Your best Disney fact or insider story...

[OnePrincessMom]

There are two Hidden Minnies at WDW. A CM pointed out one to us on the Great Movie Ride at HS (it is on the wall to the left as you board the ride). She told us the other one was on the Jungle Cruise. We asked there, the CM wasn't sure but said he thought it was under the waterfall. We couldn't find it, but it gives us an excuse to go back and look again.

 

[kayemgi]

I think I might have a few no one posted yet!

MK:

• Look at Walt's right hand ring on the statue of him and Mickey
• The sidewalks are red because Walt wanted to roll out the red carpet for every guest
• The Lady and the Tramp's paw prints are in front of Tony's Town Square Restaurant
• There are gems embedded in the sidewalk near Aladdin's Magic Carpets
• There's a hidden park in Liberty Square behind the Christmas store
• Look for the bird in her nest in the gear at Harper's Mill (on the Liberty Belle ride) -- she's a tribute to the 1937 short film "The Old Mill"
• The bride's ring is trampled into the ground by the invisible horse in the concrete at the exit of the Haunted Mansion (this is not at the exit anymore, with the new queue. I forget exactly where it is, but as a CM and they will show you. That's what we did!)
• Look at where the roof meets the walls in Sir Mickey's Shop in Fantasyland to see Willie the Giant peeking in

Epcot

• The Sea - The aquarium is so large that Spaceship Earth (160' in diameter) could fit inside with room to spare
• United Kingdom: Look at the line of shops. The first with the thatched roof represents the 1600s, the next the 1700s (cantilevered build), the next the 1800s (ornate neoclassical)
• Canada: The large totem pole on the left is real, carved from cedar and weighs over 700 lbs

HS

• The photos in the Brown Derby in black frames are reproductions, the ones in gold frames are originals from the Brown Derby in LA
• On the New York street, look for the Singing in the Rain umbrella attached to one of the streetlights near the old Hunchback Theater. Grab the umbrella and step on the black square in the cement underneath it for a surprise.
• The FastPass computers for Lights! Motors! Action! are not linked to the rest of the Studios' rides, so you can obtain a FastPass for this show immediately after you get them for any other attraction. (I have not personally confirmed this)
• The Rock 'n Roller Coaster was built first, and then the building was constructed around it.
• Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story Midway Mania is the first animatronic figure whose mouth looks as though it is actually forming words when he speaks, and he is the only that can remove a body part and then reattach it (his ear).

 

[lstylr]

The bride's ring is now behind a trash can to the right of the Sea Captain's grave in the new queue at Haunted Mansion.

Heard this from a CM today: Beast's castle in New Fantasyland is the same height as Shaq.

 

[goofy_joe]

On our KTTW tour we were told that sometimes Tinkerbell gets stuck on the zip line (due to headwinds) and if that happens, they turn off her lights and she has to pull herself down, hand over hand.

Yes, and we were also told that she has a potty mouth when that happens.

They actually put Tinker Bell up on a crane to see how she looks up there. (People have telephoto lenses!) She works for about 20 seconds, but gets paid for an eight-hour day.

 

[bcrook]

I think I might have a few no one posted yet!

MK:

• Look at Walt's right hand ring on the statue of him and Mickey
• The sidewalks are red because Walt wanted to roll out the red carpet for every guest
• The Lady and the Tramp's paw prints are in front of Tony's Town Square Restaurant
• There are gems embedded in the sidewalk near Aladdin's Magic Carpets
• There's a hidden park in Liberty Square behind the Christmas store
• Look for the bird in her nest in the gear at Harper's Mill (on the Liberty Belle ride) -- she's a tribute to the 1937 short film "The Old Mill"
• The bride's ring is trampled into the ground by the invisible horse in the concrete at the exit of the Haunted Mansion (this is not at the exit anymore, with the new queue. I forget exactly where it is, but as a CM and they will show you. That's what we did!)
• Look at where the roof meets the walls in Sir Mickey's Shop in Fantasyland to see Willie the Giant peeking in

Epcot

• The Sea - The aquarium is so large that Spaceship Earth (160' in diameter) could fit inside with room to spare
• United Kingdom: Look at the line of shops. The first with the thatched roof represents the 1600s, the next the 1700s (cantilevered build), the next the 1800s (ornate neoclassical)
• Canada: The large totem pole on the left is real, carved from cedar and weighs over 700 lbs

