Seldom known WDW tidbits

[Thrawn]

So, I've got an idea for a thread. Seldom known facts about WDW. Post them if you've got 'em.

I'll start it off:

The pavement at EPCOT was engineered by Disney and Kodak photography to be painted a specific custom color of pink that makes the grass look greener and pictures look brighter.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I like this thread.

Here's a couple:

1. Until the most recent rehab, the Peach Palm tree in the Tropics greenhouse of Living with the Land had been there since the pavilion openened (and actually a bit before that). Unfortunately, they just replaced it for the first time in over 20 years.

2. Every pavilion in Epcot has it's own address. Each sits along Avenue of the Stars. SSE sits along the edge where the Epcot mini-utilidoor is.

 

[Thrawn]

I like this thread.

Here's a couple:

1. Until the most recent rehab, the Peach Palm tree in the Tropics greenhouse of Living with the Land had been there since the pavilion openened (and actually a bit before that). Unfortunately, they just replaced it for the first time in over 20 years.

2. Every pavilion in Epcot has it's own address. Each sits along Avenue of the Stars. SSE sits along the edge where the Epcot mini-utilidoor is.

So I can send mail directly to SSE?

 

[Thrawn]

I've got one more for the night, hopefully you guys can add some.

In Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Cinderella's own horse is the only one that has a golden bow on its tail. It's in the second rank in from the outside, in the line immediately before the Indian chieftain horse.

 

[dvcnut39]

First off, great idea Thrawn!

Here's mine- it's highly unlikely that any attraction at WDW will ever reach 200 feet. Reason being, any structure 200 feet or taller has to have warning lights to warn air traffic.

examples- Big Thunder Mountain- 197 feet
Cinderella Castle- 189 feet
Space Mountain- 183 feet
Spaceship Earth- 180 feet
Tower of Terror- 199 feet

 

[SilentWindODoom]

The woman who voiced Madame Leota for the Haunted Mansion was also the voice of Maleficent, from Sleeping Beauty. Disney thought Leota Toombs, the face of Leota, had too high a voice for the part. She does, however, voice Little Leota, also known as the Ghost Hostess in the end, who beckons you to hurry back. The face is her's too.

 

[Captain Hank]

Great idea, Thrawn!

A section of Innoventions still has the carpet with the old Communicore logo on it. It's the area that's often used for various "festival centers," behind the old Pasta Piazza restaraunt. The carpet is still in rather good shape.

In MGM, there is a food service location near Indiana Jones called the Dip Site. The sign has been altered from saying "Dig Site #1138." 1138 is a reference to George Lucas' first film, and is used in some capacity in almost all of his subsequent films as an inside joke.

There is a picture representing Jim Henson as a Muppet hanging from the rafters of the MuppetVision pre-show.

The inflation platform for the Sorcerer Mickey balloon used in Sorcery in the Sky is still there and was, until recently, visible to guests. It's the large structure on the back of the Great Movie Ride show building, roughly opposite of WWTBAM/One Man's Dream that now has a large advertisment for the latest Disney movie on it. Before the ad was put in place, you could still clearly see the pipes labeled "Inflation" and some of the old fireworks launch tubes.

 

[Thrawn]

In MGM, there is a food service location near Indiana Jones called the Dip Site. The sign has been altered from saying "Dig Site #1138." 1138 is a reference to George Lucas' first film, and is used in some capacity in almost all of his subsequent films as an inside joke.

Ooh one more for me on a George Lucas note:

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, R2-D2 and C-3P0 can be seen engraved into the Ark of the Covenant. They are dutifully recreated on the Ark in the Great Movie Ride.

 

[Captain Hank]

Ooh one more for me on a George Lucas note:

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, R2-D2 and C-3P0 can be seen engraved into the Ark of the Covenant. They are dutifully recreated on the Ark in the Great Movie Ride.

Which reminds me! In Star Tours, as you are flying through the vehicle maintenance area near the beginning, if you know what you're looking for, there is a large microscope near the lower right corner of the screen. This is the Mighty Microscope from Adventures Through Inner Space, and Omnimover from Disneyland that took guests into a snowflake and down to the size of an atomic nucleus. It featured wonderfully sappy narration by Paul Frees (the Ghost Host), such as "...The very limits of Mag-Ni-Fi-Cation...Mag-Ni-Fi-Cation..." Star Tours replaced Adventures Through Inner Space in Disneyland, hence the reference, which was carried over to the MGM Studios version of the attraction.

