek Part 3!​

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 9: Wild Africa Trek Part 3!​

After spending some time parked out on the savanna, we made our way over to the boma for lunch.

Here each party had an assigned table with tiffins of food waiting for them.



The food was really good! The tiffin had three layers of containers with food, each with something different. It was such a unique lunch, and the food was really tasty!

We spent a while at the boma, having plenty of time to go to the lookouts to watch the animals.





After lunch we got back into the truck and finished the safari.





It was such a great tour and I would 100% do it again.

At the end the CMs took a picture of themselves for us to remember them!



Next up: June 2013 Part 10: Animal Kingdom!​

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 10: Animal Kingdom!​

After wrapping up at the Wild Africa Trek we were sufficiently soaked, so we figured since we couldn’t get any wetter, we might as well go ride Kali!

It was, as expected, a very wet ride.

After Kali we headed back to Africa to ride the safari!





It was cool seeing the areas we had been earlier that morning on the tour, but from the other side!

After the safari we were ready to get out of the rain for a bit, so headed over to Dinosaur!



We then made our way over to Everest, taking pictures on the way.



Everest was a blast as always! We enjoyed it so much we rode it twice!



After Everest we decided to walk the Gorilla Falls trail.





One benefit to the constant rain was there was hardly anyone else there, it’s so nice having these trails to yourself!





It appears I stopped and got a drink at some point before the trail

Before leaving Africa we had to get a picture of my dad next to the Bob’s tours sign, his name is Bob.



We took a few more pictures around the park before heading out for the day.

Next up: Monsieur Paul​

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 11: Monsieur Paul​

After the Animal Kingdom we made our way back to the BC. What would become tradition this trip, I came back to my room to find some fun towel animals!



Every day I would come home to more of these, by the end of the week they had taken over half of the room!

This day they left me a birthday cake with my birthday button, you can see the elephant from the previous day in the background, the Mickey, and the baby duck also on the bed.

We had some downtime this afternoon before having to get ready for dinner.

This evening we were heading into Epcot for dinner at Monsieur Paul!

Once ready we headed out and into Epcot. We of course got pictures on the way in.



Thankfully the rain stopped for a bit this evening so we didn’t get drenched heading into Epcot!

Dinner here was amazing, we all LOVED our food. My dad still talks about his fish, although mostly he talks about his dessert!





I got the duck here, which is something I would never normally order, but our server convinced me, and it was so good!

Here I got another special birthday dessert, but I guess when mom booked this she gave them her name instead of mine since her name is written on the plate! Oops!




I have no idea what this is, but it looks so good!





After dinner we went to explore some of the countries in WS.









We had a nice relaxing evening strolling around WS and catching Illuminations before heading back to the BC to sleep. Once again we had an early morning and needed to get to bed early!

Next up: Surfing at Typhoon Lagoon!​

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 12: Surfing at Typhoon Lagoon!​

This morning we got up so ridiculously early. We were doing the pre-park opening surfing at Typhoon Lagoon, and the arrival time for check-in was at like 5:30am!

Since Uber wasn’t really a thing at this point (think it had just started, but I knew nothing of it yet), we scheduled a taxi to pick us up at the front desk the night beforehand.

Only my mom and I were surfing this morning, but they let my dad come in to get pictures and videos of us which was so nice, although in the end he got pictures and videos of pretty much everyone BUT my mom and I!

We arrived a few minutes early, and they kept us all out front until everyone showed up, so I spent the time trying to figure out what the flags spelled over the entrance. I quickly figured it out and told my mom. The CM overhead me and made a comment that I must be a sailor to know the letters of the flags, but nope, I told her I was an engineer and I just used logic. (it spells Typhoon Lagoon btw, easy to figure out once I saw the double o’s in each word).

After everyone arrived we were brought inside. We went over the rules first and I’m pretty sure signed waivers.

Once all that was done we got right into the training. We started off on land practicing pop ups. We each took a few turns, getting coached throughout.

Finally it was time for the water! They had three types of boards the use, the really big ones that were easier to ride, the mid size ones which was a bit harder, and then the small ones which were the hardest. We all started with the big easy ones.

They had two people go at a time, and each person had a CM with them in the water to help hold the board while waiting for the wave and to give pointers. After you rode the wave from the first station, you were able to swim back out to the second station and go again right away before having to get back in line.

