Walt Disney World Rewind to 2001
Disneyland, Anaheim CA
“Disneyland!” “The Magic Kingdom!” Here in L.A., we use those words interchangeably, but we usually mean the good old original Disneyland that opened in 1955 in the LA/Orange County suburb of Anaheim. We live in the suburbs of Los Angeles not too far from Disneyland. Growing up in the 1980s during Disney’s renaissance as a major corporate player we were just kids and we ate up all the media thrown at us. Whether it was the new Mickey Mouse Club and the countless specials meant to show the latest Disney movie/cartoon or the classic old footage of Walt showing his idea for Disney World, the realization that there was an even grander place than Disneyland in the exotic world of Florida was seared upon our little pea brains.
Since I was a kid I have thought of Los Angeles as a beachy place. To me, Florida seemed like the only place that could match us as it was not only beachy but tropical like Hawaii. Even as a small child I could tell that Disney World was larger and had different things than even Disneyland had. At some point on a family trip to Disneyland in the late 1980s, I got a souvenir guidebook. It had great 80s pictures mostly of Disneyland, but toward the back, it had pictures of Disney World and Epcot. I was amazed! To think there were two different parks with different experiences blew my mind. Over the years my favorite sitcoms like “Full House,” “Family Matters”, and “Boy Meets World” would all have special episodes where they visited the parks. This only solidified my resolve to visit these places one day.
You have to start off small, however. Crystal and I were in college when we decided that working at Disneyland seemed like a dream we were both willing to pursue. We would do our college classes Mon-Thurs and have Fri-Sunday to work at Disneyland. This wasn’t just any time to work at Disney. This was one of the biggest points in The Disneyland Resort history as it’s sister park Disney’s California Adventure was set to open that very year officially in February 2001. We interviewed and were hired that very same day in November of 2000 into the “Store Operations” department. We were gonna be the opening team of Disney’s California Adventures! We went through two weeks of corporate training in the Team Disney Building just north of the main park.
Here we learned how to deliver that Disney Magic especially pertaining to working in the stores. After the in-classroom training came the in-park training. We learned the in’s and outs of working at a Disney park before California Adventures even opened. Crystal was absorbed into store operations in the Hollywood Backlot area and I made my way to the carnival games in Paradise Pier. It was the one job that walked the line between Store Operations and Entertainment. I was a glorified “carney” in a land meant to look like a retro amusement pier. The public response to DCA was underwhelming. People did not like the park we worked so hard to open, but we made the best of it.
Summer of 2001 Crystal and I decided that we were gonna put our employment at Disney to use and take a vacation to Walt Disney World. Being employees of Disney in 2001 entitled us to a free Disney vacation, provided we paid our way out there. So we booked rooms at Motel 6 near the resort at just over $10 bucks a night and rented a car for $100 for the whole week and found plane tickets for $300 for the both of us to fly round trip to Orlando. Our Disney ID’s would get us anywhere else for free! Yup, plane tickets, car rental, and hotel was less than $600.00 to be split by us both in 2001. Our Disney ID’s got us into any Park and we got 20% off everything including food. Disney World was somehow one of our cheapest vacations! Our flight was delayed due to weather, and it took a hot second the next day to get our car situation straightened out but before you knew it we were coasting into the parks. We arrived at Epcot on July 19th of 2001 (my 21st birthday.) We spent a week bouncing from park to park during the day and going over to Disney’s Pleasure Island at night.
Although it had been 20 years since I first saw Disney World on TV, I was there living the dream. The cast members showed us respect and this visit would be one of the most exciting experiences of our lives. Disneyland here in Los Angeles is the best-known example of Walt Disney’s influence and what an amusement park can strive to be. Disney World still shines as an example of what is possible. As high tech as it seemed 20 years ago, it pales in comparison to what is possible today. My memories however will always be filled with those times in Walt Disney World.
Even in 2001, Epcot was every bit the 1980s wonderland I always wanted it to be. Under a cloudy Florida sky I lived out every fantasy the young me had looking at that guide book so many years ago. I have walked through the Utilidors of Disney World and the tunnel under Tomorrowland here in Anaheim. We worked at Disney for maybe a few months after the events of 9/11 and our shifts became few and far between. After months of an irregular work schedule, we finally threw in the towel in 2002. However, I will never forget being a part of DCA’s opening team. Anybody who has worked at a Disney amusement park can a test to it being a very special part of their lives, but we have the distinction of opening a park. We opened a park that wasn’t exactly loved but we were able to parlay that experience by going to Disneyworld and making our dreams come true.
-Mike Olguin
11/14/20
Crystal here!
Now that Mike has given his thoughts on our trip to Walt Disney World, and how we made that dream a reality, I will share some pictures from my Disney Scrapbook with you and briefly describe what we experienced back in July of 2001.
As Mike said, working at Disney’s California Adventure had its advantages, like getting into the amusement parks for free but when Mike was going to turn 21, we knew we had to do something special and his dream was always to go to Walt Disney World in Florida, so we decided to make that dream a reality. So on July 18th, we boarded a TWA flight (an airline that doesn’t even exist anymore) to Orlando but the weather was not in our favor. So needless to say, although our flight was delayed and we thought we’d never make it, somehow - we did!
Hooray - we made it to Epcot!
Oh, how that frown turned upside down once we got into Epcot for the first time! This place is almost indescribable. The park consists of two distinct locations, Future World (which then was an 80’s nostalgia dream including exhibits and the cast members costumes) and the World Showcase, (which is like a trip around the world) Each Pavillion is themed around the country they are representing and even the cast members are from that geographical location, so if you have questions, ask away! This is where we first discovered our love of collecting masks, because we could collect an authentic souvenir from “around the world” without going very far at all.
