Calling my fellow Millennials, we are here to take a trip down memory lane and you might want to grab your tissues.
©Disney
If you went to Disney World in the 90s and early 2000s, you would know it was A LOT different than it is today. Grab your Hip Clips, your jelly shoes, and your scrunchies because we’re going way back!
This one might really bring a few tears to your eyes — the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. If you were a kid during their existence, you were pumped to see this many Christmas lights in one place! They ended on January 6th, 2016 to make way for Galaxy’s Edge.
Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights
Okay, this one is a lot but literally Hollywood Studios, or as most of us still probably call it MGM, as a whole back then! You had the Backlot Tour, the Lights, Motor, Action show, Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground, and the Sorceror’s Hat in front of the Great Movie Ride. What a time to be alive! But, sadly these things have all been gone for years now.
Truck Waterfall Scene
The Electric Umbrella was the BEST quick service — was it actually? No, probably not. But in my 9-year-old mind, we HAD to eat here every single trip. It closed in February 2020 for the transformation of EPCOT.
Electric Umbrella
The word FastPass. That’s right, FastPasses are now a thing of the past. We first knew them as paper tickets you would send one person in your family to run to grab at rope drop. Then we had FastPass+ and we had touch kiosks, but all of that went away when Genie Plus came in, which is now Lightning Lane. Does anyone else miss the actual kiosks though? Just me? Moving on…
Future World FastPass Kiosks
Families riding in the front of the monorail car have been gone for a while. It was more of a magical moment that some got to experience during that time, but we have not heard or seen anyone be able to do it in a while now, most likely for safety reasons.
Monorail
These were EVERYTHING when they debuted — Pal Mickey. Disney sold the Pal Mickey in the early to mid-2000s. This interactive Mickey Plush wasn’t only a cuddly toy; it was also designed to provide location-based information and play interactive games while inside the parks. Evolving technology quickly outstripped the Pal Mickey hardware, and by the time smartphones were in every guest’s hand, Pal Mickey was a thing of the past.
©Disney/D23
Whew — It’s so fun to think about where Disney World has been. But we have a lot to look forward to and one day some big things that are popular now in the parks will be gone. For more Disney stories and news, follow us at DFB.
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As one who enjoyed the Great Movie Ride at MGM, loved free FastPass, and had my wife and daughter with me as we sat with the driver of the monorail in the nose of the lead car, the one thing I really miss most about Walt Disney World in the 90’s is the room to breathe. WDW in those days was not nearly as crowded as it is now, and it seemed to me that the people visiting the parks felt less entitled. The atmosphere was less hectic, the waits to get on rides weren’t overly long, the crowds were not wall-to-wall, and the experience was truly delightful. A lot has changed…and not all for the better.