Secrets & Little Known Facts about rides

[mareed]

I've heard there is also a phone in Tomorrowland, under the astro-orbiter ride. However, I haven't found that one yet. Anyone know exactly where it is (which side)?

We saw this one over XMAS for the first time. It was to the right if you're walking from Space Mountain and facing the Astro Orbiter. We listened to the phone and it was space oriented phone messages, but I can't remember any specifics now.

 

[DisCopper]

Well, shoot. Sorry for the false information, but thanks for clarifying!!

OH yeah, I guess she says "show us the (something...?) from somewhere beyond"

OK, I know I read this somewhere, but can't remember where...

You never see a ghost until the seance when Madame Leota summons the spirits. After that, you hit the Ballroom and you can see transparent spirits.

After you "fall" out the attic window, you can still see the ghosts, but many (most?) of them are much more solid. Because you're now a ghost too.

Of course, now we have the Bride in the attic, who sort of changes this.

It's possible I read this on Doombuggies.com. If it's still there, I can't find it. They do include this though,

"It has been suggested to DoomBuggies by a source close to the Imagineers that a subtext to the Haunted Mansion is the viewer's own journey of "crossing over" to the "other side." It is a possibility that the "fall" from the Haunted Mansion roof is a point of transition; a possible marker separating life from death, and the point at which the viewer changes from spectactor to participant in the festivities."

OK, here's my other tidbit....

The Haunted Mansion is the only attraction where it's suggested that guests commit suicide (or at least be killed).... "... of course, there's always my way."

 

[DisCopper]

Ok, here are some...

1. Main Street is not flat. It's on a slope going down from the Castle to the front entrance. That's so guests move a little faster when they're exiting the Park. (source: tourguide on Keys to the Kingdom tour).

2. The pavement in Liberty Square has a darker line weaving through the center. It's supposed to represent the open sewers running down the middle of the street in colonial America. (source: former castmember told me this... I don't know how true it is, but I can't come up with any other reason for the marking).

3. In one of the upper windows in Liberty Square, there are two lanterns- they represent the two lanterns in the Old North Church during Paul Revere's ride (two if by sea). (source: tourguide on Keys to the Kingdom tour).

4. The statue of Walt and Mickey near the Castle has Walt pointing to the other end of Main Street, where there's a statue of Roy sitting with Minnie. Could Walt be saying, "Mickey, you have to go to Roy now. He'll take care of you when I'm gone."??? (source: tourguide on Keys to the Kingdom tour). I know it probably wasn't REALLY designed with this in mind, but it's sort of a neat thing to consider.

5. The Haunted Mansion is the only attraction in Disneyland/Magic Kingdom that is located in a different land in each Park:
- Disneyland California: New Orleans Square
- WDW Magic Kingdom: Liberty Square
- Disneyland Tokyo: Fantasyland
- Disneyland Paris: Frontierland (Phantom Manor)
- Disneyland Hong Kong: Main Street (Main St. Haunted Hotel- not the same, but close enough)
(Correct me if there's another attraction with the similar crazy locations).

 

[wagster92]

In Tony's there is a sillouette of Lady and the Tramp kissing, also outside there are paw prints in the cement. And heres a tip, the baclony at Tony's is a great place to watch the fireworks and the parade completely free from crowds.

 

[PictureJumpr]

2. The pavement in Liberty Square has a darker line weaving through the center. It's supposed to represent the open sewers running down the middle of the street in colonial America. (source: former castmember told me this... I don't know how true it is, but I can't come up with any other reason for the marking).

To expound on this - it's actually sort of a 'salute', if you will, to the realities of streets in colonial cities - this was a trough of sorts which ran down the center of streets to collect 'runoff' from the horses and nearby businesses... Kind of a nasty thing to think about, but still yet another detail unforgotten by the imagineers.

You can see it here - the yellowish-gray areas in the center of the 'streets' of Liberty Square.

 

[perla75]

You are right, there are a bunch of self-righteous people around here and the tone of this was SO grown-up. Everyone was just pointing out Africa is not a country. Just trying to make it funny, sorry if the poster took it the wrong way.

