Up the Waterfall Podcast

The History of Little Orange Bird at Walt Disney World – Up the Waterfall Episode 36

19 August 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

This week we delve into one of my favorite topics: the unique and fascinating story of the Little Orange Bird and his residence at Walt Disney World. Much like Figment showing up in all the EPCOT festival merchandise, Orange Bird is now found all over the parks and resorts, when just 8 years ago, he couldn’t be found anywhere.

Back in the late 1960’s, Walt Disney World was still in its planning stages. Disney was working to obtain sponsorships from various corporations who wanted to be involved in the new park. With those sponsors came the opportunity to be affiliated with a particular attraction, show, or restaurant. The Florida Citrus Commission closed a deal with Disney on October 22, 1969, underwriting a “tropical bird show” for $3 million.

Original Sunshine Pavilion — Image courtesy of MrThemeParkAudio

That “tropical bird show” of course became the Sunshine Pavilion, which included the Tropical Serenade (or Tiki Room) and with it the Sunshine Tree Terrace, serving the soon-to-be-famous Orange Swirl, among other citrus delicacies.

Disney company marketing maven Vince Jefferds came up with the Orange Bird idea and developed the backstory, which would be released in book form, with an accompanying record with six songs penned by the renowned Sherman brothers. Bob Moore, the designer who handled many special projects for the Disney Company including the Walt Disney postage stamp and the eagle mascot for the 1984 Olympic games, came up with the character design for the Little Orange Bird.

On this week’s episode of Up the Waterfall, we discuss all things Orange Bird, from his inception to appearances in the park, and reappearance 8 years ago. We hope you’ll join us for this citrus-filled discussion and memory sharing of the adorable little bird with an orange for a head. You can also read my article on the Return of Orange Bird from when he first reappeared at the Sunshine Tree Terrace back in 2012.

Do you have memories of the Little Orange Bird? Are you a Citrus Swirl fan? Or is it Dole Whip all the way? Let us know! Join in the discussion at Facebook.com/UpTheWaterfall or any of the places listed below. Thank you as always for listening or watching! If you enjoyed – please share with a friend you think may enjoy too!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Feel free to comment below with your opinions on ANY of these hot button topics, any questions or info you’d like to add, or if it’s easier, head to the Zannaland Facebook page and join the discussion there with fellow Disney Parks fans!

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

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Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

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Magic Kingdom Attractions – RANKED! Up the Waterfall Episode 35

12 August 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

This week, we wanted to do a fun palate cleanser episode after our deep discussions on Waking Sleeping Beauty, Most Unecessary Changes to Walt Disney World and Reasons You MUST Visit Disneyland. After the fun of our Disney Hotels RANKED episode, we wanted to rank ALL the Magic Kingdom attractions. For this ranking, we are using all the official attractions, as well as some experiences that have an added component. Examples are Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom, both of which have more to them than a traditional meet and greet, or “show.”

Will our ranking match up with yours? Did we commit any cardnial sins with our list? Let us know! My criteria for ranking was kind of subjective, not a “thrill factor” or technology, sometimes it was more just the classic nature of the ride or “Disney Imagineering” at its finest. We’d love to know your thoughts on all the Magic Kingdom attractions! You can create your own Magic Kingdom Attractions Ranking too! Feel free to screenshot your ranking and share it with us on any of our Zannaland social media channels (see below) or email us!

Don’t forget you can email us your Disney Trivia Question answers too!

Watch for our next LIVE show, Monday, August 17, 2020. We’ll be broadcasting live from the Zannaland facebook page, so be sure you are following along there and like the page to be notified when we go live!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

Twitter: @zannaland, @otisney
Instagram: @zannaland, @UpTheWaterfall, @otisney
Zannaland’s facebook page
Zannaland on YouTube
Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

We thank you for your support and for sharing the love!

Waking Sleeping Beauty – Disney Animation Renaissance – Up The Waterfall Episode 34

5 August 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Eleven years may have passed since the 2009 Don Hahn directed documentary release, Waking Sleeping Beauty. Don Hahn has another documentary coming out in just a couple of days on Disney+. Howard, which premiers on Disney+ August 7 and tells the story of Howard Ashman. Howard is of course half of the Ashman/Menken duo that really played an integral part in the Walt Disney Animation renaissance of the late 80’s and early 90’s. I recently got the chance to be on a press call for Howard with Don Hahn, and view the film in advance. I’ll have an article reviewing Howard coming up so keep an eye out. For now, we thought discussing Waking Sleeping Beauty on our Up the Waterfall podcast would be a great way to set the stage for the upcoming Howard Ashman film.

