Sunday, October 16, 2011

1984 WDW Pictorial Souvenir

The years between the Tencennial and 15 Years of Magic (where this and the 1986 edition of this guide fall) are probably my favorite years for Walt Disney World.  During this time EPCOT was going full blast while the Magic Kingdom and the rest of the property still retained all of their original simplistic charm and had yet to be Eisnerized.


The simple pleasures of Main Street USA: the flower market on Center Street (I miss you), a firehouse band, a game of checkers at the Main Street Market House, and the vocal stylings of the Dapper Dans barbershop quartet.

One of Mike Fink's Keelboats ply the Rivers of America.

This page was mainly scanned for the very moody shot of the Nautilus traversing its lagoon through the mist.

The beautiful entry plaza before those monolithic monstrosities (Leave A Legacy) were erected.

Nothing was as exciting as visiting the cavernous World Key Information Center to make dining reservations via video conference.  The 21st century looked promising.

The Universe of Energy "(Top) The never-ending flow of energy is symbolized in the preshow, where not only the images on the screen but the screen itself is in constant motion."


The quiet joy of Discovery Island.  Half the fun of Discovery Island was the fact that it was an island and you could only get there by launch.


The Golf Resort Hotel was by far the most boring name for a Disney resort.  By the 1986 edition of the Pictorial Souvenir the name would be changed to the Disney Inn and then in the 90's it would be leased to the US military as the Shades of Green military resort.

Now the location of Saratoga Springs.

The large image here is spectacular as it shows the Empress Lilly at the end of civilization.  There's no Pleasure Island or West Side cluttering the horizon only the great woodsy atmosphere of the Walt Disney World Village.  The small top right photo (and the shop it pictures) would be replaced in the 1986 edition of the book by one of Mickey's Character Shop.

Most fun of all was a glimpse at upcoming attractions.

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