 

[disneywy]

I also like this thread....

Here's mine- it's highly unlikely that any attraction at WDW will ever reach 200 feet. Reason being, any structure 200 feet or taller has to have warning lights to warn air traffic.

examples- Big Thunder Mountain- 197 feet
Cinderella Castle- 189 feet
Space Mountain- 183 feet
Spaceship Earth- 180 feet
Tower of Terror- 199 feet

Remember though that for Big Thunder, the 197 feet is the height above sea level, not the measured height from the ground. So it is only really about 100 feet tall. It is currently the tallest "mountain" in Florida. Everest will be just under 200 feet, putting it at around 300 feet above sea level to become Florida's tallest "mountain."

 

[ThreeCircles]

Ohh...

I've got one!

The Walt Disney Company had to obtain permission from Congress to recreate the Seal of the President within the Hall of Presidents rotunda. :sohappy:

 

[LetsGtDangerous]

I've got one (I think)! At the end of Star Tours, when the ride almost crashes into the control booth, you see a bearded man react violently to the on-rushing starspeeder. The bearded man? George Lucas.

 

[frankd1962]

I've got one (I think)! At the end of Star Tours, when the ride almost crashes into the control booth, you see a bearded man react violently to the on-rushing starspeeder. The bearded man? George Lucas.

Sorry but it isn't George. Until Revenge of the Sith, he's never been in front of the camera. The guy looks like him but it isn't.

http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/mgm/m_startours.htm It's at the bottom of the page.

Oh, if you're looking for George in ROTS when you get the DVD, he's the blue face man near the place where Anakin runs into the doorway to get into Palpatine's opera box.

 

[brkgnews]

First off, great idea Thrawn!

Here's mine- it's highly unlikely that any attraction at WDW will ever reach 200 feet. Reason being, any structure 200 feet or taller has to have warning lights to warn air traffic.

Spaceship Earth- 180 feet

However, the wand topped the 200 mark, so they had to put a flashing beacon on top of it. They made it not-so-noticable by adding in other flashing sparkling things so it looks like magic pulsing forth from the wand. Or something like that.

 

[WishIwasThere]

The dark shaded areas of the pavement around Liberty Square is supposed to represent the street sewers that used to be found in colonial towns :hurl: ...(this is also the reason the female cast members who are outside have a higher hem on their dresses compared to female cast members found inside, such as the Hall of Presidents)...Courtesy of the Keys to the Kingdom (Kill the Magic) tour.

So watch your step...

 

[Craig & Lisa]

when it rains SSE was designed to channel water from falling onto guests to world showcase lagoon
when EPCOT opened or just before it did, the pavillions that were there each brought water from their home countries and poured them into world showcase lagoon

 

[disnyfan89]

When the Imagineers where designing the wand they where testing a model in a wind tunnel to see if it could with stand hurricane force winds. After several tests they decided it passed the tests. Then one day a janitor asked them if they had tested the wand with Space Ship Earth. The imagineers thought about it and decided to try it. When they did the wand immediately fell down.

Note: this might be a myth more than truth but Cast members tell it a lot so I thought I would share.

 

[DisneySam]

Okay I have a Disney Land one, the Matterhorn Bobsleds was the first ride (ever) to be made on tubular tracks, also the ride system was the first to allow more than one coaster car to be on the tracks at a time.

And I have more that probably everyone knows like "Little Leota" on the Haunted Mansion, at the end of the ride is actually the voice of Leota Tooms.

The Hall of Presidents is actually one of few "Museums" to display actual White House artwork, and is frequently rotated.

 

[Grim Grinner]

Hanging from the ceiling of Muppet Vision is "a net full of jello"...

think about the original mouseketeers if you need a clue as to the joke.

 

[bgraham34]

So, I've got an idea for a thread. Seldom known facts about WDW. Post them if you've got 'em.

I'll start it off:

The pavement at EPCOT was engineered by Disney and Kodak photography to be painted a specific custom color of pink that makes the grass look greener and pictures look brighter.

This one I have heard before. But I can not recall where.


Ah yes a ex of mine worked for Kodak and she told me.

1 fact as well about kodak. In 88 i think it is, Disney developed more pictures on site than all of Europe.