I finally took the 7 hour Backstage Magic Tour last Monday and thought I might post a bit of a trip report for anyone considering this tour.
We all met at the Guest Relations window at EPCOT, going backstage just inside Epcot near the restrooms to the right of SpaceShip Earth
We boarded a bus there that took us around the perimeter road behind everything on the west side of EPCOT including The Land, and the new show building for Soarin'. We continued under the water bridge and on around to American Adventure.
At this time of day, World Showcase is not yet open to guests and we went on-stage briefly to see some of the preparatory work going on before opening of the park. There were a wide range of trucks all over the place replacing flowers, spraying down the walkways, etc.. The guide introduced us to some of the forced perspective techniques used in the design of the American Adventure. She noted that in the initial plans for the attraction it was going to be placed in the area of the park where the bridge between Future World and World Showcase is currently located. Unfortunately as the show evolved, the modern design building just didn't fit at all with the show that was developing, and they certainly couldn't put a Georgian Colonial building in Future World either. That's when they decided to move that pavilion to it's current position in the back of the park. An interesting tidbit about the location of the individual lands is based on that old layout. With the AE at the center between FW & WS, Canada and Mexico were positioned in the geographically correct relative places to the American Adventure but that died when they moved American Adventure. The original idea was that the countries would be positioned geographically relative to each other. When asked about China & Japan, she commented that when they did some early guest studies, they found that people could not easily tell the difference between the two which is why they are separated the way they are.
American Adventure
----------------------------
We then headed around the American Adventure Building and into the backstage area behind the show. We were actually down in the stage area where the rear projection system is but more importantly where all of the animatronics are for the show. We were actually standing next to the large structure that includes all of the animatronics. While we were there the Costuming and Hair people where going through all of the characters to make sure that everything looked right. In fact they were swapping out the costume on one of the characters. Our guide described some of the attention to detail in the scenes including an homage to Ben Franklins like of an occasional drink. She showed us the partially full shot glass on the table next to Ben. You'd never see it in that huge theater but it's there for realism. Kind of cool.
EPCOT Perimeter Road
--------------------------------
We reboarded the bus and continued on around the perimeter road past the drydock area and the fireworks loading area where all of the Illuminations barges are stored and restocked for each nights show. There were also a couple of Friendship boats in various stages of repair and maintenance. We continued all the way around back up to the east side of SpaceShip earth opposite where we started. Out guide pointed out the entrance to the small tunnel system used at EPCOT. That entrance is right between Universe of Energy and SpaceShip Earth. As it was explained to us that tunnel system only exists around Communicore and does not expand beyond that area. We didn't get a chance to go down there so I can't confirm more than that.
EPCOT Cast Services
------------------------------
We then continued back to the Cast Services building where the employee lockers are as well as the costuming department. Our guide described the whole process of how employees are assigned costumes and how they are cleaned and maintained. We then continued on to an area where costumes and wigs are maintained and repaired. At this point we reboarded the bus and continued on with out tour.
Creative Floral
--------------------
The next place we visited was described as a new part of the tour at the Creative Floral group. This is where all of the floral gifts and gift baskets that are either purchased as gifts or part of corporate events around the property are created. We saw a bunch of packages that were left from the Funai Golf classic that had taken place the previous weekend as well as a number of different ones being made for some of the chefs participating in the Food & Wine Festival.
Creative Costuming
---------------------------
We then reboarded the bus and headed off to Disney-MGM Studios. As we entered into the backstage area we could see the signs for the Osborne Family Lights being tested in a parking lot just behind Tower of Terror. There were two large (at least 15 feet long) that included lights in all of the letters. We continued around the back of Rock'n Roller Coaster and on to the Creative Costuming building. We met some of the people who do the archival drawings and assembly instructions for all of the costumes in the park. When the design of a costume is done, there is a detailed computer drawing created that includes every detail of the assembly process for the costume including things like the length of the zipper needed for assembly, the exactly details of the fabric. We continued into the same area that is visible from the tram when you are on the backstage tour. It was kind of wierd being on that side of the glass and watching the trams go by. We reviewed things like the CAD area where every component of every pattern for every costume is digitized in a computer so that a digital cutting table can efficiently cut any costume using the computerized drawings and the detailed assembly instructions.
