Seldom known WDW tidbits

[HauntedPirate]

At least in the Magic Kingdom, there is a trashcan every 12 feet.

And I thought the pavement was painted that way (the reddish-tone) in all the theme parks, not just EPCOT?

 

[Yanks07]

Some of the animatronics in SSE were recycled from Hall of Presidents, eg. Sleeping Monk was originally Woodrow Wilson.

 

[csaguy]

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.

Wasn't this also in MK before Buzz, and Eastern Airline?

 

[Buried20KLeague]

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.

I have a book published by Disney and written by the imagineers that actually directly refutes this. The book states that they used Leota Toombs to test the crystal ball effect, and that she did such a great job, they actually used her in the real effect.

 

[csaguy]

The flying saucer from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was on the top shelf in the warehouse of the Back Lot Tour.

 

[Thrawn]

I have a book published by Disney and written by the imagineers that actually directly refutes this. The book states that they used Leota Toombs to test the crystal ball effect, and that she did such a great job, they actually used her in the real effect.

Yes, they used her face, but not her voice.

 

[Disney_Belle]

Ever walk down main street and get realllly hungry?

well disney actually has a system that pumps out extra nice smelling food scents to actually make guests hungry

 

[jeff_in_FL2003]

One (or both, I don't remember) of the guys tied up in the treasure room of Pirates of the Caribbean are also recycled from Hall of Presidents. (Jackson, I believe).

And Muppet-Vision 3D is FULL of little hidden jokes. Almost everything you see is "something". The sign in the securty window at the entrance to the attraction says something like "Be back in 15, the key is under the mat." And sure enough, there is a mat in front of the window and if you lift it, you will find the key!

 

[Dizneyworld4430]

yes this was a wonderful idea as many people have stated. so i guess ill get down to the nitty gritty.

- first of all disney wanted to make magic kingdom like a movie theater i'll put it. if you notice when you walk into the aera where they take your tickets you can not see the castle. when you walk under the train station, you see posters advertising rides, like you would see advertising movies. the you get to main street, i know for sure on the right side they have this im not sure about the left but there is writing on the second floor of every building on main street, that is the credits at the end of the move. that came from keys to the kingdom tour. wonderfull tour if anyone has ever pondered taking it. worth the money.

- second , on the whinnie the pooh ride ( i really hope you all know where it is) when you go though owls house you see a picture of mr. toad handing the deed to whinnie and all his friends.

- third when waiting in line for star tours you hear someone getting paged by the name of egroeg sacul, which is george lucas spelled backwards

i have many more that are not posted but i will give other people a chance if not posted i will post the rest of them if anyone would like me to.:hammer:

 

[HauntedPirate]

Disney/MGM Studios used to have the world's largest Hidden Mickey. If you open up earlier guide maps (pre-Sorcerer's Hat), and turn them upside down, you will find the largest Hidden Mickey there is.

 

[Thrawn]

Disney/MGM Studios used to have the world's largest Hidden Mickey. If you open up earlier guide maps (pre-Sorcerer's Hat), and turn them upside down, you will find the largest Hidden Mickey there is.

Not true. If you look at guide maps of the entire property, they are usually shaped in Mickey form.

 

[Since1976]

Oh man, you know when you've been on these boards too long when every
"secret" posted is something you already knew :lol:

- There is a five legged goat in the giant mosaic/mural in the Contemporary Resort.

- The bust of Madame Leota outside the Haunted Mansion opens her eyes every once in a while (every 45 seconds?)

The waterway traveled by the Riverboat at MK's Frontierland/Liberty Square has a direct route to the Seven Seas Lagoon. This same route would also bring you past the floats of the Electrical Water Pageant.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

I believe nearly every star tours has almost the same queue outline/details.

The original Disneyland USA queue is layed out on the same blue prints of the adventure thru inner space queue. Same thing with MGM's queue. One who knows about ATIS like myself can't help but feel like they are walking down the curved path toward a giant diagram of a snowflake or mighty microscope with a peoplemover passing by.

