Last week commemorated 55 years of Walt Disney World! Opening on October 1st, 1971, Disney World has been the most magical place on earth for over half a century now. D23, the official Disney fan club hosted a fantastic event at the Contemporary Resort to celebrate and we got to join in on the fun. From the Walt Disney Archives, Imagineers and Ambassadors to characters and a dessert spread, this was a great event! I can’t wait to share it with you!
A Little Pre-Game Dinner
The event started at 6pm and did not include dinner so we decided to grab dinner early beforehand. Since we were going to be at the Contemporary anyway, we went to Steakhouse 71. It seemed like a fitting spot to start to our celebration of 55 years of Walt Disney World! We didn’t have a reservation so we just went in and sat at the bar. They had the Bills game on one of the TV’s too so the husband was happy (until he wasn’t)! Go Bills! We grabbed some drinks and shared some small bites before heading up to where the event would be held. Perfect start to the evening, except the outcome of that game.
Check In & Gifts
There were two tiers of tickets for this event, panel only and a VIP ticket. We went with the VIP tickets so we had a very quick check in process once we got upstairs. The panel part of the event was held on the second floor of the Contemporary in one of the ballrooms. VIP tickets, which included a dessert party and fireworks viewing could check in as early as 4:45. The panel only tickets could start checking in at 5:15 and there was a decently long line queued up when we got upstairs.
We checked in about 5pm and took some time to take pictures and check things out a little bit before the panel started. When you checked in you received the event exclusive 55 years of Walt Disney World pin and a cute Mickey luggage tag. After the panel when we checked in for the dessert party, we received a little D23 gift bag with some other goodies and on the way out we received a signed concept art print of the new final scene of Carousel of Progress!
Walt Disney World Ambassadors
This first part of the panel was so fun! The current Walt Disney World Ambassadors came out and talked about the history of the park a bit and then brought out ten years worth of former ambassadors. They went down the line, starting with the ambassador from 1995 and each year shared why they think their year(s) were the best! Each ambassador shared what attractions opened during their term or what milestones were happening. It was a very unique perspective of the parks history.
Then they brought out a special guest! Debby Dane Brown, the very first Walt Disney World ambassador from 1971! She shared that she worked in the preview center first and was one of the first people to say, welcome to Walt Disney World. Debby told the story of the first time she was brought out to see where the park was being built and thinking it couldn’t be done. Swamp, mud and what seemed like jungle couldn’t possibly turn into this magical place in two short years. But it did and she was the first person to represent the park in this way. This was a perfect way to kick off an event celebrating 55 years of Walt Disney World!
Joe Rohde & Becky Cline
Next up was a discussion on storytelling in the parks with Imagineer and Disney Legend, Joe Rohde and director of the Walt Disney Archives, Becky Cline. I have to say that Becky Cline has become one of my most favorite people in the Disney Company. I always love any event she is a part of. Her love and passion for all things Disney is so apparent and if my younger self had known this was a career path, working with her would have been the life goal. She was definitely the right person to be at an event celebrating 55 years of Walt Disney World!
Once Upon A Time
This was a really interesting part of the panel. Hearing how an Imagineer like Joe Rohde approached and saw storytelling in the parks explains so much about the level of detail in the Disney Parks. Joe talked about how the entrances to the parks and lands have to feel like the start of a story. Like the “once upon a time” to set the scene and let you know the story is starting.
This makes so much sense when you think about walking into Animal Kingdom and following the trails through jungle and with animal all around. Then you open up to see the Tree of Life, you were ready for it! It wasn’t jarring or out of place, the scene had been set. The same goes for the other parks and the transitions from one land to the next. There is purposefully a section where you are just walking into a new environment or story before it actually starts.
Getting the Plot
Joe Rohde gave a little jab at Universal while talking about this. Which is warranted, that’s my biggest complaint about Universal, it’s all disconnected. There is no continuity or clear story. Whereas in a Disney park, you always know what kind of story you are in and where you’re headed. Something they talked about that really stuck out to me was that a guest has to be able to get the plot of the story even if they don’t know the movie they are in.
I think that stuck out more to me now that my best friend has moved here. We are converting her into a Disney adult, it’s going well! But she is not a Star Wars or Marvel fan at all, she doesn’t know all the characters from all the movies and yet she is still able to be completely immersed in the parks. She has said many times that she doesn’t know who the characters are but she knows what’s going on and where she is. I think that’s huge! She loves Cosmic Rewind and Star Tours even though she has not watched the movies. She gets the plot without having to have the backstory.
Floating Mountains and Nepali Kings
That’s the Disney difference, honestly. That you can be totally immersed into something simply because of your surroundings and the level of detail in the environment. Without having to know everything about the movie it’s connected to. Joe and Becky talked about his new book, Floating Mountains: The Art of Imagining the Impossible. He told a story from the book of a king from Nepal who had never left his country coming to Disneyland.