Lunch
--------
When we left Creative Costuming we headed out into the Studios and over to Mama Melrose' where we had lunch together as a group. As anticipated the food was very good but there was way too much of it. Great conversation getting to know all of the other folks around the table from all different places.
North Service Area-Christmas Warehouse
---------------------------------------------------------
We left out the back door and reboarded our bus to head up to the North Service Area behind the Magic Kingdom. The first thing we saw there is the holiday warehouse where they house all of the Christmas decorations for all of the parks and the resorts. I had seen the Travel Channel special last year about this but it did not do justice to the scale of what is really in there. We roamed around the warehouse while our guide described the number of people who work full time all year round repairing and preparing the decorations. She then described the process they use to install the decorations in all of the hotels and the parks. We continued through the warehouse to the area where they are currently building the giant signature trees for the theme parks. The Magic Kingdom tree is in 6 pieces (each about 15 feet tall) and they were installing the lights and decorations. The trees are completely decorated and lit in this warehouse and then the parts are stacked together at the park on installation night. As we headed outside, the EPCOT tree was already done and still in it's 6 parts it was rolled into a tent along side the warehouse awaiting it's time to be installed in the park. In the parking lot outside they were starting the assembly on the big tree that goes in front of the Contemporary as well as the one for the Studios. They had just started these two so they were not much more than green. All of the gift packages that are typically at the bottom of the trees were stacked on pallets alongside the trees waiting for later assembly.
North Service Area-Craft Services
----------------------------------------------
We headed across the street into the Craft Services building to see a whole range of stuff in various stages of creation and repair. All of the boats from It's a Small World were all lined up in various stages of repair and renovation. We also saw the wheels and all of the frames for the coaster cards for Space Mountain at DisneyLand in CA. They have been stripped down to a metal frame at this point and are being completely rebuilt for the new version of the ride. There are also a couple of cars from Magic Kingdom Space Mountain, a trolley from Main Street, a couple of cars from Primerval Whirl and misc other parts and pieces of other attractions and hotels. We next headed into the Animatronics area where there were about 8 of the dolls from It's a Small World in various states of mechanical repair. There was no costuming or hair, just the mechanical structure of the character including one with a red guitar in it's hands. There was also a the head of an elephant from Jungle Cruise with it's trunk in pieces on a workbench. We were told the trunk was awaiting parts. As we left animatronics there was another partial elephant from Jungle Cruise in the hall. The next area we saw was a large machine that is used to create solid models of new ride vehicles that are then used to create the molds for final creation of the ride vehicles. The machine is so big, it was actually used to create the mold for all of the giant props at Pop Century Resort and many other things around the property. Once the item is designed on a computer, this machine can carve it out in great detail in full size, giant blocks of foam.
We then saw a couple of the carousel horses that were in their maintenance cycle. One had a broken hoof that needed to be repaired. As described there are about 10 extra horses so that some number of them is always out for repair and repainting. In that same area was the body of the elephant head we saw earlier in the Animatronic group. We then went through the painting areas where everything is painted including all of the signs for shops and attractions as well as components of the attractions. There were a whole bunch of brightly painted balloons in one area that are part of It's a Small World. We wrapped things up here and reboarded the bus to head to the Magic Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom
---------------------
Our bus entered the Magic Kingdom area through the backstage area behind the east side of Main Street. This is the point where we entered the building and headed downstairs into the Utilidoor system. We got a pretty good introduction into the purpose of this system, how the signage is created to guide people through this whole system and a view of the internal maps that detail how everything is layed out and how cast members identify which stairs they can use to get to their respective areas of the park when in costume. We moved around the system a bit, but stayed only in the area under Main Street USA so we didn't get a chance to see all that much of the tunnel system. We circled around a bit and ended up back at the same staircase that we came down originally. Once we were back in the backstage area we headed down a little bit and entered through a large door that opened up at the end of Center Street on Main Street where we got a bit of an introduction to the names on many of the windows on the 2nd floor of the Main Street buildings. We then got a brief introduction to the RFID pucks embedded in Main Street that are used to synchronize the music along with the floats as they move through the park.
Our final segment was watching the Character Parade on Main Street from right in front of the Fire Station on Main Street. Following the parade we wrapped up be reboarding our bus and heading back to EPCOT.
