If you grew up in a Disney-loving family during the 80s and 90s, you probably remember things being a bit different than they are now at Disney World!
The Earffel Tower at Disney MGM Studios; Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog
There are a few memories that are burned into our brains! We don’t know why we can’t seem to forget them! Let’s see if you do, too… .
Take a trip back in time with us and see if you remember some of our favorite things from growing up at Disney World too!
The Yellow Sea Of Ponchos
Every time it rained in Disney World (which seems to happen A LOT), the gift shops would bust out their displays of bright yellow Mickey rain ponchos, and it felt like everyone in the park would buy one!
Vintage Yellow Ponchos Photo; Credit Werner Weiss ©Yesterland.com
We’re talking men, women, and even small children! They were big sheets of vinyl with an enormous logo of Mickey on the back. (This was before the days of Amazon when a lot of people bought cheaper rain ponchos online and brought them to the parks.) In 2003 Disney World switched over to a clear poncho which is much less harsh on the eyes, but call us nostalgic — we seem to prefer the vibrant yellow ones better!
Check out our list of 9 important things you won’t find in Disney World here!
Butter Was Mickey-Shaped Everywhere
Believe it or not, you can STILL find Mickey Butter at some spots in Disney World (like this beautiful bounty of Mickey-shaped butter pads that came with our room service at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge!). But alas, Mickey Butter is a rare creature these days!
Mickey Butter
If you were lucky enough to visit Disney World during the Mickey Butter glory days, you’ll remember this stuff was everywhere! In fact, it was one of the things we were the most excited about seeing on every trip. We even remember having the old “D” in the Walt Disney World logo…as butter. Shaped butter just TASTED better, right?!
Garden Grill Restaurant at EPCOT (back when it was known as The Land Grille Room) even had MICKEY SHAPED BUTTER STATUES! We don’t know what Disney’s strange obsession with butter was but we fully support it returning!
Typhoon Lagoon Doubloons
Typhoon Lagoon opened on June 1, 1989, at Disney World and quickly became the unofficial water park capital of all the cool kids. We remember these giant souvenir coins came with our kids’ meal, folded in a small paper envelope!
Typhoon Lagoon Doubloon Photo Credit: Worthpoint.com
The token was made of plastic and read “Typhoon Lagoon Doubloon” on both sides. It had absolutely no purpose or cash value (what, you gave us a giant gold coin that we can’t spend on anything?!?), but since we’ve held onto this thing all these years, we’re pretty happy it’s still around!
You Could Meet the Dreamfinder and Figment
Back when Disney’s rarest characters used to roam the Earth (and before Journey Into Imagination’s refurb) there was the Dreamfinder — a magical man with a luscious crop of red hair and a beard to match — and you could MEET him!
Dreamfinder and Figment Photo Credit: D23
And while, later, a much bigger costumed Figment was introduced, the original Figment was just a wee lad in an itty bitty sweater toted around by the gloved and tuxedoed Dreamfinder.
Don’t even get us started with the rest of the amazing stuff you could see and do at EPCOT back in the day (fly around blood cells in Body Wars, sniff oranges in Horizons, sing with fruit at Kitchen Kabaret, bust a move with Captain EO…the list goes on and on). The place was absolutely bananas…and PERFECT.
Candy Came in WAY Cooler Packaging
Long before Goofy’s Candy Co., Disney World packaged its candy in souvenir tins and acrylics cases. Some were shaped like Disney characters while others were beautifully illustrated with colorful designs. Each one was like a work of art!
Vintage Candy Tin Photo Credit: Worthpoint.com
Our favorite cases were these simple square acrylic boxes that were usually filled with Runts or Tart n Tinys or M&Ms. The confectioneries and gift shops had STACKS of them.
Old Disney World Candy Box!
Now Disney packages its candy in disposable plastic bags and tubs — how we long for them to bring back this art form! (Huge thanks to Carl S. for sending us this pic to spark our imaginations and remember our must-have souvenirs from the 80s! Maybe our obsession with these was the seed of Disney Food Blog!)
Fine, But I Still Call It MGM Studios!
Perhaps the biggest change from our past is Disney’s Hollywood Studios (which doesn’t even have the same name anymore). MGM Studios (as it was formerly called) opened on May 1st, 1989, and was the third park at Disney World.
This park was super RAD even before Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge! It had a giant Mickey-shaped water tower, a Honey I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure playground, and even a Studio Backlot Tour with a sound stage, tram, and walking tour!
