1996 Inaugural Indy 200 Brochure

Ah, remember those exciting days in the mid-nineties when Disney thought it would be a good idea to try and attract a whole new demographic of people to their Florida property?  Can you imagine sitting in on those meetings?  "Hey gang,  there's all those people who like to go to Daytona for races.  What do you think we can do to get them to come and spend money here?"  "What if we built a racetrack in the Magic Kingdom parking lot and then built some whimsical (tacky) inexpensive hotels for them to stay at?"  I worked in Tickets at the Studios during this time.  Conveniently the "Inaugural" race was held in January to also capitalize on the Florida resident ticket specials that Disney still had at that time.  I don't have any insight into how the race went.  The guests, however, were not what Disney hoped for.  I hesitate to stereotype an entire demographic so to be nice we'll say they were very "budget conscious".  They bought the cheap park tickets (if they visited the parks at all, which many chose to not).  They did not treat the new All Star Resort well and from a front line cast perspective they were overall not pleasant to deal with.  The event lasted through 2000 but the track remains.

Fantasia Gardens Revisited

I recently made my second trip to Fantasia Gardens for some miniture golf.  I actually managed to end one stroke above par even with all the distractions of taking pictures.  Perhaps one of these days I'll go during the day instead of at dusk.

Singapore Sal's Saleable Salvage

Another new and old comparison today.  Not much has changed at Sal's over the years.  A few minor adjustments to the sign and props have taken place and the merchandise inside has gotten a lot more boring.

The first two pictures are newish, the last two are from 1990.

Notice there a fewer props on the roof and there is a shark bite out of the surfboard "Souvenirs" sign.

Magic Linkdom Brochure

Throw on your plaid pants and grab your clubs, it's time for some golf!

Humonga Kowabunga

This slide used to scare the crap out of me as I suffer from acrophobia.  This was back in the days before they enclosed the upper parts of the slides in tubes.  In the olden days of Typhoon Lagoon, the slides were completely open to the air and when you sat down at the top of the slide to await the go signal it was like sitting on the edge of a cliff.

The first three pictures below are from the last couple of years.  The fourth and final picture is from some time between 1989 and 1991 and shows the slides before the installation of the tubes.