I had thought for my next Thoughts While Watching entry I would look for something back in the early days of Disneyland again. But during my search I came up the 1993 Walt Disney World vacation planning video, and doesn’t that just sound fun?
1993! I mean, the fashion alone should be worth the price of admission! Do you think Eisner insisted someone perform a freestyle rap? I can only hope.
Come along with me on this 45 minute journey to the perfect early nineties Disney trip. Was it really simpler back in the day? Even I’m surprised by how much I had to say about this one, so strap in for…
48 Thoughts I Had While Watching The 1993 Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Video
1. Delta Airlines was part of this? That must’ve been a great get for their marketing department.
2. This “Be Our Guest” remix holds up shockingly well.
3. Awww, I miss Spectromagic.
4. I didn’t even know Mickey could wink.
5. Is that Eisner, or just a guy that sounds like Eisner? It’s like a mix between him and Jim Cummings. Do you think that’s why Eisner hired him?
6. Hey, Discovery Island was still a thing back then!
7. More costumed characters should waterski.
8. So far this is surprisingly timeless. I’m disappointed.
9. Roger Rabbit still had cache in ’93, I take it.
10. Wait, where in the Haunted Mansion cemetery is there a skull xylophone? I MUST FIND IT.
11. This Man on the Street approach is strangely endearing. I wish more people were wearing funny ’90s outfits though.
12. Right, Mickey’s Starland! That was a thing, I hear.
13. I’m genuinely bummed I missed out on Dreamflight. I’m a sucker for an old-fashioned dark ride.
14. I legit just rewound the video to try and figure out who the percussionist is with the exploding straw hat and I still have no idea.
15. I know I already mentioned Spectromagic but BRING IT BACK, DISNEY. I liked it even better than the Main Street Electrical Parade, myself.
16. “The Disney Studios”? Not Disney-MGM Studios? Interesting.
17. Streetmosphere BETTER come back.
18. Ah, good, some hella high ponytail/massive scrunchie combos. That’s more like it.
19. From now on I am referring to all Starspeeders as airplanes.
20. Superstar Television and Monster Sound Show are some other ones I missed. They look… fine. Martin Short has gotten a lot of mileage out theme park jobs.
21. YES. Thank you, Patrick Swayze cosplayer. That’s the floppy-hair-muscle-tank look I’ve been missing.
22. Awww, I DID do the backstage tour. I know it was a shell of its former self by the time it closed, but I still miss it.
23. That lady has HAD IT with Catastrophe Canyon.
24. NO NO NO NO NO HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS NOOOOO. That movie always conceptually terrified me as a kid. I would leave the room if so much as a trailer for it came on. I still haven’t seen it.
25. … Why are the Ninja Turtles here, exactly?
26. Excellent hot pink sweatband, Fireworks Descriptor Girl. You’re pulling your weight.
27. AHHHHHH I MISS OLD SCHOOL EPCOT. 🙁 I still love Epcot but also WAHHHHHHHHHH. 🙁 🙁 🙁
28. I’ve never personally dropped acid but I but based on what I know about the experience it would be terrifying if you did it in Kitchen Kabaret.
29. OH MY GOD ORIGINAL FIGMENT AND DREAMFINDER MY HEART IS GOING TO EXPLOOOOOOODE!!!!
30. Captain EO was an absurdist masterpiece and I miss it every day.
31. That’s a hard no on Body Wars from me. I refused when we went in 1998. It’s not the motion, it’s the inside-the-body bit. I wouldn’t tolerate it in the Magic School Bus let alone theme parks.
32. I would give you a kajillion dollars if we could swap Test Track to get World of Motion back. Another one I never rode but proper dark ride = BETTER.
33. Italian Baryshnikov says: I shall tell everyone in Italy about Florida!
34. Good ol’ Maelstrom. Never forget.
35. Hold up, that girl has one of those padded headbands that’s in right now. Time traveler?
36. I have still never been to a Disney waterpark. Or swum in a pool. Hot tubs, yes.
37. I don’t care about golf, but I can tell you that is the quintessential golf guy, from the outfit to the stance.
38. Were people really that excited about Fake New Year’s Eve at Pleasure Island? Follow up question: why?
39. OHHHH, that girl is wearing enormous novelty sunglasses. I thought for sure they were enormous cat ears.
40. I would give you a second kajillion dollars to bring back Adventurer’s Club. I never went, but I WANNA.
41. That Cinderella Castle hotel room view is IMPOSSIBLE. Nice try, Pinocchio.
42. When we went to Walt Disney World in 1998, we stayed at the Econo Lodge. My parents are anhedonic.
43. Oh, I’ve heard of these Mythic Disney Village. Looks boring.
44. Nice fanny pack, buddy. No, wait, those are back in, too. Dang cyclical fashion.
45. YES TO THE LEOPARD PRINT BODYSUIT SPANDEX WORKOUT OUTFIT. I feel better now.
46. “Come in the fall when it’s cool and there aren’t any lines.” Not a time traveler.
47. Hang on, it was actually called the Super Duper Pass? I thought that guy was joking.
48. All roads lead to Walt Disney World! Or anyway they do when I’m driving.
Ah, good times, good times. Kinda makes me want a time machine – can you imagine how a modern Disney parks pro could beast ’90s WDW?
Say, that reminds me – I still have a few park planning DVDs myself from the mid-to-late 2000s. Could be worth a spin through the Thoughts While Watching format one of these days. But not just yet; tune in next time for more early Disneyland history!
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