Earffel Tower
The idea behind MGM Studios started as a movie-themed pavilion at EPCOT. But the project grew and grew, eventually expanding into its own unique theme park concept!
Learn more about Hollywood Studios (which just celebrated its 31st anniversary) HERE!
Backlot Tour
A 1985 licensing agreement between Disney and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio gave Disney the right to use “MGM” for the name and logo. And originally, Disney planned on using the theme park as an actual movie production studio. Ernest Saves Christmas was filmed at MGM Studios before the park opened to the public, and that began the downfall of the name MGM before guests had even stepped foot inside.
Disney Studio Backlot Tour
MGM filed a lawsuit against Disney in 1988 (BEFORE the park was even open to the public) stating movie-making was in violation of their contract with Disney…even though that was kind of the whole point of the park in the first place. The case was settled in 1992 and Disney was allowed to keep using the MGM brand for its park. They did that until January 7, 2008, when the name was changed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Actually, now that we’ve had a chance to reflect back on this stuff, we think we know why we cling to these memories. They’re rather small details through the eyes of an adult, but in the imagination of a child, Mickey Butter, meeting the Dreamfinder, and seeing rows and rows of neatly stacked candies in shiny clear acrylic boxes is a dream come true!
We wonder what stuff our kids are noticing that they’ll be remembering many years from now! We look forward to finding out.
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Loved Backlot Tour!! Got to do the action scene at the beginning once! One of my favorite Disney memories!
Really liked this blog post. Learn a lot of stuff I didn’t know before. Great job to whoever did this, y’all rock.
Yep, I still call it MGM, not Hollywood Studios. Also, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in the Magic Kingdom used to be the WEDWay PeopleMover. I still call it that too.
I remember it all. I first visited Disney World when there was only the Magic Kingdom and there was very literally A,B,C,D & E tickets! We first visited Epcot soon after it had opened and saw Dreamfinder and Figment. I had a Figment Sleepshirt I got on that trip. But I love that Disney’s always changing and always new.
You missed many of the really unique Disney magic… like when you made a reservation for dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe and when you were called to be seated you were presented with authentic WCC Paper Menu Newspaper with your family name printed at the headline and your name sprinkled throughout the paper. awesome, or riding with the driver on the Monorail or eating eggs Benedict at the Steak House restaurant in the main concourse of the Contemporary because it was the only restaurant on property that offered eggs Benedict. Have you ever seen a DREAM pin… (Disney Resort Experiences are Magical). Michael Eisner and Frank Wells changed the entire culture of being a cast member by raising the guest experience bar to unparalleled heights that the competition could not match. I was a Disney Institute graduate of several disaplines and cherish every moment
Oh yes, and let’s not forget the popular “Sticky Mickey” breakfast bread or a real candy apple on a Granny Smith. Now it appears the water pageant night time lights and music will pass on. It was a highlight for the kids at night for guests staying on Bay Lake or the 7 Seas Lagoon. The good old days
What about the personalized newspaper menu at the Whispering Canyon Cafe or riding with the pilot on the monorail or visiting the different club Venus at Pleasure Island. All great memories
My kids mock me every time, I call it MGM. I even confused a very young cast member on my last trip who had no idea what I was referring to.
Great memories! I still have the poncho and candy box. I remember guessing which color monorail would arrive and trying for pilots seat. Also, I remember 20,000 leagues and thought I was way deep!
“Thanks For The Memories” I saw and did everyone of them and to top it all, I still have my yellow poncho and use it on my yearly visits to WDW.
I have a picture of me with the Dreamfinder and Figment when I was around 8 years old! I remember meeting them and Figment flipped my hat off my head. Haha!
I still miss The Adventurer’s Club!!!! I wish they would bring that back!
Makes me sad reading this because we loved MGM We went there in 1989 when it opened. It was a magical movie experience. Participating in Superstar Television experiences ( I was a Ethel to Lucy in the chocolate factory episode and my husband and I were the sketchy neighbors in the Golden Girls). Learning how sound effects created, it was fun
Now? Nothing about making movies. Ever since Frozen invasion its lost its way
They used to actually “make” movies with the street actors and using spectators (my husband and I were in one) back where they now sell the frozen Cokes near 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Lots of fun and laughs!
The yellow ponchos…my family & I still have them! MGM Studios & Downtown Disney forever in my mind!!! I can’t get used to saying Disney Springs!!
