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The sight of Goofy, Donald or Pinocchio splashing their
way across the Seven Seas Lagoon or Bay Lake on waterskis has been relatively
familiar to WDW guests riding the ferryboat to or from the Magic Kingdom or
spending leisure time near or on the water for many years. These antics hail
back to the early 1970s, when the resort was in its infancy and a wide range of
entertainment options were being tested. One of the more odd offerings from
that time period flashed briefly along the surface of the lagoon and was titled
the Wonderful World of Water ski show.*
A joint venture between WDW's Recreation and
Entertainment departments, the show was viewed from a "special" vantage point
(the grassy hillside between the Magic Kingdom monorail station and the lagoon)
that was accessed by a special gate. During the show's first season, tickets
cost 50 cents. In 1973, guests presented a "D" ticket or paid 75 cents to
gain admission. There were five shows daily, some taking place as late as
11:00pm.
Among the acts in this
aquatic spectacular were
an eight-person,
three-tiered pyramid, an
exposition of flex-wing
kite flying at 300 feet
over the water and a
series of jumps over a
five and one-half foot
ramp. The kite act,
depicted below on the
cover of Walt Disney
World Vacationland's
Spring 1973 issue, was
relatively new to
waterskiing at that time
and was considered to
be something of a
fantastic feature. In this
show, the kites were
outfitted with flares,
which created a dynamic effect when viewed in the evening hours.** The cast of costumed Disney characters employed in the production ranged from
Goofy and Pluto to Dumbo and hippopotami from Fantasia. And while all
indications are that The Wonderful World of Water ran for only two summer seasons
(beginning in June 1972), its legacy of characters on skis continued on.***
Dick Pope (the
"Dean of Florida Tourism" and founder of
Cypress Gardens) was probably less than delighted when
he learned of Disney's plans to stage this
show. After all, waterskiing had been one of the
Gardens' major draws for decades. And Pope, a
friend of Roy O. Disney's since the 1940s,
surely didn't anticipate this kind of head-on
competition from WDW so overtly and so early
on - especially with Roy's death occurring a
mere six months prior to the show's debut. Furthermore it could be reasoned that at least
a few of the 23 cast members in WDW's show
must have "defected" from that old park down
the road. In any event, the show's short life span
might have yielded some consolation...and
some out-of-work skiers, at least until Sea World
opened in December 1973 and soon thereafter
began its own daily waterski shows.
Later WDW Entertainment department productions, such as Epcot's Skyleidoscope,
utilized water and air elements in a fashion not entire dissimilar from the early ski
show, but none relied more heavily upon the raw physical skills of their performers. Still, the show's quick disappearance was truly not half as surprising as the fact that it
even existed in the first place.
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* The show was originally just called the WDW Water Ski Spectacular. It
appears that between the show's first and second season an effort was made to
upgrade the production by making it "more Disney" via an infusion of additional
characters and more elaborate costumes.
** You can imagine what it would be like to ski at night dressed as Dumbo and
take a spill ... spending what would feel like a really long time
wondering if that was how you would die - drowning in
total darkness wearing an elephant suit.
*** A lot of smart people worked at WDW in 1972, which is why I'm certain that
someone must have suggested having Captain Hook skiing from one boat while the
crocodile skied behind another, ready to chomp once more on raw pirate while the
captain took shots at him with his pistol - ultimately igniting a barrel of
explosives in the other boat and instantly killing the driver in a fiery
cataclysm through which the crocodile would then glide and emerge unharmed save
for smoke trailing from his tail. But apparently the idea was not realized
on the water.
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