We all met at the Guest Relations window at EPCOT, going backstage just inside Epcot near the restrooms to the right of SpaceShip Earth
We boarded a bus there that took us around the perimeter road behind everything on the west side of EPCOT including The Land, and the new show building for Soarin'. We continued under the water bridge and on around to American Adventure.
At this time of day, World Showcase is not yet open to guests and we went on-stage briefly to see some of the preparatory work going on before opening of the park. There were a wide range of trucks all over the place replacing flowers, spraying down the walkways, etc.. The guide introduced us to some of the forced perspective techniques used in the design of the American Adventure. She noted that in the initial plans for the attraction it was going to be placed in the area of the park where the bridge between Future World and World Showcase is currently located. Unfortunately as the show evolved, the modern design building just didn't fit at all with the show that was developing, and they certainly couldn't put a Georgian Colonial building in Future World either. That's when they decided to move that pavilion to it's current position in the back of the park. An interesting tidbit about the location of the individual lands is based on that old layout. With the AE at the center between FW & WS, Canada and Mexico were positioned in the geographically correct relative places to the American Adventure but that died when they moved American Adventure. The original idea was that the countries would be positioned geographically relative to each other. When asked about China & Japan, she commented that when they did some early guest studies, they found that people could not easily tell the difference between the two which is why they are separated the way they are.
American Adventure
----------------------------
We then headed around the American Adventure Building and into the backstage area behind the show. We were actually down in the stage area where the rear projection system is but more importantly where all of the animatronics are for the show. We were actually standing next to the large structure that includes all of the animatronics. While we were there the Costuming and Hair people where going through all of the characters to make sure that everything looked right. In fact they were swapping out the costume on one of the characters. Our guide described some of the attention to detail in the scenes including an homage to Ben Franklins like of an occasional drink. She showed us the partially full shot glass on the table next to Ben. You'd never see it in that huge theater but it's there for realism. Kind of cool.
EPCOT Perimeter Road
--------------------------------
We reboarded the bus and continued on around the perimeter road past the drydock area and the fireworks loading area where all of the Illuminations barges are stored and restocked for each nights show. There were also a couple of Friendship boats in various stages of repair and maintenance. We continued all the way around back up to the east side of SpaceShip earth opposite where we started. Out guide pointed out the entrance to the small tunnel system used at EPCOT. That entrance is right between Universe of Energy and SpaceShip Earth. As it was explained to us that tunnel system only exists around Communicore and does not expand beyond that area. We didn't get a chance to go down there so I can't confirm more than that.
EPCOT Cast Services
------------------------------
We then continued back to the Cast Services building where the employee lockers are as well as the costuming department. Our guide described the whole process of how employees are assigned costumes and how they are cleaned and maintained. We then continued on to an area where costumes and wigs are maintained and repaired. At this point we reboarded the bus and continued on with out tour.
Creative Floral
--------------------
The next place we visited was described as a new part of the tour at the Creative Floral group. This is where all of the floral gifts and gift baskets that are either purchased as gifts or part of corporate events around the property are created. We saw a bunch of packages that were left from the Funai Golf classic that had taken place the previous weekend as well as a number of different ones being made for some of the chefs participating in the Food & Wine Festival.
Creative Costuming
---------------------------
We then reboarded the bus and headed off to Disney-MGM Studios. As we entered into the backstage area we could see the signs for the Osborne Family Lights being tested in a parking lot just behind Tower of Terror. There were two large (at least 15 feet long) that included lights in all of the letters. We continued around the back of Rock'n Roller Coaster and on to the Creative Costuming building. We met some of the people who do the archival drawings and assembly instructions for all of the costumes in the park. When the design of a costume is done, there is a detailed computer drawing created that includes every detail of the assembly process for the costume including things like the length of the zipper needed for assembly, the exactly details of the fabric. We continued into the same area that is visible from the tram when you are on the backstage tour. It was kind of wierd being on that side of the glass and watching the trams go by. We reviewed things like the CAD area where every component of every pattern for every costume is digitized in a computer so that a digital cutting table can efficiently cut any costume using the computerized drawings and the detailed assembly instructions.