Wonderful nostalgia,,,I had the opportunity to cover EPCOT’s opening back in 1982 for a magazine & must say u hit on many of the things I so enjoyed. Really think WDW does a bang up job in general but they really screwed up with losing “The Dream Finder & Figment” in original form. Also doe anyone remember the wonder Broadway style show in the “Top of The World” Supper Club in the Contemporary resort that was the predecessor to California Grill….really, really miss that too!…www.hcgrp.net
We had dinner at the Garden Grill on our very first visit with the kids to WDW in ‘89. I remember the Mickey butter statues back then. It was almost too cute to eat, but we took a photo and then we did. They were gone by our next visit in 1991.
Love the walk down memory lane. I remember all of this except my only regret is that I never met Dreamfinder and figment.
I miss the old MGM, back lot tour, car show, and Osborne lights. 🙁 We still have our yellow ponchos too
I hope it’s ok to mention it here, but we have an excellent Vintage Walt Disney World group on Facebook if you’re in to old photos and memories from 1971 until 2001. Lots of great photos! 🙂 – Dan B (aka; Gern Blandsten Jr. on Facebook (my nickname))
Growing up, I went to two different tapings of the New MMC at MGM Studios! Such fun memories!
Yes!! I LOVED Figment! And it will absolutely always be MGM
I don’t know if this was just in Disneyland but the Mickey mouse bunched lollipop were changed. I miss throse so much they came in yellow, orange, and lime green colors, my favorite was the yellow banana one.
I forgot about the Mickey shaped butter! My fam still calls HS MGM 😆. My brother got to be in the Backlot tour action scene on one of its final days. We had no idea he’d been selected until we saw him on stage! So cool. I also loved the ‘Tapestry of Dreams’ parade at Epcot. Getting to drop your ‘dream’ into one of the baskets carried by performers on stilts!
I found our yellow Mickey ponchos when cleaning out a closet in October. We wore them proudly in November of this year!
One thing I definitely remember were the Mickey ponchos. I think my parents got them for my siblings and I for when it was raining tho I was really young.
I remember the ride tickets- we never had enough E tickets lol. And I loved If You Had Wings (where the Buzz Lightyear ride is now) sponsored by the now defunct Eastern Airlines. And you did not need a ticket to ride it!
Cinderella castle had the Mickey statue butters too!! My first trip, we lucked out having dinner there, and this is what I remember!
How do you have 101 Dalmatians on the cover of the post but not mention it in the article? When did the Earful Tower look like that? Spot lovers need to know!
I remember the Mickey butter statue at the France restaurant in Epcot and the fabulous parade in Epcot with performers on stilts before the fireworks. We went to a character breakfast at the Empress Lilly in Downtown Disney. Lovely memories – my favorite was and still is in Epcot Horizons.
I LOVED the Mickey Butter! I seem to recall at Norway they had spaceship earth shaped butter (like little golf balls) when Akershus was actually Norwegian food, complete with a Norwegian food buffet (ah, before the princess’ invaded..). I my mom never let us get candy, but I do recall we must’ve got something once, bc the clear acrylic box held my hair ties on my dresser!
Does anyone remember the powdered soap they used to use in the bathrooms? Now my family “ranks” public restrooms by the standard of their soap- is it on WDW level…or not!?!? 🙂
the first time I saw the whole body butter statue was at King Stephan’s Banquet Hall for my birthday Dinner in 1994. Stood grand and tall right in the middle of a plate, and my husband was so embarrassed when I took a flash photo of it. Once I did it, half the place did it too.
Or, for some of us, not when we were kids but when we were about 30! 🙂
My family loved the backlot tour we went on it several times it was so much fun we hated to see It gone and the cutest butter n the world was the Mickey Mouse so adorable they need to do that again the dinner rolls and other breads were even more yummy r sell the litttle molds to make them now there that’s en idea can we get a vote on that
I remember when mgm wasn’t even there!
I still have my pirates of the Caribbean muskets. Old school wood and metal replicas…my prized possessions!
Memories, memories, memories. Great nostalgia. It is still downtown Disney and MGM to us.Fort Wilderness was just that (wilderness) with amenities. Now they got rid of Mickeys back yard BBQ and we are losing part of our beach(to progress) A new hotel of course! I realize things can’t always stay the same, but sometimes the good things should be left alone. More money to the company doesn’t always mean better guest relations. We still will go to the Fort on occasion, but I can get a room in a hotel for what they are now charging. Walt. WISH YOU WERE HERE!!!!
