The 2000’s were, admittedly, a weird time for Disney fans…
We continue our journey throughout the decades at Walt Disney World with one of the most challenging eras to pin down in the park’s history. The 80’s saw the resort expand from one park to three, and the 90’s were marked by explosive growth and ingenuity. It would seem like a no-brainer that the 2000’s must have been even more amazing.
Not so fast…
The turn of the millennium was certainly an exciting time—after all, the Y2K bug didn’t break the world, and that called for celebration. You couldn’t go a day without finding something new bearing the label of “Millennium Edition!” or “2000!” (and I’m not just talking about Windows). The internet was now a household staple, making the way for social media to become integrated into everyday life.
On the other hand, the decade started off on a challenging foot with the tragic September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. People were genuinely nervous to travel, and the country shifted into a series of economic recessions that would bookend the decade. As for Disney parks, the 2000’s marked a challenging season of transitions.
After the death of Frank Wells in 1994 and a subsequent series of health problems for CEO Michael Eisner, Disney entered a time of stringent belt-tightening, halting many new projects while attempting others on the cheap. Episode 4 of the Disney+ series, The Imagineering Story, describes this time as an era of “Hit or Miss”—the company had a few wins like the Disney Cruise Line and Tokyo DisneySea, but the trio of Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, and Walt Disney Studios Park all suffered from terrible openings.
Both Imagineers and fans were frustrated, and it seemed like company overlords kept making one bizarre decision after another, like planting a giant sorcerer’s hat smack in front of the Chinese Theater in Disney-MGM Studios… or planting a giant wand on Spaceship Earth… or transforming Countdown to Extinction into the tamer Dinosaur… or having Stitch toilet paper Cinderella Castle.
It was a strange time.
Here’s the thing though—while adults may have found the 2000’s frustrating, there was one demographic who still had plenty of wins during this time: kids. Despite the challenges of the tail end of the Eisner era (Bob Iger stepped in as CEO in 2005), the 2000’s marked a turning point where Disney started finding new ways to draw in kids. Some great attractions and truly bold ideas came out of this era, and it’s why many 2000’s kids remember the time with nothing but fondness.
What were the bright spots of the 2000’s at Walt Disney World that kids loved? Here’s a few…
1. Cruising on the wins of the late 90’s
It’s sort of impossible to look at Walt Disney World in the early 2000’s without including some of the amazing things Disney pulled out of Mickey’s sorcerer hat at the end of the 90’s. There are so many of these that they really had more of an effect after the turn of the millennium than the 90’s overall.
For one thing, Disney had some pretty great attraction openings outside of the parks. A few of these were small but appreciated additions like Fantasia Gardens mini-golf and The Boardwalk. Probably the most significant, though, was the arrival of Disney Quest in 1998. We’ve talked about Disney Quest extensively before, but the place was revolutionary when it arrived at Downtown Disney. Disney had been quietly testing interactive, VR-based attractions for years, but Disney Quest took the concept to new heights with five levels of cutting-edge gaming experiences that put creative power in guest’s hands. For 2000’s kids, it was an arcade like no other.
The end of the 90’s was also when Disney introduced two great mainstays of the Disney experience enjoy today: Fastpasses and Pin Trading! Paper Fastpasses first arrived at Disney parks in 1999, and they completely changed how savvy guests toured attractions—a system where you didn’t have to wait in line? It was unprecedented, and it was free (unlike VIP tours). Despite the system’s foibles, it was a quick winner with 2000’s kids who unanimously hated lines.
Pin Trading was another last-minute arrival in 1999, debuting as part Disney’s 15-month Millennium Celebration. The program was such a hit that it quickly started showing up in Disney’s other international parks, and it has remained a guest favorite ever since—especially among kids! Speaking of which…
2. Millennium everything
Disney’s Millennium Celebration was pretty cool. Echoes of it showed up all over Walt Disney World (especially in cool “2000” merch), but the majority of the festivities took place at Epcot.
Along with Pin Trading, the Millennium Celebration brought the addition of the Leave a Legacy stones to the Epcot entry plaza and crowning Spaceship Earth with a giant “2000” over a Mickey wand. The park got its first parade, the Tapestry of Nations, and Illuminations was given its last major makeover as Illuminations 2000: Reflections of Earth (this version would remain until 2019, sans the “2000” moniker).
One of the neatest features of the celebration was the Millennium Village, an Innoventions-like pavilion in between Canada and the UK that gave guests the opportunity to learn about countries not previously represented at Walt Disney World. The eclectic choices included Brazil, Scotland, Eritrea, Chile, Israel, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. Every country had interactive elements, some of which were pretty neat like an Eritrean coffee ceremony, Scottish mini-golf, and a rainforest experience. Other countries were represented through crafts and music like Lebanon, Venezuela, Greece, South Korea, Peru, Egypt, and Thailand.