On this week’s episode, we discuss just that; the importance of this time period in Disney and Disney animation history and the impact these major changes and shake-ups within the company had on the animation side things. Hear our thoughts and some insights as we recall this time and its representation in this fly-on-the-wall documentary.

As mentioned on the podcast, there is an upcoming Evening with Alan Menken concert with Lin-Manuel Miranda put on as a fundraiser for the Walt Disney Family Museum. It is taking place this Thursday August 6 at 5pm pacific time. If you are able to donate, it is such a wonderful foundation, but if not, there is a free registration option as well.

We hope you enjoy this week’s show – give us a comment below if you’ve seen Waking Sleeping Beauty and tell us your favorite part of the film. Are you looking forward to Howard on August 7? Don’t forget to listen and answer our trivia question too! You can email zanna with your trivia answers before next week!

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for our LIVE show, starting Monday, August 3, 2020. We’ll be broadcasting live from the Zannaland facebook page, so be sure you are following along there and like the page to be notified when we go live!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

Twitter: @zannaland, @otisney
Instagram: @zannaland, @UpTheWaterfall, @otisney
Zannaland’s facebook page
Zannaland on YouTube
Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

We thank you for your support and for sharing the love!

Top Reasons You NEED to Visit Disneyland – Up the Waterfall Episode 32

22 July 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Disneyland recently celebrated its 65th anniversary, and we thought we’d mark the occasion with a podcast episode sharing all the reasons why we love Disneyland park so much. This episode is an expansion of my Disneyland Difference post from the 60th birthday celebration. Now Scott can add his 2 cents and I can elaborate on my feelings 5 years later. Together we share the reasons why WE love Disneyland so much, and why you MUST visit if you haven’t yet.

Disneyland Christmas birthday — The first holiday visit we mention on the show, for my birthday!

Throughout the episode, we take turns sharing our top 5 picks for what makes Disneyland stand out above other theme parks. It’s sort of a top 10, but we lost count so it may be a top 17? You’ll have to watch and listen and count. Whether it’s the music, the atmosphere, the history swirling around you, the attractions themselves, or the cast members you encounter, Disneyland is just different.

We hope you enjoy watching or listening, and please, share your favorite reasons with us below or wherever you’d like the share a comment with us. Did we forget something in our lists? Did you disagree with any of our picks? Let us know!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

Twitter: @zannaland, @otisney
Instagram: @zannaland, @UpTheWaterfall, @otisney
Zannaland’s facebook page
Zannaland on YouTube
Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

We thank you for your support and for sharing the love!

History of EPCOT Center’s World of Motion – Up the Waterfall Episode 31

10 July 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

We have now polished off 30 episodes of our passion project – Up the Waterfall podcast! To mark this milestone, we decided it was time to bring in a guest to share some further insight and commentary. After covering our personal memories and EPCOT Center’s history back on episodes 5 thru 9 (be sure to check them out if you haven’t already watched or listened), we thought it was time for our first “deep dive” into one of the original EPCOT Center attractions: the World of Motion. Who better to help us navigate the history of this great attraction, than EPCOT Center fan, historian, and generally great guy, Michael Crawford.

For those unaware, Michael has been sharing his love and historical facts regarding the original Walt Disney World Resort, EPCOT Center, and more, on his Progress City, U.S.A. blog for years. He also has had a great presence on the original “Disney twitter” where is how I personally came to know him. We shared fond and obscure memories of our time in the parks when we were just tiny fans.

Additionally, Michael has presented at D23 events such as the EPCOT 30th Anniversary Celebration and written the Progress City Primer, all about the creation of the Walt Disney World Resort. We are very grateful to have Michael join our modest podcast, and the timing is great, because he’s just recently started up his own Progress City Radio Hour podcast after a short 10-year break in between episodes 3 and 4. We urge you to check it out for more great discussions with Michael and his brother Jeff Crawford.

In this episode, we take a quick rundown of our favorite bits and pieces of the iconic World of Motion. We then take a deep dive into this original EPCOT Center attraction; including its storied history reaching back to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. We then go over each section from boarding the ride vehicle to exiting the Trans Center. Michael shares some fun facts along the way so you may learn a thing or two as well.

Do you have memories of the World of Motion? We’d love to hear them below! Did you love the music, the sets, the animatronics? Or just checking out the new cars at the end of the ride? If you haven’t ever been on the ride, be sure to check out Martin Smith’s Ultimate Tribute video, which is the next best thing. We hope you enjoy this week’s episode! You can watch it below:

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll add it here!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Up the Waterfall Set Tour and Disney History Book List – Episode 30

29 June 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

We are now 30 whole episodes in to our passion project, Up the Waterfall podcast. We initially had a different topic planned for today, to mark this momentous occasion, with our first GUEST and everything! However, the tiki gods were angered by all our celebrating, so some pesky technical issues have put a delay on that. Instead we are bringing you a fun little episode where we give you a tour of all the little knick-knacks and collectibles we have around our podcast set.

