World of Motion Reborn

The ceremonial last ride of World of Motion in 1996 marked the beginning of what amounted not to a dramatic 2 year refurb, but instead to a complete rebirth of one of EPCOT Center's original attractions. Test Track, due to many different issues during its construction, missed 2 opening dates, and finally opened to the public on December 19, 1998. I can remember many trips during the construction where we would see ride vehicles screaming around the exterior track but no one being allowed in. There was a lot of speculation about what the experience would be and when it would finally open. As an "EPCOT Center purist," I can't say that I was totally disappointed, but I was not 100% happy with World of Motion's replacement. Rather than the whimsical history of transportation that was both fun and informational, and also a great nap spot for my dad, we were now transported inside of GM's proving grounds to experience the rigors of automobile testing. Although they tried to keep the mood somewhat light hearted, I more often find the interior stark and kind of slapped together. Long waits and even longer downtimes might have had something to do with the overall experience, as well as the industrial look of the queue area which just seems to lack the normal level of imagination seen in other attraction queues. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy this attraction, but I often wax nostalgic about the predecessor of this technological marvel. One of the really good things about the change to the attraction was that it sparked a pretty good number of license plates. There was a cast member plate:


The public, however, was not left out this time around, and we were graced with several license plates fit for public consumption:





There have been several other license plates issued since this first run was produced, and I will cover those in another post. I would also like to reiterate that I think this is a fine attraction, I just happen to be one of those people who is a sucker for the "vintage" attractions.

Grim Grinning License Plates...

The Haunted Mansion is one of the most beloved attractions in all of the Disney Parks. It has been given several different appearances. It is an antebellum mansion in Disneyland, The Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris, Gothic Revival in Walt Disney World, and modified holiday versions depending on the time of year. As varied as the incarnations of the attraction are the license plates that have been produced for it. It's bad enough when you have to track down one or two variant plates, but I guess someone got bored and decided to have a little fun with us license plate collectors. We didn't get just one or two, but seven variations based on a single license plate design. These differences cover everything from different border designs and backing colors to front background coloration. Some have a white back, some have a bare aluminum back. Some have white backing on the front and some have bare aluminum. There are also differences in the weathering patterns on the lettering. I have put up front shots of all of the different versions. If you would like scans of the backs, I have them and can send them as needed. My brother and I had some interesting days in the parks combing through racks of plates to try to find all of these variations. The only one that was purchased on ebay was the plastic souvenir handout version.





Next time we go back to Epcot to check out what became of World of Motion!

For Dad...

Timmy Lee Crochet ~ 9/23/1955 – 1/23/2004

Today’s post is going to be a little different, as today is the birthday of the man who got me started collecting Disney license plates. My father, Timmy Crochet, first started collecting Disney license plates because, as he liked to put it, “they take up a lot less room than coffee mugs.” He had been collecting Disney coffee mugs for many years and they were starting to overtake all of the available shelf space in my parents’ house. He saw the license plates as a much more feasible option. For a long time he only bought what he could find in the parks during the course of his trips. When I moved back home after the end of my enlistment in the Navy in 2001, things really started to get interesting. I got my dad to upgrade his internet connection and my brother introduced him to ebay. When he saw what was available in the auctions he never looked back, and before we knew it there were license plates arriving virtually every day. It was during this time that I joined him in the collecting craze, my brother having already established a large collection of his own. For the next couple of years it was bidding wars and nearly hourly checks of ebay for new license plates.

This all came to a crashing halt in July of 2003. My dad started suffering from severe headaches, and a MRI revealed that he had brain cancer. The outlook was grim, as the doctors basically told us that we should start saying our goodbyes. On November 23, 2003, my dad made his last trip to Walt Disney World, a trip that no one in my family will soon forget. It was on that trip that my dad found out that he was going to be a grandfather for the first time, and it was also the last time he walked, making a heavily assisted stroll over a bridge outside of Innoventions. On January 23, 2004 my father died, succumbing at last to the brain cancer. After the funeral we needed to decide what the fate of his license plate collection would be. At that time his collection was well over 300 license plates and they were all on display. It was decided that we would number each one and that my brother, sister, and I would draw numbers in turn, each taking the license plate that matched the number drawn. It was in this way that we divided up the collection evenly between my siblings and me.