We’re still waiting on that 12th World Showcase pavilion, but Millennium Village gave kids a nice preview of what could be some day!
3. A pirate’s life for me
The 2000’s proved a quieter time for Magic Kingdom. 2003 saw the arrival of Wishes to replace the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks, and Mickey’s Philharmagic arrived as a surefire winner for families. You would think the arrival of Stitch’s Great Escape (as a replacement for the Eeh-Gad-It’s-right-behind-me ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter) in 2004 would have gone over great with young visitors, but small kids found it too scary while others just found it gross and disturbing.
One of the biggest hits with 2000’s kids at Magic Kingdom during this time, however, actually proved to be one of the most controversial changes for adults.
Pirates of the Caribbean has probably gone through more ride refurbishments than any other classic attraction, and none of these caused bigger waves than the arrival of Captain Jack Sparrow. Nobody expected Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl to be a successful film (not even many Disney executives!), let alone to kick off an iconic film series. Kids and adults alike fell in love with this new take on the classic ride.
A hallmark of Bob Iger’s arrival as Disney’s CEO was an added emphasis on introducing intellectual properties into the parks in new ways. A mere three years after the film arrived, Pirates of the Caribbean went down for a major refurbishment that saw the attraction changed forever from its classic form—the film inspired by the ride ended up becoming the new inspiration for the ride.
The changes included adjustments to the ride soundtrack, the adding of the “fog wall” featuring Davy Jones, adding Barbossa to the battle scene, and of course, the addition of Jack Sparrow throughout the ride. We’ve poked fun at the Jack animatronic before (excuse me… Captain Jack Sparrow™), but there’s no doubt the addition of Jack Sparrow both to the ride and parks as a greetable character proved a total win with 2000’s kids, one we still see the echoes of today.
4. Soarin’ above and below
The 2000’s proved surprisingly significant for Epcot with the arrival of three of the park’s most beloved attractions.
The first of these was Mission: Space in 2003—a polarizing attraction. Guests who loved it applauded the ride’s astonishing realism in depicting zero gravity (I recall being almost brought to tears of awe the first time I experienced it). The ride’s detractors found it both too claustrophobic in design and intense in regards to motion sickness. The ride subjected guests to even more g-forces when it opened and quickly had to be dialed back. Eventually, in 2006, the “Green Team” version was added, eliminating the spinning factor. Despite this controversy, 2000’s kids who met the height requirements LOVED Mission: Space—what kid wouldn’t want to blast into space, after all?
Epcot scored another win in 2005 when Soarin’ made its way to Epcot as a duplicate of “Soarin’ Over California” from Disney’s California Adventure, creating a huge family draw for Future World and The Land pavilion. This was followed two years later with the renovation of The Living Seas into The Seas with Nemo and Friends. The introduction of Pixar IP’s may have been controversial for fans of the original attraction, but the change elevated the attraction into one of the top draws for kids in the entire park. Little ones especially loved Turtle Talk with Crush, one of Disney’s first uses of a familiar digital character that could interact with guests as if he were completely real. The gimmick still captivates kids to this day!
5. Expedition: Everest arrives
It’s difficult to imagine Disney’s Animal Kingdom without Expedition: Everest—the mountain has become an icon of the park a recognizable as the Tree of Life. However, many don’t realize the attraction didn’t exist until 2006.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom has had to fight some serious uphill battles since its opening. Even once the park got past initial controversy questioning how Disney was caring for its animals, its own success ended up shooting Disney in the foot financially. Guests weren’t staying at Walt Disney World an extra day to see it—they were skipping the other parks, hurting Disney’s bottom line. On top of this, the unfortunate shelving of the Beastly Kingdom themed land (woefully replaced by Dinoland U.S.A. and Camp Minnie-Mickey) meant the park needed a winning thrill attraction—a truly iconic ride that would draw guests for years to come.
After years of anticipation, Expedition: Everest exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Expedition: Everest certainly faced some problems. The ride’s eerie fog effects had to be shut down after causing rusting, and to this day, Eddie the Disco Yeti is stuck in B-Mode because the animatronic’s weight supposedly started tearing the mountain apart. It didn’t matter. The ride remains one of Disney’s best coasters by far, and easily falls within the top ten favorite attractions for countless visitors… and 2000’s kids got to enjoy it first!
6. A million celebrations
Remember how we mentioned the 2000’s were a groundbreaking time for bold ideas at Walt Disney World? Two of these came in the form of Disney taking the concept of “Pixie Dust” to unprecedented levels.
