Hello and welcome back to Thoughts While Watching, the blog series where we watch old-to-oldish Disney media and watch with modern eyes. Sometimes we cringe; sometimes we applaud; either way it’s always interesting and edifying!
We’re not going back too far in time for today’s entry – only a couple decades, in fact. Let’s take in the 1994 Walt Disney World vacation planning video! After all, we’ve already covered the same from 1993. What fresh pleasures has a new year brought us?
PICTURE IT: YOUR DISNEY DREAM, 1994
Just think about it: a time before the internet. A time before having a computer was even the norm. In those days your vacation planning video came in the form of a blocky VHS, accompanied by an informational pamphlet urging you to call a phone number or your travel agent when you were ready to book.
With this limited format – and in an age when it was harder to spend impulsively – how did Walt Disney World convince you to hand your cash and PTO over to them?
Turns out they did it in a tight 20 minutes, glancing off three theme parks, a new water park, a shopping district, and Disney Springs. Oh, and golf; they mentioned golf what I feel might be a disproportionate number of times, but then I don’t know what golf pays. Also, there was only one DVC resort and it was called the Disney Vacation Club resort. Not trying to sell people on that saved a lot of time, I’m sure.
One thing I really enjoy about watching these old vacation planning videos is the particular nostalgic mix of things we remember and miss, things we still have and can marvel at in their infancy, and things we never knew. No, 1994 isn’t that long ago… but it doesn’t take long for the World to change.
Like I said, this one’s a tight 20 minutes, perfect for your lunch break. C’mon, hit play and watch it with me!
18 THOUGHTS I HAD WHILE WATCHING THE 1994 WALT DISNEY WORLD VACATION PLANNING VIDEO
1 Hey, remember when Walt Disney World catered to every pocketbook? Good times, good times.
2 Ahhh, Spectromagic music!!! That’s still my all time favorite Disney parade of the ones I’ve seen live.
3 Holy smokes, that mom and her kid on the carousel look EERILY like a similar photo of Pat and his mom at WDW in the ’80s. Obviously it’s not them but the clothing and hair and everything is uncanny.
4 Do those Frontierland costumes – specifically Donald Duck as Davy Crockett – ever show up anymore? I gotta pray for a race course appearance!
5 Why is Pinocchio going in for a tender kiss with that small child? This must be why we lost free roaming characters on the east coast.
6 I never saw that Lion King puppet show! It looks pretty intriguing actually; I’ll have to see if I can track down a video.
7 I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen it’s a small world shown in possibly any media ever where they did not also play the song.
8 Similarly, I never experienced the cult classic that is Alien Encounter. I think that’s just as well knowing me at that time, but current me is a little sad I missed it.
9 The other day my dad referred to MuppetVision 3D as “the Swedish Chef thing.” Der machinen is going floomy floomy, everybody.
10 Oooh, I feel like they might be overpromising on the Superstar Television front.
11 I do miss watching the animators at work. I’m glad it at least survives a bit in scattered artists in a couple random places. If I recall correctly they have somebody in the Studios and Magic Kingdom art shops, and definitely in the Art of Disney store at Disney Springs.
12 I have never heard of “The Mike & Maty Show.” Are we sure Disney Studios didn’t just make it up? Sure, it’s got a Wikipedia page now, but the mouse could’ve faked that.
13 I like how Epcot’s introduction so far amounts to “KIDS DO SO LIKE EPCOT!!!”
14 Not to be a Disney millennial cliche but I miss Horizons. 🙁
15 Speaking of which, they should bring back the Fife & Drum Corps in the American Adventure.
16 Can you imagine staying at Old Key West when Pleasure Island still had nightly fireworks at midnight?
17 I can’t conceive of a world with only one DVC resort. The frenzy to book rooms in those conditions would be intense!
18 “The value is phenomenal” is arguably a nostalgic statement.
LET’S FIRE UP THE TIME MACHINE AND GO TO 1994’S WDW
Disney’s ’94 extended travel ad certainly paint an attractive picture, no? I think if I turn my transmogrifier on its side it becomes a time machine, so let’s go back. We can stay at the Polynesian (hold the village), go to Epcot to ride Horizons 47 times in a row, and finish the day hitting every club in Pleasure Island before the nightly fireworks. The best part is, it’ll cater to every pocketbook!
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