...actually, there were just two posters that were acting a bit smarmy, everyone else seems more focused on the thread topic. I agree that this is a very friendly message board! Lots of wonderful, helpful, and fun people...mixed in with a few who feel the need to proofread silly writing errors rather than actually contributing to a thread


**Anyways, back to topic:

--Cinderella’s Golden Carousel was built in 1917. It was once located at Olympic Park in Maplewood, New Jersey

--Names of the Jungle Cruise riverboats include Amazon Annie, Bomokandi Bertha, Congo Connie, Ganges Gertie, Irrawaddy Irma, Kwango Kate, Mongala Millie, Nile Nelly, Orinoco Ida, Rutshuru Ruby, Sankuru Sadie, Senegel Sal, Ucvali Lolly, Volta Val, Wamba Wanda and Zambesi Zelda.

 

[JenniBarra]

There has got to be a book with all of these little "tidbits". Anyone know of one?

I can think of a few books you might enjoy. Have you heard of the Imagineering Field Guides? They have books for DL, MK, Epcot, and AK. (DHS will be out later this year.) If you don't mind finding having the curtain pulled away to reveal what's behind some of the magic, you might like David Koenig's books. He has two books about DL, one about films (though each entry contains information about attraction tie-ins), and one about WDW. There's also Jason Surrell's books. I think he's got about three of them out now.

 

[Huck Sawyer]

http://www.doombuggies.com/secrets_graveyard2.php

In past post it is brought up about the fall out of the attic window. The link above talks about the possible crossing over. The grounds keeping and dog are leading out of the darkness and back to life.

 

[perla75]

http://www.doombuggies.com/secrets_graveyard2.php

In past post it is brought up about the fall out of the attic window. The link above talks about the possible crossing over. The grounds keeping and dog are leading out of the darkness and back to life.

Wow, neat website!! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Disnsyncey]

To expound on this - it's actually sort of a 'salute', if you will, to the realities of streets in colonial cities - this was a trough of sorts which ran down the center of streets to collect 'runoff' from the horses and nearby businesses... Kind of a nasty thing to think about, but still yet another detail unforgotten by the imagineers.

You can see it here - the yellowish-gray areas in the center of the 'streets' of Liberty Square.

and even further still.....there aren't any public bathrooms in Liberty Square because they didn't have flushable toilets back in those days....(there are some in LTT, but that's beside the point)

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Um...well everyone has beat me to many of my tips on the parks...There used to be a 'flip movie' viewer you could really view for free in one of the shops in Main St. (or maybe it was a penny?) I've heard it was moved to the train station, but haven't seen it since it was in the shop.

I do remember the old ads from Epcot with Spain and Israel, especially after looking at them!

If you enjoy this thread, but you've never taken the time to really look at the displays in "One Man's Dream," It's worth a look. One of my favorite parts was the old ticket book from the early years of WDW. The one on display has a ticket for Space Mtn, so it's not from the really early years. If you don't know what an E-ride is, take a peak at that ticket book on your next visit!

There's a hidden Mickey on EE (in the snow work, can really only be seen in late afternoon), and there's also several in the new TSM ride, including the queue.

Oh, before the recent changes in Tusker House, if you sat in the back area, you could hear voices coming from the upstairs balcony. Now I think you can't really go back there. Even if you have an ADR, the CM's just walk you through that area pretty quickly.

Oh, here's a cool one...In France, near the perfume shop is a series of stained glass windows that tell the story, more or less, of Beauty and the Beast. The detail is easy to overlook, but quite obvious once you look. I think they are just behind the perfume shop. not far from Belle's hideout.

 

[Ziggie]

Please don't get mad but does this not sound a little fishy. Not saying it didn't happen but you would figure a smart engineer would think of that? The thing is like a huge piston in a air compressor and if no one thought of that they need a career change.

Yes, this did happen. I live in Florida and all the news stations covered the "implosion" (as they referred to it) at WDW's TOT.