My brother and I have continued our collections, and now our total combined collection is somewhere around 450-550 license plates. It wouldn’t have happened, though, if it weren’t for our dad. He was the biggest Disney Nut we knew. Dad loved everything about Disney and what it stands for. I really believe that more than most people “he got it.” I was so happy and proud to be able to see my dad make that last trip to WDW, as were my mother, brother, and sister. Mom and I took a trip to WDW in June of 2004, in part as a memorial to my dad. We cried watching Wishes from O’hana, we remembered all of his favorite places, and I bought more license plates. In the 28 years I had with my dad he instilled many values and taught me so many lessons about life. What he also gave me was a love of Disney, not just the license plates but what Disney stands for. Disney is an ideal, a belief that there is a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, Just a Dream Away. Disney is about family and about bringing families together in a magical place, whether that place is one of their parks or your own living room. I believe that my dad, on many different levels, embodied what is best about the Disney Spirit, and what he gave us will live on through me, my brother, my sister, and all of their children.

Below is an excerpt from an article that ran in our local newspaper in November of 2003. The article was written to spotlight some of the biggest Disney fans in our area in celebration of Mickey Mouse's birthday. After the article I have put a picture of the license plate that to me is the single most special license plate in my entire collection. Read the article and I’m sure you will be able to figure out which license plate it is.

November 16, 2003

Mickey Mania

by JAIME LUGIBIHL DISHMAN
The Courier

When he debuted on Nov. 18, 1928, he was just a little mouse. His sketchy, black and white image jerked across the screen in "Steamboat Willie." Now, 75 years later and after thousands of animations, Mickey Mouse is the icon of animation and imagination -the little mouse who started it all. His 75th birthday is Tuesday, and some local Mickey Mouse fanatics have already started to celebrate. Tim Crochet, 48, has bought two of the 75th anniversary license plates celebrating Mickey’s birthday. "One of them is on the truck, and one is on the wall," Tim said. When Tim talks about his wall, he is referring to the inside of his garage, where every bit of available space is covered with more than 300 license plates. Some celebrate Mickey, other commemorate different Disney events. Tim and his wife, April, have been Mickey fans since 1979, when they went on their first trip to Disney World. Since then, they have been on 43 trips to Disney World and have spent about 390 days inside the park. "What made me enjoy it was to see the joy that he (Mickey Mouse) brought to all of the kids," Tim said. "I just fell in love with him and that is how it all got started." Tim and April’s Houma house is covered in Mickey memorabilia. Not a single room has escaped the fanaticism. In the kitchen, pictures of Disney World are proudly displayed. The living room is covered with paraphernalia, and Tim and April agree they like it that way. "When he started to fall in love with Mickey, I was fine with it," April said. "He can put his decorations wherever he wants." Tim and April plan to take a seven-day trip to Disney World during Thanksgiving week. But this trip has special significance for the couple. It marks their 44th trip to the Florida park, and since Tim recently had surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor in July, it really means a lot to both of them to be able to go. "The doctors told me they didn’t recommend it, but I don’t care. I am going," Tim said. Friends helped the couple pay for the trip, since Tim had to quit his pharmacist job after being diagnosed with cancer. Although Tim will not be able to ride many of the rides, he said he is looking forward to just enjoying the serenity and memories the park brings to him. "This is really going to mean a lot for us," April said. Tim uses Mickey Mouse as a source of strength. A license plate decorates the back of his wheelchair, and he said he thought of Mickey Mouse and Disney World when he was going through radiation treatments. "People say, 'Boy, if only you had all of the money you spent at Disney,’ " April said. "But we say no. We have a treasure chest of memories and you can’t trade that. It has been a place of great joy."


In case you didn't catch it in the article, this is the license plate that was on the back of my dad's wheelchair throughout his battle with cancer. It is by far the most special plate that I own, and one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.


This is a picture of me, my younger brother, and my dad (in that order) on Main Street U.S.A. in June of 2001. I really wish the Three Amigos could take just one more picture together.

Happy Birthday Dad. We Miss You and We Love You.

(updated) Welcome to the Wonderful World of Motion...

When EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, one of the few Future World attractions was the transportation based World of Motion. This attraction, sponsored by General Motors and housed in The Transportation Pavilion, presented a history of transportation from the days of foot power all the way through futuristic methods such as the Lean Machine. The attraction was basically broken into two parts: the ride-through attraction and the TransCenter, which was presented in a walk-through format.

