Touring Disney’s Magic Kingdom is like taking a world journey. The park has a distinct flow, from the Small Town America of Walt Disney’s childhood memory, to Europe, the New World, the American West, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Middle East, into Space, and finally, to the cartoon world of Walt Disney’s imagination.
But there are other ways of looking at the Magic Kingdom as well. We will explore it from three distinct perspectives—the Show, the Facts, and a historical timeline of exploration—giving a sense of the thought and detail that went into creating an all-encompassing world filled with the gentleness of fantasy and the fascination of fact.
As a fun addition to your Magic Kingdom touring, why not go on a weathervane hunt? There are weathervanes on many of Magic Kingdom’s buildings, and if you have a sharp eye you’ll find a rooster, a moose, a hunched-over elf-like man with a long nose, and a crocodile. Do your best to find each one, but if you have trouble their locations can be found in Solution 1 in Appendix: Solution to Hints, at the end of the book.
Every aspect of Walt Disney World focuses on the Show, which invites guests to suspend reality and become part of a fully immersive theatrical experience, but Main Street, U.S.A. also tells the Facts about the making of the Magic Kingdom more vividly than any other area of the park. These elements combine seamlessly, creating a sense of Hometown America as Walt Disney remembered it from his childhood home of Marceline, Missouri. Main Street allows guests to immediately feel a sense of familiarity and, at the same time, experience excitement and anticipation for the grand adventure that waits when we venture beyond the boundaries of home.
It all begins when you set foot on Magic Kingdom property. From the perspective of the Show, the turnstiles are like the entry to a grand theater. As you pass under the train station, you see posters representing Coming Attractions, building the excitement for what’s in store. Then, walk into the theater represented by the train station’s exit, breathe in the smell of fresh, hot popcorn, and enter the Show. That’s when the magic really takes over.
Gene Columbus began his Disney career as Manager of Magic Kingdom Entertainment & Set Shows and he knows what it takes to produce great entertainment. His keen eye for quality entertainers has given the parks that “special something” that complements the large-scale attractions. Gene took his skills to the Orlando Repertory Theatre after his time with Disney and, as Executive Director, he continues to provide opportunities for today’s brightest talent. He recalls his role as Manager of Entertainment Staffing at Walt Disney World: “Casting and hiring were one of the most important tasks I had as a leader. I expected the performer to come to a performance without excuses or positioning. Sing the song like you wrote it and make me believe those are your words. I looked for people who give themselves completely to the materials. After many decades it is wonderful to see a few performers I cast many years ago still performing today. However, it was the staffing process that has and continues to bring value to the company and I have been told that is part of my legacy. Selecting people who have a passion for the product, the people, and the purpose seems simple. I was never concerned about hiring people who were better than me, and I have to say it was wonderful to report to many people that I had hired. There are so many, and each should take credit for their success. I am thrilled that I had a small part in helping them along the way.”
The best blockbuster movies take your breath away, putting you firmly on the edge of your seat from the very first scene, and Town Square achieves this in high style. Although Cinderella Castle almost pulls you down Main Street, Town Square sets the scene for the experience to come, moving you through Hometown America and out into the World of Walt Disney.
Notice the entire length of Main Street is bordered by red pavement, as if the Red Carpet has been rolled out for you. The Fact is, when Kodak was consulted, they determined a particular shade of red enhances guest photographs, especially in direct contrast to the green of the grass.
Staying within a land or attraction’s theme is important, as Ron Logan, former Executive Vice President of Walt Disney Entertainment, found out when he began his career with Disney as a musician. “The first time I met Walt Disney I was a young man, and I was part of the trumpet corps at Disneyland. To my surprise, I got written up by Walt one day. I was playing rock-and-roll music marching down Main Street, and he sent me a note calling me into his office, where he said, ‘There was no rock-and-roll music in the 1920s, young man.’”
On the left of Town Square are the town’s services, and Fire Station 71 is a clever nod to 1971, the year the Magic Kingdom opened. On the right are the town’s entertainment venues, including Exposition Hall and the local dining hot-spot.
Across the square you’ll find Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, named for the restaurant where Lady and the Tramp enjoyed their romantic spaghetti dinner, which holds two charming secrets. You will find a tribute to Tramp’s love for his beautiful lady carved into the pavement to the left of the stairs, and if you go inside and walk to the back of the restaurant, you will find them enjoying a quiet meal outside the back window.
There is an old-fashioned crank telephone just inside the right-hand door at the Chapeau, near Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, and if you pick up the receiver you’ll hear two women having a conversation. There was a time when phones had a party line, meaning up to twenty homes in the neighborhood were on the same telephone line and could hear each other’s conversations. How could residents tell if the call was for them? Each home had its own phone number that triggered a specific ring sequence. Stay on the line in the Chapeau long enough and you may hear a nosy neighbor butt into the conversation.
Though the results of their labors will be appreciated and admired by millions, Imagineers are not allowed to sign their work. Instead, they sometimes place little symbols of themselves, often in the form of initials or birthdates, cleverly disguised to blend into the environment’s theme. You will see many as you tour the parks.
Every good Hometown America has its central park, with benches for the townsfolk to relax and enjoy a perfect afternoon. Sit down on the bench with Goofy, located in front of Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, and he may engage you in conversation. Goofy does like to move around, so if you don’t see him in front of the restaurant, look around the square. He and his bench are likely to be there somewhere!
Roy O. Disney, Walt’s brother and the real driving force behind the Magic Kingdom after Walt passed away in 1966, has his own bench in the park, seated with Minnie Mouse, honoring their supporting roles in the successes of Walt and Mickey. Roy and Minnie also tend to move around the courtyard, but they are generally found near City Hall.
While you’re in the area, take a look at the plaque on the left-hand side of the landscaping just beyond the flagpole. Each of the Disney parks has a dedication plaque with quotations from the executive who opened the park. Here you’ll see Roy O. Disney’s opening day comments. Take note of the date, though. Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971, but the official ceremony didn’t take place until October 25, once the park was fully functional.
Musician and Disney Legend Ron Logan, who generously shares his thoughts in some of the Imagine That! comments, has a second-story window on Main Street, as do many of the Disney Legends, Imagineers, and key people. Ron’s is located above the Emporium, to the right of the second-story bay window nearest the Harmony Barber Shop. It reads:
Main Street Music Co.
Ron Logan
Conductor
“Leading the band into a new century”
Ron Logan’s window reflects his contributions to the Disney experience, but there is one honor he never expected. “To me, becoming a Disney Legend came out of the blue. I didn’t even know what a Disney Legend was. I still don’t know who put me up for it. Being a Legend soothes all the wounds. Guys I’m Legends with were guys I sometimes fought. We’re best friends now, because we went through the war; we survived the battles.”
On the windows to either side of the Emporium’s front door are the words “Osh” Popham, Proprietor. Ossium “Osh” Popham was the postmaster in the Disney feature film Summer Magic starring Burl Ives and Hayley Mills. Signs inside the Emporium indicate the store was established in 1863, a nod to the movie’s debut 100 years later.
The Emporium Gallery next to the Emporium has a sign over the front door that reads, Established in 1901, the year Walt Disney was born.
As you walk down Main Street, the “movie credits” roll in the upper windows above the shops. The window of the first shop on the right-hand side of Main Street, above Uptown Jewelers, honors the producer, Roy O. Disney, and it reads: “If We Can Dream It—We Can Do It! Dreamers and Doers, Roy O. Disney.” Walt Disney had the dream, but Roy’s financial acumen made that dream come true.
In between Roy’s window at the beginning of Main Street and Walt’s window at the end of Main Street are the names of the cast and crew who brought the Show to life. Take time to stop and read them to honor these creative men and women.
Main Street’s second-story windows actually perform a three-part function. At their most basic, they are advertisements for the town’s services and business proprietors, from mortgages to dance lessons to interior decorators and so on. As representations of rolling credits, they are the companies involved in creating the Show.
The Fact is, they are the names of the Imagineers, artists, and bogus land-purchasing companies that held instrumental roles in the creation of the Magic Kingdom. Their corresponding businesses allude to the real-life roles they played in the creation of the park. Look for Big Top Theatrical Productions, “Famous since ’55” (developers and designers of many of the World’s Fair attractions that became Disney classics); Iwerks-Iwerks Stereoscopic Cameras (Ub Iwerks, animation); M.T. Lott Co., “A Friend in Deeds Is a Friend Indeed” (land acquisition; say the name quickly and you’ll get the joke); and Buena Vista Magic Lantern Slides, “Treat Your Friends to Our Special Tricks” (Yale Gracey and Wathel Rogers, special effects), among many others. You will find some of these key people in other areas of the park, and in other hidden magic.
Do Disney Imagineers ever experience the attractions as guests do? Michael Roddy, Senior Show Writer, Creative Entertainment, says, “We love it when a counterpart tells a story. I can go through another team’s attraction and experience it as a guest, without actually being part of the design team. And I can take someone on something I’ve done, such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and think, ‘I’m going to blow their mind!’”
A window worth noting belongs to Frank Wells, chief operating officer and president of Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 1994. Look for the window titled Seven Summits Expeditions, up on the third story, above the Main Street Market House. Wells’s window is the highest on Main Street, in honor of his love for mountaineering. But consider this: Wells attempted to conquer the highest summit on each of the seven continents in a single year—achieving six of the seven, but having to turn back before reaching the top of Everest. Coincidentally, there are also seven (count ’em!) lands at Magic Kingdom and Mr. Wells conquered them all.
If anyone had been doing some investigation into who was mysteriously buying up vast acreages of land in central Florida, they would have found the chairman of each of the dummy companies was a certain Mr. M. Mouse! The whole secretive operation was given the codename Project X by Walt. It was finally brought to light by a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel who flew to Los Angeles to interview Walt and discovered he had an intimate knowledge of all the property taxes of the Orlando area. When the story broke, the cost of land in the surrounding area skyrocketed from $180 per acre to more than $1,000 per acre. The last few acres Walt purchased cost $80,000 each.
Fire Station 71 isn’t the only place that points to Magic Kingdom’s opening year. The door to the left of Main Street Fashion and Apparel also refers to this important year in Disney history. The lettering on the door reads:
Open since ’71
Magic Kingdom Casting Agency
“It Takes People to Make the Dream a Reality”
Walter Elias Disney
Founder and Director Emeritus
Walt and Roy both have windows along Main Street, but there are also a few places in Magic Kingdom where their father and grandfather are honored. On the window above the china shop along the small alley branching off the right-hand side of Main Street you’ll see a tribute to their father, Elias Disney. The tribute to their grandfather will come later, in Liberty Square.
You can find just about anything on Main Street, U.S.A., including singing and dancing lessons. If you stand between the tables in the small café area near the Art Festival sign and the trellised balcony just beyond Elias Disney’s window, you will hear voice lessons coming through an upper-level window across the street. Keep listening and you may also hear tap-dancing or piano lessons.
Your attention will probably be focused on the castle now that you are getting closer, but notice how all the shop windows along Main Street are lower than traditional architecture would place them. Walt wanted small children to be able to see inside, which would not have been possible had they been set at their correct height.
Now that you have reached the far end of Main Street, look at the upper window above the Plaza Restaurant, facing Cinderella Castle. There, you will find Walter Elias Disney’s window, the director of the Show. His window reads: “Walter E. Disney, Graduate School of Design & Master Planning—We specialize in Imagineering.” While the director’s name always comes first and last in the credits, the sentimental version of this placement dictates Walt has been given an eternal view of the castle.
Below Walt’s name are the names of his master planners—Richard Irvine, John Hench, Howard Brummitt, Marvin Davis, Fred Hope, Vic Greene, Bill Martin, and Chuck Myall—who were instrumental in designing the Magic Kingdom.
Contrary to one of the great urban myths, Marilyn Monroe was not the inspiration for the curvy character Tinker Bell in the 1953 Disney movie, Peter Pan. Margaret Kerry, actor, dancer, and voice talent, was the real reference model for the fairy, although she was not listed in the movie’s credits. But there was more to it than that. Margaret explains that when creating the beguiling little pixie with animator Marc Davis and codirector Gerry Geronimi, she asked them, “‘Is there any way that you want me to play her? Do you want me to play her aloof? Is she funny, is she a clown? What is she?’ Marc Davis told me, ‘We like your personality. We just want you to be you.’ So when you see Tinker Bell, that’s exactly me. I could put in almost anything I wanted to for Tinker Bell to make her come alive.” She adds, “The first thing they asked me to do was the famous scene where I land on the looking glass. I had made up my mind I would play Tinker Bell as if she were about twelve years old and the whole world was her oyster. She had never seen most things that she was about to see, and I figured that she had never seen a looking glass. Why should she? Why would they have that in Neverland? So I played it looking at myself, and although they put it down that she’s a preening pixie, actually I played it as if she’s saying, ‘Oh, is that what I look like! Oh!’ All except my hips. I was very unhappy with the size of my hips, so that’s why Tinker Bell stomps off.”
