- Magic Kingdom: Main
Street-Crystal Palace
- In 1996 the menu was changed to a fixed-price
buffet with character visits for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Magic Kingdom: Frontierland-Diamond
Horseshoe Saloon
- Starting in 1996, the Saloon is open all evening
on a non-reservation basis for light refreshments and entertainment. Shows,
which are simpler than the Revue that is put on during the day, start about
once an hour.
- Magic Kingdom: Frontierland
to Adventureland Walkway
- There is a walkway, opened in 1996,
that cuts-through from Frontierland to Adventureland just to the left of the
Country Bear Jamboree.
- Magic Kingdom: Liberty
Square-Liberty Tree Tavern
- The Liberty Tree Tavern started serving
a character dinner in 1996.
- Magic Kingdom: Fantasyland-Ariel's
Grotto
- Located at the extreme left of the former 20,000 Leagues
site, this new attraction opened in 1996 includes King Triton's fountain with
its cooling spray, as well as a place for Ariel to sign autographs.
- Magic Kingdom: Fantasyland-King
Stefan's Banquet Hall
- King Stefan's Banquet Hall in Cinderella's
Castle started serving a character breakfast in 1996.
- Magic Kingdom: Fantasyland-20,000
Leagues Under the Sea
- This attraction,
which opened with the park in 1971, was closed in 1996.
- Magic Kingdom: Mickey's
Toontown Fair
- Mickey's Starland was redesigned and renamed Mickey's
Toontown Fair in 1996. Mickey's House is still there (now called Mickey's
Country House), but just about everything else has changed. Minnie's Country
House has been added, just to the left of Mickey's House. Across from Mickey's
House is Donald Duck's Boat. You can walk in, but beware--the entire floor
is one of Disney's now famous interactive fountains. Next to the boat is Goofy's
Barnstorming Roller Coaster, which is designed with the kiddies in mind and
loops in and about the former site of the petting zoo.
- Magic Kingdom: Tomorrowland--Take
Flight
- All references to Delta were removed in 1996 due to the
disassociation between Disney and Delta. The name of the attraction was changed
from Dreamflight to Take Flight. It closed in early January 1998 for extensive
refurbishment.
- EPCOT: Future World
- Entertainment has
been beefed up in the Future World area. 1996 offerings include some truly
out-of-this-world acrobatics/strength ballet performances at Innoventions
Logo Plaza (located behind the big fountain along the walkway to World Showcase).
- EPCOT: Future World-World of Motion
- The World of Motion Pavilion closed in 1996 to undergo a monumental
conversion from one of the most innocuous rides at WDW to what may turn out
to be the wildest mega-ride in Orlando: The GM Test Track.
- EPCOT: World Showcase
- Entertainment
has been beefed up in the World Showcase area. 1996 offerings include the
Junkanoo Bus for Island music, Cirikli (stilt birds--this one is truly unusual),
Zip Code Man and Tzigantzi, a very good honest-to-goodness band of performing
gypsies. Additionally, there are more country-specific performances at each
country than ever before.
- Studios: Backstage at 101 Dalmatians Backlot
Tour
- The studio walking tour, missing for about a year, reopened
in 1996. The "Bee Room", which demonstrated the blue screen technique via
a ride on a bee from Honey I Shrunk the Kids, now uses action from
101 Dalmatians. The portion of the tour that formerly housed the sets
from the short Bette Midler film has been replaced with some of the sets used
to film 101 Dalmatians.
- Studios: Ellen's Buy the Book
- A recreation
of the bookstore from the TV sitcom Ellen replaced the former Costume
Shop next to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant in 1996.
- Studios: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- The ride profile was altered in 1996. Immediately following your 13-story
drop, you are whisked right back to the top and promptly dropped again! Our
consensus is that the original one-drop ride profile had a fright factor on
a par with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but the new profile bumps the Tower
up to the Splash Mountain/Space Mountain category.
- Studios: Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame--A
Musical Adventure
- Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame--A Musical
Adventure is the 1996 presentation at the Backlot Theater (behind Muppet*Vision).
This replaces last year's Pocahontas show.
- Studios: Backlot Tour
- The Backlot Tour
was changed considerably in 1996. Formerly consisting of two parts--tram tour
and studio walking tour--the two have now been combined, cutting out most
of the walking tour. The entrance has been moved to the far end of Mickey
Ave., next to the fountain used in the movie Splash at the location that has
been occupied for the last few years by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle appearances
(which have been dropped). The tram tour starts with what used to be the beginning
of the walking tour--the special effects water tanks. The entire rest of the
walking tour (including the Bee and the Bette Midler film) has been dropped.
You proceed directly to a new loading area for the tram tour. This area is
an inside, air-conditioned room designed to look like a movie prop warehouse
(reminiscent of the waiting area for Earthquake at Universal Studios Florida).
The room is sized to meter out to the trams the maximum quantity of people
that can be held in the water tank area. The tram tour itself has not changed.
At the end of the tram tour, you must walk through the American Film Institute
Showcase to exit.
