63 - Project 90

Welcome to Episode 63 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Project 90" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. This month, Ted Linhart joins us as one of our top tier donors - this episode is guided by Ted and his amazing set of documents. Last month we hit Thunder in Paradise pretty hard with multiple episodes.

Listener Mail

Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode.

1. Scott Jensen is first with some great pics of Hogan's Beach Shop, which is actually in Clearwater and the Orlando area. Thanks Scott!
2. Stephen Myers also wrote in about Thunder in Paradise, saying him and Terry have discussed his time at WDW often. Thanks Stephen!
3. Norris is up next - he wrote in about a vehicle on WDW property that has a mickey head tread pattern. JT is digging into this a bit and found they are made by Trelleborg. We are hoping for more info soon...
4. Tracy wanted to know if we had any Space Mountain under construction photos, as her father worked on the ride.  We found a few, so just do a quick search on our site for "Space Mountain Construction" - this should be a fun rabbit hole to go down.
5. Mark wrote in complimenting the big three-part Horizons Podcast series. He has a great story about Walt Disney Elementary School, which is near him.
6. Dane wrote us about a vintage map from the late 70s and it is so cool! Thank you so much Dane!

Audio Rewind

Our audio rewind this month is called Beautiful Beulah, it is from Summer Magic starring Hayley Mills & Burl Ives - Thank you for all the guesses and emails!

We have a winner! Congratulations Carolina Nedal - you will get some RetroWDW & LBVHS Pins!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! contest@retrowdw.com - All entries are due 1/11/2020 and a random winner will be selected.

Main Topic

This month we get into Project 90. Ted Linhart is with us and ready to go with this amazingly important and topical document put together by RCA. We start you off with the history of RCA, how they connected with Disney and what the point of this document is. You have to imagine that back in the late 60s & early 70s, Disney was embarking on an entirely new concept of vacationing with Walt Disney World. Now before you get to into this, you might want to look at the document, and we will make it very easy for you to look at on Ted's site.

Click Here For The Project 90 Doc

The plan, as you can see above, is incredibly in-depth and really is taking the hospitality industry to another level. Nearly every aspect of the RCA corporation is put into use with WDW, and it is all fully outlined in this doc and this episode. The communication systems, security, charging and so much - all linked up and it sounds so seriously 2013 with the invention of the Magic Band. We go through most of this and discuss, so you might want to have the doc pulled up to flip through the pages as we talk.  If you imagine the era, what vacationing was like in the 60s/70s, and then also picture the commitment this would require by Disney, it is all super ambitious and neat for the era.

We would like to thank Ted for joining us once again - he always brings something unique and fun to the show and what is great about his mission, you can all join him. Take a look at his site, Disney Docs, where everything is organized and cataloged for your enjoyment.  We hope you enjoyed this month's episode and also wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!