Random WDW Info - I Never Knew!

[TwingleMum]

same thing for us at test track. We always try to take a family with us who looks at the long line and turns to walk away. Makes it really nice when it is someone who has never been on TT.

What a nice way to spread the Magic ~ My 5 yr old is looking forward to riding TT next trip (he'll turn 6 a few days before we go in April its a surprise birthday trip he thinks we're not going for another year) My DH or I will ride it first and see if its appropriate for him. Do you think 6 is old enough?? Unfortunately I can't use height he's been tall enough to ride almost everything since he's 3 yrs old. I have to use age limits.

 

[ReninDetroit]

According to the managing chef at Victoria and Albert's, no one has ever said 'no' to a proposal in their restaurant.

 

[bellenbuzz]

The Magic Just Never Stops !!! Another Thread I'll Be Addicted Too !!
I Hope I remember some of this so I can "Wow" my family When We Go !!

 

[ReninDetroit]

What a nice way to spread the Magic ~ My 5 yr old is looking forward to riding TT next trip (he'll turn 6 a few days before we go in April its a surprise birthday trip he thinks we're not going for another year) My DH or I will ride it first and see if its appropriate for him. Do you think 6 is old enough?? Unfortunately I can't use height he's been tall enough to ride almost everything since he's 3 yrs old. I have to use age limits.

Oh gosh Test Track is SO much fun. He's certainly old enough!!! It's not scary at all. The only reason it gets touted as a thrill ride is because of the 65 mph at the end, but honestly that doesn't feel any different than riding on the highway in a convertible. You do get banked at 45 degrees but it's not scary at all. And the 5 minutes or so before that finale is the actual 'test track' part. You go through different terrains, up and down curves and hills, through hot and cold, and you see what it feels like to skid out if you don't have ABS. SOOOO much fun, not scary at all.

I definately think you should let him ride it!

 

[TDC Nala]

It's been on the board before - but the driver of the semi truck that nearly hits you in Test Track is a cardboard cutout of Lyndon Johnson.

 

[BAST]

WDW disguises cell phone towers to look like trees. Last year, when standing on the bridge to Africa in the AK, there is a tree that is about 20-30 feet taller than any other tree. It struck me as odd - especially with all the hurricane damage to trees at WDW over the last few years. It turns out this is a disguised cell phone tower.

 

[SueM in MN]

That big silver ball at Epcot (the one that has the Spaceship Earth ride inside), actually has a smooth exterior. The triangles it is made of are fashioned in such a way as to make the ball look as if it really isn't smooth. Very few visitors realize that they are seeing a perfectly smooth ball.

Enjoy.

I'm not sure what you mean.
Do you mean the triangles are smooth or the entire outside of the sphere is smooth?

There are 11,324 triangles that make up the sphere. They are connected into 954 inter-connected, triangular panels which point outward like a pine cone.

 

[Golliwobbler]

I'm not sure what you mean.
Do you mean the triangles are smooth or the entire outside of the sphere is smooth?

There are 11,324 triangles that make up the sphere. They are connected into 954 inter-connected, triangular panels which point outward like a pine cone.

...it is not a smooth surface, as it is specifically engineered at angles to channel rainwater inwards, through and out of the geo dome so that there is no falloff on passersby below

 

[Golliwobbler]

WDW disguises cell phone towers to look like trees. Last year, when standing on the bridge to Africa in the AK, there is a tree that is about 20-30 feet taller than any other tree. It struck me as odd - especially with all the hurricane damage to trees at WDW over the last few years. It turns out this is a disguised cell phone tower.

...this is good practice by WDW, and any local planning committee which cares about preserving any aesthetic beauty in our America the beautiful. It is a very common practice to REQUIRE phone companies to mask cell towers like local flora up here in MD and VA. Pine tree look-a-likes work best

 

[Philadisney]

[]

This is not entirely true as Epcot does have a short tunnel. Its no where as big as the MK utilidors and does not go under all of the park. None of the current tours will allow you to go in them, although on a recent backstage tour, we were shown the entrance to it. Sorry but I cant remember where it was located.

i was a CM at epcot for four months in college, working in special events, and had no idea there was a tunnel somewhere. i'd be dying to know where - anyone have a clue?

 

[mytwotinks]

Not sure if your source is current or not, but there are a few others:

Hidden Tink (sorry to TheIncredibles who thought the Poly had the only one.)
at BTMRR from allears (I haven't seen this one, so I can't vouch as to whether it still exists):

Hidden Jafar in AK courtesy of hiddenmickeyguide.com:

Hidden Kermit in Star Tours courtesy of me:

There may be others, but these are the only ones that I know of. The last 2 were both there when we went in October, so they are fairly current.

What is the BTMRR?

 

[sodaseller]

What is the BTMRR?

Big Thunder Mountain RailRoad

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Since the Eiffel Tower in the France Pavillion is obviously not built to size, it is coated in a sticky substance so birds won't perch on it and ruin the illusion.

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are the only two presidents in the Hall of Presidents to have recorded their own voices for the show.

 

[mytwotinks]

Big Thunder Mountain RailRoad

Thanks! I figured that it was something I should have known!

 

[Tigger22]

I have a couple, courtesy of our KTTK tour a few years back:

- Speaking of the MK garbage cans, Walt originally wanted all the garbage cans to be "bottomless"....like a vacuum system that would draw all the garbage to one location so they wouldn't have to be physically emptied. I can't recall the exact reason why they couldn't do.

-You'll never see any MK cast members wandering thru another land (ie someone with a Fantasyland costume walking thru Tomorrowland). They have to come up a stairway in their "land" from the Utilidor.

-The hidden Donald is in the HM in MK. It's in the white design of a red armchair.

-The smell of chocolate chip cookies on Main St is pumped out just before you hit the bakery...so that you smell it, and then see the bakery & want to go in and get cookies.

- I know someone mentioned the windows on Main St. They have the names of early imagineers as well as all the "fake" company names that Walt Disney used to buy up the real estate that is WDW. If it was know that Walt was the one trying to buy the land, the price would have skyrocketed.

I'll save some other ones for another time.

 

[cindyfan]

You'll never see any MK cast members wandering thru another land (ie someone with a Fantasyland costume walking thru Tomorrowland). They have to come up a stairway in their "land" from the Utilidor.

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.

 

[ajleone]

...this is good practice by WDW, and any local planning committee which cares about preserving any aesthetic beauty in our America the beautiful. It is a very common practice to REQUIRE phone companies to mask cell towers like local flora up here in MD and VA. Pine tree look-a-likes work best

We also have em all over the place up here(New Hampshire). And they are all done as pine trees.

 

[carolfoy]

How about the two skeletons playing chess during Pirates of The Caribbean queue area? They died playing chess as the pieces are at stalemate!

 

[Joanna71985]

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.

Actually, you're REALLY not supposed to do that. Probably the only reason you'd be allowed to is an emergency of some sort. So the majority of the time CMs use the utilidor.

 

[MommyPoppins]

Piglet,

All of the baobob trees on the Safari are fake. In fact, some are clevelry disguised animal feeders, storage units, etc.

The only real baobob tree in DAK is outside the Tusker House restaurant. Look for the tree with white paint on the trunk.

I tried and tired to find this tree one time and couldn't. Where exactely is it?