Walt also has a window on the front of the train station, directly above the Magic Kingdom sign, before you enter the park. It is the only window you can see from outside the park and it honors Walt’s love of trains. It reads: “Walt Disney World Railroad Office, Keeping Dreams on Track, Walter E. Disney, Chief Engineer.” Remember to look back as you’re leaving the park to see this special remembrance.
Then, as you transition through the Hub area, step beyond the embrace of Hometown America and enter Old World Europe as represented by Fantasyland.
Welcome to the quintessential Disney experience, the epitome of all Walt dreamed of in family entertainment. Fantasyland brings the tales gathered by the Brothers Grimm to life through the graceful charm of European castles, knights, and ladies fair. It is the embodiment of childhood fantasy that has been passed down from grandparent to grandchild throughout the ages.
The Show element is fairly obvious: You have entered the cinematic world of the Disney classics. A more history-based story line brings you out of Hometown America into the charm and gallantry of medieval Europe. Billowing tents, heavy brick, and hand-blown glass windows evoke a feeling of long-ago kingdoms and quaint villages created through childhood imagination.
Each time you pass from one land to another, the landscaping, ambient sound, and architecture change subtly. For example, when transitioning from the Hub to Adventureland, the architecture and landscaping along the front of the Crystal Palace change from Victorian to more colonial style, the design elements on the bridge crossing into Adventureland become more primitive, and the landscaping takes on a more jungle-themed look. What else is special about the transition from Crystal Palace to Adventureland? It’s symbolic of the British Empire spreading its influence into Africa.
As you wander Fantasyland, you may notice many attractions are housed under tent façades, giving the land the feel of a medieval fair. Although it is a bit difficult to make the mental connection between it’s a small world and a medieval festival, it’s obvious the columns in front of the attraction are carved into the shape of jousting lances. Why did the Imagineers choose a medieval fair theme for Fantasyland? They didn’t, really. Many of the Fantasyland attraction façades were not quite finished when Disneyland opened in California in 1955, so banners and decorative tents were used to cover the unfinished parts on opening day, and the theme stuck. It was then brought to Walt Disney World in keeping with the already-popular land in Anaheim.
Cindy White, Consultant Designer for Walt Disney World, talks about her work incorporating Fantasyland’s theme into the Castle Forecourt shows. “The tournament-tent look is an established Disney Fantasyland motif, and it seemed like a perfect fit for Cinderellabration, and then Dream Along with Mickey, sweet character revues that place the Disney characters in so many songs and stories. The little tents were cleverly engineered to provide easy set up for the technical team but also allow for the quick changes in the show. You can see from watching the show how many Cast Members, quick changes, and props there are, all part of a production on an open stage with no wings. While we discussed many different looks for the show, such as a big gilded castle gate and a more expansive tent, the two tents provide just enough space for the quick changes and props while still making the pieces removable for storage backstage if there is another show at night. We tried several variations on the harlequin pattern before finally settling on the blue and purple to complement the castle and the existing decking. The harlequin pattern is a traditional ‘storybook’ medieval style, and it is very prominent in the designs of Eyvind Earle, who art directed Sleeping Beauty, and that movie is loaded with slender, elegant tournament tents.”
You could be forgiven for thinking Cinderella Castle looks like two castles in one. The bottom is heavy and relatively unadorned in the manner of a medieval fortress while the top is much more delicate and fairy-tale-like, as would be common for a Renaissance palace.
If you have a sharp eye, you may notice the Disney family coat of arms standing guard over the front and back entrances to the castle.
In the mural scene inside the breezeway, where the prince has placed the glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot, you’ll find two Disney Imagineers. The man standing to the far left is John Hench, and the man directly behind the prince is Herbert Ryman. Hench and Ryman were the lead designers of Cinderella Castle.
Gene Columbus, former Manager of Magic Kingdom Entertainment & Set Shows, Producer, and Manager of Entertainment Staffing at Walt Disney World, shares his thoughts on the emotional attachment people form to the parks, and how precious magical memories can be. “Cinderella Castle is no doubt the single thing I always look forward to seeing. It is brilliantly designed and captures the magic of that park. My father loved the castle and his idea of a good time was to sit on the porch of the Crystal Palace and watch the families walking around with the castle as a background, and seeing the beautiful landscaping leading up to the castle. I sat with him once and he said, ‘Son, I wish there had been a place like this when you were a little boy so I could take you, your sister, and brother.’ For his eightieth birthday we brought him to the park for the big 25th Anniversary Celebration. In honor of twenty-five years, the castle was turned into a pink birthday cake. It didn’t cross my mind, but when we arrived in the Magic Kingdom my father screamed, ‘What have they done to my castle?’ Trying to cover, I told him it was in honor of his birthday, but he simply said, ‘I don’t like it!’ I continued to explain that it was a promotional concept and would only be that way for a year or so. He followed with, ‘But this may be the last time I get to see it!’ At that moment I completely understood that we staff members do not own this place, but our guests do, so we need to use great care in how we treat what they consider to be theirs. The story does go on and we recovered, but I learned a great deal from that experience and think of my dad every time I see the castle.”
Next, look for the horse with a golden ribbon around the bottom of its tail, on Prince Charming Regal Carrousel. Although popular myth states this is Cinderella’s horse, its interior placement and lack of any design elements that would make it more prominent than the rest indicate it isn’t really a horse designed for a princess. But it makes a nice story.
Forced perspective is a technique used to trick your eye into thinking something is bigger, taller, closer, or farther away than it actually is. Imagineers use this technique throughout Walt Disney World to make the most economical use of space and materials. Many of the buildings you see are built, for example, to an 80/60/40 scale, meaning the lower level is built to 80 percent normal scale, the second level to 60 percent, and the upper level to 40 percent, giving the illusion of greater height.
The sense of elegance as you walk through the queue is matched by whimsical touches that let you know there is nothing stuffy or formal about the hall. Stained-glass windows feature Cinderella’s mouse companions, Suzy, Jaq, and Gus, and one of the birds that helped make her ball gown.
Further along, the entry hall is lined with portraits of Cinderella’s princess friends. Take note of the portrait of Tiana; she appears with Cajun firefly Ray and a female firefly that could just be his beloved Evening Star, Evangeline.
References to Cinderella and Princess Aurora can be found in the wallpaper, with the tiny glass slipper representing Cinderella and the rose representing Aurora. The pictures on the wall depict Aurora’s “homeland.”
Imagineer Jason Grandt was instrumental in creating a regal court for some of Walt Disney World’s most popular characters, and he shares the inspiration for this pretty meet-and-greet. “The story line is that Princess Fairytale Hall is a place for Cinderella and visiting princesses to meet the subjects of Fantasyland. Because our story is that this was a gift from the king to Cinderella, a lot of the design was inspired by the film Cinderella and by Cinderella Castle, which is an environment that complements all our Disney princesses.” Why is Cinderella’s glass slipper here? She has left her slipper at Princess Fairytale Hall as a gift for the Imagineers to display.
When you enter the chamber to meet Cinderella, notice the books on the table in front of the window in the center of the room. The open book is the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and acts as a tribute to Walt Disney’s first animated feature film and the attraction Snow White’s Scary Adventures that formerly made its home here.
Other books here are The Snow Queen, on which the movie Frozen is based, Brave, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, and Sleeping Beauty, each titled in the language in which the original fairy tale was written.
The walls between Fantasyland and Fantasy Forest aren’t intended to be an entryway into the forest even though they were built as part of the Fantasyland expansion. Instead, they represent an exit from Fantasyland, the village under the jurisdiction of Cinderella Castle. Fantasyland is inside the fortress area while Fantasy Forest is the rural area outside the castle walls. It is a subtle difference in intent that reinforces the regal importance and protective nature of the castle and its courtyard.
In the original Grimm fairy tale “The Frog Prince,” the young princess does not kiss the frog to turn him into a prince. The frog, who retrieved a little golden ball the princess lost in return for her promise that he would be her companion, is fairly demanding in his requests to eat, sleep, and play with the princess. She quickly becomes angry and viciously throws him against a wall. He then transforms into a handsome prince and at her father’s command, the princess becomes his bride. Not quite as romantic as the updated version, is it?
There is a great deal of symbolism throughout Belle’s little village, beginning with the crest attached to the right-hand side of the stone entry arch leading to Be Our Guest Restaurant. It is the Beast’s crest, but it holds special meaning. Roses traditionally mean hope and joy; heraldic lions represent bravery, strength, and valor; and the three fleur-de-lis stand for purity, light, and France. Look for these symbols as you wander the area, especially in and around Beast’s Castle.
Although Cast Members staying in character will tell you the portrait on the back wall in Bonjour! Village Gifts is a relative of Magic Kingdom’s Vice President, Phil Holmes, you and I know it’s really him. The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies here, as there are several wonderful details hidden within the portrait. Tributes to attractions and lands Holmes has been involved with include Aladdin’s lamp from the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, a red apple from Snow White’s Scary Adventures, and peanuts from Storybook Circus, all of which sit on the table in front of him. Over his left shoulder is a strip of wallpaper with the pattern used in the Haunted Mansion, while a golden statue of Donald Duck sits on a shelf over his right shoulder. This award is given to Cast Members who have been with the Walt Disney Company for forty years. Just below Donald is a blue book with a spine that reads Terre de Fantasme, which translates to “Land of Fantasy,” or “Fantasy Land.” The open book on the table features a map of Magic Kingdom, and Phil sports a large ring on his right hand, another symbol of his forty years of service with Disney.
Who is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit? Believe it or not, there was a time when Walt Disney contracted his work as an animator to Universal Pictures. In 1927, Walt and fellow animator Ub Iwerks created the mischievous, long-eared Oswald, who became a successful commodity. While seeking expanded funding for the cartoons, Walt’s request was rejected and he was informed his services were no longer required if he chose not to join producer Charles Mintz’s staff. To make matters worse, Walt discovered Universal retained the rights to Oswald. Mintz moved all future Oswald animation to his own company, Winkler Productions, taking several of Disney’s animators with him. It was a painful loss for Walt, but one that ultimately led to the creation of Mickey Mouse. In 2006, seventy-nine years after Walt and Ub introduced the character, Walt Disney Company secured the rights to Oswald and he once again returned to his “rightful” animation studio.
In keeping with Belle’s love for reading, the open book to the left of Phil Holmes’s portrait is the story of “Beauty and the Beast” in French.
Astute guests will notice a small door on the outside wall at the back of Bonjour! Village Gifts, which looks like it should be something special. A door for Cinderella’s mice, maybe? Nope. Wrong village, wrong time frame. So what is it? It has no real part in the story of Belle’s Village, but it does hide a maintenance element in charming style.
A special tribute to Walt Disney’s and animator Ub Iwerks’s 1927 cartoon co-creation Oswald the Lucky Rabbit can be found embedded in the walkway outside Enchanted Tales with Belle. Look for a section of the pavement about 20 feet from the Enchanted Tales with Belle sign, where two cracks come together to form a sharp point. Then look for a small round stone and two elongated stones. They form Oswald’s head (facing Maurice’s cottage) and ears (pointing toward Seven Dwarfs Mine Train).
As evidenced by his yard and his workshop, Maurice’s philosophy is “why throw something away when you can repurpose it,” making him a recycler before recycling became fashionable. Broken wagon wheels, rusty shovels, discarded cattle yokes, and cast-off window shutters are, apparently, the perfect items for mending a fence or for hanging pathway lighting. Even his old chimney has been salvaged long after it should have fallen down.
Once inside Maurice’s cottage, mementos from Belle’s childhood abound. A portrait of Belle as a child, sitting with her mother while reading a book, is clearly a treasured possession. Notice the shelf to the left of the portrait. The teapot and cup on the shelf bear a striking resemblance to characters Belle will meet when she enters the Beast’s enchanted castle.
The book on a table near the fireplace is open to the story of a young maiden and Le Prince Charment. But it’s not the story of Cinderella and her prince; it is Le Songe d’une femme (The Dream of a Woman) written by French author Remy de Gourmont. This is the book Belle reads in the Disney animated movie Beauty and the Beast when Gaston asks her how she can read a book with no pictures. However, as you can see in the book on the table, and in the book she holds in the movie, there is most assuredly a picture. Oops!
In the animated movie, Belle points to a page in the book and says it’s her favorite part because it’s “where she meets Prince Charming.” While the picture is of a prince and a maiden meeting, the text on that page indicates the maiden has already met the prince and cannot stop thinking of him. The book is a curious choice for Belle, as Remy de Gourmont’s writings, including The Dream of a Woman, are not exactly family-friendly. Even stranger? The original publication of the story of Beauty and the Beast was in 1740, but The Dream of a Woman was not written until 1899. Double oops!