- Studios: American Film Institute Showcase
- The American Film Institute Showcase opened in 1996. It is housed in a building
at the end of the studio tram tour and contains a collection of movie memorabilia
that changes from time to time. It replaces Studio Showcase that used to be
housed in the building just across from the entrance to Muppet*Vision 3D.
- Studios: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stopped making personal appearances in
1996.
- General: Admission Media & Entry Procedures
- Starting in 1996, entry to all WDW parks requires use of new, credit-card
size tickets that have a magnetic stripe on the back, on which is encoded
the admission type. The new tickets are inserted by the visitor into slots
on new computerized turnstiles that read the information on the magnetic stripe
and automatically record the usage back onto it. This system eliminates the
need for the gate attendants to have to look closely at each ticket for validity
and then date stamp it. It appears that each attendant now covers two or three
turnstiles, reducing the number of attendants required. It allows all turnstiles
to be used for both initial entry as well as re-entry. Although hand-stamps
are given upon exit for re-entry purposes, we found that the hand-stamps are
often not checked now. Except for annual passes, there is no longer anything
on the ticket personalizing it to a specific individual--no photo, no
signature. Annual passes use a new two-finger biometric measurement system,
the readers for which are mounted on top of some (but not all) turnstiles.
Visitors using leftover days on any older-style pass must exchange it for
a new-style magnetic stripe version at specially marked ticket windows.
Your replacement admission media will provide exactly the same degree of admission
as the old one you turn in.
- General: Major Park Guide Maps
- The guide maps that are handed out when you enter the park were redesigned
in 1996. In the past, the 4-color glossy guide maps were undated and did not
list the show schedules or special performers and guest stars for the week.
That task was handled by a separate 1-color, plain paper show schedule. Now,
the 4-color glossy is dated--over a one-week range--and combines all the information
formerly contained in both of the separate pieces. Also included is a complete
schedule of character appearance times and locations.
- General: Free Parking
- Starting in 1996,
you no longer have to pay for parking at the Magic Kingdom parking lot if
you are passing through on your way to eat at one of the restaurants at any
Magic Kingdom resort. Simply stay to the right and tell the parking attendant
at the booth what restaurant you are eating at and you will be waved on through.
We were going to a character breakfast one morning but did not know about
this. We had stayed to the right because we were not going to the main MK
parking lot. We went to pay our $5, but the attendant first asked us where
we were going. When we said we were going to a character breakfast, we were
waved through free! We mentioned our dinner destination several times during
the following week and it worked every time!
- General: Parking Tickets
- Starting in
1996, the colored parking tickets (which rotated among various colors each
day to prevent reuse) have been replaced with computer-printed tickets which
identify the issuing location and the date in large type.
- General: Pastel Portrait Artists
- An army of Disney artists who will draw your portrait in pastels
were deployed all over Walt Disney World in 1996--in the parks, in the resorts,
at the Village Marketplace. Our casual observations disclosed high-quality--even
stunning--results, better than we have seen anywhere else.
- General: Entry Arches
- Entry arches were constructed at all the major entry points to WDW
in 1996. They are similar in style to the ones that have been in place at
the Village Marketplace since 1995Locations include the World Drive, EPCOT
Drive, and Hotel Plaza Blvd entrances.
- Recreation: Typhoon Lagoon
- The practice
of renting "inner tubes" (which could be used to bypass the lines waiting
for free tubes on the slides or for Castaway Creek) was discontinued in 1996.
An ample supply of free tubes is now available at all tube locations.
- Recreation: Typhoon Lagoon
- The wave
schedule in the Surf Pool was changed a little in 1996 in favor of surf: 90
minutes of surf alternating with 30 minutes of bobbing waves, instead of 60/60.
The exact schedule is posted on a blackboard that overlooks the pool at a
point near the entrance to the park. Also, those waves sure seem bigger than
ever!
- Resorts: Contemporary Resort-The California Grill
- Opened in 1996, the California Grill on the 15th floor of the Contemporary
Resort, replacing the former Top of the World Restaurant, represents Walt
Disney World's recent attention to the quality of its restaurants. We have
heard that the restaurant has developed a reputation as one of the better
restaurants in Florida, and after our visit we would not disagree. One of
the new breed of Walt Disney World restaurants that is managed by the executive
chef, the menu varies from week to week to take advantage of the best in-season
fresh foods. The show kitchen--the most "open" kitchen we have ever seen,
occupies the center of the room. The wine list is very extensive, consisting
exclusively of California varieties. Remarkably, most every wine is available
by the glass. When we had trouble choosing--even though we were only having
one glass-we were brought a taste. After three tries, we found the perfect
wine for our meal. The menu characterizes the now familiar light and fresh
California style of cooking. Our meals were excellent. Even though we had
made no special request, we were seated at a window table with a magnificent
view overlooking the Magic Kingdom and the setting sun in a perfectly clear
sky.
- Resorts: Contemporary-Chef Mickey's Restaurant
- Chef Mickey's Restaurant moved in 1996 to the Grand Canyon Concourse from
the Village Marketplace (to make way for the Rain Forest Cafe), replacing
the former Contemporary Cafe.
- Resorts: Polynesian
- The Polynesian
Resort's Great Ceremonial House was extensively refurbished in 1996.
