Secret Rooms

[Alaqua]

This is one that I hadn't heard prior to Sat, 3 May 2003!!
A friend of mine and I met a guy who swears that there are 7 hidden rooms scattered over WDW. If you are clever enough to find them, you're welcome to go in. He says that he's been in 2 of them!
What have any of you heard on this subject??
(I'm a newbie on this forum and posted this on the "Tips" forum before I found you folks, here.) So, if you want to read my longer explanation of what this guy told us you could go there.
Thanks.

 

[Dznefreek]

He says that he's been in 2 of them!

What did he say was in there? Did he have pictures? What is there purpose? I think you are the victim of a "hose."

 

[Luv2Roam]

I suppose it is how you define hidden. You could consider the church (?) in WS Norway a hidden room, as the doors are closed. (Which in most Disney areas, doors are kept open to welcome guests.)

 

[EUROPA]

Now there are doors in the Magic kingdom in some of the building fronts that lead down to the utildoors but your not allowed in there.

 

[MikeScott8]

or maybe he is talking about the corporate lounges at some of the sponsored places. Example my brother worked for MetLife and we went to thier lounge in the Wonder of Life (I think) building. We had to go down this narrow hallway and he had to show he work ID and then we were let into the lounge and they had comfy chairs and free soft drinks.

Most of these have special access to the ride portion. IE a friend who works for Delphi (part of GM) gets in the GM lounge at Test Track and they can get right to the front of the lines from the lounge.

Are these the "hidden rooms" he means, if so not everybody can get into them. but if you frequent one enough you get to know the CMs and they can get you into the other lounges.

Mike

 

[sonicblaze]

I was at Epcot in world showcase, at the JAPAN pavillion and there was this side door across from a cafe... I can't remember it very well... Anyway... I was leaning against it with my friend and we saw there was an art gallery inside so we opened the door and went in. There were no signs saying not to. THe park was packed but I bet nobody thought to open that door... It was wonderful, air conditioned, quiet and private. And we stayed there for nearly half an hour alone with these amazing pieces of japanese art. It was very special.

 

[AllisonG]

I would love to solve this great mystery. My interest is definitely peaked!
Can anyone,
Safari Steve, Mr. Show, AV????????
Help Alaqua?

 

[hopemax]

sonicblaze, take out an Epcot park map, look at Japan, see where it says "Bijutsu-kan Gallery" that's where you were.

 

[turbodisney]

Last year we went to the lounge in The Land for AP holders. Has anyone been there this year? Is is still open?

 

[Luv2Roam]

The Land lounge has not been open to AP holders for months.
It was really the Nestle VIP lounge, so we were told on the FW tour. Disney took it over briefly since Nestle was not using it much. But towards the holidays is when the lounge ceased being used for WDW AP holders. I always wondered if Nestle was going to start using it during the holidays.

 

[Another Voice]

At the risk of being called names again, I’ll respond.

I guess it depends on what you mean by “secret rooms” that aren’t actually employees-only types of areas.

There are some areas that are just plain overlooked. The exhibit area in the Japan pavilion is a good one. The area was originally designed to be part of the ‘Meet The World’ attraction (the queue and preshow actually), but when that attraction was cancelled prior to opening, the room was converted. They have had some very interesting exhibits in there are well; I remember one on pre-history cultures in Japan (a subject of immense controversy) and a more recent exhibit on baseball (the sport was brought the country in the 1870’s) and the subtle differences between how Americans approach the sport and the Japanese do. The Stave Church in Norway is in a more prominent location but few people seem to venture inside.

There’s also the rose garden near the castle in the Magic Kingdom, some river side spots at Animal Kingdom near the Barbeque restaurant, and some other nocks and corners. They’re not really hidden or secret, just not as obvious as the entrance to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

But I think the tip was really talking about the sponsor rooms the other posters have mentioned. All of the major Epcot pavilions opened with special lounges for use by the corporations who paid for the attraction. The idea was that the lounges were a “perk” for the company where they could hold business meetings, entertain clients, and where executives could wallow in their privileged status.

The areas themselves were amazing. United Technology’s lounge had floor to ceiling windows that look out on the tank at ‘The Living Seas’, you could get a similar view into the Health pavilion from MetLife’s area, or a grand view of the central fountain from AT&T’s place. Some of the older nighttime pictures of the World of Motion show that lounge with the light on so you can see inside (it was right over the entertance to the pavilion). The General Electric lounge in ‘Horizons’ was fitted with a monitor hooked-up to a massive zoom camera on the roof. I’ve heard “rumors” of associated visitors being able to zoom in an see people in hotel rooms near Sea World with those cameras (not that I could imagine who would do such a thing).