HS

• The photos in the Brown Derby in black frames are reproductions, the ones in gold frames are originals from the Brown Derby in LA
• On the New York street, look for the Singing in the Rain umbrella attached to one of the streetlights near the old Hunchback Theater. Grab the umbrella and step on the black square in the cement underneath it for a surprise.
• The FastPass computers for Lights! Motors! Action! are not linked to the rest of the Studios' rides, so you can obtain a FastPass for this show immediately after you get them for any other attraction. (I have not personally confirmed this)
• The Rock 'n Roller Coaster was built first, and then the building was constructed around it.
• Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story Midway Mania is the first animatronic figure whose mouth looks as though it is actually forming words when he speaks, and he is the only that can remove a body part and then reattach it (his ear).

A lot of fun information here. Speaking of mr. Potato head, Don Rickles spent over 30 hours in the studio recording material for midway mania shtick. Good interview here.

Now, if the imagineers can personalize mr. Potato heads comment towards guests in line via the magic band, I would be impressed. It would be fun to be part of his act!

 

[Prock]

All of the buildings on Mainstreet are scaled down with each getting smaller from the entrance of MK towards the castle in order to create the forced perspective to make the castle look bigger than it is. That is all the buildings are scaled down except for one, the train station. They did this because the WDWRR uses full sized trains, a smaller building with a large train in front of it would've looked silly

As you walk towards the castle you're actually walking uphill, this is so it slows you down ever so slightly as you enter trying to keep you from running. It is also so as you leave its downhill, which makes you walk just a little bit faster.

Another reason the sidewalks are red on main street is to help you as you read the map. Incase you're too focused on reading the map you'll be able to see that you're on the sidewalk as you stare at your map, and if you see a grayish black you'll know you're on the street.

The cement used on main street (and most of the park) has rubber mixed in with it, so that it will be smoother, unfortunately this is why they can be quite slippery in the rain.

The delicious smell of candy and baked goods you get as you walk down main street are produced by smell machines and pumped through vents.

One of the buildings in liberty square is the old north church, complete with 2 lanterns that illuminate at night…

That brown stripe of sidewalk you see running through liberty square is actually the trench they used for their open sewers.

Underneath the haunted mansion is basically a warehouse for MK, complete with boats from POTC and ITASW, and other various junk from around the park.

One from H.S.
Near hollywood and vine on the second floor one of the windows says valiant and valiant detective agency. And there is a silhouette of roger rabbit bursting through the blinds.

If I can think of more Ill be sure to post them

 

[lucas]

All of the buildings on Mainstreet are scaled down with each getting smaller from the entrance of MK towards the castle in order to create the forced perspective to make the castle look bigger than it is. That is all the buildings are scaled down except for one, the train station. They did this because the WDWRR uses full sized trains, a smaller building with a large train in front of it would've looked silly

As you walk towards the castle you're actually walking uphill, this is so it slows you down ever so slightly as you enter trying to keep you from running. It is also so as you leave its downhill, which makes you walk just a little bit faster.

Another reason the sidewalks are red on main street is to help you as you read the map. Incase you're too focused on reading the map you'll be able to see that you're on the sidewalk as you stare at your map, and if you see a grayish black you'll know you're on the street.

The cement used on main street (and most of the park) has rubber mixed in with it, so that it will be smoother, unfortunately this is why they can be quite slippery in the rain.

The delicious smell of candy and baked goods you get as you walk down main street are produced by smell machines and pumped through vents.

One of the buildings in liberty square is the old north church, complete with 2 lanterns that illuminate at night…

That brown stripe of sidewalk you see running through liberty square is actually the trench they used for their open sewers.

Underneath the haunted mansion is basically a warehouse for MK, complete with boats from POTC and ITASW, and other various junk from around the park.

One from H.S.
Near hollywood and vine on the second floor one of the windows says valiant and valiant detective agency. And there is a silhouette of roger rabbit bursting through the blinds.

If I can think of more Ill be sure to post them

Our KTTK guide said they once tried to pump the smells out onto Main Street but it was more trouble than worth it and they no longer do that.

 

[sandynd]

It's because Disney does not want any child to feel superior to another child because their parents bought them a night in Cinderella's castle and conversely, they don't want any child to feel less special because their parents CAN'T afford the suite. (At least, that's what we were told by our Tour Guide)

Guess they don't care if Suri Cruise feels superior to everyone else then. Not that she's in any danger of not feeling that way, thanks to her megalomaniacal father. SNORT!! That man makes me angry and scared all at the same time!!