What set this attraction apart from its Future World counterparts was its approach to the subject matter. Unlike other EPCOT Center attractions, World of Motion was "the funny one," opting for a fun and whimsical approach over the more serious, sometimes even stern approach taken by its counterparts. The ride scenes, designed by Marc Davis, presented what would have otherwise been very serious fare in a most entertaining tongue in cheek fashion. Among the jokes were the invention of the wheel, used chariot sales (including a hidden Mickey), and Leonardo da Vinci ignoring a rather perturbed Mona Lisa so he could instead design flying machines. Also included was an effect somewhat akin to the hitchhiking ghosts at the Magic Kingdom, only this time the entire ride vehicle was made to look like a streamlined futuristic car.

Once your ride was over you were invited to explore the TransCenter, the walking part of the attraction. This part of the attraction was accessible both via the ride and through an exterior entrance, so you didn't necessarily have to ride to experience this part of the attraction. Numerous static and dynamic displays were included in this section as well as some "mini-attractions" like The Bird and the Robot and The Water Powered Engine. Among the static displays was a futuristic looking car, a magnetic powered train, several prototype GM designs, and various GM production vehicles.

World of Motion was in operation until January 2, 1996, when the ceremonial last ride was taken. The attraction underwent a major overhaul, reopening as Test Track on December 19, 1998.

So you're probably asking yourself, since this is a Disney License Plate Blog, is there a license plate involved somewhere in all of this? As a matter of fact there is, and as far as I've been able to find, it's a pretty rare one.

I don't know a great deal about this license plate (I'm sure you're getting used to hearing that by now), but from the information that I've been able to find it was issued only to GM employees and cast members who were involved with the construction and opening of the World of Motion attraction. To date I have only run across two of these, one on ebay, which cost me very dearly to purchase, and the other as a part of Steve Garner's collection. I know there have got to be more out there, so if anyone has one or has better or more accurate information about it please let me know and I will update appropriately.

I want to thank Steve Garner for the following information. In an email this morning he shared with me the information that he has on this plate.

"Discovered on e-Bay January 2003. Seller states that it belonged to a family member who oversaw the setup of the World Of Motion exhibit when Epcot opened. World Of Motion was a pavilion in Future World and opened October 1, 1982. The attraction was a ride through the history of the automobile. It was closed January 2, 1996 and was replaced by the Test Track attraction that opened in 1998.

A June 2005 e-Bay seller notes that the plate was only available to General Motors Public Relations staff and as a gift to the original test and adjust team with Epcot maintenance."

Judging by this it would seem that the plate is even more rare than I originally thought given the limited distribution.

Steve also gave the auction history from ebay, and it appears that I kind of got the short end on the auction block. I bought the second one that had shown up and paid the second highest auction amount for any of the ten auctions. One thing I can say for sure though is if I had it to do all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Where to Stay????

When planning a trip to Walt Disney World, one of the hardest choices for many people is what Disney resort hotel to stay at during their trip. For many, many years, the number one choice for my family was the Polynesian Village Resort (now Disney's Polynesian Resort). We stayed there numerous times and had a terrific time on each and every trip.


When Disney introduced their moderate level hotels we took a chance and tried out the Caribbean Beach Resort. We weren't disappointed at all. The theming was terrific, very subtle in some cases and not so subtle in others. We had many stays at the Caribbean and had a terrific time on each vacation.


We have also stayed at other Disney resorts and have not had a bad experience on any of these trips. We have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, Coronado Springs, and other members of my family have stayed at Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, All Star Resort, and Pop Century, and all have had a great time.

There is one thing that I have personally noticed, having visited all of the resorts on WDW property, whether it be for a vacation stay or just in the process of exploring the grounds. The level of theming changes almost exponentially as you move from one lodging level to the next. I find that the theming at the Deluxe level is a lot more subtle and that it gets a little more "cartoony" as you move from level to level, as evidenced by the completely over-the-top statues at the All Star and Pop Century resorts.

These differences, however, are not reflected in the license plates that are produced for the resorts. These license plates, whether they be for a Deluxe, Moderate, or Value resort, all exhibit the same level of detail and whimsy.



There are, of course, the obvious differences that come from placing the characters in the setting or period of the particular resort, but that is pretty much where the differences end. In my humble opinion, this is one area where Disney makes no distinction whatsoever between the levels of their resorts, delivering excellent looking plates for all of their resorts.

EPCOT Turns 10...