The torn corner of Belle’s book wasn’t done by a naughty tourist. Instead, it remembers the scene in the movie when Belle is sitting on the edge of a fountain reading, with a flock of sheep around her. One of the sheep takes a bite out of her book, so the book here in Maurice’s cottage is post-bite.
The growth chart you see on the wall as you proceed through Maurice’s cottage indicates Belle has lived here for quite some time, since it starts at twelve months and continues until she turns eighteen. This presents a slight continuity problem with the movie, as the opening scene indicates Belle is new to the area and the villagers don’t quite know what to make of her. But it’s a lovely touch, and one many parents will relate to if they’ve charted their own children’s growth on their walls at home.
Once inside Maurice’s workshop, his tinkering nature becomes obvious. Above you is a light fixture made from a model Maurice designed in an attempt to invent a flying machine. Sketches and blueprints adorn the walls, including one for the wood chopper seen in the animated movie, and one for the recycled-cog light fixture here in his workshop.
Look at the shelf to the left of the enchanted mirror in the workshop for a wood carving of Belle dancing with the Beast. Maurice used this carving as a model for the music box featured in the Castle Dining Room in Be Our Guest Restaurant.
The enchanted mirror concept is from the original version of the fairy tale, in which the Beast allows Belle to leave the castle after she becomes his prisoner, but he requires her to take a mirror and a ring with her. In the tale, the mirror in her father’s cottage allowed Belle to see what was happening in the castle while she was away, and the ring brought her directly back to the castle when her allotted time was up.
Visitors can’t help but stare in awe at the immense creativity that has been put into the attractions, but what sparks that moment of fanciful delight for those directly involved in the parks? Gene Columbus says, “The most intriguing thing of all is when I am hosting a friend or family member in a park and they ask me, ‘How did they do that?’ It’s really fun, and my answer most of the time is, ‘With Disney magic!’”
The architecture of Beast’s Castle sets the time frame for this part of the story during the period when the prince was a beast, and had been for many years. Parts of the castle are crumbling, the faces on the architectural emblems are that of the Beast, and the West Wing clearly shows his rage and frustration. But there are two more time frames here as well. Stained-glass windows show the period after Belle has professed her love and the Beast has transformed into a prince again, and the music box in the Castle Dining Room, a gift to the couple from Maurice, hints at their future by recalling the night when their feelings—and their fates—changed.
Every guest has their own idea of which room in Be Our Guest is their favorite, but no matter which one you dine in, be sure to visit the West Wing, where the portrait of the handsome prince transforms into a portrait of the Beast. The Beast is clearly upset about this reminder of his former life, and he has slashed the portrait with his claws.
Another indicator of the time frame is the enchanted rose under a bell glass in the West Wing. If you watch for a while you’ll see a petal fall off, and at the same time the prince’s portrait will change to the face of the Beast. Time is running out, but as the stained-glass windows at the front of the castle remind us, there will be a happy ending.
Some of the cherubs on the ceiling have the faces of Imagineers as children, or the faces of their own children. They are lovely Imagineer signatures, don’t you think?
Whether you dine in the Ballroom or not, be sure to take a few moments to look out the windows. Just as it did on that fateful night when Belle and the Beast danced here, a soft snowfall outside adds to the romantic atmosphere.
Cindy White, Consultant Designer for Walt Disney World, talks about designing props for flexibility as well as authenticity: “The Cinderellabration staging and arches that are now used for Dream Along with Mickey were a modification of the stage show I designed for Tokyo Disneyland’s Cinderellabration two years earlier, with the gilded gothic arches at Magic Kingdom being a nice scenic addition that would give Walt Disney World Entertainment the opportunity to use them for other show projects. They are gothic in style, despite being a little squatty—due to sightlines—to be called spot-on gothic. They go with the front and back entranceways of the castle, which are covered with lovely little touches of gothic, from the light poles to the trefoils in the guardrails.”
You can’t miss the fountain in the middle of the square featuring Gaston and his sidekick LeFeu, the fool. And that’s the whole point. Gaston has donated his statue to the village and while it is true that “il n’a pas de finesse” (he has no finesse), the statue does represent his personality perfectly. It leaks uncontrollably, it’s a study in ego gone wild, and it promotes stepping on inferiors. Gaston is despicable, but somehow you can’t help but smile when you see his tribute to the person he loves best.
It is certainly true that Gaston uses antlers in all of his decorating, and while he may not be the most creative of men, his use of a barrel with antlers stuck in it instead of an animal’s head is at least more politically correct than using the real thing.
Walk into Gaston’s Tavern and you’ve entered a manly man’s world. All sorts of macho sports go on here, including a few things that are rather worrisome. Take a look at the decorative beam to the right of the central light fixture in the counter service area. There is a knife embedded deep in the wood. One wonders how it got there!
Every good pub has its darts game, and Gaston’s is no different. Judging by the score on the chalkboard, there can be only one winner here. Then again, if the darts sticking out of the walls are anything to go by, perhaps Gaston has very little competition.
Just to the left of the fireplace in the right-hand dining room you’ll find yet another set of antlers. Look closely and you’ll see Gaston has left the keys to the tavern hanging from one of the antler’s tines.
Walk around to the right-hand side of Gaston’s Tavern and you’ll see L’Équipement de Chasse painted on the wall. It translates to “The Hunting Equipment.” Turn around and look at the left-hand wall of the Bonjour! Village Gifts shop. A gentler message can be found there in the words Fleuriste Cueillez vos Fleurs, meaning “Florist, Pick Your Flowers.”
Pay attention to the subtle changes as you walk around the mountain where the Seven Dwarfs are mining. The front of the mountain has the same forested feel as Maurice’s cottage, but the back of the mountain transitions to an “under the sea” theme appropriate to The Little Mermaid, with clamshells holding the downspouts to the walls and fish holding up the roof of the Cartography shop.
The proprietor of the Cartography shop, H. Goff, is a tribute to Disney Imagineer Harper Goff. Why was he singled out for honor here? Because he designed the Nautilus submarine for the movie version of Jules Verne’s classic tale, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Goff’s design was subsequently used in the attraction of the same name, which once occupied the land that was taken over by the Fantasyland expansion.
At the top of the Cartographer’s shop is a second tribute to Harper Goff and the attraction that made its home here from 1971 through 1994. The weathervane is in the shape of a squid, recalling the memorable scene in the movie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, when the Nautilus is attacked by a giant squid.
Inside the Cartographer’s shop is another nautical tribute, this time to the Disney Cruise Line fleet. The map on the back wall has a Little Mermaid theme, but notice the names of the ships: the Wonder, the Dream, the Magic, and the Fantasy. Some of the ports where the Disney ships sail are also highlighted on the map.
There are three more hidden gems on the map, taken from scrawled notes on old sea-farers’ maps. The terms “Here be dragons” and “Here be monsters” were used to indicate uncharted territory. The warning “Beware the Siren’s Song” was a reminder to mariners not to be lured by sirens—the mythical creatures of the sea that appeared as beautiful women with hypnotizing voices, luring sailors to their death.
You’ll find another memorial to the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues under the Sea in the queue for Journey of the Little Mermaid, and this one is a doozy! Just before you reach the water fountains at the entryway into the indoor part of the queue, you’ll see ropes wrapped around the railing. Stand on the left side of the ropes, where the wooden beam is broken, and look at the rockwork on the other side of the water. Near the waterline you’ll see a carving that doesn’t look entirely natural. It’s the Nautilus, with the front of the submarine pointing to the left. You can also spot it by looking for two vertical cracks in the rockwork that point directly to the top of the sub.
The portion of the queue that extends to a vaulted area under Prince Eric’s castle is only used during busier seasons, but if it is open during your visit pause near the stairway with baskets of bread, barrels of drink, and various kitchen utensils. The doorway leads to the castle’s kitchen, and you may just hear the chef frying up fish.
Shortly after you board, your clamshell will plunge into the sea for your journey with the Little Mermaid. Each clamshell turns backward, and you can see the bubbles your “splash” makes reflected on other riders’ clamshells, and you’ll see the ocean closing over you when you look up. This same bubble effect is triggered when you return to land just after Ariel takes human form and her voice returns.
Ariel didn’t know her eventual fate as she sang about wanting to “be where the people are,” but a foreshadowing of her destiny in the form of a statue of Prince Eric sits just beyond her on the right-hand side of her grotto.
After you exit the attraction, look to the right at the two rocks on the left side of the water (ignore the rock closest to the fence). There is a hidden Mickey as the character Steamboat Willie here, but it’s going to take some doing to see it. First, stand back a bit and look at the rock in front of you. You can see a faint outline of Mickey’s left foot and leg, with the beginnings of his shorts, and a button. Now look at the rock behind it, which juts out to the right. Mickey’s right foot, leg, and his shorts with the other button will become obvious. Above the shorts, his left arm extends to the rock on the far left. The top of the rock above his arm creates an optical illusion, and while Mickey’s left ear (just above his shoulder) is easy to make out, his head looks a bit squashed. But stick with it, and you should be able to make out his face. Just above his left ear you’ll see a rock that stands up a bit. That’s his hat. Allow your eye to retrace its path and you should see the entire Steamboat Willie.
To keep within the flow of each land, we will pass by Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for now, returning here after our visit to Storybook Circus.
When this small bit of real estate just off of Tomorrowland opened in 1988 in honor of Mickey’s sixtieth birthday, it was appropriately called Mickey’s Birthdayland. In 1990 it was renamed Mickey’s Starland, which lasted less than a year before it became Mickey’s Toyland. The area reopened as Mickey’s Toontown Fair in 1996, a name it held for fifteen years. During the big Fantasyland expansion that began in 2011, Storybook Circus was added as a subsection of Fantasyland, with distinct entryways through Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, and its own personality.
Storybook Circus takes its inspiration from the animated film Dumbo, with a circus theme that lends itself to whimsical reimaginings of beloved Disney characters. While it remains primarily children’s territory, it is the perfect showcase for some of the lesser known Disney characters who blazed the cartoon trail in Disney series such as the How To and Pixar animated shorts, Silly Symphonies, and the animated anthology Melody Time. In fact there are so many references to animated shorts here it could rightly still be called Toontown.
Why leave a canvas as extensive as the pavement under your feet untouched when it can be used to help tell the story? Everywhere you look in Storybook Circus you’ll see footprints, from monkeys and elephants to camels and bears, imprinted in the dirt. There are even peanut shells dropped by careless circus-goers. Where are the clean-up crew, Chip and Dale, when you need them?
Paintings along the base of the attraction help tell the story, but there are two worth noting. Look for the painting of the pink elephants, a nod toward the scene when Dumbo hallucinates after drinking a bucket of champagne. Another painting shows storks dropping babies in diaper-shaped parachutes. Where are they headed? To Orlando, Florida, of course!
While children are waiting for their turn to fly with Dumbo, they can enjoy the indoor playground based on the movie. The doghouse at the end of the slide holds a bit of hidden magic. There was no dog named Sport in the movie, but one of the Imagineers working on the attraction had a dog by that name, and gave him a lasting remembrance here.
When the circus comes to town, the posters go up! Here in Storybook Circus, posters to the right of the entry to the Barnstormer advertise Goofy’s circus acts Aquamaniac, Tiger Juggling, Bear Wrasslin’, and, of course, Barnstorming. Aquamaniac refers to the animated short Aquamania (1961) in which Goofy goes boating and ends up in a waterskiing race with an octopus on his head; Tiger Juggling is a nod toward Goofy’s disastrous hunting adventure Tiger Trouble (1945), and Bear Wrasslin’ is a reference to Humphrey the Bear, who appears in several Disney animated shorts, including his first appearance as a hibernating bear harassed by amateur photographer Goofy in the 1950 short Hold That Pose.
Goofy never juggled a tiger, but the tiger in the Tiger Juggling poster sure does look like the one he goes up against in the animated short Tiger Trouble.
Take note of the spelling on the poster of Goofy as the Barnstormer. Goofy may be soaring to new heights, but the spelling points toward Soarin’ in Epcot. You’ll find another reference to Epcot in the large sign Goofy has crashed through. Just under the banner on the Barnstormer billboard you’ll see the words An Acrobatic Skyleidoscope. Skyleidoscope was the name of an “aerial spectacular” on and over Epcot’s World Showcase Lagoon from 1985 to 1987, featuring ultralight seaplanes, jet skis, and various power boats.
What’s up with the monkey? The Storybook Circus posters show Goofy with a primate friend, just as he had in the 2009 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode “Goofy’s Coconutty Monkey.” Coco the Monkey, from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse television series, isn’t Goofy’s friend featured here in Storybook Circus, but let’s just say the monkey here is a cousin of Coco, who is important for being the first Disney character with diabetes.