The Italy pavilion at EPCOT is based on St. Mark's Plaza, but it is backwards!

The refrigerator in ACT III of the carousel of progress still has General Electric on it.

The outer rims of EPCOT's current entrance is just some of the little remnants of EPCOT Center's pre leave a legacy installment.

One can still find the EPCOT Center logo on the welcoming boards to Epcot, the dedication plaque, and on the path to world showcase.

Buzz Lightyear's space ranger spin still uses the same track and ride vehicles from all versions from If You Had Wings to Take Flight. Only the unload area can be easily comparable to old photographs. When dreamflight was built the loading queue had its ceiling lowered and was broken up into smaller rooms. Only when you get to the moving platform area is where some of the original IYHW features still exist.

The speedtunnel from IYHW still exists along with the jet engine effect from dreamflight.

One can still take before and after shots to the buzzlightyear/IYHW entrance for much of the design of the building is still the same and the current entrance sign pylon sits right on the site of the old one.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Not true. If you look at guide maps of the entire property, they are usually shaped in Mickey form.

I can't find a Hidden Mickey on the Epcot or MK maps. (haven't checked AK lately) I'll have to find an old map, scan it and try to show it. I'm almost sure of this one, but there's always the chance I'm wrong.

 

[Billy6]

In the queue (believe the right side) of Pirates, youll find two skeletons sitting at a chess board. The placement of the pieces on the board, and the required movement of those pieces, will, according to a disney imagineer, always result in a stalemate. Which means there is no winning move. Thus, because there is always a prepetual stalemate, they died playing. You get the rest.

I heard this on a WDW show on Discovery from an imagineer.

 

[Captain Hank]

Wasn't this also in MK before Buzz, and Eastern Airline?

Nope, Adventure Through Inner Space was a Disneyland exclusive.

 

[mhead]

Not true. If you look at guide maps of the entire property, they are usually shaped in Mickey form.

Yes it is true. MGM was originally, before the hat and before sunset blvd, one big Mickey face. The sidewalks, planters etc made up the eyes and such, in fact echo lake was an ear.

 

[DisneySam]

A Few More...

1.) Right before the hill of the main drop of Splash Mountain there is a (Gopher/Possum) that comes down and says "FSU" it was a tribute by one of the Imagineers to his Alma Mater.

2.) The Ballroom dancers in the HM are created with the use of a mirror, so if you look closely because of the reflection the ladies are actually leading in the dance.

3.) The Stretching room in the HM is was originally concepted by Disneyland to provide more space for the actual attraction, though in Disney World the stretching room was duplicated because the guests loved it so much.

4.) The auctioneer in Pirates is generally the first Animelectronics (sp?) to recieve technology updates. In Disneyland, it is the most state of the art thoroughout the parks.

5.) This is a little unrelated but a favorite of mine...in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, when Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw jump out of the window, landing on a fabric awning at ground level, the restaurant in the background is the "Obi Wan"

 

[Yoop33]

The Disney Cruise Line had to ask for permission from the US Coast Guard to be able to paint the life boats Mickey Yellow instead of the traditional "orange" like on every other cruise line to go along with the other Mickey colors that make up the ship.

 

[Christi22222]

Great thread! So I have a request along these lines....

I and my family have been guilty of "speed touring" WDW. Partly it's our personalities, and partly it's been circumstances. I really want to take it to the next level of appreciating the magic and SLOW DOWN! I'm afraid we need a focus, though, as we seem incapable of slowing down for the mere sake of slowing down. So are there any great books with this same type of "factoid" information that would give our brains something to focus on in the parks other than getting to the next attraction? This thread has been incredibly fun and the facts would really grab the interest of my 7 and 37 year old boys, I think. The history of WDW hasn't done it so much.

Thanks!