With one whole year of podcasting behind us, we wanted to dig our heels into the history of one of our most beloved parts of the Walt Disney World Resort – Fort Wilderness! I recently reposted an article which I wrote back in 2014, and still stands today. My Ode to the Vacation Kingdom of the World is a great companion piece to this week’s episode. The article gives you a good idea of why Fort Wilderness is so well-loved, and perhaps underappreciated. I don’t often like to toot my own horn, but I highly recommend giving it a read either before or after listening to this week’s episode.
We start out our History of Fort Wilderness episode with a journey back, back, back to the early 1970’s. Covering the origin story of building a campground at Walt Disney World, and how (and who) went about doing that. If you’re wondering what it was like when Fort Wilderness opened, we discuss that too.
Next up, we list the various amenities and activities that made Fort Wilderness what it was. Marshmallow Marsh, the Wilderness Night Wildlife Expedition, what were they?! What activities still exist today? We’ll tell you. We also reminisce about that ol’ swimmin’ hole – River Country and our personal experiences with the first ever themed water park.
We don’t forget the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review and the dining options either. You’ll hear how Hoop Dee Doo came to be and just how much it’s changed since then. Trail’s End, Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, we cover all your vittles at Fort Wilderness.
If you’ve ever wondered what “could have been” or heard rumors about things like “Cypress Point” and “Buffalo Junction,” we shed some light on projects that never got the green light. You may be surprised to hear how they turned into what we know today in that area.
Of course, we couldn’t do a history of Fort Wilderness without a major discussion on the Fort Wilderness Railroad. The much loved (but seldom experienced) railroad was removed for good back in 1980, but it lives on in our hearts forever! Did you ever ride the Fort Wilderness Railroad?? We’d LOVE to hear from you!
We also discuss the amazing campsite decorations that guests create each year. One of our favorite traditions is renting a golf cart and riding through all the decorated sites. That is now part of the history and charm as well.
We loved walking down memory lane, and giving some love to this completely unique and impactful Disney resort. We hope you learned a little history of Fort Wilderness – if we forgot something that you know and love, let us know!
Actually, I know we DID forget something! In looking for photos to give Christian for editing into the video version of our show, I found this fun tidbit! Apparently, there was a “Melvin the Moose Breakfast Show!” at Pioneer Hall in Fort Wilderness! Read what Walt Dated World has to say about it:
Walt Dated World reader Alex sent in a memory about a character breakfast he remembers from Fort Wilderness: “The Melvin the Moose breakfast show featured the moose-head from the Country Bear Jamboree in sort of a Mickey Mouse Club parody. They gave out kazoos with the breakfast. I read somewhere that the version I saw ran only a year, from 1986-1987 after which they added Chip and Dale.”
Photo from WaltDatedWorld.com
Another Walt Dated World reader shared about the Chip and Dale Breakfast:
Brad sent in the following memory: “Before the show began it was like a standard character breakfast with Chip and Dale and a couple of the Country Bears greeting the tables. I remember Liver Lips being quite intimidating. He was a very tall bear. I can’t remember the whole menu, but chocolate Chip (and Dale!) muffins were part of it. Between all the singing and dancing, while folks were eating, they showed a couple of the old animated shorts projected on stage. Also, the kazoos they gave out were used in the big finale where the audience got to make a whole lot of noise as part of a song. It was a lot like the end of the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue where people in the audience are given washboards to play along.”
Sounds so fun! I definitely wish I had attended. I only ever did the Empress Lilly character breakfast back in the day.
We also forgot the once infamous Lawn Mower Tree!! I love this story and definitely had planned to mention it. Darn it all! Well be sure to watch our Live Show on Thursday at 8pm (on facebook.com/zannaland and youtube.com/zannaland!) and we’ll discuss it then for a bit!
We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into the History of Fort Wilderness. Don’t forget to answer this week’s trivia question! Scott asked what designation or “record” the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue has achieved. Do you know the answer?
You can watch the episode below and see some fun images of the Fort way back then. You can of course listen too. We’ll include all the places to listen and connect with us below the video:
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:
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(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!
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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.
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!
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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.
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!
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Season 2 – Episode 9 (Episode 24) of Up the Waterfall
One of the things that makes us love Disney so much is the ability to transport us. Whether it’s visually or through sounds, smells and movement, Disney parks have some of the Best Special Effects around. We’ve discussed some of the Biggest Hits (and Misses) of Disney parks, and among that list were things like animatronics. Jumping off from that point, this week on Up the Waterfall, Scott and I each share our picks for the best special effects used by Disney Imagineers that really “changed the game” so to speak as far as attractions go. And as always, we know that attractions doesn’t necessarily mean rides.
