?MARTÍN¿;30498653 said:
There is an engagment ring in the ground outside of the Haunted Mansion in
Disneyland
That's one's actually false. It's just a spot where a post used to be. They had to take out the post in order to have the wheelchair entrance. Learned that on my Keys to the Kingdom tour.
The names on the windows of the buildings on Main Street, USA (WDW) are all imagineers that helped build the park. Roy Disney's window is above the Confectioner's, while Walt's is above the Ice Cream Parlor. In the middle (above the Hall of Champions) is a window for a "Dr. Card Walker". Card Walker's office was directly between Walt's and Roy's at the original Disney Studios. Whenever they fought (which was often) they would speak to each other through him. So, it was only fitting that his window would be between theirs.
When you walk down Main Street, you progress from the early 1900's to the 1920's.
The flags on top of the Main Street buildings are actually lightning rods. They aren't the American Flag as many people believe. They are all missing one star and one stripe.
If you've ever wondered where the speakers for the parade music are, they're in the top floor of the Mainstreet USA buildings.
On the right of Mainstreet USA, there's a side street of sorts, by the Crystal Arts building. At random points during the day you can hear the sounds of tap dancing in this street. If you look up, you'll see that one of the windows is labeled as a dance studio.
The Enchanted Tiki Room is one big lightning rod. The thatch roof is made of aluminum strips.
On the Jungle Cruise, listen carefully when you get to the headhunters. One of them says "I love Disco".
The Liberty Bell hanging in Liberty Square is the last one cast with the original mold. It's also the only one that never cracked, so Imagineers had to draw the crack on.
The discolored portion of the ground in Liberty Square represents the sewage that would have been thrown from the upper floor windows of the buildings (betcha didn't want to know that).
The tree near the bell in Liberty Square wasn't originally there. It was over by the Castle and was moved. It split during the move, but was put back together again. There are thirteen lanterns hanging from this tree- one for each of the thirteen original colonies.
There are four hidden Jack Skellingtons and one hidden Sally on the Haunted Mansion.
Bluebeard's grave outside the Haunted Mansion has his year of death listed as 1440. However, seeing as the Haunted Mansion is set in upstate New York, this is impossible (Columbus didn't land in America until 1492...). 1440 was the phone extension of Yale Gracey, one of the imagineers that worked on the Haunted Mansion and who lends his name to Master Gracey- your "ghost host".
All of the tombstones at the Haunted Mansion were fashioned for imagineers that worked on the ride- similar to the names in the windows above Mainstreet USA. The most interesting one is Madame Leota's. Madame Leota gets her name from Leota Toombs (no kidding, that's her real name), the Imagineer who provided the voice and face of Madame Leota. However, the head of Leota inside the crystal ball on the ride cracked and had to be recast. Unfortunately, Leota Toombs had passed away at this point, so they used her daughter's face instead. They play the original video and sound of Leota Toombs over her daughter's face.
When exiting the ride on the left there's a pet cemetary. In the backmost right corner is Mr. Toad's grave. All of these tombs/figures came from local stores.
In the ballroom scene, there's a set of three plates that are incorrectly regarded as a Hidden Mickey (both by casual ridegoers and the hidden mickey guide book). It's actually the cast members that work there. Each night when the cleaning crew/ set up crew goes in, they put the plates back where they belong, but every morning the ride cast members move them back.
There is no actual story line to the ride itself. No matter what anybody tells you, there isn't one. It's there so people can make up their own. Because, like campfire ghost stories, it's always better when you can add your own ideas to it!
Anywhere you see a plaque explaining what a plant or tree is, you think it's meant to be there, right? Well, when the park was originally being built, there were some questions as to what to do with the natural foliage. So, Roy (or Walt, I can't remember which) said, "Put a plaque up. Explain what it is. People will think that plant's meant to be there".
Yeah. That's all I've got for now. YAY! for Keys to the Kingdom.