One thing about Epcot is it is HUGE! Below you can see a map of the park which includes “Spaceship Earth” right at the entrance plaza and a giant lake in the center of the international pavilions where they have a water show (similar to World of Color) at night.
Epcot was our favorite park and I believe we made it here all 7 days! In the Wonders of Life Pavillion, they have a virtual ride called Body Wars where you are shrunk down and travel through the bloodstream to explore the heart, lungs, and brain, (it is very similar to Star Tours.) Then there’s Test Track which was one of the fastest thrill rides around (very similar to Radiator Springs in Cars Land now) where the car jolts you from 0-65mph in a matter of seconds. The Living Seas pavilion was quite lovely too, especially if you like epic aquariums, complete with a ride (similar to our old People Movers.)
Some of the amazing little places we uncovered were free sample sodas from around the world found in this freezing cold room (which was so cooling especially in Florida’s sticky summer heat) called “Club Cool”.
The architecture in “Japan”, “France”, Norway”, “UK”, “Canada” and “Morocco” was quite impressive as was the music and sounds being piped in! Somehow they even got the smells right, with correctly themed restaurants, bakeries, and snack carts everywhere you turned. Our favorite was the Norway ride “Maelstrom” which was filled with evil trolls, scary drops, and water flumes. We remember coming off the ride for a second time watching a 9-year-old girl have a meltdown because it was so scary and her mean parents telling her, that was it, they were going home! I comforted her by saying that I was also terrified.
For Mike’s 21st birthday, we headed over to MGM Studios (which was extremely similar to the Hollywood backlot area of Disney’s California Adventures) and even had the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This is also where we rode Rockin’ Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith! This high-speed indoor coaster has an amazing soundtrack, a rocket-fast take-off, and smooth corkscrews that make you forget which way is up! The idea is you have backstage VIP passes to an Aerosmith concert, but you need to get there fast in their rollercoaster limo.
I remember after we rode that one and screamed like crazy, we grabbed Mike’s first legal beer at 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Cheers to being 21 Mike at the other happiest place on Earth!
Mike’s 21st Birthday
The parks were incredible during the day, but they all closed around 8 or 9 at night so luckily there was quite a nightlife at Disney’s Pleasure Island, especially for a new 21-year-old, and with our Disney ID’s we got in for free here too! Not only did this place have several amazingly themed dance clubs, including a Disco club, the West End Stage where they pretended it was New Year’s Eve every night, a Comedy Club, Mannequins (a 21+ club that I couldn’t go into), and our favorite, the Adventurers Club. How do I describe the Adventurers Club??? Picture if the tiki room was multi-story, served drinks and the masks would wink at you and other surprises would happen if you asked the right people. Mike was served a monkey brain concoction in a souvenir cup, which is still on our mantle to this day and he was “given a raise” by the bartender after his barstool was slowly lowered without him noticing until his chin was even with the bar. I am sad that this whole place no longer exists. It was a trip!
Since we were here, we had to check out the Magic Kingdom (aka Disneyland on steroids.) Everything in comparison was gigantic, from the width of Main Street to the epic Cinderella’s Castle. Due to all the walking, and our cameras, ponchos, and gear we brought we also rented a wheelchair for free as cast members, so if you see Mike in a wheelchair - he was FINE, just tired after being on our feet all day and dancing all night day after day. This actually also granted us some perks in terms of getting a front-row seat for shows like the Hall of Presidents and the Carousel of Progress. We had a “situation” near Haunted Mansion where he let my wheelchair roll down a hill towards a crowd of people, so I did not utilize it as much as he did.
I was able to get back at him eventually though. Later in the day, after we saw the Tiki Room show (with Iago and Zazu) I parked him near some cool tikis that started drumming and chanting, and before you know it, they were squirting water in his face! It was these cool little Disney touches that made areas in the park so unique and unforgettable (and hilarious of course).
We rode some favorites (to compare to our park) including their Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Space Mountain, and Jungle Cruise and unique rides to the Magic Kingdom at the time including Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Winnie the Pooh. But my favorite unique ride was The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter where you are strapped into a rotunda style theater with a glass tube in the center. Suddenly a terrifying alien appears and he cracks the glass and breaks through just as the lights go out and he munches on a cast member up above and you can feel the wet drippings raining down, the wind whipping around the room as he runs by and even his warm breath on the back of your neck - nightmare fuel (are you sure this is a Disney park ride)???
Lastly, we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and I took so many film pictures of safari animals up closer than I had ever seen them before. Inside the Tree of Life was “It’s Tough to be a Bug” which we would soon have at our park in California too, but at this time it was unique.
I remember that when you entered this park, parrots like macaws roamed free and did flyovers on a regular basis. The Killamanjaro Safaris brought guests up close and personal with zebra, lions, giraffes, rhinos, and gnu, but truly you are completely safe in the vehicle. The Kali River Rapids was a good soaking ride (similar to Grizzly River Run in California Adventure) but guests on the bridge above the ride also had means to soak riders with squirt guns! I also recall walking into a bat enclosure where these giant fruit bats were just inches away from us - yikes!
The memories we made on this trip were nothing short of spectacular and as Mike had stated, being cast members we definitely got the most bang for our buck. We even got the opportunity to go under Main Street in order to access our credit union. We actually heard the clip-clop of the horse-drawn carriage above us as we meandered through.
Walt Disney World = Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and MGM
Thanks for reading while we strolled down memory lane. This just gets me excited for another Disney trip when the world opens back up again, but for now, I have pictures and memories to get me through.
-Crystal Olguin
11/14/20
If there is a topic at these parks you would like us to dive into more, let us know! (Especially what’s not there any more like Pleasure Island, the ExtraTERRORestrial Encounter or Maelstrom in Norway.) Thanks again!
