Dino Jubilee, touchscreen ordering, Port Orleans merger: 25 Years Ago, July 2000

Twenty-five years ago this month, the park was wrapping promotion for the film Dinosaur, adding a secret ride and demolishing another, testing touchscreen ordering, taking notice of an unexpectedly popular video release, hosting one of the top stars from Hollywood, and preparing to merge two resorts into one. Let’s take a look back!

Animal Kingdom

Earlier this year, work began on reimagining Dinoland, U.S.A. into Pueblo Esperanza, a new Tropical Americas-themed land. One of the last holdouts of the area is Dinosaur, which was renamed in May 2000 to promote Disney’s first computer animated film.

Far shorter lived was the prehistoric festival Dinosaur Jubilee. The event was held for a few months during the park’s open in 1998, and returned from May to July 2000 to promote Dinosaur. The event promised new characters, games, live entertainment, and a tent full of dinosaur skeletons.

One of the highlights was a replica of the largest t-rex ever found, Sue. Dinoland sponsor McDonalds and Disney were among the companies that helped Field Museum of Chicago but the real skeleton at auction.

Dinosaur Jubilee was replaced by Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama.

Magic Kingdom

Wandering around the park, you might have ended up wondering whether the Tetak Logging Company expanding their deforestation to Adventureland.

Instead, the land preparation in front The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management was all to take us to a whole new world. The Orlando Sentinel broke the news that Magic Carpets of Aladdin was to be opened in the spot in 2001. Disney wouldn’t comment on the “speculation.”

You know those touchscreens in McDonalds, where you can order food? Pecos Bills was test driving an Interactive Ordering System way back in July 2000. You could use your credit card or WDW resort hotel key card to pay. The experiment was also at Sassagoula Floatworks at Port Orleans.

Epcot

In Mexico, guests were still riding El Rio del Tiempo. But the seeds for its retheme may have been planted in July 2000, as Saludos Amigos was topping the Billboard magazine charts as the top selling kids’ video. Tarzan also made the list at number four, after two Mary-Kate & Ashley movies. Unbelievably, the film was the 14th best seller of the year, even beating direct-to-video The Tigger Movie. El Rio del Tiempo closed in January 2007, with Gran Fiesta Tour opening that April.

Demolition of Horizons continued in July, to make way for Mission: SPACE. A crane and wrecking ball were active during park hours, to the disappointment of All Ears founder Deb Wills.

At the Millennium Village World ShowPlace, there was a dance troupe from India’s desert province of Rajasthan, Argentinian dancers, and folk music and dance from Poland.

Pleasure Island and Downtown Disney

Bruce Willis visited Planet Hollywood on July 13, bringing along his business partner Shaquille O’Neal. The appearance was tied to the release a week prior of Willis’ latest film, Disney’s The Kid. It was Willis’ first time back since the 1994 opening. Co-star Spencer Breslin visited July 8.

Open air concerts at Pleasure Island included Survivor and Outfield (July 7), Kool & the Gang (July 14), and Paul Rodgers & Bad Company (July 29). House of Blues acts included Duran Duran (July 21 and 22), The Brian Setzer Orchestra (July 23), Brian McKnight (July 27), and Anthrax (July 30).

A new “international information center” opened in Downtown Disney’s West Side, specifically to assist world visitors.

Hotels

Port Orleans and Dixie Landings are merging into one resort, Disney announced July 21. The change was planned to take nine months, with a marina and restaurant closing.

Between Highway 4 and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is Bonnet Creek, a resort with three hotels. The land was purchased by an investor way back in 1962, a few years before Walt started purchasing his own set of swamp land. The land sat unused for decades, with plans to develop it announced in July 2000.

Disney Adventures was an iconic magazine from many of our childhoods. From July 31 to August 3, they hosted an evening family carnival at Boardwalk, with games, trivia, and a bike and rollerblade stunt show.

A US Navy-sponsored event took over the lake at Coronado Springs, July 7. Eleven universities and one high school submerged their prototypes in Lago Dorado, looking for a pinging beacon. It’s amazing how much tech has advanced in the last quarter century: of the dozen teams, most of the entries in the International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition only looked for the shape of the beacon, not its orange color. University of Rhode Island won.

More

All Ears, then best known as an email newsletter, gave a glowing review for Vegetarian Walt Disney World and Greater Orlando, released in July 2000. The 300-page book even included a foreword by Paul McCartney from The Beatles! The book is now available on Internet Archive, through their Controlled Digital Lending option.