Your best Disney fact or insider story...

[Zooshoveller]

Well, I found this gold nugget about Hollywood Studios and that seemingly out of place dinosaur in Echo Lake. Apparently it based on a non-disney film character from 1913.

What a subtle and great tribute to early films.

Gertie at Echo Lake

Sweet! I was right!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Disney uses carbon dioxide released from pipes to control bugs. Mosquitoes and such are attracted to the carbon dioxide and eventually suffocate. Leaving us with a mostly bug free park and resort. (Thanks Kingdom Keepers for this little tid bit)

 

[bcrook]

Disney uses carbon dioxide released from pipes to control bugs. Mosquitoes and such are attracted to the carbon dioxide and eventually suffocate. Leaving us with a mostly bug free park and resort. (Thanks Kingdom Keepers for this little tid bit)

I know that carbon dioxide attracts insects like mosquitoes and bed bugs , but I don't understand how it would kill them without trapping them first.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

My understanding is that the hoses have little holes, like a sprinkler hose. The bug fly so close that there is no oxygen, just carbon dioxide, and suffocate.

 

[BrdwayBoy]

Here are the lands I think that are built around a good story.
1. DinoLand - now that I read it, excellent.
2. Africa and Asia in DAK. I guess they really needed a story because they weren't really complete.
3. Sunset blvd at DHS. Tower of Terror really cemented that. Rock n roller coaster? Whatever.
4. Frontierland - oozes with story
5. Main Street - excellent

Anything as elaborate as the Dino-Rama saga?

I'd be curious to hear the backstories of these lands as well!

 

[disbound09]

Wow so many great insights and observations. I can't wait to impress somebody. Great Thread!!

 

[bcrook]

I'd be curious to hear the backstories of these lands as well!

I will try to round something up. But, I think Main Street is a story in itself, and it has been explained pretty well already on this thread.

Africa at DAK might have just as interesting backstory as Dinoland U.S.A.

Sunset Blvd is old Hollywood with the looming hotel, traveling acting show, the Cathay Circle replica theater, etc.

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

Wow so many great insights and observations. I can't wait to impress somebody. Great Thread!!

I learned so much in this thread that I was like a walking tour guide on our trip this last weekend!

Even DH (who usually rolls his eyes pretty loudly at this stuff) was impressed & started getting into all of the trivia/fact stuff. We've had so many trips & have seen every ride/attraction so many times that I think he FINALLY started to see that there is more to it that the big flashy stuff. He loves history so all the Liberty Square stuff alone was interesting, but when I pulled out the factoid about the hearse at HM being the prop from the John Wayne movie.... OMG, his reaction was priceless, fully stunned, wide-eyed jaw-drop!!! I had NO clue that was his favorite JW movie or that I would impress him that much, lol.

DD loves the detail of everything Disney so she had a LOT of fun with soooo many things in this thread - all the HM stuff was awesome to share, the Singing in the Rain umbrella, hidden Tink, etc. We also did Behind the Seeds & she rated it one of her fave WDW experiences.

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing shares - it really added a lot to our experience this time around & made us consider another short weekend trip dedicated just to fact-finding/exploring.

I need to read back now & make a list of the books you all have recommended. I think we'll all 3 be interested in doing more research & appreciating the detail all over the property.

 

[vikster1]

Every day, the guests at WDW resorts use an amount of linen that would take a normal person 40 years to wash.

1.4 million pounds of laundry are done every week at WDW.

The original name of the CR was the Tempo Bay Resort.

It would take 72 years to sleep in every bed at the WDWR for one night.

 

[bcrook]

I learned so much in this thread that I was like a walking tour guide on our trip this last weekend!

Even DH (who usually rolls his eyes pretty loudly at this stuff) was impressed & started getting into all of the trivia/fact stuff. We've had so many trips & have seen every ride/attraction so many times that I think he FINALLY started to see that there is more to it that the big flashy stuff. He loves history so all the Liberty Square stuff alone was interesting, but when I pulled out the factoid about the hearse at HM being the prop from the John Wayne movie.... OMG, his reaction was priceless, fully stunned, wide-eyed jaw-drop!!! I had NO clue that was his favorite JW movie or that I would impress him that much, lol.

DD loves the detail of everything Disney so she had a LOT of fun with soooo many things in this thread - all the HM stuff was awesome to share, the Singing in the Rain umbrella, hidden Tink, etc. We also did Behind the Seeds & she rated it one of her fave WDW experiences.

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing shares - it really added a lot to our experience this time around & made us consider another short weekend trip dedicated just to fact-finding/exploring.

I need to read back now & make a list of the books you all have recommended. I think we'll all 3 be interested in doing more research & appreciating the detail all over the property.

