Fastpass to the Past: The Theme Park History Podcast

Explore the outlandish origin stories of your favorite theme parks, attractions and shows.

About the show

NEW BOOK! Fastpass to the Past: The Jr. Historian's Guide to Disneyland. Explore the fascinating history behind Disneyland – a theme park history book for kids 9 to 12. Release date: 12/1/2021

Join Austin, a former Disneyland Cast Member, as she takes you through the outrageous and sometimes downright strange origin stories of your favorite theme parks, attractions, and shows. The outlandish history of Disneyland, Disney World, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farms, and much more will be explored along with some outrageous stories from former Employees & Cast Members. What are you waiting for? For your safety, remain seated with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the podcast at all times.

Fastpass to the Past: The Theme Park History Podcast on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 18: Walt Disney's Childhood in Kansas City City (Exclusive Excerpt From Our New Book!)

    November 30th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  18 mins 10 secs
    book, fastpass to the past

    In an exclusive look just for podcast listeners, Austin reveals the first chapter of her brand-new book, Fastpass to the Past: The Jr. Historian's Guide to Disneyland! Discover the story behind Walt Disney's childhood in Kansas City and his first visit to an amusement park.

  • Episode 17: Lost Lands of Disneyland Paris: A 1920's Main Street

    April 18th, 2020  |  Season 3  |  30 mins 6 secs
    disneyland paris

    Gangsters, Speakeasies, and Jazz, oh my! Instead of the Victorian facades that harkened back to Walt Disney’s Minnesota hometown, Imagineer Eddie Sotto’s original concept for Main Street USA in Disneyland Paris resembled something different - something exciting. In the place of horse-drawn carriages, he designed an entry sequence filled with the gangsters, policemen, and great American cities that flourished during the jazz age.

  • Episode 16: Universal Studios Hollywood, From Glamour Trams to Today's Studio Tour

    March 25th, 2020  |  Season 3  |  39 mins 47 secs
    film history, universal studios hollywood

    Head back to the early history of film to discover how one immigrant's dream for a city dedicated to the movies led to the creation of Universal Studios Hollywood and the original Studio Tour.

  • Bonus Episode - Shanghai Disneyland Trip Report

    February 26th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  48 mins 54 secs
    disney, disneyland, shanghai disneyland, travel, trip report

    In this special bonus 'trip report' episode, Austin invites a special guest to share travel tips and talk about their trip to Shanghai Disneyland in April of 2018.

  • Episode 14: Shanghai Disneyland & Hong Kong Disneyland (Disney's China Parks)

    February 26th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  43 mins 38 secs
    disney, hong kong disneyland, shanghai disneyland, the walt disney company

    Discover the tremulous history of Disney's newest theme park, Shanghai Disneyland, a park over 18-years in the making whose recent successes are directly linked to the legacy of CEO Bob Iger himself.

  • Episode 13: The 5 Lost Resorts of Disney World

    December 30th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  24 mins 22 secs
    disney world, disney's asian resort, disney's buffalo junction resort, disney's persian resort, hotels, lost resorts

    Take a grand circle tour on the monorail around the Magic Kingdom to discover the 5 'lost resorts' of Walt Disney World's Seven Seas Lagoon inspired by far off places.

  • Episode 12: Lost Resorts: Disney's Mineral King Ski Village

    December 16th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  26 mins 16 secs
    disney's mineral king ski village, lost resorts

    Hit the slopes with us and take a double black diamond run into the Walt Disney Company Archives with a look at a ‘lost resort’ of the Disney empire that goes down in history as one of Disney’s most ambitious and well-publicized failures– Disney’s Mineral King Ski Village.

  • Episode 11: The World Infamous Jungle Cruise

    December 2nd, 2018  |  Season 2  |  29 mins 44 secs
    adventureland, disney world, disneyland, jungle cruise

    Take a trip deep into the jungles of Disneyland’s original ‘Adventureland’ to seek out the origins of everyone’s favorite punny skippers, ambushes, and piranhas in the world infamous jungle cruise.

  • Episode 10: Lost Lands: Beastly Kingdom & Camp Mickey Minnie

    May 8th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  23 mins 21 secs
    animal kingdom, beastly kingdom, camp minnie mickey, universal's islands of adventure, walt disney world

    The episode you have all been waiting for! How did a gorgeous original Disney-designed theme park land just across Orlando at Universal's Islands of Aventure? In the third part of our Lost Land series, we’ll be talking about Beastly Kingdom – the never-realized fantastic Part II Expansion for Disney's Animal Kingdom that was snatched up by Universal in 1999. We'll also talk about the temporary land in it's place that lasted well over a decade - Camp Mickey and Minnie.

  • Episode 9: Lost Lands of Disneyland: Holidayland

    January 25th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  20 mins 24 secs
    disneyland, holiday world, holidayland

    Today we are going to take a deep dive into the Disneyland Archives and take a look at one of the ‘lost lands’ of Disneyland. In the second part of our Lost Land series, we’ll be talking about Holidayland – the lost 9 acres of land from Disneyland's early history where you could drink beer freely and even participate in sack races!

  • Episode 8: Lost Lands of Disneyland: Discovery Bay

    December 18th, 2017  |  Season 1  |  34 mins 39 secs
    discovery bay, disneyland, thunder mesa

    Today we are going to take a deep dive into the Disneyland Archives and take a look at the one of the ‘lost lands’ of Disneyland. In the first part of our Lost Land series, we’ll be talking about Discovery Bay – the lost flagship land of the Disney empire that never even made it to construction.

  • Episode 7: The Most Hated WDW Attraction of All Time (The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management)

    November 7th, 2017  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 48 secs
    enchanted tiki room, enchanted tiki room under new management, magic kingdom, walt disney world

    Find out why Walt Disney World Execs decided to mess with a classic beloved attraction and how it came to its eventual fiery end.

  • Episode 6: Part 2: How Disney Stole An Entire Theme Park (JAWS & Universal Studios Orlando)

    October 29th, 2017  |  Season 1  |  27 mins 47 secs
    jaws ride, universal studios

    What promoted Universal Orlando to spend 30 million dollars on their first ever "ride" - JAWS? The little-known 1980's Arms Race between the Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios Florida changed the entire theme park industry as we know it as both raced to finish a Hollywood-themed park in Florida.

  • Episode 5: Part 1: How Disney Stole An Entire Theme Park (JAWS & Universal Studios Orlando)

    October 19th, 2017  |  Season 1  |  21 mins 35 secs
    disney world, jaws ride, universal studios

    What promoted Universal Orlando to spend 30 million dollars on their first ever "ride" - JAWS? The little-known 1980's Arms Race between the Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios Florida changed the entire theme park industry as we know it as both raced to finish a Hollywood-themed park in Florida.

  • Episode 4: The Enchanted Tiki Bar (Trader Sam's)

    October 8th, 2017  |  Season 1  |  24 mins 59 secs
    disneyland, disneyland hotel, tiki bar, trader sam's

    How a Tiki bar originally planned for Walt Disney's original EPCOT landed in the middle of the Disneyland Hotel 40 years later serving up more fun than the Gods can handle.

  • Episode 3: Disneyland's Deadliest Attractions

    October 1st, 2017  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 5 secs
    accidents, deaths, disney, disneyland, history, theme park, walt disney

    Despite the rumors, people have died at Disneyland! Learn the strange circumstances behind the incidents and get acquainted with three of the most dangerous rides ever to operate at the "happiest place on earth."