Look carefully at the lowest airplane’s propeller on the large Barnstormer billboard Goofy has crashed through. The light area in the middle of the dark prop engine is a hidden Mickey.
Pay attention to the white seagulls at the upper right-hand corner of the sign, too. They certainly put long-time visitors in mind of the logo for the attraction If You Had Wings, which made its home in Magic Kingdom until 1987 when its sponsor, the now-defunct Eastern Airlines, faced financial hardship and declined to renew its contract.
This is the sort of hidden magic I adore. Just after you enter the queue for Barnstormer, turn around and look at the back of the attraction’s sign. It looks pretty chopped up, doesn’t it? That’s because it was once the original sign for Wiseacre Farm when Storybook Circus was still Mickey’s Toontown. Clever, isn’t it?
The name Dolores can be found on the poster of Goofy as the Reckless Rocketeer as you’re going through the queue, and on the crashed rocket just beyond the poster. Dolores is the reluctant circus elephant Goofy is tasked with washing in the 1948 animated short The Big Wash. She also appears in the 1953 animated short Working for Peanuts, featuring zookeeper Donald Duck and peanut-stealing chipmunks Chip and Dale. Curiously, Walt Disney had a secretary named Dolores Voght. Coincidence? Maybe.
The skis in a barrel to your left as you exit your plane at the Barnstormer are a nod toward Goofy’s penchant for getting into trouble on skis in animated shorts such as The Art of Skiing, in which he debuted his trademark yell, and which led to the popular How To shorts. The life-saving ring buoy behind the skis also has an interesting name. “Yah-Hah-Buoy” sure sounds a lot like Goofy’s yell.
A giant green bottle of airsickness pills can be found sitting in front of the Second Aid crate on your right-hand side after you disembark your plane at the Barnstormer. On the label is a picture of stylized captains’ wings with a circle in the center that contains a star. Former If You Had Wings attraction sponsor, Eastern Airlines, used Big E Captain Wings badges from 1927 to 1991, which bear a striking resemblance. But the real gem here is the brand name of the airsick pills. They are How to Fly brand, recalling the title of the book Mickey Mouse reads in the 1928 black-and-white animated short Plane Crazy. In its testing phase, the cartoon did not garner the attention Steamboat Willie enjoyed when it was released later that year, but Plane Crazy was, in fact, Mickey’s debut cartoon.
The green gas can to the left of the airsickness pills is yet another reference to a Disney animated short. The sticker on the front indicates it is fuel supplied by Pedro Empresa Gasolina, referencing the character Pedro, the brave little airplane in the animated short that bears his name. Pedro is part of the compilation Saludos Amigos, which came from the good-will tour Walt Disney and a handful of his animators made to South America in 1941. José Carioca, Donald Duck’s parrot friend in Gran Fiesta Tour at Mexico in Epcot, also made his debut in Saludos Amigos in the short Aquarela do Brasil. The two went on to costar with rooster Panchito Pistoles in the animated movie The Three Caballeros.
It’s a gift shop, not an attraction, but go inside anyway as there is a bit of hidden magic here, starting with the circus car display stands lining the tent. Notice a Lambert the Lion painting behind the one reserved for lions, recalling the cartoon Lambert the Sheepish Lion. Further along, a little humor can be found in the penguins’ car; it is actually a beverage cooler.
Also notice the name Lambert, upside down, on one of the smaller display stands with a base that’s shaped like a feed bucket. You’ll find buckets for Hyacinth Hippo from the movie Fantasia, and Clara, the singing diva who debuted in the animated short Orphan’s Benefit, as well as other animated-short characters. The Big Bad Wolf’s bucket recalls the Silly Symphony of the same name and is the “odd man out,” being the only bucket that’s upright.
Note the Firehouse Five logos here in the tent. There is one on the wall directly inside the front door and one on the back wall near the exit for Pete’s Silly Sideshow. They are a reference to the Firehouse Five Plus Two Dixieland band at Disneyland, which included Disney Legend Harper Goff and animators Frank Thomas and Ward Kimball, two of Walt Disney’s famous Nine Old Men.
Watch the acrobats’ tower in the center of the big top. Just as it would during a real circus, a spotlight occasionally passes by, giving guests a view of the performers who would normally be there (but in this case, aren’t).
If you arrive at Storybook Circus by train (or if you’re just wandering around the area), look for the hat box on the platform up the first set of stairs just after you exit the station, which reads Ten Schillings and Sixpence Ltd. In the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland stories by Lewis Carroll, illustrator Sir John Tenniel drew the Mad Hatter with a card tucked into his hatband, which stated, “in this style 10/6,” indicating the price of the hat in question. The cost? Ten shillings and sixpence.
Check out the luggage one flight of stairs up from the hatbox. The big red suitcase reads Red’s Amazing Juggling Unicycles. It refers to the 1987 Pixar animated short Red’s Dream, featuring a lonely red unicycle that dreams of being a circus juggler.
The Big Bad Wolf’s role has also been reimagined, as evidenced by the luggage trunk that states he is a Balloonist Extraordinaire. Apparently he is no longer blowing down pigs’ houses, and instead spends his time twisting balloons into animals to keep the kiddies happy.
The name you see inside the train station clock is Carolwood Park, a tribute to the one-eighth scale model railroad and steam train Walt Disney built for his backyard and named the Carolwood Pacific Railroad. There are also pictures of Walt playing with his backyard train on the wall to the far left of the stroller rental counter at the front of Magic Kingdom.
Notice how the train tracks that run along the left-hand side of the Barnstormer, near Carolwood Pacific Railroad, end just before they intersect with the Walt Disney World Railroad? Nice attention to detail that makes the story seem real.
You may also want to pop into the restrooms here. They are themed as a roundhouse, with tracks leading to the front bays. Inside, the track-like placement of the floor tiles continues the theme.
How does Walt Disney World keep its paint looking so vibrant, with the heavy use it gets and the fading effects from the Florida sun? Paint is touched up nightly in high-use areas, and every five years throughout the parks.
As you’re splashing and soaking at Casey Jr. Splash ’n’ Soak, pay attention to the numbers on the back of each circus car. The elephants’ car number is 71, referencing Magic Kingdom’s opening year; the monkeys’ car number is 82, honoring Epcot’s opening year; Hollywood Studios’ opening year of 89 is on the giraffes’ car; and Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s opening year is remembered by the 98 car filled with camels.
The place where it all started isn’t left out, though. Notice the red hot dog cart outside Pete’s Silly Sideshow. It features number 55, a tribute to 1955, the opening year of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, where the original Dumbo attraction debuted.
A tribute to animator Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the creator of the crows in the movie Dumbo, can be found on the red circus car the monkeys have taken over, with a painting on one side featuring clowns brandishing fire hoses. The clown in the middle has the distinction of the trademark round glasses Kimball wore. Why does he get special treatment here? Because he was part of the Firehouse Five, which you’ll recall from Big Top Souvenirs.
Kal David, real-life lounge singer and voice of the intergalactic lounge singer Sonny Eclipse in Cosmic Ray’s, recalls laying down the tracks for his alter ego’s performances: “We recorded in Disney composer George Wilkins’s home. He had a big room dedicated as a studio and it was state of the art. He had keyboard and recording gear and outboard gear in one large room, but no vocal or overdub gear. Outside he had a room with a washer and dryer, where he set up a nice vocal mike, which had a very warm sound. There was no light bulb in the laundry room but just enough light to read the lyrics.
“Most of the time spent was spent laughing because we would do a little bit and then break up. It was like singing in a foggy lounge. I did three days to finish my portion, then six songs and then some snappy repartee, and then we brought in the Space Angels. One of the girls was pregnant and the three of them had to go in that little room with no light. They were crammed in there and it was hot. They did all their parts in just a day. Then it was time for me to do my schtick. I didn’t have much leeway for ad libs or changes at all, although there were a couple of times I would say, ‘I don’t think I would read it that way.’ I was knocked out by how it came out, though. I couldn’t believe it. I hope Sonny will be there forever. He is like Jiminy Cricket. Hopefully he will go on long after I have shuffled off the planet!”
Pete’s Silly Sideshow is the place to meet classic Disney characters, but even here you’ll find hidden magic. In keeping with the circus theme, the characters haven’t just changed into theme-appropriate costumes; they have taken on new roles. Instead of meeting Minnie Mouse, guests are introduced to poodle trainer Minnie Magnifique. Daisy Duck is fortune teller Madame Daisy Fortuna, Donald Duck plays the role of snake charmer The Astounding Donaldo, and Goofy becomes the hapless stunt performer, The Great Goofini.
There are several large posters near Pete’s Silly Sideshow featuring characters that don’t hold quite the same status as some of the better-known personalities but still have their own fan following. Lambert the Lion’s sole credit is for the short Lambert the Sheepish Lion; Salty the Seal only appeared in two animated shorts, Rescue Dog and Pluto’s Seal Deal; Clara Cluck’s filmography covers twelve shorts; Horace Horsecollar stared in thirty-one shorts; Pete, the ringmaster here in Storybook Circus, played the role of the bad guy in nearly ninety shorts; but Pluto is the clear winner, having featured in well over 100 shorts and a wealth of Disney films and television shows. Hyacinth Hippo wasn’t in a short, but who can forget her ballet performance in the animated movie Fantasia?
Although the bear on the Unicycling Bear poster is clearly Humphrey (his name is even on it), Humphrey the Bear never rode a unicycle in a Disney short. Instead, Bongo was the unicycling circus bear in the animated anthology Fun and Fancy Free.
To the left of the entrance to Pete’s Silly Side Show is a large calliope with the words Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom at the top and Melody Time Brass Horn Band at the bottom. Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom is from the Disney Educational Cartoon animated film Melody Time, a Walt Disney Animated Classics anthology, featuring seven stories set to music, including The Legend of Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill.
The tented area to the right of Pete’s Silly Sideshow offers covered seating, and some of the props here are worth noticing. Many of the seats are upturned buckets for watering the circus animals and have Disney animated characters’ names on them.
Trunks for the circus performers are stored here too, and some of them sure do get around, as indicated by their stickers. Two of the stickers reference pivotal dates in Disney history. The red trunk near the entry has a sticker for the New York World’s Fair in 1939. The fair inspired Walt Disney to solidify the concept of corporate sponsorship as a means of paying for the construction of his Disneyland park. Although he did not like the idea of Mickey Mouse appearing in commercials, the fair included the Disney animated cartoon Mickey’s Surprise Party, promoting the Nabisco Company. Also note the Trylon and the Perisphere on the sticker. They were the fair’s icons and while each was erected separately at the fair, Epcot has combined them and made them the icon of the Universe of Energy pavilion.
A second sticker on the blue trunk at the back of the tent remembers the 1939 World’s Fair in San Francisco Bay, also known as the Golden Gate International Exposition. Walt Disney attended, and it was here that he became intrigued by the world of miniatures after seeing a display by the famous miniatures artist Mrs. James Ward Thorne. Walt’s fascination with tiny tableaus and the stories they could tell would translate to Disneyland, the large-as-life story he created in 1955.
And now, let’s backtrack a bit to keep the flow of the lands.
There is no doubt about it: The Seven Dwarfs’ mine is incredibly scenic. Along with adding dynamic movement to Fantasyland, the highly landscaped mountain takes the area to a new level of realism.
When you enter the queue, the first thing you see is the Dwarfs’ cottage. Picks, shovels, and axes hint at the hard work they do, but smaller details flesh out the story, too. Weathered metal straps hold parts of their fence together, all the wooden elements look hand-hewn, and the end of each wooden beam holding up the roof of their cottage hints at their coexistence with nature and the forest’s animals. Even the texture of the mountain goes from crumbling dirt to hard-packed dirt the further you go in.
What are all those chains hanging from the gutters of the covered area of the queue at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train? They’re rain chains, an artistic alternative to downspouts. They were invented in Japan centuries ago, and while they may be slightly outside the story here, they make a nice addition to the rustic atmosphere. Want some for your own home? Many garden shops carry them.
Not all hidden magic is visual. Dave Minichiello, Director, Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering, points out one of the audio hidden gems in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction: “The queue has a surprise song in it, originally written for the film, called ‘Music in Your Soup,’ which we’ve recorded in instrumental version and added to our queue area. All the music in the queue area is instrumental, and we wanted to give it a feel that it was played by the Seven Dwarfs.” “Music in Your Soup” was originally intended for the animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but ultimately was never used.
While playing the gem-sorting game in the interactive queue, the bars of soap squirt away from you if you try to touch them. They recall the scene in the movie in which Dopey is instructed to get the soap, but can’t seem to hold on to it.
