47 - A Room Full of Fun - Arcades

Welcome to Episode 47 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "A Room Full Of Fun" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows.

Corrections

1. Our first correction is in regard to our last episode, all about Snow White's Scary Adventure. A great memory shared and we feel you!
2. How has a minor correction about the figures from Snow White's Scary Adventure, Disneyland Paris, duplicate figures and some other tidbits.
3. Brian & How recently rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and How walks us through the repurposed figures, which you can go see right now.
4. We also hear about a recent loss Brian experienced... Which relates very well to an old Eric Boardman Disney Channel video. 

Listener Mail

1. Kicking things off, Tom wrote us from New Hampshire - asking what our own personal Holy Grail item would be from Walt Disney World. This could include merchandise, ride pieces and anything else.  Great question!
2. Jake Nelson wrote in about Dreamflight and brought to our attention something that remains on Buzz Lightyear - we had no idea!  Thanks so much Jake!
3. David is up next, with some amazing audio clips he shared with us. Listen in to this great stuff from River Country, it sure is unique. More to come from David soon.....
4. Jerry Massey sent us a commemorative VHS from the 1994 Walt Disney World Marathon. We are going to share this with you soon, so stay tuned!
5. Joe Barlow wrote in about some of the old arcades - giving us a great memory about what it was like to walk into the Contemporary & The Fiesta Fun Center.
6. Andrew wrote in with some great memories and it sparked the feeling we used to get, waiting forever to check into our resorts. We all give our accounts on how it felt and why it used to take forever...We even bring up the old Ving Room Key!

Thank you for all the emails, tweets and comments you have sent our way. We try to respond to almost everything and do our best to pick unique questions for the show. 

 

Audio Rewind

Our audio rewind this month turned out to be the Enchanted Tiki Room, from the original show!  The winner is Scott Chapin, winning a Vacation Kingdom poster. Great job and thanks for playing along to everybody!

If you think you know the answer to this month's audio rewind, email us! contest@retrowdw.com - This month the winner will receive one of the Lake & Lagoon Vacation Kingdom posters. All entries due 3/12/2019 and a random winner will be selected.

 

 

Main Topic

Main Street Penny Arcade

We start off this month on Main Street, USA - more specifically the Penny Arcade! This classic is part of our overall topic of arcades and game rooms. How gives us an insanely detailed walk through, starting us off with the fortune telling machine and the old Mutoscope. We hear about 'Old San Francisco', 'Play Cowboy Rodeo Time', 'Burlesque Bouncer' and more. Todd also brings up some of the other titles shown on a stereoscope format as well.

The stories and facts continue as How tells us about the various strength testers, baseball games, love testers and so much more. If you ever spent any time in the Penny Arcade on Main Street, let us know if you have any interesting memories. We would also love to see your pictures! Finally, we let you know where the machines ended up with an interview by Todd Tuckey. 

Fiesta Fun Center

Finally! We take you back to one of the greatest vintage spots in all of Walt Disney World – the infamous and now gone, Fiesta Fun Center. This was located on the first floor of the Contemporary Resort, down near the check-in desk. Currently, The Wave restaurant is located in the former spot of the arcade. We take a deep dive into this childhood paradise, which was absolutely massive. Originally, it was just an extra convention space, explaining the large size.

This started officially in 1973, resembling a Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse, filled with games that were similar to the ones featured in Jaws. There was even a smallish movie theater, costing $1 and it rotated various Disney movies. The theater is one place that seems to be very rarely pictured. We received some interesting facts and information relating to the caricature artists, which were there for a very long time. The shooting gallery, which was there in the middle of the Fiesta Fun Center run, is discussed as well during this segment.

We have some various videos that were dug up, relating to the Fun Center: S.A.M.I. by Midway and this great home movie from the 1990s, which covers some other parts of the resort. The Fiesta Fun Center always seemed to have some of the best machines, which we discuss. Over the top games, experiences you didn't get elsewhere and just an overall exciting experience.

 

Next Month

• Join us next month for another great episode, all about the 'new' Tomorrowland attraction: The Timekeeper! We thank you for your support and welcome you to enjoy all of our other offerings including our photos, restored films & The Lake Buena Vista Historical Society.