Favorite Disney fact!

[masonlovesdisney]

What is your favorite fact about Walt Disney World, or cool story. Either one! Im curious!:mickey::mickey::mickey:

[Capt_redshirt]

One of my favorite facts is that disney has put these little receptors around the parks and they pump out certain smells (like pop corn and turkey legs) to make you want to eat the food your smelling.... also i find it fun to pull on the rope near the indiana jones stunt show and hearing the guy in the well

[Awesome_guy]

I like the facts related to the original intention of Epcot as E.P.C.O.T., the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. I find myself drawn to the videos and models of that, and find it interesting to see what the park is(n't) today. It's also interesting to me the view of "the future" or "the ideal" from times past, just like when considering Tomorrowland.

[The Horned King]

Apparently, if Tower Of Terror Dropped at the same time Rock N ROllercoaster launched it would cause a power outage in sunset beulevard. Thankfully there are sub-stations to stop that happening. Or so I am told....

[Bay Lake]

What I love is the back round music, and how it changes as you walk though the park. Also how the buildings in the distance blend in with the ones in the foreground, like when looking at Space Mountain from Fantasyland, in the back round is the futuristic Contemporary. Or standing at the entrance to World Showcase looking at Morocco, the Tower of Terror in the back round is the same color scheme.

[Spang88]

I love the whole process to how the land was purchased for the "Florida Project." From the dummy corporation names, to tax breaks, to loopholes, it was a genius plan. Walt was a great businessman as well, and every shrewd businessman has a little bit of bending the rules in them.

[retiredfigment]

I love the way the Disney busses always play music that is related to wherever you are going. IE pop music on the way to POP.

[Bay Lake]

I love the way the Disney busses always play music that is related to wherever you are going. IE pop music on the way to POP.

Never noticed this. But will in Feb.

[indytraveler]

I love the fact that the park is built over the Utilidors. Just to know you don't see any "backstage" stuff is pretty cool. Plus the forced perspective of things, which is evident looking around Epcot at all the pavilions.

[AvonleaCF]

The general marketing genius. Free transportation from airport when you stay on site = less likely to rent a car and visit any other attractions. Price of park tickets decreases the longer you stay = longer vacations just at Disney.

The way they know people tend to walk towards the right, so Main Street has the candy store, bakery, and ice cream shoppes on the right as you enter, and the gift shops on right as you leave.

[masonlovesdisney]

Apparently, if Tower Of Terror Dropped at the same time Rock N ROllercoaster launched it would cause a power outage in sunset beulevard. Thankfully there are sub-stations to stop that happening. Or so I am told....

Wow this is a pretty awesome one! Never heard of it!

[Fangorn]

I'll play.

As a child of Disneyland (see signature below) this has always blown me away:

Disneyland - (the area "inside the berm") would fit (roughly) inside the World Showcase Lagoon at Epcot. Disneyland is 43 acres, the Lagoon is a bit over 40 acres.

Similarly, whereas Disneyland is 43 acres, WDW is 43 square miles - that's 640 times larger.

Steve

[Mendelson]

The front round music is also good. ;)

[Aurora]

The front round music is also good. ;)

Took me a minute. :)

[masonlovesdisney]

The front round music is also good. ;)

Im not as smart as Auroura...Please explain lol.

[Posterchild]

Richard Nixon's "I'm not a crook!" speech was from the newly opened Contemporary Resort at WDW.

[Mendelson]

Im not as smart as Auroura...Please explain lol.

It was a good-natured dig at Bay Lake, who apparently has heard "background music" as "back round music" most of his/her life, as it was written that way three times in his/her post.

Used in a sentence: I love the back round music but the front round music shouldn't be unappreciated! :mickey:

Kind of like how people say things like "doggy dog world" (for dog-eat-dog world) "for all intensive purposes" (for for all intents and purposes), etc.

Actually, that should be its own thread - similar malapropisms exclusive to WDW!

[Bay Lake]

When I first wrote it the spell check line showed up so not thinking I thought it was wrong and went with it.

[TiggerFan13]

I like the facts related to the original intention of Epcot as E.P.C.O.T., the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. I find myself drawn to the videos and models of that, and find it interesting to see what the park is(n't) today. It's also interesting to me the view of "the future" or "the ideal" from times past, just like when considering Tomorrowland.

