Welcome To WDW 1970's/ 80's and 90's

[Lou... 3,118]

 I am assuming Disney owns that Swamp land behind Celebration or it must be set aside as utility area of some sort by the county.  Anyone know?

 

While Disney and its affiliated entities own the most property of what we think of as WDW, they're not the only owners.

According to the "2004 RCID Property Ownership Map" there are nine other owners.

The next biggest chunk is owned by RCID, including that section around the deannexed town of Celebration.

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

What stands out to me between the 63 and 69 photo is the canal out of Bay Lake.  They had to drain it somehow and I guess this is how they did it.  They obviously control the water levels there with the dam and that remote box TCD has pointed out before.  Where does it drain to, I wonder?  I will have to look at Google Earth soon to see where that canal ends.

 

EDIT: Okay I looked and it goes all the way past Celebration and appears to dwindle into Swamp land.  I am assuming Disney owns that Swamp land behind Celebration or it must be set aside as utility area of some sort by the county.  Anyone know?

 

I noticed that canal too.  I don't think it's there to drain Bay Lake- I think it's there to drain all the swampland that they built on, including the Fort.

 

Lately, I've noticed that Bing Maps calls that canal Bonnet Creek.  The road that you take to the Port Orleans Resort is called Bonnet Creek parkway.  Have you ever wondered where this Bonnett Creek is?  I guess maybe Bing Maps is right:

 

 

Of course, that map also lists Discovery Island by its original name- Riles Island, so who knows?

 

Not to get too philosophical, but looking at these pictures from the development phase of WDW makes me think how incredible it is that this project was successfully completed and is the phenominal success it is.  How many pie-in-the-sky projects do we read about every year that never get off the drawing boards, never obtain financing, fail during construction, or open but collapse in bankruptcy within a year?  And most of those are not nearly of the scope and scale as WDW.  It is truly amazing what they accomplished.  I know it is easy to say that Walt was a visionary and master planner, but he also must have been an incredible team builder and leader to have put together the team he did, including his brother, who carried the project through to completion after Walt's death and ensured its success.  It could so easily have fallen apart after he died. 

 

I don't think you're being too pilosophical at all.  Walt and his crew did a truly amazing thing- especially completing the project after Walt died.  I can't think of another construction project anywhere in the US that even comes close to what they accomplished.

 

I mentioned this book a while back- I didn't learn anything new from it, but it is still an interesting read:

 

 

 

TCD

[Discamper 394]

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

 

 

Cool photos, Todd.

 

That second one confirms a few things for me.  First, now I know for sure where the campfire for the Marshmallow Marsh activity actually took place.  I wasn't sure what side of the canal it was on.

 

Next, that cabin is definitely not the same cabin that is there today.  Old maps show a cabin there, but the cabin that is there now is different than the one in the photo.

 

I am not sure what those rental boats are doing there in the canal.  I assume they are just being stored there.  As far as I know, they were always rented from and returned to the marina.

 

TCD

[YENSIDCAMPER 66]

 

I noticed that canal too.  I don't think it's there to drain Bay Lake- I think it's there to drain all the swampland that they built on, including the Fort.

 

Lately, I've noticed that Bing Maps calls that canal Bonnet Creek.  The road that you take to the Port Orleans Resort is called Bonnet Creek parkway.  Have you ever wondered where this Bonnett Creek is?  I guess maybe Bing Maps is right:

 

 

Of course, that map also lists Discovery Island by its original name- Riles Island, so who knows?

 

 

I don't think you're being too pilosophical at all.  Walt and his crew did a truly amazing thing- especially completing the project after Walt died.  I can't think of another construction project anywhere in the US that even comes close to what they accomplished.

 

I mentioned this book a while back- I didn't learn anything new from it, but it is still an interesting read:

 

 

 

TCD

 

I am certain you are right about it draining all the swamp land and controlling flooding now, but I can't help but feel that is how they drained Bay Lake at the time.  How else could they have done it?  It is also interesting to me that it fizzles out in what looks like swamp land right behind Celebration, another Disney creation.

 

Thanks for showing me this book.  I have been using the poster of Cinderella's Castle with Walt standing in front of it which has the title VISION under the picture, you may have seen it before at the parks, to motivate my staff to build an organization that will last after all of us are gone.  I really want to read this book to see if I can use it to be motivational to my staff.  

 

I actually used the three pictures above to show my staff how Disney looked at different stages of completion and compared it to our progress.  In just three years we have become a top 5 organization in our state and I want us to be number one. More importantly I want what we build to last well beyond when my staff and I are gone.  I think Disney is a wonderful model for what we are trying to do.

[Discamper 394]

[Discamper 394]

[Discamper 394]

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

Hey- What is that old railroad car doing there?

 

I looks like this is somewhere along Ft. Wilderness Trail- near the sidwalk poured over the old tracks.

 

On my recent walking tour of the Fort, I made note of this strange sidewalk configuration:

 

 

 

I wonder if this is where that old FWRR car was?