In addition, Scott gives us a quick overview of the stack of Disney history books he has on display on the shelves behind us on our set. Who doesn’t need more Disney history books, right? As a bonus, there is a LOT of our resident kitty, Stella in this episode. What can we say, she loves Disney books as much as we do.

As promised on the episode, we are sharing links for every book he discusses so you can investigate picking up a copy for your Disney library if you don’t already have one. Some of them may be out of print and being sold by third party marketplace sellers, or you can find them on eBay or your local independent bookseller as well, but now you’ll have the list right here below:

Of course, due to the sheer number of books in this episode, Scott just gives a general overview of their contents. We will do other episodes focusing on one or two books in-depth. Do you have a favorite book you’d like us to discuss? What about our silly collectibles? What are some of your favorite Disney collectibles to display? We’d love to hear from you!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

ALL Disney Hotels RANKED! Up the Waterfall – Episode 29

22 June 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

This week on Up the Waterfall podcast, we discuss a highly contentious topic – Ranking the Disney Hotels! For this ranking, we included ALL the Disney hotels in the United States, which proved to be a little difficult. At least as far as I’m concerned, the California properties (or some of them) deserve to be appreciated separately on their own. We’ll have to see if you all agree with our Disney Hotels Ranked choices!

While we always encourage you to watch our episodes on our Zannaland YouTube channel, this time around we really encourage you too, because we will be ranking the Disney hotels using a visual ranking system. You can see the screenshot below. I realized after we wrapped that I forgot to mention on the audio only version what the final rankings were, so you can see them below. We do hope you watch the show this week though for an added visual fun factor. Speaking of our YouTube channel, we are so close to 500 subscribers there, which would be halfway to our initial goal of 1000. If you aren’t already, we’d love you to subscribe. It only takes a second and doesn’t cost a thing. 🙂 Thank you!!

As mentioned, this was a little more difficult than I initially thought it would be. This was especially true trying to insert the DVC villa properties, which vary a lot on their own too! I’m really not sure if I think Disneyland Hotel should come behind Wilderness Lodge…but that’s where it ended up! It did make us want to do more in-depth resort hotel episodes thought, so stay tuned for those in the future. In the meantime, feel free to explore our Walt Disney World Resort hotel videos!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Top 10 Underrated Disney Animated Films – Up the Waterfall Episode 28

15 June 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

This week on Up the Waterfall, we take a lighthearted look at our favorite Underrated Disney Animated Films. Will our picks match yours? Did we forget a favorite animated feature that you think deserves some more love? Let us know!

If you missed last week’s episode on Jules Verne’s influence in Disney Parks and Films, in it I brought up one of my favorite animated films, Atlantis, and how that definitely had a Jules Verne feel to it. That sparked the idea for this week’s show: Underrated Disney Animated Films! Scott and I each share our top 5 picks, and of course, some runners-up along the way.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire — image via Disney

Our criteria for “underrated” may differ from yours, so we welcome discussion once you hear and see our picks. It definitely made us both want to head to Disney+ and watch all of these beloved films once again.

We also mentioned some books from Scott’s library at the end of the show, so I’ve listed them below in case you want to give them a look.

A quick note and apology…

Each week we record the audio separately from the video of our show and our producer, Christian uploads the audio and matches it to our 3 camera angles of video for the video version of the show. Unfortunately this week the audio file was corrupted and short of re-recording, we could not fix that track. So, we had to use the camera audio, which isn’t too terrible on its own, but when we switch cameras, there is a quick moment where the audio is noticeably different.

We do apologize for that, I really didn’t want to re-record the show because I kind of loved this one and how it unfolded. I didn’t want to ‘fake’ that magic by re-recording, so I hope everyone understands and bears with us for this week. We’ll have it fixed next week!

Thank you as always for listening or watching!

Books we discussed on the show:

Click to view them on Amazon – as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

Listen to Up the Waterfall:

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

Watch Up the Waterfall:

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

Twitter: @zannaland, @otisney
Instagram: @zannaland, @UpTheWaterfall, @otisney
Zannaland’s facebook page
Zannaland on YouTube
Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

We thank you for your support and for sharing the love!

When Disney Met Jules Verne: Up the Waterfall Episode 27

8 June 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

It has been a very turbulent few months in the world. The past couple of weeks have brought so many important matters out of the dark and into the light. We do not want to make light of recent events, nor move on as if nothing has happened. However, we know that many people still need to take mental health breaks from what they’ve been dealing with. So in that understanding, and because we did take such a long break during the quarantine times (for our own mental health), we have made the decision to continue with our next Up the Waterfall episode.

