Random WDW Info - I Never Knew!

[*NikkiBell*]

When the park was being built, Walt wanted to figure out how close together to place the trash cans.
He got himself a hotdog and stood still. He figured place a trash here.
Then he walked as he ate the hot dog. When he finished the hot dog, there needed to be another trash can for the wrapper. That distance is how close the trash cans needed to be.
The last time I was in the world I thought about that story, it seems "extra" cans must have been added, or he ate really fast!

This story is 100% false. I was on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour in March and told that he handed out small chocolate candies to those entering the park on opening day. He noticed how long it took for trash to go onto the ground. That measurement has been used since then to designated a trash can area.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I learned this tonight from my Walt Disney World Trivia Book is that when your doombuggy turns backwards out of the attic in the haunted mansion, you are supposed to be "falling" and "dying" and that is why the ghosts in the cemetary are so visible to you. You are one, too!

 

[SomePixiedust]

Great thread I can't wait to use this trivia next week...keep em comin!

 

[Syrreal]

I learned this tonight from my Walt Disney World Trivia Book is that when your doombuggy turns backwards out of the attic in the haunted mansion, you are supposed to be "falling" and "dying" and that is why the ghosts in the cemetary are so visible to you. You are one, too!

If I remember correctly... you "fall" exactly 6 feet... so you are 6 feet under!!

 

[Drummer71]

Cinderella's castle is one of the most photopraphed buildings in the world.

 

[JustEngagedNicole]

Just another subscriber!

 

[byoung]

Keep them coming!

 

[letterdavidman]

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.

Reading this reminded me... when DW and I took our Wishes Cruise this past August, the boat driver talked at length to us about the considerable rivalry between the staffs of the Poly and the Grand Floridian. Seems that some people here on the DIS aren't the only ones who find the GF staff's attitude to be excessively stuffy.

Two other cool tidbits I learned whilst on the Wishes Cruise:

1) At night, when you face the water side of the Wilderness Lodge, the facade resembles the face of a bear (there's a whole legend to go with this that has something to do with actual bears and the construction of the WL, but I forgot the details...).

2) The people who handle the events such as the Wishes Cruise are also the people who maintain and staff the resort pools and, at various points throughout the day, they have to take sample readings of the water in each of the resorts pools. Well, anyway, our driver told us that he/she (don't wanna get our driver in trouble) would be happy to stay at any of the WDW resorts, excepting the All-Stars. When I asked why, he/she told us about the daily pool samples and said that it's routine for any single All-Star pool to have a higher urine reading than all of the other resort pools combined. Sheesh. He/she said it was because of the high concentration of families with children that stay there. He/she then said something to the effect of, "You know, you can only shock a pool so many times in a day before you kill someone..."

Anyway, if you're on the fence about whether to book a Wishes Cruise or not, go ahead and take the plunge. It was the highlight of our trip (and believe me, our trip was full of awesome stuff)!

 

[David R]

During a Backstage Magic tour we were told that the viewing windows in the Living Seas pavilion are held in place simply by the pressure of the water pushing on them if that makes any sense. If the tank was drained, they would simply fall out.

It sounds odd to me but I was not about to question our guide who seemed to know so much about everything Disney.

He also added that Space Ship Earth would fit perfectly inside the tank.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

The only place outside the Coca-Cola World HQ in Atlanta to try a variety of Coke flavors from around the world is Ice Station Cool, Epcot.

I could have thought that they also had one on the strip in Las Vegas. We went 8 years ago, but i am pretty sure there is one there. I think we paid $5.00 to go in and sample.

 

[Golliwobbler]

Piglet,

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

...they are fake baobob trees, but most are REAL southern oaks! They were modified to look like baobob trees, like bonzai are modified, and are no trimmed/pruned to keep them healthy and in correct form...

 

[sunny04]

there is a dinosaur in the AK dinoland that is repainted every morning and also includes a hidden mickey!

Tell me more about this!

 

[Polyfor30th]

The symbol on Walt's tie (the tie-tac) on the partners statue in front of the castle represents Walt's ranch.

 

[1000th happy haunt]

We were there last month and took the boat from Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom. I asked our driver why the American flag on the boats only had 48 stars, and he told me it's because they didn't recognize two of the states.

Then he told me the real reason.

Older style American flags are considered pennants, and therefore don't need to be taken in at night or lit at night (if not taken in). They were supposed to be 45 star flags, because the stars are staggered like the 50 star flag, and it wouldn't be as easy to tell, but they didn't get the correct ones.

45 star flag ^

50 star flag ^

 

[peter11435]

...they are fake baobob trees, but most are REAL southern oaks! They were modified to look like baobob trees, like bonzai are modified, and are no trimmed/pruned to keep them healthy and in correct form...

Actually you have it mixed up. The fake baobob trees are not real at all,they are made of concrete. The southern oaks you speak of are trimmed to look like African Acacia trees.

 

[princessarielle]

Tinker Bell is actually Tinker Bill that flys from the castle before "Wishes". I've seen some pictures. Pretty scary!

This thread is GREAT!! I love all this stuff. Now if I could only remeber it all.

Lori

 

[tinkgurl]

Aww..I'll pretend TinkerBell's a girl!!

 

[Sylvester McBean]

if you go to the new pooh playground where 20,000 leagues used to be, look carefully. imagineering has included a tribute to the old nautilus subs. I found it by almost smacking my head into it.

 

[nigel-bigel]

This is one of my favorites - it was told to me by a boat driver...

The building we know to be the Dolphin was originally supposed to be the Swan, and vice versa. When the construction crew mistakenly put the huge dolphin statues on top of the wrong (Swan) hotel, it was decided that it would be easier to change the hotel names than to take the statues back down and put them where they belong!

 

[erikthewise]

-- Walt Disney World is (roughly) twice as large as Manhattan Island in NYC. Central Park, at 843 acres, is larger than MK, Epcot, MGM, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, and Downtown Disney combined.

-- Along with the baobab trees, the termite mounds on the Safari ride are fake. (But the animals are real!)

-- Mickey's PhilharMagic features the largest seamless projection screen in the world. There was once another 3D movie in MK that occupied the same theatre. (but didn't use the same screen)