 

TCD

[Discamper 394]

Yes TCD That Is the old waiting room for the Horse back ride when it was just to the right of the hitching/unhitching post as you enter. In my pic you can see the RR track. In your pic you now see the sidewalk. Most of the Fort's sidewalks are covering the old Fort RR tracks

[DaveInTN 3,247]

So after they removed the railroad, did they leave a car there on display for a period of time?  It looks like it is just sitting there.  And that concrete looks as though it was poured specifically to be able to get to the steps of the front and back of the car. 

[Discamper 394]

Disney just left that car for people waiting for the Horse back trail ride. The old trail ride started there and went behided the 1700/1900 loop walk down the canal to the 300 loop

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

wow, amazing the things you see.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Disney just left that car for people waiting for the Horse back trail ride. The old trail ride started there and went behided the 1700/1900 loop walk down the canal to the 300 loop

 

I learned something new today. Thanks, Todd.

 

I have seen the Trail Blaze Corral located in that area in old maps, but did not know the trail ride had a different path than the current one.

 

TCD

[Discamper 394]

That is why in the old photos you see the horse back ride walking by the canal

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

Hard to believe the Fort was an actual campground once. With prices on par with real campground prices. Now it appeals to the camping elite, the Prevost owners who can actually pull into the site, set up and stay for a week without actually leaving their million dollar motor homes.

 

Unfortunately, that is the way its going and not just at Disney. There is a new CG in Pensacola Beach that is charging $100+ a night for basically a parking lot next to the water.

 

State parks are the way to go these days if you can do without full hookups for a while.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

Speaking of how times have changed, I saw something cool on TV last week that I want to share.

 

So we are all on the same page, let me give some background before I post the photos.

 

First, I have always wondered what the Fort was like when it first opened.  Do you know that it didn't open until Mid-November, 1971?  The rest of Walt Disney World opened on October 1, but the Fort wasn't ready.

 

You would think a campground would be easier to build than the Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts, but the fact is it wasn't ready.

 

I recently came across a map from 1971.  I don't recall every seeing one this old before:

 

 

Note that there are only 5 loops.  One trading post.  No Pioneer Hall or Trail's End.  The campfire area is down by the marina.  No petting zoo.  No pools.  No Bike Barn.  Just 5 loops, a trading post, and the Reception Outpost.  Oh, and an Archery Range.  Didn't know about that.  Discovery Island was called Blackbeard's Island, and the Sweet Bay Swamp Nature Walk was a big attraction.  Big enough to get mentioned on the map.

 

Look at where the Reception Outpost is on the map.  it's right near what we know today as the four way stop.  Only at the time, it wasn't a four way stop, because the Big Pine did not continue to the west.

 

What we know today as the Reception Outpost didn't exist in 1971.

 

So, what did this Reception Outpost look like?

 

I have never known.

 

While I'm asking questions, this photo has always stumped me:

 

 

 

Where was that big log slice?

 

It's not the same one that once was in front of the current check in lanes.

 

It's bigger.

 

I see what looks like a stockade fence there at the upper right corner of the photo.

 

Since it mentions Tri-Circle-D ranch, I've always figured that it was located somewhere near the ranch.

 

Well, apparently, I figured wrong.

 

The other night, I was looking for a show on my DVR, and I noticed that it had recorded some episodes of the show from HGTV called My Yard Goes Disney.

 

Apparently, there was one where they build a Fort Wilderness themed area in the back of someone's home.

 

I never knew about this episode.

 

Maybe you did, but I didn't.

 

So I watched it.

 

About ten minutes into the show, they showed what was obviously an old Fort Wilderness photo to make the point that the Fort is a WDW original.

 

I couldn't believe what I saw when they showed the photo.

 

In fact, I was so amazed that I paused the show and took some photos.

 

I wish these weren't so blurry, because the photo was quite clear on the screen.

 

They kind of zoomed in the on the scene.

 

They started back a bit:

 

 

And then zoomed in:

 

 

Does this log slice look familiar to anyone else?:

 

 

Over to the right, you can see a CM chatting with the guests in that station wagon:

 

 

 

 

You can see that stockade fence behind the log slice.  It looks like the Reception Outpost was just some kind of pre-fab metal building, and they spruced it up with those posts.

 

So, now I think I know what the original reception outpost looked like.

 

TCD

 

Super sleuthing right there^ Awesome.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

One of the books I have says that they drained Bay Lake and cleaned it out due to bad water quality. I would assume that a fair amount of dredging was required too.

[Discamper 394]

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Unfortunately, that is the way its going and not just at Disney. There is a new CG in Pensacola Beach that is charging $100+ a night for basically a parking lot next to the water.

 

State parks are the way to go these days if you can do without full hookups for a while.

We are regulars at a state park in the Poconos nearby us. An electric only site is now up to 23 bucks a night, but they do have a dump station. Still a deal, but not as good as it used to be.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Ohio State Parks have electric at the sites, dump station and fresh water stations; $29 for weekends, $25 weekdays.  

[Discamper 394]

Our State Park here in

Jupiter has a full hookup site with sewage and water and electric and its only $22 ni

[Discamper 394]

[Discamper 394]

So after they removed the railroad, did they leave a car there on display for a period of time?  It looks like it is just sitting there.  And that concrete looks as though it was poured specifically to be able to get to the steps of the front and back of the car. 

The track was still there a few people derailed it a few times on the road going to the 1600-1900 loop

[Silver Mist 2]