 

[dtr_angel]

thanks for all the posts! My husband and I can't wait for the Keys to the Kingdom tour we are planning on taking in March.

 

[morgy827]

Oh, here's a cool one...In France, near the perfume shop is a series of stained glass windows that tell the story, more or less, of Beauty and the Beast. The detail is easy to overlook, but quite obvious once you look. I think they are just behind the perfume shop. not far from Belle's hideout.

I think I have a Picture of the window

 

[kimis]

Like bradk said - the letters are now gone. Rumor was that they were not there when they opened & when someone high up found out about them, they had to be removed.

Here's your Hidden Donald & Key!

And DS13 - I think he was about 8 at the time!

Okay my brain has stopped. Please help me find Donald and the key. I have tried many times while on the ride and I don't see it. I know when you show me I will feel even more dumb but I am not to proud to finally ask for help. Thanks.

 

[LJH77]

here's something i recently wrote on pirates

Last week we talked about birthdays of Disney characters. In keeping with my belated theme, December 5 marked the birthday of Walt Disney. Unfortunately, December 15 marks the anniversary of his death. But the real meat in this edition's trivia is a little known attraction known as Pirates of the Caribbean, the last attraction that Walt was personally involved with. Originally intended to be a walk-through wax museum, technology developed for the 1964 Worlds Fair by Disney inspired significant changes to what would eventually make Johnny Depp a household word (ask me which cheek my tongue is planted firmly in). Animatronics and a revolutionary boat based vehicle system used for "it's a small world" (then known as the enigmatic It's A Small World) that not only moved guests from point A to point B but could actually be used to adjust hourly capacity by being able to add/remove vehicles as well as control the speed by the rate at which water was being pumped through (unfortunately someone forgot to devise a solution for that inevitable end-of-the-ride backup). When Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971 (a happy belated birthday there too), it was missing POTC, a very popular attraction at Disneyland. Legend has it that Imagineers decided that because Florida was in close proximity to the real thing, guests wouldn't be interested in an attraction meant to simulate it, but outcry proved them wrong and prevailed and just 2 years later, an abbreviated version appeared in the Magic Kingdom on December 15, 1973 - the anniversary of Walt's death.

Yes, thats true about the imagineers not putting in Pirates due to it's close proximity to the Carribean. They did however have the idea to put in a wild west ride, the same idea/layout etc as Pirates (ie boat ride) - initial drawings were actually done for it aswell. But the backlash for not putting in a Pirates ride was so great that they hastily put in a shortened version of it when they realised how popular POC actually was.

I can't remember what book this is in, which is very annoying as it has loads of great info about the rides and I only read it last year or something!!

Great thread by the way - I love this stuff! Oh and funnily enough by total coincidence, I was watching the True/False documentary on TV last night about the Basketball court in the Matterhorn!!! Funny timing eh?

 

[winnapooh]

We saw this one over XMAS for the first time. It was to the right if you're walking from Space Mountain and facing the Astro Orbiter. We listened to the phone and it was space oriented phone messages, but I can't remember any specifics now.

Excellent, thanks

 

[shellym]

and even further still.....there aren't any public bathrooms in Liberty Square because they didn't have flushable toilets back in those days....(there are some in LTT, but that's beside the point)

according to our KTTK guide:

the bathrooms in the liberty tree tavern, they are located in the very back of the building which is actually adventureland according to the property lines,
and bathrooms in the columbia harbour house are all the way on the far left side of the restaurant which is technically fantasyland according to property lines.

dont flame me if i'm wrong...we have never been to LTT and i would have no clue if the guide was right about CHH!

 

[IndyClown]

according to our KTTK guide:

the bathrooms in the liberty tree tavern, they are located in the very back of the building which is actually adventureland according to the property lines,
and bathrooms in the columbia harbour house are all the way on the far left side of the restaurant which is technically fantasyland according to property lines.

So the Seven Dwarfs had indoor plumbing???

 

[shellym]

So the Seven Dwarfs had indoor plumbing???

of course they did!!!