 

[bcrook]

Guess they don't care if Suri Cruise feels superior to everyone else then. Not that she's in any danger of not feeling that way, thanks to her megalomaniacal father. SNORT!! That man makes me angry and scared all at the same time!!

 

[mesaboy2]

Our KTTK guide said they once tried to pump the smells out onto Main Street but it was more trouble than worth it and they no longer do that.

I'm smelling something going up MS, and I have a terrible sense of smell.

 

[bcrook]

One from H.S.
Near hollywood and vine on the second floor one of the windows says valiant and valiant detective agency. And there is a silhouette of roger rabbit bursting through the blinds.

If I can think of more Ill be sure to post them

I have never seen this, another thing to find.

 

[lucas]

I'm smelling something going up MS, and I have a terrible sense of smell.

The doors are open on all the stores/bakeries so the smells naturally drift down Main Street. But, the smells are not pumped out. They tried it but it didn't work. Any hoo, that is what our guide said.

 

[mesaboy2]

The doors are open on all the stores/bakeries so the smells naturally drift down Main Street. But, the smells are not pumped out. They tried it but it didn't work. Any hoo, that is what our guide said.

I understand, my point was I am unlikely to smell anything unless it's force-fed to me. And your guide told you something that is inconsistent with most everything I've heard about the MS smells.

 

[Chuckers]

I was told this on the Dolphins in Depth tour and while it's not specific to Disney, it's still trivia and quite humorous..

They don't put the dolphins in with sting rays or sea turtles for the following reasons:

With the sting rays, the dolphins will play with them.. literally.. they grab them with their mouth and fling 'em like Frisbees.

They will also play with the the sea turtles... they use them like soccer balls.

With all their animals, they only use positive reinforcement.. when training an animal, even those that do something wrong or refuse to do it, they get a treat.. however, the better they perform, the better the treat. An animal is never "scolded" or made to do something it doesn't want to do. They want the animal to want to perform/learn.

 

[CJJenkins]

One that is supposedly NOT true, but I like to believe any way:

The Swan and Dolphin both have large black squares in the design in the middle of the buildings. This was supposedly because a monorail expansion was planned for Epcot area hotels, and these two hotels would have had the monorail go through them similar to the Contemporary. This area where the black square is was already designed to be demolish-able without affecting structural integrity of the building... There are a ton of sources that say this isn't true. But I wonder, why do both buildings have large black squares on them that line up perfectly with each other...

 

[polyfor4]

Kayemgi mentioned Walt's right hand ring on the statue in MK- I'm dying to know what kind of ring it is???

 

[Prock]

The doors are open on all the stores/bakeries so the smells naturally drift down Main Street. But, the smells are not pumped out. They tried it but it didn't work. Any hoo, that is what our guide said.

Trust me, they come out of a machine.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Kayemgi mentioned Walt's right hand ring on the statue in MK- I'm dying to know what kind of ring it is???

A lot of people say it's a hidden mickey but it's actually a claddagh ring which a traditional Irish ring with two hands, holding a heart that is topped by a crown. Traditionally, wearing it with the heart out says your heart is available. Wearing it with the heart pointing to you says your heart is taken.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

The doors are open on all the stores/bakeries so the smells naturally drift down Main Street. But, the smells are not pumped out. They tried it but it didn't work. Any hoo, that is what our guide said.

I found my guide said a few things that I didn't think were right but I was too polite to point it out because I have been wrong before. LOL Ok so it was about the Jungle Cruise plane and I knew the other half was in DHS in the Casablanca scene and she said it wasn't but why argue with her and make everyone uncomfortable over something so trivial?

 

[bcrook]

One that is supposedly NOT true, but I like to believe any way:

The Swan and Dolphin both have large black squares in the design in the middle of the buildings. This was supposedly because a monorail expansion was planned for Epcot area hotels, and these two hotels would have had the monorail go through them similar to the Contemporary. This area where the black square is was already designed to be demolish-able without affecting structural integrity of the building... There are a ton of sources that say this isn't true. But I wonder, why do both buildings have large black squares on them that line up perfectly with each other...

I am going with you on that one. It is a much better story with that being for monorail expansion.