- Resorts: Shades of Green
- The Shades
of Green Resort was sold outright to the U.S. Military in 1996, which had
leased the resort for the previous two years.
- Resorts: Disney Institute
- When opened earlier in 1996, programs were limited to adults and
older children. Programs for children were added later in 1996 in what appears
to be an attempt to broaden the Institute's appeal. We have recently come
across reports that bookings have not been strong and that special deals have
been offered to local residents in an effort to fill spaces.
- Recreation: Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf
- Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf opened in 1996. Almost right across the
street from the Swan Hotel, is Disney's first entry into golf of the miniature
persuasion, Fantasia Mini-Golf. There are two separate and quite different
courses. The traditional course with themed obstacles is based on Fantasia.
Each group of several adjacent holes is based on one of the movie's musical
themes, which softly plays in the background. Be forewarned: This is one of
the toughest courses we have ever played! A cast member is pretty much always
on the prowl with a ball retriever stick to recover the many balls that disappear
into the water hazards. One confided to us that one of the holes, which is
steeply inclined and which we found to be just about impossible, was erroneously
built three feet too high at the tall end. She pointed out patches on the
felt green where alterations had just been attempted. The second course is
probably unique in that it looks exactly like a real golf course--grass, sand
traps and no cute obstacles--but with one difference: It is miniature golf
course size.
- EPCOT: Future World-Universe of Energy
- Closed intermittently during 1996, this pavilion's makeover was completed
late in 1996. The 15 year old, rather dated, and by all accounts boring film
segments have been made over into the much more entertaining Ellen's Energy
Adventure, starring Disney/ABC's Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye, the Science
Guy. The rotating pre-show screen has been replaced with a flat screen. The
dinosaurs are still there, but their paint schemes have been made brighter
and more colorful and there appear to be some differences in dinosaur population
in general.
- Recreation: Pleasure Island & Village Marketplace-
World of Disney
- The World of Disney opened in October 1996 in
large block of that formerly housed the Christmas Chalet. It supplants the
venerable Mickey's Character Shop. The new store has over three times the
floor space of the previous Character Shop. It includes twelve Disney themed
rooms and a mountain of Disney plush toys.
- General: Celebration-School
- The Celebration school opened in late August 1996, located in temporary
trailers. Approximately 200 students are enrolled in the inaugural classes
of this K-12 school.
- Recreation: Pleasure Island & Village Marketplace:
Rain Forest Cafe
- This 30,000 square-foot restaurant, which is
the fourth in a Minneapolis chain, features an interior decor that literally
puts you in the rainforest, including thunderous weather effects. Flora and
fauna include flowered hillsides, animatronic monkeys and live tropical birds
and fish--enough to require a full-time curator! On the outside, a 65-foot-tall
volcano erupts regularly. You will also find a 5000 square-foot gift shop
inside. The restaurant, which sits on the former site of Chef Mickey's Restaurant
(which has relocated to the Grand Canyon Concourse of the Contemporary Resort),
opened in early August 1996.
- Resorts: Boardwalk Resort
- Walt Disney World's Boardwalk Resort officially opened July 1, 1996.
This is expected to be the final resort in the EPCOT area. The resort is located
on a small lake on the EPCOT-Studio waterway, visible to and just across from
the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. It is designed to evoke the New Jersey beach
resorts of the 40's and 50's, which it appears to quite well. A magnificent
wooden boardwalk curves halfway around the small lake, adorned with a single,
continuous pole-mounted string of clear light bulbs. The resort hotel, the
largest building on the boardwalk, occupies the central position. Various
buildings that house restaurants and lounges flank it. An old-fashioned style
ballroom sits at one end of the boardwalk. You will also find a few carnival
games by the dock, across from the hotel. The water shuttles to EPCOT and
the Disney/MGM Studios provide dockside activity. If you really want to fade
back to a bygone era, you can rent a four-passenger, pedal-powered surrey
and leisurely cruise up and down the boardwalk. This resort is best appreciated
from dusk on into the wee hours.
- Resorts: Old Key West Resort
- The Disney
Vacation Club, the timeshare resort, was renamed the Old Key West Resort early
in 1996.
- Recreation: Pleasure Island & Village Marketplace:
Fulton's Crab House
- This restaurant,
where seafood reigns supreme, opened in March 1996 on the Empress Lilly, which
had been dormant since 1995. A character breakfast with Mickey & Minnie can
be found here every morning.
- Resorts: Disney Institute
- The Disney Institute opened in February 1996. The Disney Institute,
located on Lake Buena Vista and incorporating most of the former Disney Village
Resort area, offers a mix of learning and entertainment experiences to provide
a different kind of vacation.
- Recreation: Walt Disney World Speedway
- The Walt Disney World hosts their own version of Indy-style auto racing
at the new Walt Disney World Speedway with the inauguration of the Indy 200
race in 1996. The racing oval, opened January 27, 1996, is located at the
back of the Magic Kingdom parking lot.
- General: Celebration-Phase I
- The first
residents started moving in at the beginning of July 1996. Work is proceeding
at a furious pace towards construction of phase I.
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