In keeping with the widespread talk about Epcot's 25th anniversary, I'd like to take a look back at the last major celebration the park and the some of the license plates issued during that time. EPCOT Center (that name was so much better than just Epcot) turned 10 in 1992. As I remember it there really wasn't a huge celebration like the ones that were held to commemorate the anniversaries of the WDW Resort as a whole. We were, however, given more license plates to add to the collection. In my case I have one from general merchandise and one cast member only plate:


The plate above was available to the general public, but I did not buy it during the celebration. This is yet another of my ebay finds, this one being a lot more affordable and not nearly as heavily contested as some other plates.


The second plate is the cast member only issue for the celebration. Once again, this is an ebay find. I first ran across this plate on Steve Garner's Site and instantly had to get one for myself. This one actually came to me through my father (I will explain more about this later), who had purchased the plate on ebay. I think this license plate really does a great job of capturing the feel of the original EPCOT Center. It's not a flashy plate, and I really think the beauty of this plate lies in its simplicity of design. I also love the way they incorporated the original EPCOT Center type for all of the text.

There are other anniversary plates out there, and I will update as I am able to acquire them. Till next time, PARTY ON! EPCOT 25 is right around the corner!

Cast Members Get All the Best Stuff!

By far some of the best looking license plates I have seen are those reserved for cast members, especially the anniversary plates. They also make for some pretty hard searching when the general public tries to get their hands on them.


You'll notice quite often that I come up short on the history department where it applies to many of my license plates. The reason for this is that Disney does not keep any records on their license plates. They're considered general merchandise and are not tracked beyond the identification numbers on each different plate. I wish there was more that I could tell you about these but there really isn't much that I know about them beyond that they were cast member only issues for the 20th and 25th anniversaries.

Of course the general public got their own plates for these celebrations, but in my opinion they pale in comparison to the cast only ones.


All this talk of anniversaries and parties has gotten me looking through my collection for all of the anniversary stuff I have. In the next installment I'll be showing some of the stranger stuff that I happened to acquire during the anniversary celebrations.

Thanks Jeff!

Thanks to Jeff Pepper over at 2719 Hyperion, I got motivated today to take a look at my collection to find out if I had any Disney bumper stickers. Admittedly I have never personally bought a single bumper sticker on any of my trips to WDW, but my father did, and when he passed away in 2004 I inherited many of the bumper stickers he had purchased. I found them all tucked away neatly in a drawer where they had been for probably the last three years. Thanks, Jeff, for motivating me to rediscover a part of my own collection that I didn't even know I had! I've put them all in this one post because I just think they look good all together, just the way I inherited them.

Everyone Loves a Party!

Especially when they're giving out a prize every fifteen seconds. The 15th Anniversary celebration at Walt Disney World was the first big anniversary celebration thrown at the Florida property. To commemorate the celebration, we get to add yet another license plate to the collection:


As I remember it this celebration was huge! There were parades, special shows, and of course the prize giveaways. Every fifteen seconds during the 15th Anniversary festivities someone coming through the gate won a prize, and I was lucky enough to be one of the winners!

I was 11 years old during that trip and I thought it was just about the greatest thing in the world that I had won one of the prizes. I've never really gotten into trading or collecting Disney pins, but this is definitely one pin that I will never let go.


The 15th Anniversary celebration was really a sight to see, and being one of the winners was an experience that will stay with me forever. I truly believe that this celebration was a demonstration of Disney at its absolute best and it set the bar for every celebration that came after it.

Oops!...

When I was a kid collecting baseball cards, one of my favorite things was trying to locate error cards (anyone remember Billy Ripken?). I found out about error license plates very early on in my collecting endeavors. Of all the error plates, and there really aren't that many out there that I've seen, by far the hardest for me to locate were two of the 1970 WDW pre-opening error plates. I have no idea how these mistakes were made, nor how they got into circulation, but I feel very lucky to have been able to acquire both of them.



I managed to find both of these on ebay about 4 years ago, and they were both the subject of pretty heavily contested bidding right up until the last second. I can't attest to the actual rarity of these license plates, but I can say that I really haven't seen very many of them in my search for new plates. There is another error plate that I am still on the hunt for, but I've only seen it once, and that is a mis-cut that has part of two plates on the same plate. Once again, if anyone has seen one or knows where I can get one, please let me know!

I'm now going to shift a little and start listing plates park by park at the rate of probably 2 to 3 a day or every other day, so keep an eye on the blog and let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see!

It's Nahtazu!

As I round out my first week of posting, so too do we round out the list of Walt Disney World theme parks. The fourth park to join the WDW family, Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998. Featuring the beautifully constructed Tree of Life and "free roaming" animals on the Kilimanjaro Safari, this park gave visitors a whole new experience never seen before in Walt Disney World.

