Tockstein Disney History, part 1

Since I've been told I don't blog enough (thanks Mali), I have decided to begin a new series of posts about my trips to Disney World before moving to Florida. Hopefully, some people will find this of interest. If not, it could work as a sleep aid if you have insomnia. Nothing like the warm glow of a laptop computer in a darkened room with an essay from Jared Tockstein on the screen to lull you to sleep. I'm better than Ambien!

Without further delay, let us load the old Monte Carlo and begin the 700 mile journey from Knoxville, TN to Orlando...

JANUARY, 1981

My Dad had a business meeting in Orlando, and he thought this would be a perfect opportunity for us to visit Disney World for the first time. I was the ripe old age of 5, just 2 months shy of 6. My sister was also just a few months short of 4 years old.

Up to this time, my exposure to the world of amusement parks had been limited to several county fairs and a few trips to Silver Dollar City (now known as the world-famous Dollywood). Now I thought Silver Dollar City was pretty cool, but when we got to Disney World I think my 5 year old brain went haywire with sensory overload.

Keep in mind that this was 1981. It was before Epcot, before the Studios, and before Animal Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom was the only kid on the block, except for Sea World (but dumb old Shamoo couldn't hold a candle to Mickey).

As I recall, this was the middle of January, typically one of the slowest times of year for the Disney parks. The park was empty. My most vivid memory of this trip was the first ride that we went on: Mister Toad's Wild Ride. Honestly, I had never experienced anything like that before. You climb aboard an old roadster and proceed on a madcap trip through the English countryside, crashing through various barnyards and pubs before finally smashing head-on into a train and meeting eternity in the bowels of Hades while the Devil looks on. Not a very Disney-like ride when you think about it. But it floored me! I didn't care or notice that the "train" was just a bright light in a dark room, or that the entire ride was simply plywood cutouts lit by blacklight. It was completely unlike anything I had experienced before, and it really set the tone for the completely immersive experience that I would have over the next few days.

Another vivid memory was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. You actually boarded a submarine and took a ride underwater! Now granted, you were really only about 3 feet underwater and all of the undersea life you were seeing was plastic, but do you really think that mattered to a 5 year old? We went to Sea World that same trip, and even seeing REAL undersea animals wasn't as cool as 20K Leagues!

And then there was the Haunted Mansion. The ride was unsettling to me, but I wasn't scared. The most vivid scene of the ride I remember was the long hallway with the floating candlestick. To this day whenever I see that scene, I think about my first trip. And of course I loved the scene where the ghosts seem to share your ride vehicle with you.

And how could I forget If You Had Wings, which was a bit of an oddity and is barely remembered today. It was essentially a ride-through commercial for now-defunct Eastern Airlines, which at that time was the official airline of Walt Disney World. You rode through this attraction looking at posters and projections of all the places that Eastern Airlines flew. There was even a travel agent waiting at a desk at the end of the ride...just in case you wanted to book your next vacation right then and there!

20K Leagues sailed for the last time in 1994. The lagoon has been filled with cement and a replica of Winnie the Pooh's Hundred Acre Woods stands there now. Mister Toad had to make way for a Winnie the Pooh ride in 1999. If You Had Wings was gone by 1987. Several attractions have come and gone in that building, and it is now the current home of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The Haunted Mansion is, of course, still there and still one of the park's most popular attractions.

Oh yes, this was also the trip where I first saw the ocean. That was pretty cool. But let's be honest, it wasn't as cool as Mister Toad.

My parents still have most of the pictures from this trip, and my Dad even took some old 8 millimeter film footage with our old movie camera. All of this photographic evidence remains at the Tockstein home in Knoxville, TN. I did come across one picture however. Those two colorful blurry spots in the middle of the picture are me and my sister Julie.

Come back next time for details of our next trip...JANUARY 1985.

Pictures and research for this entry came from the excellent Widen Your World website, which is a treasure trove of information on extinct Disney World attractions. Check out the website at http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wyw.htm.