Thanks for posting that! Awesome.

The funny part is I missed some of the stuff you mentioned, I guess I better re read. The John Wayne prop? Wow. I have to find it.

 

[Sphinx610]

Cinderella's Royal Table was originally called King Stefan's Banquet hall. This was because in medieval times, the castle's banquet hall was named in honor of a neighboring kingdom. The closest kingdom would have been Disneyland - Sleeping Beauty's castle - which was King Stefan. However, this caused confusion among tourists, so it was renamed to Cinderella's Royal Table.

I always wondered why they called it that! Mystery solved!

 

[Cais]

Every day, the guests at WDW resorts use an amount of linen that would take a normal person 40 years to wash.

1.4 million pounds of laundry are done every week at WDW.

The original name of the CR was the Tempo Bay Resort.

It would take 72 years to sleep in every bed at the WDWR for one night.

Tempo Bay isn't entirely accurate. It was referred to as the Contemporary Resort during construction as a placeholder name. Just before opening, the new name was revealed but by that time Contemporary had stuck and so it hastily reverted back to the original name.

 

[Sphinx610]

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

[*]There are gems embedded in the sidewalk near Aladdin's Magic Carpets

In one of those gems/jewelry pieces, there is a hidden Mickey! Btwn the ride and a store in the bazaar behind it! Look in the pavement- I have a pic of it. Here's a link to what it looks like... http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=0a3bcd56-06ea-4428-9b58-690cef5bd7c3&gid=3
People were probably like what is this crazy woman doing looking at the floor? Did she lose a contact or something? Lol

 

[providince]

Most of the restaurants at AK are themed in a uniquely non obvious way. Flame Tree bbq for instance is predator vs prey. Look at the columns and you can see snakes slithering down to eat a mouse.

 

[thehowells]

i also have done the kttk tour, and can add some things

the suite in the castle, had to be given a value to be given away, without causing the winner to be taxed, so if you could book it, it would be the cheapest room on property

the chess board on potc has a guide of how the pieces are to go back on the board, from the designer if they ever have to clean in

the tiki birds thatch roof is strip aluminum

the liberity bell was cast from the original bell, and the mold broke while taking it off

the large oak just to the left of the bell was hand picked by walt himself

the christmas store in liberity square has walts grandmothers maiden name on the outside

and the one i found strangest is all the animitronics use clear fluid for one reason
when they debuted the hall of presidents lincoln sprung a leak on his left shoulder leaving a large red mark right about where he was shot

 

[bcrook]

i also have done the kttk tour, and can add some things

the suite in the castle, had to be given a value to be given away, without causing the winner to be taxed, so if you could book it, it would be the cheapest room on property

the chess board on potc has a guide of how the pieces are to go back on the board, from the designer if they ever have to clean in

the tiki birds thatch roof is strip aluminum

the liberity bell was cast from the original bell, and the mold broke while taking it off

the large oak just to the left of the bell was hand picked by walt himself

the christmas store in liberity square has walts grandmothers maiden name on the outside

and the one i found strangest is all the animitronics use clear fluid for one reason
when they debuted the hall of presidents lincoln sprung a leak on his left shoulder leaving a large red mark right about where he was shot

That clear animatronics fluid tidbit is a good one. It must have been disturbing seeing old Abe spring a leak.

 

[molliewalks]

I heard this from a CM at CSR a few weeks ago,

About 8 years ago when the HM ride stopped with people on it. A man switched his hat with the hat on the man with a dog near the end of the ride. WDW didn't know what to do so the hat remains today.

That's so funny!!! That man and dog reminds me of my father and his dog Doodle!

 

[Hootch]

the chess board on potc has a guide of how the pieces are to go back on the board, from the designer if they ever have to clean in

After a major refurb to POTC a number of years ago, they could not figure out the chess game set up. It was sometimes later that they found the diagram in a file.

The chess game is not a stalemate as many people think. Any moves will result in coming back to the same arrangement so the game never ends.

I don't believe it is possible to get to this situation in a real game.

 

[bcrook]

After a major refurb to POTC a number of years ago, they could not figure out the chess game set up. It was sometimes later that they found the diagram in a file.

The chess game is not a stalemate as many people think. Any moves will result in coming back to the same arrangement so the game never ends.

I don't believe it is possible to get to this situation in a real game.

I would like to see the diagram or picture of that chess setup. Intriguing.

 

[siskaren]

After a major refurb to POTC a number of years ago, they could not figure out the chess game set up. It was sometimes later that they found the diagram in a file.

According to the Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom, they found the diagram when someone happened to look on the back of one of Marc Davis's drawings. (Davis was an Imagineer and one of Disney's Nine Old Men of animation.)