Theme park radar: Hot Wheels, Disney World ambassador flashbacks, reopened restaurants

Aug 29, 2023

Walt Disney World Co.

Tusker House, shown here in 2018, reopens Nov. 1.

Dewayne Bevil / Orlando Sentinel

The 'Hot Wheels: Race to Win' exhibit will be at Orlando Science Center through Jan. 8.

File / Associated Press

Debby Dane Browne (right) performs her ambassador duties on opening day of Magic Kingdom in 1971.

Dewayne Bevil / Orlando Sentinel

'Hot Wheels: Race to Win' exhibit encourages Orlando Science Center visitors to be pit crews.

Dewayne Bevil / Orlando Sentinel

Debby Dane Browne stands between Peggie Farris and George A. Kalogridis after a group interview at an event in November. They were opening-day cast members at Disney World.

Dewayne Bevil / Orlando Sentinel

Scenes from "Hot Wheels: Race to Win" exhibit available at Orlando Science Center through Jan. 8, 2023.

Theme Park Rangers Radar flashes back to simpler times at Orlando Science Center and with Debby Dane Browne at Disneyland, then looks forward to eating at some long-shuttered restaurants at Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

Radar is a weekly roundup of theme park morsels and moments. It is published at OrlandoSentinel.com on Wednesdays.

Auto nation

Hot Wheels are still hot, even at an unexpected spot such as Orlando Science Center. The toy cars, which have been banging around since the late 1960s, are the centerpiece of the exhibit called "Hot Wheels: Race to Win."

The displays, created and designed by Mattel and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, mix fun, education, teamwork, nostalgia and behind-the-scenes materials from real-life auto racing.

Naturally, there's a set of the trademark orange tracks and a downhill run of six lanes, fancier than seen in most living rooms for decades of little races. That's surrounded by educational facts and hands-on activities about engines, power, speed, safety and design.

There also are pieces of stock cars from drivers Danica Patrick and Kasey Kahne presented under the heading "wrecks happen." Showcases explain how engines breathe (see a turbocharger there), why the condition of tires and roads matter, interactive moments about minimizing drag and why certain cars sound different, which prompted an Archie Comics flashback by incorporating the word "jalopy."

There's multigenerational appeal seen by scanning the display area on the second level of the science center.

"The best exhibits are the ones that get multiple generations working together," said Jeff Stanford, vice president of marketing for the Loch Haven Park museum.

The Hot Wheels display gets a little real by encouraging families to be a pit crew and to learn about lugs. But there's still play time that sneaks in math. Visitors time the release of a car to make it leap from one track to another … or crash into other car attempting a similar feat. That's just good Hot Wheelin’.

"Hot Wheels: Race to Win" remains at Orlando Science Center through Jan. 8. It's included with regular admission.

Disney ambassador goes west again

Debby Dane Browne was a teenager when she was picked to be Walt Disney World's first ambassador, a public face for the company and a tradition that continues today.

In 1970, she was sent to Disneyland in California for three months of corporate training and then began her east-of-the-Mississippi duties, explaining Disney World to folks.

In the time since, she never went back to Disneyland … until this year. She was asked to be part of a panel at the D23 Expo in September.

The absence is just one of those things, she says. She and her husband moved to Jacksonville, and she worked with the company through the opening of Epcot in 1982, but by then she had two young sons.

"I got busy as a mom, working wife, family. Life just kept me away. .. I know, isn't that pitiful?" she said. "I always wanted to and we talked about it … and then something came up, so we never had the opportunity to get back."

One might argue that her original experience may have been the trip of a lifetime anyway. She learned a lot about the company, including while training on "it's a small world" and at Disneyland's City Hall. She had "book learning" about the park while learning to be a worker at Disney World's preview center.

"When they sent me out there for three months, it was so that I could actually experience it," Browne said recently.

Other bits of her 1970 experience: Meeting Brian Keith on the set of "Scandalous John," where he taught her to shoot a gun, being inside Walt Disney's office, spending time at the studio and at WED Enterprises, where she met future Disney Legend John Hench and other creative types, which she called a "mind-boggling" time.

"To sit with them was an experience like no other. Truly you felt like you were in the presence of greatness," she said.

She also got a sneak peak at a polka-dot alligator destined for "it's a small world" at Magic Kingdom.

"It was going to be shipped to Orlando within the week to be installed," she recalled.

Back in ’70, she posed in the park wearing her new ambassador costume (designed by Bob Mackie's team), and she re-created some of those shots this year.

And she checked a couple of like-minded people off her must-meet list, including Julie Reihm Casaletto, the first Disneyland ambassador, who was picked by Walt Disney himself.

"I had always wanted to meet her, and never had the opportunity," Browne said. "I had also wanted to meet Connie Swanson Lane, who was the second Disneyland ambassador, who also worked with Walt and then Walt passed away, tragically, during her year."

Meeting them "was really a special highlight in my life," Browne said. "We had so much fun together. … Their stories are fascinating."

Restaurants reopening

Three Walt Disney World restaurants are reopening in early November as the slowly phased pandemic reopening continues, plus a remodeling is completed.

On Nov. 1, Tusker House Restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom will become a buffet-style eatery, from breakfast through dinner. (Translation: Simba waffle alert.)

Also on Nov. 1, Kona Cafe returns to the lineup at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. Also returning: seafood pu pu platter and the Big Kahuna burger.

On Nov. 4, Epcot's Akershus Royal Banquet Hall reopens with Norwegian foods, but it will be a Storybook Dining option that features interactions Disney Princesses.

Reservations are now being accepted for Tusker House and Kona; they will be taken beginning Oct. 24 for Akershus.

Weekend outlook

Halloween high jinks remain in high gear with Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, Howl-O-Scream and Spooktacular at SeaWorld Orlando, Brick-or-Treat at Legoland Florida and Gators, Ghosts and Goblins at Gatorland. It's basically next-to-last call.

Science Night Dead, an adults-only event that's usually known as Science Night Live, is Saturday evening at Orlando Science Center.

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival continues at Disney World. Upcoming Eat to the Beat concert performers include Ray Parker Jr. on Friday and Saturday, followed by Billy Ocean on Sunday and Monday.

What's on your radar? Email me at [email protected]

Sign up for email newsletters