Random WDW Info - I Never Knew!

[KPeveler]

*bump*
always looking for more cool things to look for next time i am there

 

[CinderellaBride12]

Sadly I jsut went through all 34 pages!! It took me a while because I was making a list of trivia for when we go. There is a lot on that list and I'm going to try to hit up some other sites first before printing. Good thing we don't go until September.

 

[Donald is #1]

Sadly I jsut went through all 34 pages!!

Wow! All 34 pages at once? I am impressed.

 

[rwrocksme]

According to the book Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture, the 2 hotels built/owned by the Tishman company were originally planned for the hotel area in Lake Buena Vista (by the other DD hotels).
The part Michael Eisner didn't like was that the plans were for 2 huge, but very ordinary (un-interesting) hotels. Eisner, who had always been interested in architecture) wanted more interesting hotels and vetoed the project, eventually leading to a competition between Micheal Graves, Robert Venturi and Alan Lapidus (who designed the original planned resorts) to design 2 resorts.
Disney didn't sue Tishman; Tishman sued Disney for $375 million for "racketeering" and $1 billion in punative charges for not completing the hotels as originally planned. The suit was eventually dropped and Tishman agreed to build the hotels as Eisner/Disney wanted. A new location was chosen near Epcot (possibly the "better" location was part of the deal to drop the suit).
Graves was the winner of the competition (even though the Swan and Dolphin broke a major "rule" of Disney parks - which was not to distract a guest's attention).

The real question here is actally this: Why is the statue on Dolpin a catfish???

 

[CinderellaBride12]

Wow! All 34 pages at once? I am impressed.

Imagine how my butt felt after sitting here so long! I only got up to pee and get a drink or eat.

 

[Mickey&Donald]

The real question here is actally this: Why is the statue on Dolpin a catfish???

Not sure if this is a joke or not...

If not... the statue outside of the Dolphin hotel is in the style of a traditional dolphin in mythology. That is what dolphins were believed to look like, as described by sailors hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Looks familiar, right?

From: http://www.people-oceans-dolphins.com/Mythology/index.html Very interesting info!

That is from Le Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins (The Fountain of Four Dolphins) in Aix-en-Provence, France. Here it is in entirety:

Aaaand, now the lesson of the day is over. Back to the topic at hand!

Believe it or not, there are no Audio-Animatronics figures in the entire Jungle Cruise! The animals in the attraction are not actual Audio-Animatronics figures, as their "insides" would not be able to withstand the water and elements. Instead, they use a simple system of air pressure and pneumatics.

The building which houses the Puffins Roost (Norway, Epcot) is made of real wood, and is not a false front made to look like wood.

 

[mickeymedic]

I love Disney trivia! Keep it coming.

 

[happyj]

wow
Have just finished the 34 pages all this information to take with me in 13 days

 

[Mike and Natalie]

The Liberty Bell riverboat at MK actually has one or a few poles (I don't remember) sticking out underneath that travels in a trough in the river. This had to be done because there is no way the boat would be able to make the tight turn around the far side of Tom Sayers Island without aid. I learned this, when a friend who used to work the attraction, let me steer and freeked me out by walking away while I was "driving"!!!

 

[ztam3]

This is fantastic information. Anyone have any more?

 

[Disneenut]

This thread is to large to die!

I think we need some

Here is some info to get it going

Below is the attendance for 2006

* Magic Kingdom, 16.6 million visits (No. 1 worldwide)
* Epcot, 10.5 million visits (No. 6)
* Disney-MGM Studios, 9.1 million visits (No. 7)
* Disney's Animal Kingdom, 8.9 million visits (No. 8)

Top World Theme Parks

1 MAGIC KINGDOM at Walt Disney World, 16,640,000
2 DISNEYLAND, Anaheim, California, USA 14,730,000
3 TOKYO DISNEYLAND, Tokyo, Japan 12,900,000
4 TOKYO DISNEY SEA, Tokyo, Japan 12,100,000
5 DISNEYLAND PARIS, Marne-La-Vallee, France 10,600,000
6 EPCOT at Walt Disney World, 10,460,000
7 DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS THEME PARK 9,100,000
8 DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM 8,910,000
9 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN, Osaka, Japan 8,500,000
10 EVERLAND, Kyonggi-Do, South Korea 7,500,000