I totally agree with this. The original idea of EPCOT is totally fascinating to me as well asthe pasts' idea of the future.

[azcavalier]

That's a tough one. I can think of lots of favorite Disney design details, but a singular fact...

I love that John Lasseter (head of Pixar) once worked as a skipper on the Jungle Cruise ride.

[Melanie]

One of my favorite Disney facts is that Lillian Disney's maiden name was Bounds, my married name. :)

[ransam]

When little girls are dressed up as their favorite characters, the cast will bow to her if she's a princess. If she's dressed as Allice, Wendy, or a disney character they may shake her hand or wave, but never bow, you only bow to princesses.

[WDWdriver]

I love the whole process to how the land was purchased for the "Florida Project." From the dummy corporation names, to tax breaks, to loopholes, it was a genius.

The names of the dummy corporations used during the land purchase are displayed on the windows above the entrance to the Crystal Arts shop on Main Street USA. They include Tomahawk Properties, Latin American Development, Ayefour Corporation, Bay Lake Properties, Reedy Creek Ranch Lands and Compass East Corporation.

I love the fact that all of the advertisements displayed on the upstairs windows along Main Street are actually tributes to those who contributed to the creation or operation of Walt Disney World over the years, including Walter Elias Disney himself whose name is on the only window that faces the castle.

[Main Street Jim]

The Tomorrowland Speedway race cars were modeled after a 1968 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray :)

[yjgirl32]

This is a great thread. Love hearing all these wonderful facts. Thanks.

[ANG]

The general marketing genius. Free transportation from airport when you stay on site = less likely to rent a car and visit any other attractions. Price of park tickets decreases the longer you stay = longer vacations just at Disney.

The way they know people tend to walk towards the right, so Main Street has the candy store, bakery, and ice cream shoppes on the right as you enter, and the gift shops on right as you leave.

Never thought of this but makes a lot of sense!

[waymickey]

I think this is kinda cool- On Buena Vista Drive at the Team Disney building is the largest indoor sundial. 'We thought that time was important to Disney,'' said architect Arata Isozaki, "since the theme park plays fast and loose with our concept of time" (Tomorrowland, Frontierland, etc.).

It is open to the public. :mickey:

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I love the whole process to how the land was purchased for the "Florida Project." From the dummy corporation names, to tax breaks, to loopholes, it was a genius plan. Walt was a great businessman as well, and every shrewd businessman has a little bit of bending the rules in them.

I think the credit for that goes to Walt's brother Roy. Walt was the dreamer, Roy was the guy behind the scenes that found ways to make it happen.

I read an article how Disney will monitor crowd levels in certain areas and if it reaches a certain capacity will "launch" a character or some other distraction to get people to move, without know they are being moved, to another less busy location. We were in WDW shortly after reading this and sure enough, we were in Frontierland and sort out of nowhere the the old time brass band comes out and walks and plays there way to Tom Sawyers boat docks. Next thing I know, what the heck, we are on the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island. So it works.

[sportsguy2315]

I love the fact that the park is built over the Utilidors. Just to know you don't see any "backstage" stuff is pretty cool. Plus the forced perspective of things, which is evident looking around Epcot at all the pavilions.

I once had a guest ask me if there were any dead bodies down in the utilidors. :secret: I laughed and explained the true purpose.

The Beatles broke up at the Poly when a vacationing John Lennon signed the paperwork to officially break up the band in his hotel room.

[texas211]

Yeah I like the fact there is interesting trivia. LIke you can fit San Francisco in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, etc.

[Main Street Jim]

Yeah I like the fact there is interesting trivia. LIke you can fit San Francisco in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, etc.Umm, I think the city of San Francisco is a bit bigger than the Magic Kingdom parking lot (the Magic Kingdom parking lot is 125 acres; I'm pretty sure San Francisco is bigger. SF - 49.2 sq. mi. = 31,488 acres. Might be able to fit all 27,000 acres of the entire Walt Disney World property - all four theme parks, two water parks, 23 resorts, golf courses, Downtown Disney, and more - in the "land size" of San Francisco...) :)

On the topic of "land size":

The entire Magic Kingdom will fit inside the "footprint" of Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom - and inside the World Showcase lagoon at EPCOT.

Magic Kingdom: 107 acres
EPCOT: 300 acres
Hollywood Studios: 89 acres
Animal Kingdom: 500 acres