With all of the amazing ride and Imagineering technologies available today, one of the things we explore is that it can sometimes be the simplest of effects that have the biggest impact. For example, growing up, for both Scott and I, the effect of “fire” in Pirates of the Caribbean burning village scene. Another of Scott’s favorites (and mine once I finally got to Disneyland) was the “lava” in the Primeval World diorama on the Disneyland Railroad. Simple rolling logs covered in foil, with lighting, has the uncanny appearance of flowing lava.
photo credit: Disney
Effects like this laid the groundwork for today’s Na’vi River Journey‘s Shaman of Songs animatronic, or the newest attractions of Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (which we don’t discuss too much to be completely spoiler-free).
Get comfy and listen along or watch below and see if our list matches yours – OR – if we left one of your favorite Disney special effects out of this episode! Feel free to comment below with your picks, or if you disagree with our choices. If you enjoy our show, we’d love you to subscribe to Up the Waterfall podcast, either on your podcast app of choice, or on Zannaland’s YouTube channel, to see all of the fun as well as hear it. Keep reading below for all the places to find and listen or watch.
Thank you for reading, watching, and listening as we go Up the Waterfall!
You can watch this Best Special Effects at Disney episode here:
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode of Up the Waterfall!
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.
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!
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With the 4th annual Epcot Festival of the Arts underway, we thought it would be great to discuss one of our loves, which is showcased at the Festival – Disney on Broadway! It’s hard to imagine a time before Disney had a presence on the Broadway scene, but they just celebrated 25 years last year. We head all the way back to the Disney Theatre Group and Disney Theatre Productions origins and discuss how they came to be, and how far they’ve come since inception.
In this episode of Up the Waterfall, Zanna and Scott share their own experiences with attending musical theatre and how they first enjoyed Disney on Broadway, as well as the storied history of Disney theatrical productions and how different each show has been.
Have you been to a Disney show on Broadway or a national tour? What about a show on a Disney Cruise Line ship? Let us know in the comments below what your favorite(s) were or what you hope to see in the future. What Disney story would you like to see brought to the stage? Scroll to the bottom to watch the show on video!
Also discussed at the end of episode are some wonderful books showcasing the Disney Broadway productions, as well as the New Amsterdam Theatre, which Disney completely restored for the opening of The Lion King on Broadway. We’ve collected the list of books below in case you want to keep an eye out for one, or add it to your collection! Know of a book we’ve missed? Let us know!
Up the Waterfall is a weekly Disney history podcast hosted by Zanna and her husband, Disney history buff and bibliophile, Scott Otis, where they share stories of Disney past, present and future.
Disney-MGM Studios past, and what we miss, is the topic for this week and last, and what we miss about the Disney-MGM Studios. The hey day of its original opening and the years that followed. We discuss what it was like visiting the park back then and reminisce about our favorites. In this first part, we go over the original Animation Tour, the Backlot Tour (walking and tram), Superstar Television and Monster Sound Show. We also dip a little bit into the Great Movie Ride, in part 1 which we all miss greatly. As you can see below, this turned into a two part series, so we hope you’ll listen or watch to both and take a stroll down Hollywood Blvd or the Streets of America with us as we say, “ACTION!” to episodes 14 and 15 of Up the Waterfall podcast.
The Rocketeer’s Bulldog Cafe on the Backlot Tour
We hope you enjoy the show, and share with us what YOU miss the most about Disney-MGM Studios, what your favorite parts were and what you think we’ll cover in part 2! As always, we thank you so much for listening, watching, and spreading the word to your friends and family. I’ve recently personally gotten some feedback from folks who discovered Up the Waterfall, and I can’t tell you how much it means to hear that people actually listened AND liked it! But no one will know we exist if they don’t hear from our listeners that they recommend Up the Waterfall. We need your help! If you can spread the word, but liking our videos, rating us 5-stars on Apple Podcasts, Google, or wherever you listen, or share this post so others can discover us, we would be eternally grateful. This is a family passion project, and we consider our listeners family too. Thank you for your support!
I’m going to add Part 2 here as well – where we finish up our nostalgic but historic look at the Disney-MGM Studios of yesteryear. In Part 2, we go over the shows at the Premier Theatre – (Hunchback anyone?) as well as the many parades and entertainment spectaculars such as the Rocketeer live every night, Sorcery in the Sky fireworks and more! We hope you enjoy – and let us know your favorites!
Here are some of the blog posts I’ve written on Disney’s Hollywood Studios (or MGM) past:
The past few weeks have been full of buzz and activity (watching activity that is) stemming from the launch of Disney’s streaming service – Disney+ (or Disney Plus). We first mentioned this new service back in episode 1, where we discussed the 10 year history of D23 Expo conventions. In the latest D23 Expo held this past August, the Disney+ presence was great, and there was even a special Expo promotion going on, to get 3 years of service for what amounted to slightly under $4/month. We signed up then, and anxiously awaited the launch date of November 12. Now that that day has come and gone, and we’ve been watching some old favorites and new original content, we thought we’d devote an episode to just exactly what makes us love (and not love) the Disney Plus service.
