Being snowed in by a blizzard can definitely make you yearn for a Disney vacation, even more than normal, but you have to make do. Recently, while I was getting buried by two feet of snow, I decided to be constructive and clean out the hall closet. Almost immediately I found a long lost object that put any hopes of productivity to rest quickly, The Walt Disney World Explorer CD-ROM. The WDW Explorer was a combination game, souvenir and marketing material released in 1996 by Disney Interactive for Windows PCs. I remember purchasing it in my local Disney Store, back when they carried a good selection of books and other media.
I reinstalled the CD onto my current Windows computer, which was still running Windows XP, and to my surprise and delight the disc ran, though the playable area was relegated to a small center section of the screen. As the game loaded, I was treated to snippets of famous audio about the parks: Walt talking about a place he could take his daughters, the Florida Project video and Roy’s dedication speech for the Magic Kingdom. Tinkerbell then appears over a map of Florida and zooms on an extremely stylized, and fairly inaccurate, version of a map of the Walt Disney World property. Even for a WDW veteran several items are hard to recognize, and clicking on them leads to specialty topics.
The various map screens have a great sampling of background music playing: Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World, the Tiki Room, the Haunted Mansion, and Journey into Imagination are all very identifiable. The map also bustles with life. The monorail and railroad zoom around their tracks as a variety of watercraft sail through the lakes and rivers. Two flying elements, in addition to the Tinkerbell mouse pointer, float around the screen. Clicking on these take you to mini sections of the disc. Being 1996 there are a few missing locations, most notably Animal Kingdom. However, the first thing I wanted to do was look at the parks.
The park maps are more realistic than the overall maps, and you can access them easily by clicking the individual lands for the most part. They still feature the cartooniness and kinetic energy of the main map with plenty of movement from vehicles and other objects. For instance, the section for Future world shows, Figment, a dancing pineapple from the Peach Boys, and Buzzy among other larger than scale icons, giving the maps the feel of one of the value resorts. From these subsection maps, one can select attractions or icons for shops, restaurants and entertainment and go further in depth into these.
Once you’re into an attraction’s individual section, you resented with a quick slide show highlighting the attraction similar to what you’d find on a preview DVD or resort TV. These slideshows are narrated by one of two narrators, Hettie Lynne Hurtes and Corey Burton, who should be familiar to most of you as a voice frequently heard in the parks and various Disney games, movies and shows. He even acknowledges that in the Cranium Command section. The slides can range from on ride photographs and promotional materials to concept art and behind the scenes shots.
After the slideshow ends, you are often given two or three choices on the side bar to further explore the attraction or area. These include “Backstage,” “Trivia,” “More,” or a “360 degree Panorama.” These give great little details that most casual fans and guests wouldn’t know. Some of them also include short movies, such as highlights from the Jungle Cruise or a simulation preview video for Test Track (“scheduled to open in 1997”). Also, don’t forget to be on the lookout for Hidden Mickeys, small silhouettes in the classic three-circle shape. Finding enough of these unlocks a bonus, a short Mickey Mouse tribute film.
Beyond the nomal attractions and park experiences you can exam the waterparks, resorts and various recreation areas of Walt Disney World. There are also areas to click on to learn more about Imagineering, Horticulture, Reedy Creek Improvement District, Cast Members, Environmentaility, and other less touristy topics. There is also a coming attractions section. This features the Disney Cruise Line, Coranado Springs, the Wide World of Sports, and of course Animal Kingdom, though giving little detail into any of these topics.
There are also mini-games and tours scattered around the disc. The Living Seas section features a simulated marine environment where you can add fish or pollution to see the impact humans have on the oceans. The main map also features a small trivia game, featuring facts from the different information segments. There are also “guided tours “ hosted by a Guest Relations blue plaid costumed cast member, the same costume used by the tour guides and ambassadors. This is the section that is probably closest to the resort TV segments, featuring slightly different narrations over the main slide show segments. These include most romantic, scariest, and behind the scenes tours in addition to many other themes.
One of the cooler mini sections is the Walt Disney World timeline. Here you can slide a monorail along a track from 1971 to the 1996 present. As you slide the monorail, the screen map shows only areas open at the time. This map is probably the most accurate one of the disc, but it is still highly stylized. Watching the property grow over time in this way gives a great overview of history. Each year stop along the monorail also features a short synopsis of what happened that year, including openings, closings and even renamings. The list is far from exhaustive but is still a cool tool.
The Walt Disney World Explorer is a great piece of memorabilia and history. Even though I had been going to the parks for 15 years by the time I originally bought the game, it was one of my first introductions to the behind the scenes and historical information, in the days before the modern internet was replete with such information. While many of you reading this are probably well versed in Walt Disney World, there are still great facts and pictures to delight you. For those of you interested in finding your own copy, I was able to find several copies on eBay or even Amazon starting for just a few dollars. If you can find it at a reasonable price, I’d highly recommend it.