My family remembers the e-tickets we ask some one if they one they didn’t want r they would ask us and we always bought more and c Ing Pluto having a face off with a ten year old boy they were on leaning different trash cans so funny and Mickey Mouse coming to me to dance with me and Minnie Mouse sitting on my husbands lap and on my birthday when chef mickeys was n downtown Disney and be came out n his chefs outfit and bought me my cake and made my husband get up so he could sit with me and have me that sweet Mickey Mouse hug and kiss my brother n law sister love there and went to Disney a lot and ate there lot and arranged that for me I will always treasure that we still go there too and love Disney world please don’t keep changing so much and miss spectro magic it was the best and the Mickey Mouse butter was the best please bring that back and chefs de France had the best at lunch the the French menu it was the best it had a sandwich plus French onion soup crème brûlée for under ?30.00 we think around $25.00 they need to bring it back we k ow they get new head chefs but if it’s not broke don’t fix it need to bring back some things and respect what Walt Disney created
From the early years of EPCOT, I remember not only Dreamfinder and tiny Figment, but also these strange, cartoonish big-headed characters that would walk around the World Showcase, representing the different countries. That part I could do without, but I loved the fact that EPCOT was completely free of Disney films IP, and all about a sort of “World’s Fair” experience. Oh, and also, all of the characters, be it in MK or EPCOT, walked around freely amongst the guests, and you could just approach them and hug them or take photos as they walked around.
Also when journey into the imagination was great and the dream finder and figment would come out n the park and also need to bring back spectro magic parade it’s the best parade we remember n frontier land Donald Duck had a live Xmas tree lot and he dressed up n red and black jacket and hat like he was n the yukon we were dining n the liberty tree inn and seen it thru windows and went out took lots of pics need more and more of those things and quit sending things we like to other Disney parks we also were n Cinderellas castle dining out side our window Peter Pan and Captain Hook were sword fighting and was a great surprise
This made my heart ache. This was the Disney I loved – not the over-planned stress fest it is now. I was an incredibly lucky kid with parents who sacrificed like crazy to make sure we had a Disney vacation once a year. I still have a yellow poncho and a clear candy box – my favorite candy were the Runts, which I thought were strictly “Disney candy”! I also have my figment doll, toiletry bottles from our Contemporary room, and my gold Mickey alarm clock my dad bought in MGM. It will ALWAYS be MGM!
In the resorts the soaps were stamped with Micky and came in Mickey boxes. I still have some. (Yup, haven’t washed in decades, LOL.) Even the toilet paper was in Mickey wrapping! (I saved a wrapper too!)
Was sad to see the Sorcerer’s Hat and the water tower taken down. I think Holly Studios was more unique before Star Wars and Toy Story Land were added.
Pink powdered soap!!
We have our yellow rain ponchos still 😂
This is obviously an older blog, but it’s a great one! I loved the little 3D Mickey butter statues! I almost didn’t want to eat them (but I did)! I have the two candy containers that was shown, although the candy is long gone! All of these days are sadly gone and the magic is, also.
My husband and I still call it MGM (even though our Disney-raised kids cringe!). I was at MGM in May of 1989 shortly after it opened. Loved the backlot tour and the Great Movie Ride! We miss both of those. We still go to Prime Time Cafe every time, but on our last trip the servers were not as “fun” as in the past. We loved Mickey Butter, the original sky ride, kids getting a chance to ride in the cab of the Monorail, the parade with stilts in World Showcase, Figment and Dreamcatcher!! , characters roaming freely for autographs and pictures, And of course Spectromagic / Electric Light Parade! Disney Village Marketplace – original name instead of Downtown Disney! Who remembers a walkway in Magic Kingdom covered with arches of plants and flowers??! A booth in Magic Kingdom sort of out in the open called Mad Hatter where you could get Mickey ears personalized on the spot? When our kids were small, we loved the all-night cafeteria places in the deluxe resorts – where you could get sandwiches, yogurt, etc any time of day? And Discovery Island!!!! Agree that the new Electrical Water Pageant is nothing like the original!!! I miss the old Disney days when Disney World vacations were enjoyable and could be spontaneous — not stressful!!
And I forgot to add the powdered soap dispensers! Who remembers the old paper tickets that you could get for 5 days that NEVER EXPIRED! Each day of use would be stamped like the old library book date stamp. My brother has one with one day left from we think 1989.
YES!!! The clear square containers filled with tart n’ tiny candy were my favorite. I remember stacking them up in my bedroom and filling them with florescent colored hair bands and rubber bracelets once the candy was gone!!