At first he didn’t want to ride anything and then they went on a bunch of rides including Pirates of the Caribbean. During lunch the king wanders off and when they find him he is acting like one of the pirates from the ride, hiding behind a barrel and popping up. Joe said he had the biggest smile on his face and was just having fun being totally immersed in the environment. This person had no context whatsoever to pull from and yet still understood the plot and became involved in the story. Such a cool story! Lastly, they talked about how important collective collaboration is on creating the parks. That you have to tell the story from a wide ranging perspective of guests, not your own and that takes teamwork. Again, this really shows you why the Disney Parks are the amazing places they are!
Carousel of Progress
Up next was the Walt Disney Archives and Imagineering team that is working on the refurbishment of the Carousel of Progress. I have had mixed feelings about this because I love the version we had so much. But after sitting through this panel, I am very excited for the update! If you didn’t know, the carousel of Progress was originally made for the 1964 World’s Fair. I won’t go into a ton of that, click the link in this paragraph for a full run down on the history here! But there are lots of archival pictures, props and videos from that version and from the design of the attraction. All of this is being referenced and used to properly update the Carousel of Progress!
Using the Old for the New
They showed some footage from when Walt Disney took the grandma animatronic on a world tour to advertise the opening of Carousel of Progress at the World’s Fair and mentioned grandma may be part of a new marketing campaign. We got to see pictures and videos of the TV shows that promoted the attraction and pointed out all the props and little things in the set and shops. They have found these items and they will be used in the new opening scene with the Walt Disney animatronic. There are going to be a lot of Easter eggs in this new scene! It is being made to look like the set from the TV show with all of the things you would have seen.
They also talked about the voice actors for the refresh. We already knew that Jamie Lee Curtis and Bryan Cranston would be voicing the mother and father. But they announced that Debi Derryberry, who was the voice of Patricia (daughter) in the previous version will now be voicing Grandma! This is a very cool tradition for this attraction at this point. There have been a few updates over its lifespan and each time someone who voiced one character comes back and voices a different, older character. That’s progress I guess!
Concept Art & Artifacts
We got to see new concept art for the new final scene, which is the same as the print we received at the dessert party. We also got a sneak peek at a new parrot animatronic that will be in the opening scene. It is a replica of the parrot that talks about audio animatronics in the TV special with Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Archives brought some very neat things they found while closing up the old version of the carousel. Things like moving tags and work orders from when it was moved from the World’s Fair to Disneyland. And a very creepy doll they think was meant to look like Mary Blair. Things no one knew or remembered were there!
They also brought things we did know were there and are going to miss. Rovers dog bowl, the Niagara Falls fan and few things that had a story with them. The sightseer that supposedly showed Little Egypt doing the Hoochie Coochie actually shows a nature scene. The ceramic halloween pumpkin will be making a return in the new version, but where? And the reindeer slippers from the closing scene. The reindeer design was based on the original goofy looking reindeer from the Magic Kingdom Christmas parade! These were so interesting to see and hear about. My Disney nerd heart was so happy and full!
Party Time!
After the Walt Disney Archives panel it was time for the dessert party! This was only for the VIP ticket holders so the crowd did thin out a little here. The party was held at the West Rotunda. If you have ever been to the Contemporary Resort and noticed the building to the right of the main tower where there is never anyone parked, that is where this is. We received a D23 tote bag with some goodies from the Disney Springs partners inside when we checked in for the party. We were also told to stop back there on the way out for our print. Mickey and Minnie were greeting guests at two photo ops as you came in. They would rotate out with Goofy and Donald throughout the party.
They had coffee, tea, water and lemonade set up as you first entered the rotunda. The dessert table was so pretty and they really picked the right desserts for the occasion! Even they looked like they were celebrating 55 years of Walt Disney World! They had Mickey waffle whoopee pies, grey stuff macrons, Mickey caramel brownies, mini churros with chocolate sauce and the star of the show, Dole Whip cream puffs! I am still dreaming of those cream puffs…..so good! They also had Mickey ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches!
All of the archives, imagineering and ambassador Cast Members came to the party and mingled with the guests. And it was a lovely night and view of the Contemporary Resort from he rotunda. The VIP tickets included fireworks viewing from the Contemporary as well. Since there was a Halloween party that night the fireworks were not until 10pm instead of 9pm. We had been at the Contemporary since about 4pm and it was a school night so we opted to head home before fireworks.
Conclusion
This was the perfect way to commemorate 55 years of Walt Disney World! It had everything my Disney nerd heart wanted and more! I loved seeing how passionate everyone on that stage were about the history and future of the parks and attractions. It’s nice to know it is in the hands of people like that. I always love the spotlight series events D23 puts on. They are definitely for the nerds! Haha! It’s a peek behind the curtain of the archives and history. If you ever have the opportunity to go to one, I highly recommend! If you love Disney history like I do these events are amazing. I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to this event and have the most magical day!