As you are waiting for your turn to ride, or if you’re watching the mine trains passing from outside the attraction, notice how each car is different. During the creation process, scenic artists and Imagineers decided where the cars would have banged into things, or where normal wear-and-tear would have occurred. Some cars are newer, some are older, adding to the sense of authenticity.
The two vultures perched at the top of the first lift hill are a sentimental nod to the former Snow White’s Scary Adventures attraction. They once made their home there, but have moved and are now keeping watch over the mine.
Shortly after your car enters the mine, take a quick look to your left for the sign that reads Echo Canyon Canyon Canyon. This is a humorous little addition you can’t help but read as if you were actually hearing an echo.
The cuckoo-style clock inside the mine featuring little characters hitting an anvil with their hammers is taken directly from the animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and it signals the end of the Dwarfs’ workday. In the movie and in the attraction it inspires them to sing, “Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it’s home from work we go,” and is the cue for your mine car to start its wild journey toward their little cottage and the end of the ride.
A second Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is hiding inside the mine, but he is extremely difficult to see, so you’ll have to be quick. He is located just before you crest the hill after you pass Doc inside the mine. He is facing in your direction, carved into the beam on your left that runs along the ceiling, and he is situated where the beam appears to be split. Keep watching as you approach the area, and if you do manage to see him you can claim serious bragging rights for the rest of the day!
As your car exits the mine you see the Seven Dwarfs’ shadows against the wall, then you pass by a waterfall and cross a log bridge, just as the dwarfs did in the movie. But the design team didn’t stop with images from the film. Dave Minichiello elaborates on the views Imagineers built into the outdoor portion of the ride: “Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is an attraction that has as many amazing views onboard as off. From the very beginning, we wanted to showcase sightlines so guests could see Storybook Circus and a little bit of Journey of the Little Mermaid, then we head inside the mine to see the Dwarfs. You come out and see Prince Eric’s Castle, and an amazing view of Cinderella Castle. At our highest lift you see Prince Eric’s Castle, Beast’s Castle, and Cinderella Castle, so the views are spectacular.”
Although she is obvious once you see her, many guests miss the Old Hag at the end of the attraction, poised to knock on the cottage door and perform her dastardly deed. While the attraction was being built, Disney remained silent on the “will she be included or won’t she” issue. As sinister as the witch is, the attraction wouldn’t be complete without her, would it?
This attraction debuted in its original form in Tokyo Disneyland as Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, but the appeal is international. Children everywhere find it impossible to resist the cuddly cubby, in spite of the fact he and his forest friends took over the home that once belonged to the popular Mr. Toad.
When your ride vehicle enters Owl’s house inside the attraction, turn around and look behind you. You will see a picture on the wall showing Mr. Toad from Wind in the Willows handing the deed to his house to Owl. Many WDW guests were unhappy to see Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride make way for the Pooh attraction, so the Imagineers gave a nod to Toad’s popularity and a subtle stamp of approval by having Toady give the deed to the current owner. The picture tends to move around a bit, so if you don’t see it here, keep looking in other scenes.
Inspiration comes from many places, including the target audience. Imagineer Eddie Sotto recalls, “When I was involved in Tokyo Disneyland, we wanted to create a Winnie the Pooh attraction that would be beyond anything that had ever been done. The Hunny Pot themed ride vehicles were wirelessly guided without tracks, allowing them to go backward, spin, and roam freely through the show. It was stunning, but there was still something missing. How did that relate to the story we were trying to tell? We then surveyed little kids and asked them what they would most want to do in a Winnie the Pooh attraction. The answer we got, loud and clear, was to ‘bounce in the forest with Tigger.’ We then spent the next several years developing a magical effect that would allow each vehicle to actually ‘bounce’ with Tigger.”
Possibly the best-known attraction in Walt Disney World, it’s a small world has a simple, childlike style that is a real departure from the more traditional artistic renderings used by the Imagineers. Artist Mary Blair’s unique style appealed greatly to Walt Disney, as it does to young children who, in spite of the all-too-catchy tune, insist on ride after ride.
The clock inside the attraction goes off every fifteen minutes, with a cute little surprise. It’s some consolation if you find yourself at the end of a long queue.
Consultant Designer Cindy White talks about the creative process when designing Magic Kingdom’s popular parades: “The energetic and insanely fun Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! parade was created and directed by Tara Anderson, one of Walt Disney World’s fabulous directors and a parade expert. I was invited to design the floats, but needed to work with the design package created by marketing for the park-wide celebration, which was all party hats, ribbons, and gift boxes. Tara’s idea was to have a parade stop—a big moment when the parade pauses and a show happens—that would allow for the energetic DJ to host a huge dance party in the Hub. The big, wonky-shaped gift boxes and swoopy party hats needed to have the look of movement and energy, even while stopped on the street for eight to twelve minutes. Anytime you design parade units that are part of a stop, it helps to have the illusion and sweep of movement, hence the boxes with convex sides, swoopy hats, and flying ribbons.”
Most of the whimsical figures in the attraction are based only on the Imagineer’s creativity, but there are two characters that were taken from literature, specifically the book The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. Just after you enter the Spain section of your journey, look to the left and you’ll see Don Quixote and his comrade Sancho Panza in “small world” doll form. Quixote is in front riding a horse while Panzo is behind him on a donkey.
It’s a small world first debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York as a tribute to the children of the world. The attraction also brought attention to the United Nations Children’s Fund (better known as UNICEF), with part of the proceeds from tickets being donated to the charity. Since that time, Disney has donated millions of dollars toward this worthy cause.
Cross the walkway from it’s a small world for a journey to Neverland, and remember to look around before your ship flies out the nursery window. Watch for the building blocks near Wendy’s bed and just under the window, which spell out P Pan and Disney.
And now, exit the attraction and pass under the transition area to your left; this moves you from Fantasyland into Liberty Square. Each time you pass from one land to another, the sights and sounds change subtly. In keeping with the theme of the Show, you are now undergoing a scene change. The transition area is darker, symbolic of a fade-out, the music and ambient sound change, and when you emerge on the other side, you find yourself in Early America. Turn around and look at the backside of what was a Tudor home in Fantasyland. It has become the upper story of a colonial home.
Consultant Designer Cindy White talks about adding historical accuracy to the park’s parade floats: “The gilded pirate ship float that I designed that has been used in the Walt Disney World Christmas parade, the pirate parades, and others was built by a scenic shop in Glendale, California. When I began the design work on it I bought quite a few books on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century ship design and building, and invested in a set of ships’ curves to draw the sections and plan the view with the right feel. From the shape of the hull to the detail sheets showing the carved seahorses and gold figurehead lady in front, there were easily six or seven times the normal drawings required, so I was scrambling to get it all done. Then, the sculptor at the shop in Glendale added touches of his girlfriend’s face to my mermaid. I like the way she turned out. After researching pages and pages of drawings on yards, decking, sail structure, and keel I have nothing but awe for the people who designed the frigates and caravels that crossed our oceans. They were the aircraft of the day. My float only dealt with the challenges of driver vision, telescoping masts, and a prop cannon.”
Passing into Liberty Square, you have entered the New World. The footbridge over the river between the central Hub area and Liberty Square symbolically takes you across the ocean to the East Coast of the United States, while the transition area near Peter Pan’s Flight takes you from London into colonial America. It didn’t take long for the colonists to begin their westward trek, and it won’t take you long to cross into Frontierland, but there is much to discover in the New World if you take the time to look.
Disney’s designers and artists are given the basic idea of how a new attraction or area should look, but they are allowed to be creative, too. Occasionally a designer’s personal touches don’t work and have to be redone, but having the freedom to express their personal style is important, and usually brings an originality to the project it might not otherwise have.
Columbia Harbour House offers more than just good food. Maps, artifacts, and nautical knickknacks adorn the walls, both on the first and second floors. Look closely and you’ll notice each section is dedicated to either a ghost ship or a ship lost at sea. And, if you look out the front windows from the top floor, you’ll notice it faces the Haunted Mansion. Coincidence? I think not!
Another interesting tidbit can be found on the wall to the left of the window that overlooks the Haunted Mansion. National Geographic magazine published a map of the Ghost Fleets of the Outer Banks, and a copy is framed here. It marks the location of all 500 ships lost along the U.S. coastline from Chesapeake Bay in Virginia to the Core Banks of North Carolina. On the wall directly opposite, you’ll see the name of this particular room. Fans of shipwreck lore (or of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) will know the Flying Dutchman to be a phantom ship that wreaked havoc on the seas, striking fear into the hearts of sailors as a foretelling of doom.
The window panes in Liberty Tree Tavern are made of seed glass, which harkens back to colonial times and is characterized by pinhead bubbles.
What is the meaning of the plaque on the wall at the end of the small alley to the right of Columbia Harbour House and to the left of the round turret near the door with the number 26 on it, with four hands, each grasping its neighbor’s wrist? It is the symbol of the mutual insurance company that spun off from the Union Fire Company, founded in 1736 by Benjamin Franklin and four of his friends, also known as Ben Franklin’s Bucket Brigade. At that time, only those who paid for protection could expect the fire department to show up if their house was burning down. Franklin’s organization was staffed by volunteers who came to the aid of all. Those with an insurance policy would affix the four-hands symbol to their home and would receive compensation for fire damage to their property.
See the lanterns in the second-floor window of the round turret to the left of house number 26? They represent the two lanterns hung in Boston’s Christ Church steeple in April 1776, to warn Paul Revere the British soldiers were arriving by sea.
Walk around the corner of the same building and look at the upper window on that side. The country folk may not be up, but they certainly are armed! During the Revolutionary War, the townsmen would place their rifle in the window to indicate they were home and ready to answer the call to arms.
The building number you see above the door at Hall of Presidents is 1787, which reflects the time setting for the building’s architecture.
The chair in which George Washington sits in Hall of Presidents is a replica of the one he used during the 1778 Constitutional Convention.
Abraham Lincoln’s speech was assembled from six different speeches the president made during his administration.
Though it is often overlooked as just another part of the landscaping, Liberty Square Tree, the centerpiece in this area, has thirteen lanterns hanging from its branches; each lantern represents one of the original thirteen colonies.
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, just to the right of Liberty Square Tree, represents the cooperative effort of three colonial families. As you enter, you are in a German immigrant’s shop. The middle section is owned by a woodcarver, and the back section belongs to a musician. The scent of pine and cinnamon enhances a comforting sense of Christmas, family, and home—themes important to immigrants far from their loved ones.
Now look at the upper window of the home next to the door with number 26 on the front. European immigrants brought their tradition of hanging hex signs on their homes and barns to the New World as a show of ethnic pride. The German family living above Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe goes by the name of Kepple, as indicated on the heart-shaped hex sign hanging outside, to the right of the front door. Is it a real name? You bet! It honors Walt Disney’s paternal grandfather, Kepple Elias Disney.
Prior to the attraction’s reimagining in 2011, there was no official backstory. Now, the story of the ghostly bride, whose name is Constance Hatchaway, takes front and center. In the new story, the terrible temptress marries Ambrose Harper, Frank Banks, the Marquis De Doom, Reginald Caine, and finally poor George Hightower, in quick succession and with wildly successful results . . . for her.
Haunted Mansion has bats in its belfry. At least, it has one bat above its belfry. You can see it up there, disguised as a weathervane.
When you near the mansion’s front door you have the choice of detouring through the graveyard or going straight in. For the full array of hidden magic, you’ll want to take the detour.
Once inside the graveyard, take note of the first large headstone. Grandpa Marc refers to Marc Davis who, along with Claude Coats, was the primary designer of the Haunted Mansion. Francis Xavier, just a bit further on, is Francis Xavier Atencio (a.k.a. X Atencio), script writer and lyricist of the attraction’s theme song, “Grim Grinning Ghosts.” The Ravenscroft tomb in the shape of a pipe organ honors Thurl Ravenscroft, voice of the broken singing bust in the Haunted Mansion’s graveyard scene. Master Gracey’s memorial remembers Yale Gracey, creator of many of the Haunted Mansion’s illusions, and finally, the tombstone with eyes that open and close honors Madame Leota, your séance host and former Imagineer Leota Toombs Thomas.
Guests rarely get to see this lovely bit of hidden magic, but if you use the “chicken exit” before boarding a Doom Buggy, or if you enter through the disabled access, you’ll be escorted down the “servant’s hallway” where you’ll see a series of valet bells with a name and location in the mansion listed under each bell. They honor Haunted Mansion Imagineers, and are listed as follows:
Prior to the reimagining, popular myth held that a sawn-off post embedded in the pavement at the end of the attraction was meant to be the bride’s wedding ring. As a nod to this long-held legend, Imagineers added an official bridal ring, which can be seen in the pavement in the small fenced-off area just after you leave the graveyard. Look at the ground where the brick wall juts out. The right-hand corner at the bottom of the square pillar points directly to the ring.
