Secrets & Little Known Facts about rides

[pixiemomamy]

If you dont already know at the end of the show at the Tki room if you wait long enough Iago will spill insults at you... It is hilarious...

 

[bradk]

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.

this is actually told in one of the documentaries that cover TOT's development, coming straight from the imagineers. don't ask me which one though, i'd like to say it was a Modern Marvels, but all I know is I've seen the story told before.

 

[Csaks]

this is actually told in one of the documentaries that cover TOT's development, coming straight from the imagineers. don't ask me which one though, i'd like to say it was a Modern Marvels, but all I know is I've seen the story told before.

It just sounded like a tall tale. Really surprised no one thought of it before they let her rip. The air pressure would have slowed the drop down as well and affected the performance of the ride. Just amazed that's all.

Sorry OP back to your thread.

 

[bradk]

i think the problem was underestimated. it makes for a great anecdote anyway. remember that in TOT, it is *not* a freefall. there is no drop. the vehicle is actually pulled down faster than the acceleration of gravity.

 

[MonorailDriver]

Ah, yeah, that's a myth. Not true. Convincing, though.

The real story is that some of the old mountainclimbing Cast members would pass the time inside the top of the Matterhorn very bored, and one day, a fellow brought a basketball hoop (or something of that sort). Thus, the Matternhorn court was born. I think it might be on Snopes.

Actually this is true, I saw a show about this on Disney on Demand, tells you the whole story on how it came to be

 

[maj42169]

Where On Demand?

I looked on mine and couldn't find it.

You can find the Disney stuff in the Searchlight section....then Travel and Leisure.....

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Here's some Epcot ones:

And one more:
The attractions in Future World East and West are grouped with a purpose: the ones in East all have to do with more "left-brained" or hard sciences: energy, space, and transportation, while the ones in West are more "right-brained" or have to do with nature: agriculture, the seas, and imagination. The landscaping, flower beds, all reflect this: the ones in West feature water and curving lines while the ones in East are angular and hard-edged.

That's pretty interesting. I always wondered if there was any reason for the grouping.

 

[Mousecat]

"on top of that, it was created by marc davis but at some point, the pieces did lose their position (for whatever reason, I can't recall offhand) and they had to be reset except they could find no notes from davis as to which piece went where so it had to be re-created."

Even more bizarre is once the pieces were moved. Nobody knew what position the pieces were in but they knew it wasn't random. And what did the Imagineers find on the back side of the original sketch of that scene...Marc Davis notes outlining where the chess pieces should be on the board. Amazing.

 

[BradyBz12]

MouseSurplus has that door for sale right now...I love to wander about that site.

If you're ever in the area and have a car, it's worth the ride to the actual warehouse. We went for the first time last month and saw all that stuff - as well as enough furniture and accessories to furnish you're entire home (and cheaply!), and all sorts of other cool stuff.

I wish I could have figured a way to get one of the spiffy armoirs home, but we'd have had to strap it on the roof for 1200 miles.

 

[donaldsgal]

I love that so many people are posting on my thread! Thanks for all these secrets. Keep 'em comin'!

 

[Steffiesunshine]

The Disney Fact or Fiction show, hosted by a Disney Imagineer named Diego Parras, can be found on YOUTUBE if you search for it. It has been on Time Warner Cable, Journey TV On Demand as of last week, but it is off now.

For anyone interested:

He goes inside and shows the court. And one of the other imagineers says that Walt Disney said "What is the strangest thing we can put inside the empty space in the mountain?" It goes on to say that he talked to the mountain climbers and the ride operators and they suggested a basketball court. Diego says that room still operates as a recreation area for the Matterhorn climbers.stra

So...that is the OFFICIAL story straight from Disney.

 

[RAPstar]

One of the brick walls as you exit the Haunted Mansion is not actual brick. I forgot what it's actually made of, but its a soft material so people won't get hurt if they accidentally trip and fall.

 

[alternativepirate]

Great facts everyone!
I have about a 30 page print out of amazing facts that i printed out months ago, but when I tried to put in the url again, the site moved or something and I can't find it. If I ever find it, I will post it right away!

heres a

Fascinating Fact: The pavement at Epcot Center was engineered by Disney and Kodak photography to be painted a specific custom color of pink that makes the grass look greener and pictures look brighter. The colored sidewalks also give an overall cleaner look to the park.

 

[noahdove]

I love all these tidbits

 

[TripTime]

The Disney Fact or Fiction show, hosted by a Disney Imagineer named Diego Parras, can be found on YOUTUBE if you search for it. It has been on Time Warner Cable, Journey TV On Demand as of last week, but it is off now.

For anyone interested:

He goes inside and shows the court. And one of the other imagineers says that Walt Disney said "What is the strangest thing we can put inside the empty space in the mountain?" It goes on to say that he talked to the mountain climbers and the ride operators and they suggested a basketball court. Diego says that room still operates as a recreation area for the Matterhorn climbers.stra

So...that is the OFFICIAL story straight from Disney.

Post#14 gives you the link to find the truth about the court.

 

[d1sn3ycr@zy]

a few years ago when they referbished the Hall of Presidents they replaced abe lincoln and took the old one made him shorter and dirty and put him in the pirates of the caribben ride but im not sure where he is.
also on pirates the scene with the skeleton driving a broken boat that use to be a real skeleton bc they thought a fake skeleton would not look real enough but it is a fake one now.

 

[Sherwin]

here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63TKKg-KRP0

YES, thank you for the mounds of evidence, but I did not say there wasn't a court. In fact I did say, "the Matterhorn court was born". I meant that the myth about the height restriction was false. I went on to say how the court came to be.

 

[magnusiax]

Very interesting information i guess its better to experience this than story telling ...

 

[LadyGracey]

This is fun! I like sharing and reading all these tidbits!

Here's a couple of Haunted Mansion ones:

Like the drop in DL Pirates, the HM had to be engineered in order to move guests underneath the railroad tracks and to the other side of the berm (where the show building is). So the stretch rooms in Disneyland ARE actually elevators--the floor goes down. In WDW, there was no need to move guests from level to level, so the ceiling moves UP to recreate the illusion.
Also, if you want to be one of the first guests out of the stretch room, the exit is always under the painting of the young woman with the parasol.

The deep-voiced "singing bust" in the graveyard scene is Thurl Ravenscroft, who did numerous voices in Disney attractions (including Country Bear Jamboree and Pirates). But you might know him best as the voice of Tony the Tiger, and the singer of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."


And another Epcot one:
Spaceship Earth is actually constructed much like a very large table. The legs hold up a central "platform," on top of which was constructed the top 2/3 of the sphere. The bottom third is essentially suspended from the bottom of the platform. The panels on the outside are specially designed to allow for expansion in the heat, and so that water does not cascade off the sphere when it rains (the water is channeled into a gutter system beneath the facade and runs off into a nearby lake...some say World Showcase Lagoon). Some of the Animatronics are 'recycled'; one of the monks is actually William Howard Taft from the Hall of Presidents.

 

[danielle82]

Great thread...thanks for starting this.