The lounges never really caught on; most of the companies just found them too expensive to use for meetings. Orlando’s fairly well out of the way for most companies. A lot of them were opened up to all the employees of the sponsoring companies. As the original agreements came up and were cancelled, most of the lounges seem to have fallen into disuse. The newer sponsors don’t want to pick up the added expense (they paid for their lounge, it wasn’t a gift). The one at The Land was turned into an AP lounge as an experiment and occasionally you’ll hear about turning another into a restaurant or a shop.

For a while there was also a teacher’s lounge at Epcot. You had to be an educator to get in (or fake it well). They had soft drinks and classroom materials pertaining to the topics showcased at the park. That area was closed when CommniCore was turned into Innoventions.

The key in all of this is to remember that Disney maps out the property to see how much revenue each square foot of ground generates. It is not a company that would set aside “special surprises” on the hopes that guests (and their wallets) would stumble on them.

 

[EpcotRanger]

Ok...it is time to name that VIP lounge.

It is a definite circus of time, but this two floor lounge even scares the clowns out of me.

Can you guess which Epcot© lounge it is. Oh...and if your company has enough pull, you can rent the lounges like in the Living Seas. And can even see a clear piano take center stage.

 

[Alaqua]

Before I get flamed, the man that told us this stuff sounded sincere. Our conversation was focusing on the fact that the 3 of us chatting were all Disney-Freaks!
That said, I do think at worst, it's possible that he was sending us on a wild goose chase and at best, he could have been telling the truth!

But, he did say that he had been in 2 of them. To be honest, my friend and I were running late for an appointment with another friend, so perhaps we didn't catch everything that he was telling us.

But, one of the rooms, he claimed, is in the very back area of Morocco. Remember how it kind of meanders? He said that there's a door that blends with the wall. If you find it and push it, it opens to a $30,000,000 14K gold leaf room. I asked him what it was used for. And, he said that it was a "Prayer Room". Now, that tells me that either there's someone in there that is a cast member to answer questions or, if they see you go in, someone comes around later. Or something to that effect.

My understanding is that the countries represented in WS were all designed and paid for by the sponsoring country. Is that correct?

Likely the guy was just trying to start another "Disney-Urban-Legend". Sounds fantastical, to be sure, but isn't that what Disney's all about? Of course, I hope that its true, it just adds another layer of mystery to WDW.

 

[sonicblaze]

It ends up I was in China. I know there is an art gallery there but this one is on the side...and I don't think it's open... at least it wasn't at the time...

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

Originally posted by Another Voice
At the risk of being called names again, I’ll respond.

Welcome back.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

To follow up on what AV said the art gallery in Japan may not be open much longer. The space may be retasked to its original purpose of a queue and preshow for a certain semi-cloned attraction. Also im not quite sure how Orlando is out of the way for most company's considering it is the host to more major trade shows, conventions, and business meetings than almost any other city in the country. Check out http://www.cityoforlando.net/executive/eco_dev/tourism3.htm

 

[DIGGER68]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Another Voice
At the risk of being called names again, I’ll respond.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Yes, as mjstaceyuofm stated Welcome back AV.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We have been on three behind the scenes tours.
One tour took us into the VIP lounge in the Living Seas. But it's not generally just open to the public.
There is a prayer room in Morroco. Not exactly a secret, but most people may not know it is a prayer room. It's just very elaborate hand made decor. We were told the King of Morroco sent his personal artists over and they are the ones who made this room to replicate one of the king's own rooms. Does seem like there is gold in it. Think it was mentioned by the guide, but can't say for certain.
I guess if you want to really be loose with the terms, you could count the *secret* (overgrown) path in DAK.

 

[mulgar]

I may be just embelishing on childhood memories,But I seem to remember a long hallway right inside the entrance to Mk that led to a room that had in it among other things.
The Oscars from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and a 3-d model of the original design of EPCOT.
Am I imagining things or did this room really exist?


Shawn

 

[Walt's Frozen Head]

mulgar,

I'm pretty sure you're talking about the Exposition Hall... first building on the right after coming through the train underpass, on the "bus entrance" side.

You know, the Kodak store.

Originally, this was the site of the Walt Disney Story. After that, it served as a preview area for Epcot, before becoming the mouse-eared Fotomat it is today.

Your memory sounds like the two earlier versions of that building smooshed together, to me.

That said, I do think at worst, it's possible that he was sending us on a wild goose chase and at best, he could have been telling the truth!

It's far more likely that he was giving you the bits and pieces of the story that he knew; trying to be helpful and friendly. He'd just gotten some wires crossed on certain details... either in his memory or from wherever he originally heard it.

There's no evidence that he was trying to mislead you, but it is certainly "the truth" that the details he presented are not accurate; and at least one of the details he presented can get a person kicked out of the park, if they act on the suggestion.