It could be argued the long-held myth of a bridal backstory was the catalyst for change, and Disney’s response is that the story is now based on one of the paintings in the stretch room. When you are asked to move to the dead center of the room and the paintings begin to stretch, notice the one of a woman sitting on a headstone holding a rose. She is the ghostly bride, and the ill-fated George, now resting six feet under with an axe in his skull, is just one of her victim grooms.
As you would expect, there are exactly thirteen candles on the cake in the ballroom scene.
When you reach the attic, listen as the bride recites passages from her wedding vows. They take on new meaning with the emphasis she places on them. Listen to the way she says, “as long as we both shall live,” “in sickness and in wealth,” and “for better or for worse.” You can’t help but think her groom won’t live long, and that he’ll have more worse than better. And you’d be right.
This is one busy bride! She’s been married five times, with each wedding date depicted in its corresponding scene. Her first marriage occurred in 1869, as seen on the lacy book propped up on a table in the first scene on the right-hand side; she remarried in 1872, the date featured in the center of the banner in the second scene; and in 1874, 1875, and 1877 she had the dates engraved on her wedding portrait frames.
If you have a sharp eye and look quickly you may also see her flowery yellow marriage certificates. They are difficult to see in the dim lighting, so your best bet is to look for the certificate in the 1874 scene, on the right-hand side of the track, in a frame to the left of the trunk. If you’re sitting on the left side of your Doom Buggy, look hard and you may see one in the 1872 scene, just to the left of the small three-tiered white table on the left side of the scene.
Besides the obvious creepiness of the groom’s head disappearing from each wedding portrait, notice the subtle change in the bride’s disposition. In the first portrait she is suitably circumspect. By the time she weds husband number five she can’t quite contain her glee. The smirk on her face grows progressively more pronounced. By the time you reach the bride herself, just before you exit the attic for your tumble into the graveyard, she’s absolutely beaming as she grasps a hatchet like it is a bouquet of flowers.
An interesting little tie-up with Pirates of the Caribbean can be found in the portrait of Constance with husband number four. Reginald is sitting in the same elaborate chair Captain Jack Sparrow sits in during the treasure scene at the end of the ride.
Your first encounter with the ghostly bride herself comes at the end of the wedding vignettes. She’s holding a hatchet, and she seems pretty pleased with herself. Considering her maiden name is Hatchaway, she has chosen an interesting weapon to do away with those pesky grooms.
The caretaker in the graveyard scene certainly is frightened. Watch how his lantern shakes. And you might be frightened too when you realize he and his dog are the only living beings in the graveyard. What does that say about you, bearing in mind you just fell off the roof?
Along with voicing one of the singing busts in the graveyard scene which belts out the mansion’s theme song, “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” Thurl Ravenscroft was the voice actor for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal mascot Tony the Tiger, and sang “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” in the 1966 television special Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His portfolio with Disney is vast. Listen for him when you pass the singing frogs on Splash Mountain, and also in Country Bear Jamboree, where he gives voice to the buffalo named Buff.
There certainly are a lot of ghosts at this “swinging wake,” and if you look carefully as you travel through the Haunted Mansion you’ll notice they have gathered from various countries and various points in time. Look for the duelists and a medieval king in the ballroom scene, and an Egyptian mummy sitting in a sarcophagus, a king and his queen on a seesaw, and a Victorian couple enjoying champagne in the graveyard.
The corpulent opera singer to the left of the crypt at the end has an interesting tie-up with Imagineer Harriet Burns. Harriet’s gravestone tribute, before you enter the mansion, reads, “First lady of the opera, our haunting Harriet. Searched for a tune but never could carry it,” and here in the ghostly graveyard we have a genuine “haunt” singing for all she’s worth.
Finally, in keeping with the lesson in U.S. geography, once you leave Liberty Square (the East Coast), you symbolically travel with the pioneers as they make their way westward into unknown territory and you make your way into a new land.
As you pass into Frontierland from Liberty Square, you are symbolically crossing the Mississippi River and journeying west. The transition is gentle but obvious. Building materials in Frontierland are rough-hewn and there is a sense of excitement in the air, as if a gunfight could break out at any moment. It’s the land of Davy Crockett and Buffalo Bill Cody, where anything could happen!
Located in the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island is a great place for a midday break. Once you reach the island, stroll down the pathway to the right of the boat dock to Harper’s Mill. The gears that turn the water wheel hold an interesting little surprise for those who take the time to look. The large, horizontal gear in the middle is home to a little bluebird that has made her nest between the cogs. Fans of the Silly Symphony series may recognize the reference to the storm-tattered bluebird nest in the 1937 Academy Award–winning short The Old Mill, the first film to use the multiplane camera.
Michael Roddy, Senior Show Writer/Show Director, WDW Parks and Resorts, explains the Disney ethos when it comes to creative ideas: “You never throw away anything. You always keep the scripts and the writing. There are ideas you can reuse and repurpose, and they’re always valid. You can take pieces and parts that work, especially in a theme park.”
The Ambush Cave is a fun place for youngsters to burn off excess energy, and it holds a bit of a mystery among the geodes found in its depths. Notice how the water flowing at the base of the crystal wall seems to run uphill. It may take a moment to see, but that water is definitely flowing the wrong way. Mysterious? Maybe. Look more closely and you’ll notice the floor is tilted to create an optical illusion for a bit of fun.
Pay a visit to Fort Langhorn, named for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, near the back of the island. There are guns in the turrets for a little impromptu target practice. You may even get a shot at the runaway train over at Big Thunder Mountain.
While you are on the island, look across the river at the dock in front of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The sight-seeing tours advertised are a tribute to the long-gone Mike Fink Keel Boats attraction located here from 1971 until 1977.
Return to Frontierland and journey farther into the wilderness, and into American folklore. Pecos Bill was the stuff of legend in the Old West, with stories told of his superhuman feats. He was “the toughest critter west of the Alamo,” digging out the Rio Grande with a stick when he needed water and shooting out all the stars in the sky, save one, which became the symbol of the Lone Star State, Texas. The framed document near one of the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café exits gives an abbreviated version of the Pecos Bill story. Look a little closer and you’ll find Pecos Bill’s Code of the West, offering menfolk some good advice about what not to do in front of women and children.
The Pecos Bill Café gives a nod to the Disney animated short story and, more important, serves as a transition out of Frontierland into the Mexican end of Adventureland. Take a look at the roof of the café. Notice how the front area is pure Wild West saloon, but when you round the corner it takes a Spanish Mission–style turn, common in both California (represented by the Train Depot near Splash Mountain) and Mexico. It also blends harmoniously with the Caribbean theme as you move farther into Adventureland.
Having reached the West Coast and the train station at the terminus of the transcontinental railroad, you can’t miss the two mountain ranges reaching skyward, but don’t worry about them for now. Instead, head up the stairs to the train station itself, then stop and listen. You will hear Morse code emanating from the telegraph office, transmitting Walt Disney’s opening-day speech at Disneyland in California.
Splash Mountain (whose proper name is Chick-a-Pin Hill) is based on the story in Song of the South as told by Uncle Remus, but it has somehow made its home in the American West. Although technically it represents the Deep South (the states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi) and should be painted deep clay-red to represent Georgia’s soil, a little creative color mixing went into blending it more harmoniously with Big Thunder Mountain, thus maintaining the theme, at least visually.
Many of the animals you see on your riverboat journey are inspired by Imagineer Marc Davis’s attraction, America Sings, which replaced Carousel of Progress in Disneyland when the attraction was moved to Walt Disney World at the request of sponsor General Electric. Watch for singing bullfrogs in floppy hats, white geese, a drummer porcupine, a raccoon playing the harmonica, and baby opossums hanging over the river by their tails. The final showboat scene with singing and dancing chickens and a crocodile trio are also a tribute. Even the pop-up gopher and the vultures who gleefully bid you farewell before you hurtle into the briar patch made their debut in America Sings.
As you make each small drop, the drama and the danger increase. But there is another thread running through each changing scene, too. Splash Mountain is based on the Disney movie Song of the South and the gentle moral tales told by kindly Uncle Remus. When you reach the top of the attraction after the second small lift hill you have entered the “How Do You Do” segment of the movie in which Uncle Remus is going fishing, and the line “What goes up is sure to come down” is a foreshadowing of what you’ll be experiencing shortly. Just after the first small drop the scene continues, blending with the story “Br’er Rabbit Runs Away” and a quick nod to “Everybody’s Got a Laughing Place,” which is presented again in the beehive scene after the next drop. The final scenes when Br’er Rabbit has been captured and is thrown into the briar patch are from “The Tar Baby.” And finally, the attraction’s theme song, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” is sung by Uncle Remus, Br’er Rabbit, and Br’er Bear throughout the movie.
Drop by the Briar Patch gift shop on your way out and you’ll see Br’er Rabbit’s home up near the ceiling. Look carefully and you’ll see a portrait of Whistler’s Mother, rabbit-style.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has become a true Disney classic, in part because it’s a terrific coaster the whole family can enjoy and in part because of its exceptional theme. In 2012 the story of Big Thunder Mountain was reimagined, and the abandoned mountain is a working mine again. You are embarking on a tour of Big Thunder Mining Company—through the Mining Office, Explosives Magazine Room, Foreman’s Post, and the Ventilation Service Room. Along the way you can blast a mine shaft, pump air into the mines, and check out the miners’ progress deep beneath the ground before you set off on your own journey.
Notice the name on the Pay Rates sign, to the right of the barred window in the Mining Office. The paymaster here is G. Willikers.
There are two signs on the wall just after the Mining Office. Check out the name of the proprietor of the Big Thunder Mining Mountain Company Store. Apparently it is owned by a Greek man by the name of Costas A. Lott. Or maybe it’s a nod toward the expense of Disney’s reimagining of the entire queue, which tells the attraction’s new story.
Crates in the rafters of the Explosives Magazine Room contain dynamite from Western River Explosives, and while the dynamite was contracted by Lytum and Hyde (an obvious warning!), the brand’s origin is somewhat less obvious. It refers to Western River Expedition, a never-built boat ride once intended for Frontierland.
You will find a tribute to Imagineer Tony Baxter here too. The portrait in the rafters as you make your way through the explosives section is meant to be the founder of the mine, Barnabas T. Bullion, but it’s really Baxter, designer of the original Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. There is a second tribute to him on the back of the Assay Report information board. Look for T.W. Baxter on the Automatic Train Break diagram.
The Butterfly Stage Line sign, on the right-hand wall shortly after the Assay Reports board, references Thunder Mesa and Rainbow Ridge. Both, along with Rainbow Mountain Stagecoach Ride, were attractions built on the land now occupied by Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland. Carolwood Pacific Railroad Company, also mentioned in the ad, refers to Walt Disney’s backyard railroad setup.
The wooden name plates attached to the door of the Fusing Cage, just after you enter the Explosives Magazine Room, honor several Disney Imagineers.
Just before you enter the Ventilation Service Room you’ll see a diagram of the entire Big Thunder Mountain complex. Under the drawing of the highest peak you’ll see the words Rainbow Caverns, a reference to Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, an attraction that ran through the Living Desert in Disneyland from 1956 to 1960. The mine shaft diagrammed underneath Rainbow Caverns is Shaft #71, remembering the opening year of Magic Kingdom.
Once inside the Ventilation Service Room, you have the chance to pump air into the mines below using the Autocanary Air Quality Analyzers. As you crank the handle on each one, watch the top of the big white dial. You’ll see moving pictures of a bat, a cowboy, a cowboy on a horse, and a buffalo.
One of the birdcages in the Ventilation Room has the name Rosita on it, referencing the question “What ever happened to Rosita?” asked by José in Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. It looks like she became the canary in the coal mine. You’ll see her golden cage hanging above three burlap sacks, just to the left of the Autocanary Air Quality Analyzers.
The Hard Times Café sign on the left side after you exit the Ventilation Room advertises apple dumplings as the specialty of the house, but in reality it is a tribute to the 1975 Disney movie The Apple Dumpling Gang. In the movie, there is also a mention of the Hard Times Café.
As you retrace your steps to the train station on your way into Adventureland, you have symbolically reached the West Coast, completing your cross-country trek. But lands beyond America are calling for those brave enough to face the dangers of the jungle, pirates on the high seas, and a room full of loud, singing birds.
With the comforts of Hometown America, the mellow charm of Europe, and the thrill of discovering the New World behind you, the next step is to head off on a grand adventure exploring Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Polynesia, and oddly enough, the Middle East. In terms of the Show, it is the realm of In Search of the Castaways, The Jungle Book, Swiss Family Robinson, Aladdin, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.
As you round the corner from Frontierland into Adventureland, the architecture is distinctly Spanish. Moving farther along, the details transition beautifully into the flavors of a Caribbean island, and then become a whole new world as you fly over the imaginary Middle Eastern realm of Agrabah before you land, somehow, in the South Seas.
