Not only was Walt Disney World celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1997, we were celebrating our fourth anniversary! We decided to celebrate with another trip to Florida; unfortunately, my paperwork for this trip is a lot skimpier, so will be depending on the Birnbaum book quite a bit. I think we borrowed a 35mm camera from someone for this trip, as a couple of photos have a date on the back.
We booked our flights through a travel agent - I'm not sure if you could book flights on the Internet in 1997 or not. ATA (I think they went completely under recently) nonstop from Indianapolis. According to our Disney Travel statement, we booked the 5 Night Classic Plan with Flex Features, staying at the All Star Sports. I need to do more research to see what the "Flex Feature" entailed - I think a character meal was an option.
I haven't found any guidemaps in my collection, so will be basing our recollections on photos and the Birnbaum book. According to the Birnbaum guide - Monday, Thursday and Saturday were early entry days, where WDW resort guest could enter the park 1 1/2 hours early to enjoy the Fantasyland attractions and Space Mountain. We probably took advantage of this, as we try to be early risers while on vacation. We didn't take any photos of the daytime parade - I'm not sure we even saw it, as the description from the book doesn't ring a bell. Fantasy in the Sky and Spectromagic were the nighttime entertainment. - no photos of either.
The infamous 25th celebration Cinderella Castle Cake had some wind damage while we were there - so all our photos show part of the "real" castle peeking thru the Pepto-Bismol pink icing & decorations. Other 25th Anniversary decorations included 25 8 foot candles in front of the Train Station as you enter the park, lots of banners with the Cinderella Coach 25th logo, as well as the 5 characters chosen to represent the celebration: Genie, Goofy, Sorceror Mickey, Baby Simba and Tinkerbell.
Mickey's Toontown Fair was open & we took several photos of the whimsical buildings and decor. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was still up & running, as was the Skyway. Tomorrowland had recently been refurbished - to the "future that never was" theme ... some attractions from that era that are no more: Timekeeper, Alien Encounter and Take Flight. . I do recall that during one trip on the TTA, Space Mountain was offline & lit up inside; unfortunately, the photos barely came out - you'd have to know what you were looking at.
Birnbaum mentions that Tuesday and Friday were Epcot's early entry days - and apparently the double-decker busses were still available for transportation around the World Showcase - I don't remember if we ever rode them or not.
The Epcot Flower and Garden Festival was running during our trip, so most of our photos from this park are of the topiaries and other themed decor. The Lion King seems to have been the most popular set of characters this year. We also have a couple of photos from inside the original Journey Into Imagination... sigh..... Roger Rabbit was also quite a bit more popular then & Scott got a photo taken with him over by the American Adventure pavilion (odd location, I know)
Some of the exhibits listed in Innovention include Time Warner sponsoring a demo of Television on Demand (to be rolled out nationwide in 1998); virtual reality experiences courtesy of Silicon Graphics (I think these went to DisneyQuest) and Motorola demonstrating handwriting recognition software and pagers. The Living Seas still had the sea cabs, and if I remember correctly, the staff was involved in an experiment for communication with dolphins. While I enjoy Turtle Talk, I personally feel the mission of this pavilion (and most of Future World, to be honest) has really been watered down over the last 25 years.
Food Rocks (The Land pavilion) and Image Works (Imagination pavilion) are two other attractions I really miss. True, the music in Food Rocks got dated pretty quickly, but it was still a good example of "edu-tainment". I LOVE Soarin', but I think it would have been a much better fit in the Studios. I could have spent hours in Image Works, even as an adult - the pin tables absolutely mesmerized me as a child! Don't even get me started on Horizons or Wonders of Life. Not a whole lot has changed in the World Showcase in the last 11 years - other than some of the live entertainment.
We did score a ride in the front of the monorail going into Epcot during this visit - something we try to do on each visit, but don't always have/make time to do so.
Birnbaum states that Wednesday and Sunday were the early entry days for the Studios - if you look closely in one of the photos, you'll see a Magic Mornings sign near the turnstiles. Before Fantasmic! came along - the Studios used to have a fireworks show - Sorcery in the Sky. I vaguely recall seeing fireworks over Grauman's - so I think we did stay one evening for it.
We took the largest number of photos in this park, mostly due to the live shows. One of which I miss terribly - the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Yes, it was a questionable story choice for Disney, and yes, they took considerable liberties with the original story, but I think it translated well from the movie to the small stage. I read somewhere that the music was written with the thought that it might become a stage musical someday - but since the movie didn't do well, that concept was scrapped. We also saw Beauty and the Beast - for whatever reason, that show didn't interest me as much and I don't thing we've been back in about a half-dozen years. We've been back to see the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Show a couple of times since this visit, but it's not as compelling as some of the other choices in this park.
We also took quite a few photos of the Studio Backlot Tour - there used to be a parking area for character vehicles - Aladdin's carpet, Hercules' chariot and Cinderella's coach (a pumpkin during the daytime, natch). The Boneyard was also quite a bit more extensive; but the water tank special effects show hasn't changed much. Both Scott and I have gotten to "star" in this part of the show - thankfully on fairly warm days! Another attraction that has shrunk considerably in the last decade or so is the movie walk-thru. In 1997 - it was called "Backstage Pass with 101 Dalmatians" and was a 35-min walking tour that took you through the whole process of making a live-action movie with audio-animatronics characters, including a tour thru the catwalks above the sound stages, finished up with a visit to a large room full of sets and props.
We did have a character breakfast on this trip - I think it was what we chose as our Flex option. It was at the now-defunct Soundstage Restaurant - decorated with elements from past movies and parades, you would dine while characters from recent Disney movies would mix & mingle. This visit the Hunchback and Aladdin characters were in attendance - on another visit, we spent time with characters from Pocahontas.
We did splurge for the character breakfast at the Soundstage Restaurant on this trip, and possibly 1996 as well.