Top US Them Park Attendance

1 MAGIC KINGDOM 16,640,000
2 DISNEYLAND, 4,730,000
3 EPCOT 10,460,000
4 DISNEY MGM STUDIOS9,100,000
5 DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM 8,910,000
6 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS 6,000,000
7 DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 5,950,000
8 SEAWORLD FLORIDA, Orlando, Florida 5,740,000
9 ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE 5,300,000
10 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD 4,700,000


Top US Water Park Attendance

1 Disney World-Typhoon Lagoon, Orlando, FL 2,050,000
2 Disney World-Blizzard Beach, Orlando, FL 1,880,000
3 Wet 'n Wild - Orlando, FL 1,340,000
4 Schlitterbahn-New Braunfels, TX 880,000
5 Water Country USA-Williamsburg, VA 670,0006
6 Raging Waters-San Dimas, CA 650,000
7 Adventure Island, Tampa, FL 609,000
8 Noah's Ark-Wisconsin Dells, WI 590,000
9 Schlitterbahn-Galveston,TX 500,000
10 Six Flags-White Water-Marietta, GA 464,000

TOTAL FOR ALL OF WALT DISNEY PARKS AROUND THE WORLD
112.5 MILLION

 

[GemmaPixie]

they used to be pretty strict about not letting the costumes "cross over" into another "land".... but not so much anymore.
the CMs do use the Utilidors, but they can still walk around to the other lands in their costumes. This is a change I have noticed over the last 5 -6 years.

Completely false. (I know it was stated a year ago, and Im sure someone has already responded to this but I wanted to do it now before I forgot because thisis something I actually know about!! CMs and 100% NOT allowed in different lands with their costumes on..they will be in serious trouble.

 

[GemmaPixie]

My friend is a CM and I visited her last week. She told me lots of information, but....I won't be sharing it for a while, I want to tell it first on my TR. Sorry guys..

 

[fla4fun]

Completely false. (I know it was stated a year ago, and Im sure someone has already responded to this but I wanted to do it now before I forgot because thisis something I actually know about!! CMs and 100% NOT allowed in different lands with their costumes on..they will be in serious trouble.

I haven't noticed this in the MK as much as I've noticed it at Epcot. I remember taking the behind the scenes tour at Epcot many years ago, and we went to the wardrobe building behind Mexico, and they talked about the buses taking the CM's to the different countries and pavilions. Back then, you didn't see people outside their area in costume. But now, you can sit on a bench near where World Showcase and Future World meet, and you will see a constant stream of people walking to and from Mexico in all different costumes. Do they no longer run the buses? When I've stayed at BCV with an Epcot view, I've seen buses backstage and assumed they were for CM's.

 

[GemmaPixie]

I'm not sure about Epcot, my friend works in Magic Kingdom. But I guess they are really not allowed in different lands in their costume. My friends friend was sacked fro eating to pieces of popcorn while working- it was stealing. Disney are strict!

 

[Disneenut]

....I won't be sharing it for a while, I want to tell it first on my TR. Sorry guys..

ok... but don't forget about us!

 

[GemmaPixie]

Ill link it when they page arrives, won't be a while though because my parents are still in Florida with the camera do I can't get photos untill next week.

 

[diannamaria]

Just finished this entire thread and found it highly entertaining and highly informative...most of the time...
However, I must say that the thing I learned the most from these posts is to never trust a darn thing you hear from a WDW bus driver or boat captain!

 

[Endeavour105]

The Shoe Tree
When we went on our Wishes Cruise last summer our driver (who was terrific) brought us over to see The Shoe Tree. We were amazed to see a tree in the middle of Bay Lake with a whole load of shoes hanging off its branches! He explained that there it's a tradition for WDW boat drivers to throw their shoes onto the tree on the day they retire.

Unfortunately, the Shoe Tree - not in the middle of Bay Lake but off to one side - has been "desacrated" - by, no less, than a WDW Watercraft Supervisor or 2 - they felt it was "bad show" - so, most of the shoes - the ones they could reach - have been removed in the past month or so - thus, negatively impacting a long standing WDW Watercraft tradition of Watercraft CMs hanging their shoes when they quit or otherwise leave "The Rat".

 

[feet1]

I started reading this thread last night, I finally finished this morning! I love all the trivia!