Pirates of the Caribbean recalls the 1700s West Indies during the time the Spanish were finding gold in what would become the United States. Just before you enter Castillo del Morro, take a look at the large rock on the ground to your left. Most people pass by it never noticing it looks exactly like a skull.
Once inside the castle, there are two separate queues that wind their way toward the boarding area. In keeping with the story, the Standby queue takes you through the soldier’s living quarters while the FastPass+ queue takes you through the castle’s dungeon. The dungeon queue holds the hidden magic, and that’s the one we’ll explore.
As you walk toward the boarding area, watch for a window with bars on it, on your right-hand side. If you look into the cell below, you’ll see another Imagineer signature. Disney Legend Marc Davis has marked the attraction with his love of chess. The two skeletons playing chess are at a total impasse. In keeping with the Imagineer’s obsession with accuracy, Davis researched past masters tournaments for a no-win outcome, and the chess pieces were correctly placed on the board between the skeletons so they would appear to ponder their next move for eternity.
Once you begin your water journey, you’ll come upon one of the neatest bits of visual hidden magic in the Magic Kingdom. The rock formation on your left-hand side, just as the pirate beach comes into view, looks like an evil skull with teeth. But wait. Keep looking at it as you pass by. It appears to be a single rock from a distance, but when you reach it you can see that it’s an illusion created by four separate rocks. Ragged teeth are first, then the nose, then the right eye, then the left eye and the top of the skull.
In 2006 Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa from the Pirates of the Caribbean hit movie series were added, and in 2012 the mermaids arrived. First, you’ll hear them singing “My Jolly Sailor Bold.” Then, if look over the side of your boat you may see a green, shimmering light following you, accompanying the siren song of a mermaid attempting to lure you in. This effect isn’t always working, but when it is, it’s surprisingly eerie.
As you round the corner where the shipwrecked pirates’ bones lay scattered on the beach, pay attention to the skeleton in the boat. The remains clearly show this was no pirate! Instead, the mermaid features are a nod toward the hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
When you reach the pirate ship and war breaks out, there will be an awful lot of cannon fire going off. Why do the cannonballs raining down around you make an orange splash? Because they’re hot when they enter the water.
Although it is difficult to see in the dark, look for the crest as you pass by the last scene, above where Jack Sparrow is laughing over his loot. Wouldn’t you know it, Imagineer Marc Davis came as close to a signature as possible when he added the faintly Spanish-sounding name Marci Daviso to the crest. Mr. Davis didn’t miss another chance to express his love of chess. He has placed rooks in the upper right and lower left corners of the crest.
Head across the walkway to the Tortuga Tavern (now owned by A. Smith, better known as Blackbeard’s daughter Angelica) for more pirating magic. Inside the restaurant on a window ledge at the back of the room you’ll find a book open to the crew roster for the Black Pearl. A certain ego-driven pirate (Jack Sparrow) has crossed out Hector Barbossa in the area reserved for the captain’s name and has scrawled his own name in its place.
It’s hard to say if the bullet holes along the stairway wall leading up to apartments in the tavern’s courtyard were caused by Barbossa after seeing evidence of treachery in the book, but you can bet Jack Sparrow was involved somehow!
Before Miss Smith took over, the restaurant was called El Pirata y el Perico. You’ll find its former sign perched on a beam near the ceiling in the outdoor dining area, just before you reach the open courtyard.
It was vital to make the most of the space available while maintaining the correct theme in each land. To that end, the Adventureland side of the walkway linking to Frontierland near the Magic Carpets of Aladdin is Polynesian in style. If you walk through the passageway, however, and look at the same walkway from the Frontierland side, it looks like a horse-and-carriage entryway.
Check out the list of missing boats in the Jungle Cruise line. It seems some of their passengers (such as Ilene Dover) are missing, too. Perhaps that’s the risk you take when you traverse the Amazon, Congo, Nile, and Mekong Rivers all in one go, and since you are about to do just that, you may want to keep an eye on everyone in your group!
Once upon a time there were stickers on shipping crates (really the former FastPass machines) that referred to characters from the sorely missed Adventurers Club nightclub that used to make its home in Downtown Disney. But fear not! The references are not gone; they’ve just moved. You’ll find them on tags inside the wire cage at the start of the queue.
Even the most creative of Imagineers need extra insight when innovative new “stories” are introduced. Ron Rodriguez recalls, “Writer Roger Cox was a little guy with an eclectic personality. We were on the road once, talking about the Adventurers Club, and I said, ‘Break down the concept, Roger. I understand individual concepts, like the Librarian, but I don’t understand the overall concept.’ In this big, booming voice Roger said, ‘Well, Ron, let me explain this to you!’ He was like an actor himself, and while he explained the whole concept, I still didn’t get it. But it worked!”
Just after you pass through the Jungle Cruise turnstiles, notice there is a large, hairy, scary tarantula in a cage on your right-hand side. Ask the attending Cast Member about the spider. Go ahead . . . ask!
While you’re waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise, look across the river. See that small hut that looks like it has a straw roof? With the heat, rain, and humidity in Florida, that roof wouldn’t last long if it were real straw. Instead, it’s made of metal strips. The ability to create a lasting thatched roof was only implemented once Disney’s Animal Kingdom was under construction. Authentic thatching grass and Zulu craftsmen were brought in from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa to create the thatched roofs you see in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom.
As you travel the rivers, your boat will pass by the rear half of a crashed Lockheed airplane. The front half can be seen in the Casablanca scene at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Great Movie Ride, which holds another surprising secret.
After exploring the world, the next frontier to conquer is the future, specifically as it relates to space. The Show theme of Tomorrowland is firmly of the science-fiction variety, with all things metal and machinery, most of it in motion. Even the pavement puts you in mind of the planets and what’s out there just beyond our reach. Things buzz around you and above you, with progress as the theme du jour.
Tomorrowland was intended to be a working city and the headquarters for the League of Planets. As you look around, notice all the community’s needs are catered for: transportation, news, dining, shopping, and communication. Whether you’re a human citizen, an alien, or a robot, everything you need is right here!
The first attraction you reach when you enter Tomorrowland from the Hub is Stitch’s Great Escape!, housed in the building on your left. Many of the signs inside the attraction are written in a peculiar alien alphabet; however, they can be translated into English if you read carefully. In particular, look for signs reading, Galactic Federation and Prisoner Identity for easy alien-to-English comparisons.
There are seven hidden Stitches in the mural that spans the upper walls inside Mickey’s Star Traders in Tomorrowland. From left to right, starting along the back wall, they are: (1) the front of the red train, (2) and (3) two windows on the glass buildings, (4) the satellite dish, (5) loops in road, (6) the domes (over the door), and (7) the golf-ball-style building. You can also see Stitch as himself just below the red train, and in the Merchant of Venus mural behind the cash register.
While hunting for hidden Mickeys is a popular pastime, the mouse isn’t the only character that hides in the attractions. Other characters, such as Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Tinker Bell, and even Baloo from The Jungle Book all have hidden likenesses in the parks.
Tomorrowland Speedway is fairly basic, but still has a few interesting items worth noting. Shortly after you enter the queue, there are track maps on the wall that are the layout of the speedway tracks at Disneyland in California, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.
As your racecar zooms past the first bridge you’ll see the speedway’s version of the Indianapolis Speedway’s Brickyard embedded in the track. It is a relic from the time when Tomorrowland Speedway was called Tomorrowland Indy Speedway.
While you are standing in front of Tomorrowland Speedway, stop and listen. Hear that sound? Nope, you don’t, because there is no sound. You have entered the only area of the Magic Kingdom where music is not piped in. Why not? Because there was no natural way to link Tomorrowland to Fantasyland, so the Imagineers chose not to transition guests through music.
This is the attraction most likely to make children (and competitive folks!) insist on a second or third ride so they can better their score. You’ll be so busy concentrating on the targets that you aren’t likely to look for hidden gems, and to be honest, this ride really is all about the end result. Even so, there are a few things to look for when you’re not occupied with defeating Evil Emperor Zurg.
When you enter the queue, look at the second painting on the wall to your right. There is a planet called Pollos Prime, shaped like Mickey Mouse’s profile, in the location of Orlando, Florida.
If you enter the area at the right time, you may hear Zurg say, “Guards, seize them! And their little green friends, too!” Listen for it just after you leave the first scene. It is a takeoff on the Wicked Witch of the West’s comment in the movie The Wizard of Oz, when she tells Dorothy, “I’ll get you, my pretty. And your little dog, too!”
Formerly called the WEDWay PeopleMover after Walter Elias Disney, this fan-favorite rarely has a wait. It’s a pleasant ride, especially when it’s hot and you can truly appreciate the breeze. The TTA passes by a model of a city, giving us a glimpse of how Walt envisioned the City of the Future (which eventually came into being, to some degree, as Epcot), and it is the only place you can see inside Space Mountain from the outside.
Even more remarkable, though largely unnoticed by guests, is the fact the TTA travels its entire 4,574-foot length without the benefit of any onboard moving parts. It is all driven by magnets.
Listen closely as you near the end of your ride on the TTA. Hear that page for “Tom Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow”? Tom was the Audio-Animatronic head of Operations in the now-extinct Mission to Mars attraction.
What is this “linear induction” that makes the TTA move? It’s a process that starts with electricity in the tracks making contact with coils in the ride vehicle, which propels the vehicle forward. Shortly after leaving the boarding area, the vehicle encounters a magnetized motor that terminates the electrical connection and initiates forward motion via magnetic motors.
News travels fast in the future. Take a look at the Tomorrowland Times being sold by the robot near Astro Orbiter, just to the right of the entry to Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Then, walk around to the right, toward the Lunching Pad fast-food counter. See the phone booth? By now, you know what to do. Pick up the receiver and listen!
Serious Disney geeks know that Carousel of Progress is a groundbreaking attraction that helped set the wheels in motion for advancements in Audio-Animatronics, and indeed for the creation of the Magic Kingdom itself. Gentle and unassuming, it is often overlooked in favor of big-thrill attractions, but it’s chock-full of wonderful hidden magic. For the best chance at seeing these gems, sit in the center of the theater, or just to the right of center.
While you’re enjoying the show, keep an eye out for a cat in each scene. See if you can find them on your own, then check Solution 2 in Appendix: Solutions to Hints.
You may notice a few incongruent elements in the story, including the unnamed girl in the wash-day scene, cranking the handle of the washing machine while Sarah does the ironing; a paint mixer being used in the Rumpus Room scene, though Sarah is wallpapering, not painting; and Grandma’s comment, “Give him a left, ya big lug!” during a wrestling match rather than a boxing match.
There are several modern-day references to Mickey Mouse in Carousel of Progress. In the 1940s Halloween scene, look for a Sorcerer Mickey hat on the tuffet next to Patricia as she uses her exercise machine. We’ll find a few more in the final scene, too.
When you reach the 1920s scene celebrating Independence Day, look through the window on the left-hand side. There is a Chinese restaurant across the street from John’s house, but the real gem is the small sign advertising Herb Ryman, Attorney at Law. It’s hard to read, but it’s a tribute to Imagineer Herbert Ryman, concept artist who sketched the interior of the G.E. Carousel of Progress attraction for the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
The original version of the Carousel of Progress created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair featured four eras: 1890, 1920, 1940, and the “modern day” of the 1960s. It was the first time Imagineers created Audio-Animatronic cats and dogs, and the first time Audio-Animatronic humans were used on a large scale. The characters’ heads for the show were designed by sculptor Blaine Gibson, who used the face of Imagineer Dick Irvine’s daughter as the model for the show’s young daughter.
The final scene celebrating Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a little something from Walt Disney World, and one lucky family member has a large plush Mickey Mouse waiting under the tree, to the left of Grandpa’s rocking chair. Look carefully and you’ll see the top of Mickey’s head poking up from behind some wrapped gifts.
Mickey also appears as a nutcracker on the mantle at the far left side of the room, in an abstract painting of sorcerer Mickey behind the television set Grandma and Jimmy are using to play a video game, and as salt and pepper grinders on the kitchen counter. If you are sitting far enough to the right, you’ll also see a Mickey cutout pasted to the gift next to Grandpa.
Being a Disney Cast Member can be the most magical work experience in the world, but it comes with its challenges, too. Ron Rodriguez remembers one of Magic Kingdom’s popular bands: “The Kids of the Kingdom band played the same show every day for years, and it could be maddening for them. Each year we had three weeks of rehearsal scheduled, but they already knew what to do so we wanted to play somewhere else when we weren’t doing our regular playlist. There was a new parade at Magic Kingdom, and it was suggested they should ride on one of the floats to fill up their downtime. But these were musicians, not actors, and they didn’t want to smile and wave. So I took three technicians instead, who dressed up and pretended to be musicians. Well, the Who’s Who of Disney management was watching from the Hub, and when they saw the float the only person they recognized was me. When the parade ended I told those technicians to scatter, quick! The Kids of the Kingdom were allowed to branch out and play at the Tomorrowland Terrace after that.”
