Since I am currently in Walt Disney World, I am going to talk about the park soundtracks.
In 2008, Walt Disney Records released a two CD soundtrack for the Walt Disney World parks called "Four Parks - One World" to accompany their branded merchandise of the same name. This is a great soundtrack for Disney lovers. I think that the music makes the park more magical. Last year, Disney released an updated version of the soundtrack, plainly called "Walt Disney World Official Album (there is also a Disneyland version that was released the same time). Which one is better? Is there a difference? Honestly, there is a difference, enough that you should acquire both (which, to your relief, I will be posting download links at the bottom of this post). I will be discussing these soundtracks and explaining the differences, starting at the beginning and going to the end.
The original 2008 album "Four Parks - One World" is still my favorite because it has the more original music before the new changes to Walt Disney World. The new 2013 album is great because it has new tracks for the new Fantasyland, but it still lacks the impressiveness of the 2008 release. These two soundtracks aren't fully complete, though. They don't have the great loops that you hear around the park (a bunch of music in EPCOT remains still unreleased, and can be only found on YouTube, which are somewhat low quality recordings).
Both albums star off with the exact same track: "All Aboard!". In the 2008 release, you can find the track "Welcome Medley" which is that nice introduction when you enter the Magic Kingdom, but this seems to be missing in the 2013 release. Instead of this, the new album replaced it with the new track "Flitterin'". The Tiki, tiki, tiki room is in both albums, but they're completely different, which I do give the new album a plus on this one. The 2008 release starts out nice, then it gets annoying with that stupid bird that sings terribly. The 2013 release cuts that out and changes it to the current version that you hear in the show, without the stupid annoying bird singing.
The track "Swisskapolka" remains the same. The next track: "Yo Ho", actually is one minute longer in the 2013 release. "All Aboard the Mine Train" is removed from the new album. The tracks: "Bear Band Serenade", "Splash Mountain Medley", "Grim Grinning Ghosts", "It's A Small World", and "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" all remain the same. "Solo Pilot Blues" is a neat song, one that is removed from the new album. "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" from the Carousel Of Progress remain the same.
A bunch of new songs appear only in the new 2013 album: "Be Our Guest", "The Little Mermaid Medley", "Circus Parade", and "Casey Jr.". The ride Test Track is completely redesigned, so they threw the old music out and replaced it with the new music. All of the music for EPCOT is the same (like "Spaceship Earth", "Energy Adventure Medley", etc.) except for two tracks: "Legacy" and "Honey I Shrunk The Audience Theme". This really disappointed me. I understand why they left out the theme for Honey I Shrunk The Audience because they have discontinued this attraction, but there is no reason why they should of removed "Legacy" from this album. "Legacy", incase you do not know, is the happy, memorable tune when you enter the park.
Moving on to Hollywood Studios, the Hollywood Boulevard music "Hooray For Hollywood" seems to be missing from the new CDs. The "Star Tours" music is gone and replaced with the new track "The Throne Room". "Playhouse Disney", a bizarre track from the Playhouse Disney live on stage show (also discontinued), is found only on the 2008 release. There are two new tracks for the new PIXAR place: "You've Got A Friend In Me" and "Hot Potato". All of the other tracks for this park (like the stunt shows and Tower of Terror) remain the same.
Animal Kingdom is the major disappointment in both of these soundtracks. There's barely anything for it. There probably isn't very much music played overall in this park, so I won't think about this too much. The tracks "It's Tough To Be A Bug" and "CTX Theme" are the same in both soundtracks, but what the 2013 release lacks in the "Beauty And The Bees", also a strange track that you probably will not listen to anyway.
In conclusion, both soundtracks are exceptional, but the older 2008 release has the music from the better Test Track ride, many original songs, and "Legacy". The new 2013 release has some new tracks that might make up for this, but both are better when accompanied together. I have included the download links for both albums below. Enjoy!
Four Parks - One World (2008):
http://www.4shared.com/archive/P0lV-rqEce/Four_Parks__One_World__Walt_Di.html
Walt Disney World Official Album (2013):
http://www.4shared.com/archive/w4oR0r_Bba/Walt_Disney_World_Official_Alb.html
Email: soundtracks.gizmo@tech-center.com
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