We actually recorded this Jules Verne episode 2 weeks ago, but technical difficulties prevented us from posting it last week, and then we felt it was not the time to post during such an important time in history. We are not stopping our actions, our learning, or our listening as we spread the message that Black Lives Matter, and we hope you continue to do the same. If you have not yet visited the resources listed on my last blog post regarding anti-racism, I urge you to read and seek out further education leading to action. Thank you.

In this week’s episode of Up the Waterfall, we journey back to the days of Jules Verne, and all of the ways that he can be found and seen in Disney parks and films. For some people, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea instantly comes to mind, either the movie or the attraction. Others may remember the homage to the “Grand Old Man Himself” in the former Horizons attraction. Still others may know of his influence in other Disney parks around the world. And we’ll cover all of those and more.

Mysterious Island — Photo ©Tom Bricker – DisneyTouristBlog.com

Jules Verne was such an elaborate storyteller. He filled his pages with endless amounts of details, bringing each sentence to life as he wove his tales of adventure. As you can imagine, Jules Verne’s narratives filled with exploration and travel, perfectly lent itself to Disney’s method of storytelling. This is evident both on film and in attraction form. As you will see and hear on this episode, Disney only improved on bringing Jules Verne’s creations to life over the years. Perhaps the best representation is Mysterious Island at Tokyo DisneySea. As we discuss, be sure to comment below or on the YouTube video of Up the Waterfall Episode 27, which we highly recommend watching this time around, as our producer, Christian has inserted so many fun photos, videos, and more referencing what we are describing. We’d love to hear your thoughts or favorites too!

As always, we thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed, please share with a friend so more folks can learn about our growing podcast! Thank you!

How to Listen to Up the Waterfall

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

How to Watch Up the Waterfall

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

Twitter: @zannaland, @otisney
Instagram: @zannaland, @UpTheWaterfall, @otisney
Zannaland’s facebook page
Zannaland on YouTube
Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

We thank you for your support and for sharing the love!

Disney Parks Anniversary Celebrations – Up the Waterfall Episode 26

25 May 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

This week on Up the Waterfall, we explore the many Disney Parks anniversary celebrations. Most of these moments were televised as specials featuring stars of the time, song and dance numbers, and even skits. Now that decades of time has passed, these specials provide loads of entertainment and a spotlight on how things used to be both in and out of the parks.

We discuss the major Disneyland and Walt Disney World anniversaries, recent EPCOT celebrations, and of course, the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. However, it is hard to fit all of that celebratin’ in one show! For instance, Scott remembered after we recorded that he’d forgotten to mention the 6 CD set that came out for Disneyland’s 50th, which is chock-full of amazing recordings. We’ve mentioned that one before in our History of Carousel of Progress episode. Similarly, while looking up photos, I realized I forgot to mention one of the promotions from the 100 Years of Magic – the collectible glasses from McDonald’s! I collected 2 sets, and have since sold them on eBay. So if you watch or listen and find we’ve missed some aspect that you remember or loved, be sure to let us know!

In addition, we promised we’d link to all the crazy anniversary specials that aired on TV back in the day. Thank goodness these are on YouTube, because I don’t think some of them will be showing up on Disney+ any time soon. If you watch them all, let us know your favorite! I think I love the ones where families travel by car and make a whole road trip out of their Disney destination vacation. Despite the cheesiness, they really did capture how things were at the time (maybe minus the breaking into spontaneous song) and what an EVENT it was to visit a Disney park.

All the YouTube TV specials of note:

As we conclude the show, we discuss how things have shifted since the earlier Disney anniversary celebrations. A focus more on merchandise vs. special events in many cases. Let us know what you think of more recent celebrations!

Lastly, as always, we hope you enjoyed this week’s episode and the walk down memory lane with us. Tell a friend if you did, so we can get the word out about our still growing podcast!

How to Listen to Up the Waterfall

You can listen anywhere you download and listen to podcasts, including:

(If there’s a podcast service where you can’t find our show, let us know and we’ll get it added there!)

How to Watch Up the Waterfall

Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and see some unique images during some episodes.

Zannaland and Up the Waterfall Community – Let’s Connect!

FOLLOW THE ZANNALAND FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WATCH OUR VIDEOS, VLOGS AND PODCAST TOO:

Twitter: @zannaland, @otisney, @badgesickle
Instagram: @zannaland, @UpTheWaterfall, @otisney, @badgesickle
Zannaland’s facebook page
Zannaland on YouTube
Listen to Up the Waterfall podcast, subscribe on iTunes, or watch Up the Waterfall on YouTube

We thank you for your support and for sharing the love!