Dad For Disney is heading into the time machine today and going back to Walt Disney World vacation planning in 1984.  It was a much simpler time when it came to planning your Walt Disney World vacation.  There were a few hotels and the restaurant selection had just rapidly expanded with the opening of EPCOT Center in 1982.

If guests wanted a complete package which included their room, park tickets, and dining like a Walt Disney World package in 2015, they only had four resorts to choose from: The Contemporary, A Vacation Villa, a Treehouse Villa, or Fairway Villa.

From a planning standpoint, it was very simple.  There was two price plan: one for the Contemporary and one for the villas and you could choose from a five, six, or seven night plan.

Pricing for The Contemporary

Rate Per Person                                                         5 nt./6 nt./7 nt.

Two Adults                                                                 $614/$732/$825

Three Adults                                                             $515/$615/$715

Junior (12-17)                                                          $293/$349/$407

Child (3-11)                                                               $186/$225/$259

Pricing for The Villas

Rate Per Person                                                          5 nt./6 nt./7 nt.

Two Adults                                                                  $680/$813/$852

Three Adults                                                              $553/$660/$768

Junior (12-17)                                                           $293/$349/$407

Child (3-11)                                                                $186/$225/$259

These plans must be booked 30 days in advance of travel and were required to be paid in full by 21 days before travel.  Deposit was one nights payment on the room and the package could be cancelled with just five days notice.

Guests received a six/seven/eight day World Passport along with six/seven/eight days use of the Walt Disney World transportation system (monorails, ferryboats, and buses) and unlimited use of the recreational facilities at Walt Disney World.  Guests received a coupon book for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner which included any breakfast and dinner shows.  Lastly, they received a copy of Steve Birnbaum Brings You the Best of Walt Disney World (one book per party).

Guests had, at the time, a wide variety of locations to choose from when it came to dining.

Breakfast Locations

• Trophy Room (Golf Resort)
• Tangaroa Terrace (Polynesian)
• Top of the World (Contemporary)
• Lake Buena Vista Club
• Verandah Restaurant (Walt Disney World Village at Lake Buena Vista which is now becoming Disney Springs)
• Trail’s End (Fort Wilderness)
• Terrace Buffet (Contemporary)

Lunch Locations

• All Resort and Lake Buena Vista locations (excludes all Theme Park locations)

In 1984, Disney actively encouraged guests to take a mid-day break at the resort and use the recreation services at the resorts and leave the parks.

Dinner Locations

Resort Hotels

• Trophy Room (Golf Resort)
• Papeete Bay Verandah (Polynesian)
• Outer Rim (Contemporary)
• Pueblo Room (Contemporary)
• Tangaroa Terrace (Polynesian)
• Polynesian Revue
• “Hoop-Dee-Doo” Revue (Fort Wilderness)

Lake Buena Vista

• Steerman’s Quarters
• Fisherman’s Deck
• Village Restaurant

EPCOT

• Good Turn (Now Garden Grill)
• Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room (United Kingdom)
• Le Cellar (Now Le Cellier – Canada)
• Biergarten (Germany)
• Les Chefs de France (France)
• Alfredo Di Roma (Italy)
• San Angel Inn (Mexico)
• Mitsukoshi (Japan)

Reservations could only be made by calling or stopping by the restaurant early in the day and only for that day.  For the EPCOT restaurants, reservations could be made either at the restaurant or at the Earth Station located by Spaceship Earth and again only for that day.

Restaurants that were not included in the 1984 Dining Plan were:

• Any character meals: Minnie’s Menehune Breakfast (Polynesian), Breakfast a la Disney (Walt Disney World Village), Dinner a la Disney (Walt Disney World Village)
• Empress Room aboard the Empress Lilly in the Walt Disney World Village
• South Seas Dining Room (Polynesian)

There you have it.  Planning a Walt Disney World vacation in 1984.  In a lot of ways, it was simpler but in some ways, mainly dining reservations, it proved to be more difficult.

Thanks for reading!