Given that DL is such a small park, space comes at a premium. So the various maintenance entrances and emergency exits to attraction show buildings are sometimes in places you wouldn't expect.
Character Shop's back entrance was a long hallway that ran alongside ATIS. There was an entrance at the end of that hallway that led into the maintenance area for ATIS vehicles that were taken offline for repair, near the scene with all of the molecules frozen in a grid pattern stretching into infinity. It was a very simple effect only about five feet deep, with the molecule models hanging by filament between a large mirror behind them and a partially transparent mirror in front of them. However, the effect supposedly didn't work if the mirrors were dusty and dirty. So, they needed to be cleaned from time to time, and that's how I got to see it up close, during janitorial maintenance.
The Mighty Microscope scene was close to the ride's exit, which was next to the Character Shop's annex, built years after the ride opened. The door into that scene was in a small storage room off the main part of the shop's back storage area. One of my leads said when the annex didn't exist and a wall separated the shop from the Monsanto display area at the ride's exit, that small storage area could only be accessed from the ride's exit area, and was used by the cast members as a break room or for holding supplies for the product displays.
OH! That's another question for Tony! He worked at ATIS as a TL Attractions Host before joining WED.
Hey, Eddie! YOO! HOO!
Would you please ask Tony if he remembers a small room off the display floor with a second door into the final scene near the Mighty Microscope? I'd really like to know after all of these years whether or not "Bob" knew what the heck he was talking about. (Like Tony, Bob was a lifer who got to chat with Walt one day while working in the park. Whoa. That must have been awesome. I met Ron Miller once and barely remember the experience.
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