Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Steve on the Speedway! (2009)

Hey, it's me! My sister took this photo from another car on the Tomorrowland Speedway during a trip to Walt Disney World in December 2009. You'll note that I'm also holding a camera. Shocking, I know.

The Speedway is located in the Magic Kingdom and opened with the park in 1971 as the Grand Prix Raceway. It was then shortened in 1987 to fit in Mickey's Birthdayland, while also being renamed the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. A partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway helped facilitate the "Indy" branding. That agreement ended in 2008 and the track changed names again, this time to just Tomorrowland Speedway. The track was modified again in early 2011 to accommodate the Fantasyland Expansion.

It's a historic ride that has a weak theme to "tomorrow" and really long lines, but it's something you just gotta do when you visit!

Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Is this your Laughing Place? (2009)

This picturesque desert setting is actually situated near Splash Mountain, in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. I shot this during a family trip in December 2009.

There was just something about this scene that was peaceful and relaxed, which is great contrast to the typical frenzied pace found at a Disney theme park.

Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Pepto Castle (1996)

Did you know that Walt Disney World is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year? Probably not, because Disney has pretty much given up on park-specific commemorations in favor of soulless global marketing initiatives like "Let the Memories Begin." The Magic Kingdom and a few surrounding hotels opened in 1971.

Jump back to 1996, when the resort was celebrating its 25th anniversary. Back then the campaign was officially known as "Remember the Magic," but fans know it as "The Year of the Pink Castle" — one of the biggest marketing blunders this side of Reedy Creek. During the event, Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom was literally painted pink. Brightly-colored inflatable decorations were then added to make the whole structure look like a large birthday cake.

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Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Mom, Amy, & Karen startled in Injun Joe's Cave (2009)

Tom Sawyer Island is one of the fun areas to explore at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.  It's still a themed space that hasn't been completely corrupted by modern Disney branding and love of all things princesses, pirates, Pooh, & pins.  Disneyland's version, on the other hand, got a Pirates of the Caribbean redo a couple years ago, with mixed results.  And while some unique elements of WDW's Island aren't in place anymore, such as the eatery Aunt Polly's Dockside Inn, it's still an adventure for any age.

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Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Amy & Greg at the Magic Kingdom (1979)

While last week we looked at a childhood photo of mine taken at EPCOT Center, this week it's time to dive into Amy's past. For that we jump back to 1979 and a family vacation she took to Florida.

Here we see adorable little Amy (age 3½) at the Magic Kingdom with her brother Greg (age 7), posing for a photo in front of Cinderella Castle.  Of course, Amy has her Mickey Mouse stuffed animal, with the pose looking like an affectionate sister/brother moment.  However, in reality, Amy was trying to brush away Greg's arm in a "hey, don't touch me" sort of way!

Over the years Amy & I have had fun adding our own captions to this photo.  What's yours?

Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Vintage WDW Logo on SpectroMagic (2009)

Did you know that Walt Disney World celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year? Probably not, given that Disney doesn't seem to care about individual park milestones these days, instead favoring global "Disney Parks" marketing campaigns usually promoting some derivative of "Wishes/Dreams/Magic blah blah."

Today's photo is one of the opening units for the SpectroMagic Parade, a long running nighttime experience at the Magic Kingdom. It debuted in 1991 as a replacement for the Main Street Electrical Parade, and aside from a few hiatuses, has lit up for almost 2 decades now. It was mothballed last year when Walt Disney World's Summer Nightastic campaign brought back the Main Street Electrical Parade once again… which continues to run.

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It's Thursday, which means it's time to once again celebrate Theme Park Thursdays. Here we post a photo from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Steve wants Old Management to return! (2006)

This photo is from January 2006 and was shot at Walt Disney World, specifically the Magic Kingdom. Here I'm standing out in front of one of my favorite attractions, the Tiki Room. Unfortunately, since 1998 this attraction has been known as The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management… and has been horrible.

While the original attraction opened at Walt Disney World in 1971, it was rebooted in the late 1990s to make it "hip and edgy," mainly through the inclusion of Iago (from Aladdin) and Zazu (from The Lion King). The storyline was changed to these two birds being the "new owners," with a postmodern take on music and dialog to follow.

And it's bad.

In an interesting twist of fate, while I was at Walt Disney World for a conference in January, a fire broke out in the Tiki Room ceiling. It hasn't reopened since. There are rumors that maybe the show is being changed out to something else. Here's hoping!