You also could pick between the big wave and the small one, I started out on the small, but realized that it was actually easier to surf on the big wave, think the extra speed made it more stable kinda like a bike (not me flashing back to the time I forgot to unclip from the pedals before I got too slow and tipped over )

This was soooo much fun! I got up a handful of times, but didn’t stay up for long. I also found the medium sized board was easier for me to ride, the bigger one for some reason just didn’t work for me.

https://flic.kr/p/2pZ4oys

Great video of me totally wiping out!

As time went on most people got tired and stopped trying, but my mom and I apparently don’t give up easily, so by the end we were the only two still surfing.

The main trainer even told me that I should really consider trying surfing at home since she thought I’d be really good at it with enough practice. Sadly we don’t have many waves on the Potomac and an actual beach with waves is well over an hour away!

We loved every minute of this, I would definitely do it again, even with the ridiculously early morning!

At the end we were able to get pictures with our instructors.



After the training we spent the morning at Typhoon Lagoon!



This picture cracks me up, so my mom had a water bottle in her hand, and you can’t bring water bottles into the water, which the photopass photographer told her as we got set for the picture, so all my mom did was hide the bottle behind me!

After finishing up at Typhoon Lagoon, dad headed back to the hotel to rest and mom and I headed to Downtown Disney. Well sort of. We took a bus to Saratoga so we could walk there. I figured it would be easy, we had stayed there previously when it was the Disney Institute.

Well, I was wrong. I got us so lost! We were wandering around forever until we finally found the path to Downtown Disney!

Once there we did a quick trip to the World of Disney before hopping on a bus back to the BC for some much needed rest.

I’m not sure what we did for dinner, I’m guessing we just ate at the pool. That evening we went to Jellyrolls!

PICTURE!!!!!

Next up: Epcot, again!​

 

[Wood Nymph]

You have a really good memory.

I hear you on the addiction, every year we talk about where we want to visit, and it always ends up being Disney!

We have taken two non-Disney vacations this year, one to California and one to Maine. Both required rental cars. I realized that one of the nice things about a trip to WDW is not having to rent a car.

After leaving the hippo area we walked further through the woods until we got to the big scary bridges.

Those are totally scary looking but also very cool.

The giraffe actually poked his head into the truck, right next to my parents, I’m so mad I didn’t get a picture!

That would have been a great picture.

It was such a great tour and I would 100% do it again.

I don't think they have changed it much over the years.

After wrapping up at the Wild Africa Trek we were sufficiently soaked, so we figured since we couldn’t get any wetter, we might as well go ride Kali!

It was, as expected, a very wet ride.

That's the best time to ride Kali.

Everest was a blast as always! We enjoyed it so much we rode it twice!

Do they run this ride when it is raining?

Dinner here was amazing, we all LOVED our food. My dad still talks about his fish, although mostly he talks about his dessert!

I've heard lots of good things about the food. It is convenient to the BC, too.

This morning we got up so ridiculously early. We were doing the pre-park opening surfing at Typhoon Lagoon, and the arrival time for check-in was at like 5:30am!

I remember the surfing lessons. But that is really early.

The main trainer even told me that I should really consider trying surfing at home since she thought I’d be really good at it with enough practice. Sadly we don’t have many waves on the Potomac and an actual beach with waves is well over an hour away!

You'll just have to plan a trip to Hawaii.

 

[VAtink]

You have a really good memory.

Haha, thanks! It helps having all the pictures to jog my memory!

We have taken two non-Disney vacations this year, one to California and one to Maine. Both required rental cars. I realized that one of the nice things about a trip to WDW is not having to rent a car.

This is so true! As someone who hates driving, this is a massive bonus to me!

Those are totally scary looking but also very cool.

Yeah, they did a great job making them look unsafe!

That would have been a great picture.

Right? I'm so mad my battery died so early on!

I don't think they have changed it much over the years.

From what I've seen it's pretty much the same. I want to do it again one of these days, but there are so many other things we want to try first!

That's the best time to ride Kali.

Haha, right?

Do they run this ride when it is raining?

They do, and it really really hurts when the rain hits your face going at speed!

I've heard lots of good things about the food. It is convenient to the BC, too.

The food here is so good, I can't wait to go back. Right now I'm planning on it for my birthday dinner next June!

I remember the surfing lessons. But that is really early.

Yeah, it was so ridiculously early. Fortunately at that time I was rowing still so was used to being up at 4:30 in the morning, so it wasn't super bad, but for vacation it was still rough!