Lunch
--------
When we left Creative Costuming we headed out into the Studios and over to Mama Melrose' where we had lunch together as a group. As anticipated the food was very good but there was way too much of it. Great conversation getting to know all of the other folks around the table from all different places.
North Service Area-Christmas Warehouse
---------------------------------------------------------
We left out the back door and reboarded our bus to head up to the North Service Area behind the Magic Kingdom. The first thing we saw there is the holiday warehouse where they house all of the Christmas decorations for all of the parks and the resorts. I had seen the Travel Channel special last year about this but it did not do justice to the scale of what is really in there. We roamed around the warehouse while our guide described the number of people who work full time all year round repairing and preparing the decorations. She then described the process they use to install the decorations in all of the hotels and the parks. We continued through the warehouse to the area where they are currently building the giant signature trees for the theme parks. The Magic Kingdom tree is in 6 pieces (each about 15 feet tall) and they were installing the lights and decorations. The trees are completely decorated and lit in this warehouse and then the parts are stacked together at the park on installation night. As we headed outside, the EPCOT tree was already done and still in it's 6 parts it was rolled into a tent along side the warehouse awaiting it's time to be installed in the park. In the parking lot outside they were starting the assembly on the big tree that goes in front of the Contemporary as well as the one for the Studios. They had just started these two so they were not much more than green. All of the gift packages that are typically at the bottom of the trees were stacked on pallets alongside the trees waiting for later assembly.
North Service Area-Craft Services
----------------------------------------------
We headed across the street into the Craft Services building to see a whole range of stuff in various stages of creation and repair. All of the boats from It's a Small World were all lined up in various stages of repair and renovation. We also saw the wheels and all of the frames for the coaster cards for Space Mountain at DisneyLand in CA. They have been stripped down to a metal frame at this point and are being completely rebuilt for the new version of the ride. There are also a couple of cars from Magic Kingdom Space Mountain, a trolley from Main Street, a couple of cars from Primerval Whirl and misc other parts and pieces of other attractions and hotels. We next headed into the Animatronics area where there were about 8 of the dolls from It's a Small World in various states of mechanical repair. There was no costuming or hair, just the mechanical structure of the character including one with a red guitar in it's hands. There was also a the head of an elephant from Jungle Cruise with it's trunk in pieces on a workbench. We were told the trunk was awaiting parts. As we left animatronics there was another partial elephant from Jungle Cruise in the hall. The next area we saw was a large machine that is used to create solid models of new ride vehicles that are then used to create the molds for final creation of the ride vehicles. The machine is so big, it was actually used to create the mold for all of the giant props at Pop Century Resort and many other things around the property. Once the item is designed on a computer, this machine can carve it out in great detail in full size, giant blocks of foam.
We then saw a couple of the carousel horses that were in their maintenance cycle. One had a broken hoof that needed to be repaired. As described there are about 10 extra horses so that some number of them is always out for repair and repainting. In that same area was the body of the elephant head we saw earlier in the Animatronic group. We then went through the painting areas where everything is painted including all of the signs for shops and attractions as well as components of the attractions. There were a whole bunch of brightly painted balloons in one area that are part of It's a Small World. We wrapped things up here and reboarded the bus to head to the Magic Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom
---------------------
Our bus entered the Magic Kingdom area through the backstage area behind the east side of Main Street. This is the point where we entered the building and headed downstairs into the Utilidoor system. We got a pretty good introduction into the purpose of this system, how the signage is created to guide people through this whole system and a view of the internal maps that detail how everything is layed out and how cast members identify which stairs they can use to get to their respective areas of the park when in costume. We moved around the system a bit, but stayed only in the area under Main Street USA so we didn't get a chance to see all that much of the tunnel system. We circled around a bit and ended up back at the same staircase that we came down originally. Once we were back in the backstage area we headed down a little bit and entered through a large door that opened up at the end of Center Street on Main Street where we got a bit of an introduction to the names on many of the windows on the 2nd floor of the Main Street buildings. We then got a brief introduction to the RFID pucks embedded in Main Street that are used to synchronize the music along with the floats as they move through the park.
Our final segment was watching the Character Parade on Main Street from right in front of the Fire Station on Main Street. Following the parade we wrapped up be reboarding our bus and heading back to EPCOT.
