Production note The film was released in 1983 and discussed here as a 40th-anniversary title.
Production note Bill says the movie was one of the 300th Rewatchables selections.
Production note The script originated from John Hughes's National Lampoon short story Vacation 58.
Production note Katzenberg at Paramount rejected the script as too episodic, leading it to Warner Brothers.
Production note John Candy was reportedly paid one million dollars for three days of reshoots on the alternate ending.
Production note The original ending involved a hostage-style trip to Wally World's owner and a plane-hijack gag.
Production note Anthony Michael Hall's growth spurt required reshooting some later scenes.
Production note Imogene Coca allegedly had a stroke during filming and had to relearn lines.
Production note The Wagon Queen Family Truckster was based on a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire.
Production note The opening weekend box office competition included Jaws 3, Return of the Jedi, and Kroll.
Christmas Vacation Used as a sequel and as the hosts' favorite Christmas movie.
European Vacation Mentioned as a sequel and as part of Clark Griswold's horny continuation.
We're the Millers Cited as a modern movie that borrows the family-road-trip setup.
Little Miss Sunshine Named as an adjacent family-road-trip comedy.
Captain Ron Used as another adjacent family-trip comedy example.
The Dark Knight Mentioned when discussing Anthony Michael Hall's later career.
Fletch Used as the benchmark for Chevy Chase's apex mountain debate.
Holiday Road Theme song repeatedly cited as a standout opening credit sequence.
The Pointer Sisters' I'm So Excited Referenced as a heavily reused pop-cultural needle drop.
Magic Mountain Referenced as the roller-coaster location used for the finale shooting.
Wally World / Disney World Discussed as the fictional destination and the legal-pressure reason for the name change.
The Challenge USA Only appears in sponsor copy at the top of the transcript and is not used as evidence for the episode itself.