Within this latest episode of Up the Waterfall, Scott and Zanna each go over their favorites and what they are most excited about being able to watch any time on Disney+. Additionally, they (ok mostly me, Zanna) go over some misses and what they think needs to change about the Disney Plus experience. Will you agree or disagree with our thoughts? Only one way to find out! You can download and listen anywhere you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, and many more places. Or you can watch on YouTube.com/zannaland, and SEE what we’re talking about as well. Our producer, Christian usually adds in a lot of fun visuals to illustrate what we are mentioning, and in this case, he’ll be showing a few clips as we discuss.
We hope you’ll give us a listen, or a watch, and please take a moment to like, subscribe, turn on notifications, and even comment with your thoughts, favorites, or opinions. We’d love to hear from you! Additionally, if you could share with a friend, we’d be forever grateful as we try to get the word out and spread the Disney history (and present, and future) love! Thank you as always for listening, watching, and joining us, “Up the Waterfall”
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Since the Christmas holiday season really starts at 12:01 on November 1st, we thought we’d jump right in and share the history of celebrating the Holidays at Disneyland on our latest Up the Waterfall podcast. There is SO much happening in all the Disney parks during the holidays these days, we wanted to take a look at how it all began and see how far the California parks have come in the last 64 years.
In this episode we’ll discuss the very first Christmas at Disneyland and what that meant for the park. We’ll see how that’s changed over the years, and even touch on New Years Eve history in Disneyland. Since the Disneyland Resort isn’t just one park anymore, we’ll showcase Disney California Adventure‘s holiday fun, and the resorts as well.
You can listen to the Up the Waterfall podcast (that link will show you many options or you can search wherever you listen), but as always, we encourage you to watch the YouTube video version as well for some fun visuals of what we’re discussing.
If you enjoyed the podcast, we’d love you to subscribe, give us a thumbs up or rate us on your podcasting platform of choice, click the notifications button so you know when a new episode or video has been uploaded, and as always, we’d love you to share us with a friend.
The more the merrier and we want to hear what your favorite holiday memories of Disneyland are, or if you haven’t been, what do you most want to experience over there? I’m sure we’ll cover other parks for the holidays in the future, but until then, thank you for joining us Up the Waterfall!
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This week we take a stroll back in time…and space. Space Mountain that is. Pull back on your safety bar and sit back as we explore the history of this beloved attraction, from concept art to present day, and everything in between.
Space Mountain concept art by John Hench from the Top of the World lounge at Bay Lake Tower
Scott takes us on a journey through the years and the historic milestones of the Space Mountain attraction in Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond. Believe it or not, I only rode Space Mountain at age 31. Crazy, right? Anyway, we hope you enjoy our chat and stories along the way as we share some fun facts and history of this iconic attraction that is the cornerstone of Tomorrowland (or Discoveryland) in every Disney park.
Disneyland Paris Space Mountain in Discoveryland
For this episode, we highly recommend you watch the video version as well, Christian has added some great images of the topics we bring up, from the many books Scott brought out for this episode. We will link to those books on amazon below, some of which may be through 3rd party Marketplace Sellers on Amazon, or you may find them on ebay as well:
We hope you enjoyed this episode, if you did, please share with a friend so they can discover us too. What are your favorite memories of Space Mountain? We’d love to hear about it either in a comment below or on social media. Feel free to comment wherever is easiest for you with the hashtag #UpTheWaterfallPodcast. We thank you for listening and for your support of our passion project – Up the Waterfall.
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We are not only finally through our epic EPCOT series, where we fondly remember all of the original EPCOT Center, but also discuss the future of the park, we have made it to our TENTH EPISODE! Hooray! We thank you for listening and hope you’ve had as much fun as we have recording these episodes. This week we thought a Top 10 list would be a great way to mark our 10 episode milestone.
Part of what makes us love Disney parks and the attractions within are the many details and interactive waiting areas, lines, or queues, within the different parks. As we discuss, some draw you in to the environment you are about to enter with the attraction, while others tell a story all their own. Join us as we list OUR top 10, from all the parks we’ve been to, including Walt Disney World and Disneyland’s parks, as well as the international locations in Asia and Europe.
Will your list align with ours? Did we miss any of your favorites or do you completely disagree with one of our choices? Let us know by commenting below, or at our YouTube channel for the episode, or on any of our social channels listed below – we’d love to hear from you!
If you haven’t already, we would be so grateful if you could subscribe to our YouTube channel and like the video for each episode, or subscribe wherever you download and listen to podcasts, and give us a rating there too. We are a new podcast, and hope to soon be celebrating our 100th episode, and we can’t do that without spreading the word so more people can listen and enjoy and share in the discussion. If you could take a moment to share the podcast, videos, or even just this blog post, we’d be eternally appreciative of your support.
Thank you for joining us Up the Waterfall!
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