You'll just have to plan a trip to Hawaii.

I do! The last time I went I was like 12, so it's been some time. I would love to do surf lessons there!

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 13: Epcot, Again!​

This morning dad wasn’t feeling great, think he may have drank too much at Jellyrolls the night beforehand, so mom and I headed off to Epcot without him.

On the way in we of course took pictures!


We get this shot every trip! Here's the one from our most recent trip!










I can't get over how empty Epcot looked!

Now, this trip was right before the switch to FP+, so we still had to go to the machines, put our tickets in to get the paper FP with the return time.

We knew we wanted to ride Soarin’ later that day, so mom and I had taken my dads ticket with us so we could get us all FP for the ride. So after getting pictures mom and I went to Soarin and put in our tickets to get our paper FP. FP in hand we moved on, at this point not realizing the problem.

After a while we wanted to go check on my dad so headed out.

I found a new towel animal waiting for me.



We took a quick break, and dad was feeling better, so we all headed back to Epcot.

Our first stop was the Disney Visa character meet.



We then headed over to Soarin to use our FP, but when we went to check in, the CM said that my dad wasn’t eligible. What?!?!

Oh, goodness, we were dumb. We completely forgot that in order to get a FP, each person had to have scanned into the park, and since dad stayed at the hotel that morning, when we put his ticket into the FP machine, the ticket it spit out basically said it wasn’t valid, but we didn’t look at it so totally didn’t realize.

We explained this to the CM, since mom and I had valid ones and frankly it’s a dumb rule, and fortunately he let us all through, but warned us not to do it again. Obviously we wouldn’t, we just totally forgot that dad had to have entered the park to get a FP.

After the ride we made our way back to the UK to check in for our dinner reservation at Rose and Crown!



So back then they didn’t have the fireworks package, so if you wanted to get a fireworks view while eating you basically had to book a good time and hope for the best! We did get lucky and got a table on the edge, but since it was raining (this tropical storm just did not want to leave) the plastic was down over the openings so not the best view at first.

Fortunately, by the time the fireworks started the rain had paused so they could roll up the plastic!



The fireworks were great, I miss Illuminations. After the show the park was closed, so we finished our drinks and started to make our way out. We were almost at the IG when we suddenly realized we left our souvenir glass back at the table, so my dad ran back to see if he could get them. They ended up being amazing, they had already cleared the table, but ran upstairs and gave him two brand new ones! Yay!

Next up: Dolphins in Depth!​

 

[VAtink]

June 2013 Part 14: Dolphins in Depth!​

This morning we were heading back to Epcot, this time for our new tour, Dolphins in Depth!

We, as always, took pictures on the way in.





We met up at the front of the park with the rest of the tour participants, and were lead backstage to a sort of classroom where we were given an overview of dolphins by the trainers and were able to ask questions. We also went over the rules of the tour.

Our next stop was the on stage area of the seas in front of the dolphin tank where one of the trainers went into more detail about the dolphin there, and showed us some of the tricks they could do.

We were next bought backstage again where we donned wetsuits, turned in any jewelry and hair ties, and those with long hair were given these special hair ties to put our hair up so the dolphins didn’t grab it accidentally.

It was finally time to get into the tank!

We were brought up to the top where we got in. There was a small platform about 3ft under water we were to stand on. It was soo slippery!

They started off by having the dolphins come over and the trainers would make certain hand motions to make them do tricks, and then the trainers taught us some of the hand motions and each of us got to make a dolphin do a trick! The one I got to do was the sprinkler, basically made the dolphin spray water like a sprinkler!

After going through the tricks we were allowed to get pictures with them, if they wanted to. Fortunately, today the dolphins wanted to (or at least did not protest).

It was super cool being able to touch them, although we were told there were only certain parts of their body we were allowed to touch. It didn’t matter though, it was just so cool to interact with them that way, and they were just so amazing!



After the tour we made our way back to the BC to shower and rest a bit. I came back to find yet another towel animal on my bed!



Next up: More Epcot!​

 

[Wood Nymph]

I found a new towel animal waiting for me.

The elephant is one of my favorite towel animals. They were fun to get but I never knew what to do with them.

We completely forgot that in order to get a FP, each person had to have scanned into the park, and since dad stayed at the hotel that morning, when we put his ticket into the FP machine, the ticket it spit out basically said it wasn’t valid, but we didn’t look at it so totally didn’t realize.