Unfortunately for license plate collectors, we were to receive an experience that we had grown all too familiar with...another variant plate. This one is one of the most subtle variations that I have ever seen on a Disney license plate. The background color is just a shade darker on the variant plate. Whether this was done by mistake or intentionally I do not know. Surprisingly enough I never even realized that I had both plates until I started scanning them for this blog.

I have to admit that I was very happy that I already had both of them. I can only imagine how hard it would have been to try to explain to a potential seller on ebay exactly what I was looking for.

That rounds out the pre-opening plates for the four Walt Disney World parks. From this point on we'll be taking a look at the rest of my collection and possibly exploring a little bit of Disney history through these license plates. It's been a fun first week, and I really want to thank all of the people who have contacted me and helped me to get some exposure for the new blog. I hope you all have a wonderful Disney weekend!

We Need Another Park...

Born from a design by Marty Sklar and Randy Bright for an attraction at EPCOT Center we have the first park built under then CEO Michael Eisner (please don't shoot me for saying that name). Disney MGM Studios evolved from an idea for an EPCOT pavilion dedicated to the movies. A decision was made to build an entire park rather than just a single pavilion, and of course we also got another license plate to go along with it.


This plate was available both to the public and to the press prior to the opening of Disney MGM Studios. Of course, it also had to be a variant plate. This license plate was released with both a bare aluminum back and a white back.

Over the years there have been numerous other license plates issued for the park, some bearing the Disney MGM name and logo, and others labeled "The Walt Disney Studios." My suspicion on this is that the Disney MGM plates refer to the park in its entirety while the Walt Disney Studios plates refer only to the parts of the park that were specific Disney entities. This is only speculation on my part, but I can't really think of or find any other information that gives a clear cut reason for the difference.


In our next installment we meet a whole new species of theme park!

Continuing the Trend

What do you do when you have 47 square miles of land and just one park? Build more parks of course. When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, only the Magic Kingdom, Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort, and Fort Wilderness were open, so expansion was the order of the day. For many years this expansion included resorts, shopping, and a water park, but no new theme parks. When plans were finally announced for EPCOT Center, the second park at WDW, of course they couldn't help but release another license plate to add to the collection:

The interesting thing about this license plate is that is also part of a trend that has become the bane of all hard-core Disney license plate collectors: variants. Over the years there have been a number of variant plates, and this one was among the first. This plate was released with both a bare aluminum back and a white painted back.


This variation makes buying at auction somewhat difficult because the color of the back is almost never listed.

I am not 100% sure of when this next license plate was released, but from what I have been able to dig up it was released after EPCOT Center was opened. Disney also didn't wait a very long time to produce another variant plate:


This and the EPCOT Center pre-opening license plate are among the favorites in my collection, they just look so darned cool. The variation on this plate was a lot less obvious than the previous one and took almost a decade to surface. The one in my collection is from the original run of plates. This license plate also introduces us to something that I will discuss in another blog, identification numbers. This plate has an identification number in the bottom most left hand corner, just below the stripe. The second run had an identification number in the corner and a Disney copyright directly under the "D" in "world." These second run plates were produced in 1997 and may have been a cast member only issue. I am still searching for one of these second run plates, so if anyone knows where I can find one, please let me know.

In our next installment we will take a look at the next member of the Walt Disney World family!

In the Beginning...

We'll start the license plate talk where it began, at least for me. Since the majority of my collection is centered around Walt Disney World, we'll start with the start of the Florida property, and so I give you license plate the first.

The story on where this plate came from has been debated, but I'll relate it as accurately as I can. Disney released this plate to announce the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, and as I understand it they sold this plate at the WDW Preview Center. It subsequently had to be pulled from the shelves because it apparently was a little too close to the actual Florida 1970-71 license plate.

The blue background plate was removed and was replaced with a revised plate with a green background, which managed to remain in production.

I was able to find both of these plates on ebay. It was one heck of a bidding war!

I've been meaning to start a Disney Blog for a long time, but I could never figure out what I could do that would be at least a little bit original. Finally I settled on the one aspect of Disney Collecting that has been the most fun and rewarding...Disney License Plates. I'm going to focus mainly on license plates that reside in my personal collection and the collections of other family members, with occasional forays into the collections of other people. I will also include some other items in my collection from time to time. Mainly I just want to have fun and share my love of Disney with other Disney fans.