For those unfamiliar, Pixie Dust is a term Disney regulars use to describe Disney magic brought about by cast members—everything from surprise upgrades to getting chosen to participate in shows. In 2006, Disney launched “The Year of a Million Dreams”, a year-long campaign where random guests were chosen by cast members to receive unprecedented extra magic. Some of these Dream Giveaways were basic things like free Fastpasses, buttons, or special character greets, but other prizes included spots in daily parades, Disney Vacation Club memberships, VIP tours, after-hours admissions, shopping sprees, and even one night stays in the Cinderella Castle suite! Adorable 2000’s kids had a better-than-average shot at getting to participate in many of these Disney magic moments.
Disney brought back some of the ideas from the Year of a Million dreams in 2009 with their “What Will You Celebrate” campaign, which encouraged guests to celebrate special occasions at Walt Disney World. A whole catalog of celebration upgrades like in-room surprising and special meals were made available for guests to add to their vacation (we actually did one of these the following year at The Flying Fish for our anniversary). The best part? It was one of the only years Disney gave people free admission to any Disney park on their birthday!
7. Push the Talking Trash Can
Video: YouTube, User: Astrosms
Okay, this one is slightly reaching, but we simply can’t do a series on things that Disney kids loved without mentioning Push The Talking Trash Can…
Push the Talking Trash Can actually came about in the 90’s as a surprisingly charming addition to Tomorrowland (he later gained a cousin named “Pipa the Talking Recycling Bin” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom— I so want to insert a “ReCyclops” reference here). He was literally a normal Tomorrowland trash can (complete with opening doors and a trash bag) that happened to move around and speak. If you got to meet this cheeky little weirdo, you were the luckiest kid in Walt Disney World.
Push was positively hysterical, particularly since he could interact with guests in real time. The secret behind his powers were cast members wandering nearby in plain clothes who subtly controlled the robot and provided his voice and allowing him to pester guests with curious questions. You could even feed him trash! He and Forky would’ve gotten along great.
Push remained a wandering character in Tomorrowland until 2014, but we still hold out home he’ll make a comeback soon!
8. Disney-MGM becomes Disney Hollywood… and puts the magic in your hands
The 2000’s paved the way for the Walt Disney World we know today, particularly marked by explosive growth from 2010 to 2019. Towards the end of the decade, Disney’s Hollywood Studios took several important steps forward.
First off, Disney’s long and troubled contract with MGM Studios ran out. The park’s original purpose as a working studio was basically dead by this point, so Disney released the name and redubbed the park as Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park had improved over the course of the 90’s but still hadn’t found its feet fully.
One important change for DHS came in a re-emphasis on interactive attractions that put guests in the center of the magic. This wasn’t just about immersive rides—the park already had those. Rather, Disney chose to pull from some of the park’s original arsenal of tricks to find ways to put guests center-stage in the sort of surprising experiences fans loved in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Monster Sound Show, and Superstar Television.
The first of these came in 2007 with the arrival of Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. The Star Wars prequels concluded in 2005, and the Clone Wars TV series was just about to kick off. Adults may have been reeling from Star Wars frustrations, but a new generation of little Jedi were all about that galaxy far, far away. Every kid wanted to be picked to be a Jedi-in-training, to fight Darth Vader (or join him in some hilarious cases), and to learn the ways of the Force. In many ways, the attraction would act as a forerunner for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge a decade later.
A year later, Toy Story Mania arrived, bringing Pixar to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with a fan favorite attraction. Yet again, interactivity proved a winner with guests who more and more wanted their actions to have tangible effects on rides.
Finally, Disney’s connection with ABC gave birth to one of its most clever show ideas yet in 2009—The American Idol Experience. We’ve written extensively about why this attraction was so groundbreaking, but it all has to do with stakes. Guests had the opportunity to play one of two roles on an idealized version of American Idol. On one hand, guests with singing talent could audition to become participants the in the day’s shows. Those who were chosen received VIP treatment with hair and make-up, photoshoots, and vocal coaching. Casual guests acted as the show’s audience and could vote in real time for winners of each showing. At the end of the day, those winners competed for a chance to receive a real American Idol Golden Ticket (a front of line pass for a show audition).
I cannot emphasize enough how incredible the American Idol Experience was. I participated on the singing end as a two-time finalist and had some of my favorite memories at Walt Disney World there. I also worked on the real American Idol as a crew member several times, and Disney’s version was nicer in almost every way, giving guests a hands-on, real-stakes experience that would give memories for a lifetime. That’s the sort of tone that was set at the end of the 2000’s that made way for the Walt Disney World of today.
What were your favorite memories of Walt Disney World in the 2000’s? If you enjoyed this article, be sure and read about what 80’s Kids Loved at Walt Disney World and 90’s Kids too!