That was really nice of the CM to let your dad on the ride.

The fireworks were great, I miss Illuminations.

I miss the music. It was my favorite part.

his morning we were heading back to Epcot, this time for our new tour, Dolphins in Depth!

The dolphin encounter sounds like a lot of fun. I was always surprised that Disney offered this tour. The tank is a closed environment, and a lot of things can happen when multiple people are introduced to it.

 

[VAtink]

The elephant is one of my favorite towel animals. They were fun to get but I never knew what to do with them.

I loved them all, it was so fun to come back to the room every day to find a new one! Luckily on this trip I had my own room, and I guess when mousekeeping realized the second bed wasn't being used they decided to start a towel animal collection!

That was really nice of the CM to let your dad on the ride.

Yeah, he gave us a hard time at first, but it really was an honest mistake so I'm glad he let us all on!

I miss the music. It was my favorite part.

Me too! That and the Tapestry of Nations music. I've heard that when they bring the barges out for Luminous the play the Tapestry of Nations music, I'm going to have to figure out when this happens because I would love to hear it in the park again!

The dolphin encounter sounds like a lot of fun. I was always surprised that Disney offered this tour. The tank is a closed environment, and a lot of things can happen when multiple people are introduced to it. I don't think they have it anymore.

It was so cool, although more educational than other places where you spend a lot more time interacting with the dolphins. I didn't realize they didn't have it anymore, that's too bad, we really did enjoy it and would definitely do it again at some point!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I just did the Dolphin Encounter a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Such a fun experience! What I would give to have just one more Illuminations viewing. Sigh. I miss it so much. I used to see it as many times during vacation as possible - sometimes popping into EPCOT just to see it (perk of Yacht/Beach Club stays!). Now I don't care if I see the EP fireworks at all. At least it opens up a lot more dining options as I'm not strategizing how to get to World Showcase by 9. I haven't been to Rose and Crown in ages. Last time I looked they'd pared the menu down so much it was a bit underwhelming, but I suppose most people only order the fish and chips or cottage pie anyway. Still haven't gotten myself to Monsieur Paul -- must fix this! Crossing my fingers the French Family Meal returns for F&W!

 

[Wood Nymph]

It was so cool, although more educational than other places where you spend a lot more time interacting with the dolphins. I didn't realize they didn't have it anymore, that's too bad, we really did enjoy it and would definitely do it again at some point!

I was wrong - they still have the Dolphin Encounter. I didn't realize that they had brought it back after the Covid closures.

 

[VAtink]

I just did the Dolphin Encounter a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Such a fun experience! What I would give to have just one more Illuminations viewing. Sigh. I miss it so much. I used to see it as many times during vacation as possible - sometimes popping into EPCOT just to see it (perk of Yacht/Beach Club stays!). Now I don't care if I see the EP fireworks at all. At least it opens up a lot more dining options as I'm not strategizing how to get to World Showcase by 9. I haven't been to Rose and Crown in ages. Last time I looked they'd pared the menu down so much it was a bit underwhelming, but I suppose most people only order the fish and chips or cottage pie anyway. Still haven't gotten myself to Monsieur Paul -- must fix this! Crossing my fingers the French Family Meal returns for F&W!

Seriously, I miss Illuminations so much! I agree, Luminous just doesn't draw me into the park like Illuminations did, we always made sure to check out Illuminations, with Luminous we don't care if we miss it.

Last time we ate at Rose and Crown the menu was super limited, but it was still tasty at least!

At this point I'm starting to think that the special events aren't coming back for F&W. I really don't understand why they wouldn't bring them back, the ones we did were always sold out, so I can't imagine they weren't making money off of them!

 

[VAtink]

Quick update from 2013, I found the park maps and times guides! It's super interesting to see the hours and entertainment that they used to have back then! Also, maybe I'm just not familiar with the character meets these days, but it looks like they had a lot more character meets in the parks back then too!

Animal Kingdom pre Tiffins/Nomad


Downtown Disney - don't like they called it Pleasure Island when it was not the REAL Pleasure Island. I miss the real one!


Epcot - I'm shocked that Les Halles was new this year, I always thought it had been around forever!


Hollywood Studios


Magic Kingdom - wow, 11pm and midnight closings? I miss those days! (and a spoiler for the 2006 trip, midnight isn't even that late compared to previous years, in 2006 the park closed one night at 4am! )
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