While you’re in the queue, look for interplanetary route maps on the left-hand side. There are a few Disney references here, for Disney’s Hyperion Resort and for the characters Pluto and Ariel who, not so coincidentally, are also a dwarf planet and a moon, respectively. Disney’s Hyperion Resort is a reference to one of Walt Disney’s studios and is also the name of one of Saturn’s moons.
Just after you enter Space Mountain, take a look at the sign that lists various Earth Stations. Tomorrowland Station MK-1 is the station here in Tomorrowland. MK refers to Orlando’s Magic Kingdom and the numeral 1 indicates it was the first Space Mountain built in a Disney park. TL Space Station 77 honors Disneyland’s ride, which was built in 1977. Discovery Landing Station—Paris is Disneyland Paris’s ride. There is no Tomorrowland in Paris, so the ride is located in Paris’s Discoveryland. Ashita Base—Tokyo comes next, a reference to Tokyo Disneyland; ashita is Japanese for “tomorrow.” And finally, HK Spaceport E—TKT is the space port in Hong Kong Disneyland. What does E—TKT stand for? Space Mountain was an E-ticket attraction when it opened at Magic Kingdom, meaning, your admission booklet (which had ticket designations A through E) allowed you the choice of one of eight “major” attractions per E-ticket. The term is now synonymous with “thrilling ride.”
Once you’re on the ride, pay attention (if you can!) as you make your way up the lift hill. The front of the spaceship suspended above you has the markings H-NCH 1975, a reference to Disney Legend John Hench, designer of the original Space Mountain, and to the year Spaceship Earth opened.
Although Magic Kingdom was not Walt Disney’s primary intent for his great Florida project (that honor goes to the next park we’ll explore), in terms of the historical timeline it had to come first. Profits from the park were necessary to raise the funding needed for Walt’s true pet project, EPCOT Center. But from the perspective of the Show, Magic Kingdom comes in second to none. Open your eyes wide as you tour and imagine your own happy stories in this most magical of places!
In 1958, the Walt Disney Company hired a private consultancy, Economics Research Associates, to begin a quest to find the ideal location where Walt could build his second theme park. The study indicated the obscure sites of Ocala and Orlando in Florida were most suited to the project. By 1963, Roy O. Disney and attorney Robert Foster proposed the purchase of 5,000 to 10,000 acres of land, prompting Walt to pay a visit to the area and make a final decision. After viewing the options, he settled on Orlando as the location for what would eventually become Walt Disney World.
Acting under the name Robert Price, Foster purchased 12,400 acres at a mere $107–$145 per acre, later adding another 9,750 acres at a relatively low cost. The total land purchase would span nearly 30,000 acres at a final cost of a little more than $5 million.
The Orlando Sentinel originally agreed not to reveal Disney’s involvement in the land purchases, but, by the end of May 1965, the cat was nearly out of the bag. In June 1965, the Orlando Evening Star ran a feature referencing forty-seven transactions by Florida Ranch Lands, Inc., a boutique brokerage firm that was eventually revealed as working on behalf of Walt Disney in securing central Florida property. On October 25, Florida governor Haydon Burns confirmed Disney’s purchase of the land and, on November 15, in the Cherry Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Walt, Roy, and Governor Burns formally announced plans to build the fledgling Disney resort.
Sadly, Walt never saw a single brick laid at the Florida location. He died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966. Roy O. Disney changed the name of the project from Disney World to Walt Disney World in honor of his brother, one of the great creative visionaries of the modern era. On May 30, 1967, ground broke for Magic Kingdom, “The Most Magical Place on Earth.”
The Magic Kingdom’s grand opening took place on October 1, 1971, to a crowd of 10,000 visitors and at a cost of $400 million. Attractions open that day were Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel, Country Bear Jamboree, Diamond Horseshoe Revue, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, Mickey Mouse Revue, Audio-Animatronics, Mike Fink Keel Boats, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Skyway to Tomorrowland and Skyway to Fantasyland, Snow White’s Adventures, Swiss Family Treehouse, Tropical Serenade, Grand Prix Raceway, and Walt Disney World Railroad. In addition, there were a full array of shops, dining options, a Penny Arcade, House of Magic, Main Street Cinema, various novelty vehicles, horse-drawn streetcars, and horseless carriages.
Admiral Joe Fowler riverboat opened on October 2, with Peter Pan’s Flight debuting the next day. On October 14, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea made its inaugural dive, and on Christmas Eve, the first guests blasted into outer space compliments of Flight to the Moon.
Admission into the park in 1971 was $3.50 for adults, $2.50 ages twelve to seventeen, and $1 ages three to eleven. Unlike today, guests then had a choice of two attraction tickets: an Adult 7-Attractions booklet ran $4.75. For an additional $1, adults could get an 11-Attractions booklet. Coupons allowed for one ride per coupon, from A-rides (such as Main Street Vehicles and Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel) to E-rides (state-of-the-art attractions such as Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, Jungle Cruise, and it’s a small world).
Roy O. Disney presided over Magic Kingdom’s dedication ceremony on October 23, 1971. In November, the Electrical Water Pageant parade made its first journey along Bay Lake while the Circle-Vision 360° film America the Beautiful debuted in Tomorrowland. December 1 saw the addition of a fourth locomotive, the Roy O. Disney.
Tragically, on December 20, Roy died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Control of Walt Disney World passed to Donn Tatum, acting as chairman, with Esmond Cardon “Card” Walker serving as president.
Eastern Airlines, the official airline of Walt Disney World, sponsored the If You Had Wings attraction in Tomorrowland, which opened on June 5, 1972, featuring a cutting-edge Omnimover ride system. By October 1, Walt Disney World’s first anniversary, 10.7 million guests had passed through its gates.
The year 1973 saw a barrage of new attractions, including The Walt Disney Story in April, Tom Sawyer Island, Tom Sawyer Island Rafts, Plaza Swan Boats, and the Richard F. Irvine riverboat in May. But the most notable attraction debuted on December 15 when Pirates of the Caribbean opened in Adventureland. It would become a true Disney classic and go on to inspire a classic adventure movie series thirty years later.
America the Beautiful closed on March 15, 1974, reopening a day later with a new film, Magic Carpet ’Round the World, which lasted all of a year before being replaced by America the Beautiful again. Star Jets, the area’s new centerpiece attraction, followed in November, providing a dizzying rocket-ride high above Tomorrowland.
By the end of 1974, Walt Disney World’s popularity had grown to astonishing proportions. On December 29, a record 74,597 day-guests passed through the gates, causing the park to close due to capacity for the first time in its history.
Long-awaited thrill-ride Space Mountain launched on January 15, 1975, adding a much-needed boost of adrenalin to an otherwise gentle park experience. Space travel remained very much in the public consciousness, though travel to the moon had lost some of its mystique. In response, Flight to the Moon became Mission to Mars on June 7, giving the attraction a new name and destination, although it remained essentially the same ride.
On June 6, America on Parade began running twice daily along Main Street’s parade route in honor of the upcoming American Bicentennial.
A “great big beautiful tomorrow” arrived when the classic Carousel of Progress was moved from Disneyland in California to Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland in 1975, with a new theme song, “The Best Time of Your Life.” The original theme song would return in 1994, when the attraction was refurbished and renamed Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.
Although 1976 was quiet in terms of new attractions, the Magic Kingdom hit a milestone when day-guest Susan Brummer passed through the gates, achieving the distinction of being the park’s 50 millionth visitor.
Destined to be a Disney classic, Main Street Electrical Parade premiered on June 11, 1977. It would grace Magic Kingdom twice, first for a fourteen-year run (1977–1991), and then again for two years (1999–2001).
The period from 1978 through mid-1980 was quiet at the Magic Kingdom as a second gate—EPCOT Center—broke ground in preparation for an October 1, 1982, opening. Mickey Mouse Revue closed at Magic Kingdom on September 14, 1980, followed by the retirement of the Admiral Joe Fowler riverboat. But big news came on November 8, with the opening of the park’s second coaster, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The Dream Called EPCOT film began showing at the EPCOT Preview Center in Magic Kingdom, generating excitement for the new park scheduled to open eleven years to the day after Magic Kingdom welcomed its first guests.
But 1981 also focused on Magic Kingdom’s ten-year anniversary, with the stage show Disney World Is Your World and the Tencennial Parade running from October 1, 1981, through September 30, 1982, highlighting a celebration dubbed “a year long and a smile wide”—and smile wide, they did! Walt Disney World welcomed its 126 millionth guest during its Tencennial festivities.
Most of Walt Disney World’s energy was focused on Epcot through 1982 and 1983; hence, the Magic Kingdom had to endure a quiet year. The graceful Plaza Swan Boats no longer swam the park’s inland waters as of August 1983, victims of ongoing maintenance problems. However, their main docking area, a green-roofed platform next to the rose garden between the castle and Tomorrowland, could still be enjoyed as a shady rest area until 2014.
A change in power occurred at Walt Disney World in 1984. Michael Eisner became the new chairman and chief executive officer following a major boardroom upheaval, with the company in the doldrums and losing money on both their theme park and film divisions. But the Magic Kingdom was not initially a primary focus for investment in new attractions.
A weak effort arrived in the form of the Show Biz Is show, which opened on July 12, 1984, only to close two months later. America the Beautiful was replaced by Circle-Vision 360° film American Journeys, while the new Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade offered little buckaroos the opportunity to spend a bit more of Mom and Dad’s hard-earned cash on the chance to knock over a few prairie-themed targets. It was not a banner year.
After the upheaval of 1984, it would take another four years before any new development occurred in Magic Kingdom. Time and money were focused on a rather quick decision to move forward with a third gate at Walt Disney World, the $300 million “Hollywood that never was and always will be” of Disney–MGM Studios.
In the meantime, Merlin’s Magic Shop closed in Magic Kingdom in May 1986 and the Diamond Horseshoe Revue was renamed the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree. Eastern Airlines was dropped as the If You Had Wings sponsor in January 1986. The name was changed to If You Could Fly on June 6. Capping off a rather uninspired year, Magic Journeys, the first in-park 3D effort by Walt Disney Imagineering, debuted at the Fantasyland Theater on December 15. The park would remain quiet throughout 1987, with no new attractions.
The year 1988 would make up for the lack of investment in the park in the mid-1980s, especially for families with young children. Mickey’s Birthdayland opened on June 18, originally intended to be a temporary land for the duration of Mickey’s birthday celebration.
The area consisted of Mickey’s House, Grandma Duck’s Petting Farm, Mickey’s Playground, and three circus-style tents with character meet-and-greets and two live shows, including highlight show Minnie’s Surprise Birthday Party. One of the prime attractions was a cow living at Grandma Duck’s farm named Minnie Moo, born with the classic tri-circle Mickey head on her side.
Ending an ongoing struggle to find its identity, If You Could Fly closed for the last time on January 3, 1989. Debuting in its place, Delta Dreamflight opened on June 26 and became a guest favorite for its pop-up-book style and the illusion of entering a jet engine.
Due to its enormous popularity with families, the decision was made to keep Mickey’s Birthdayland. It closed on April 22, 1990, reopening on May 26 under the name Mickey’s Starland, with Minnie’s Surprise Birthday Party replaced by the Mickey’s Magical TV World show. Cheap cutout storefronts were replaced by more substantial façades.
September 14, 1991, saw the last running of the popular nighttime Main Street Electrical Parade. It was replaced on October 1 by the visually magnificent SpectroMagic. The Surprise Celebration Parade ran each afternoon, beginning September 22.
It had been twelve years, though, since Magic Kingdom brought in a major attraction. Finally, in 1992, on July 17 (with a dedication ceremony on October 2), Splash Mountain generated screams of delight, with its gentle log flume ride through vignettes based on the 1946 film Song of the South culminating in a final 52-foot plunge with Br’er Rabbit, straight into the briar patch!
The Walt Disney Story closed on October 5, 1992, followed by Mission to Mars on October 4, 1993. The Hall of Presidents underwent a major refurbishment, adding President Bill Clinton to the lineup on November 18, 1993, with new narration by poet Maya Angelou, who recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Clinton’s January 20 inauguration.
Also in November, the Carousel of Progress reclaimed its original theme song, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.” On December 1, Magic Journeys at the Fantasyland Theater was presented for the last time. A month later, American Journeys closed, followed by Surprise Celebration Parade and Star Jets.
By 1994, Tomorrowland needed, and got, a major overhaul. It had begun to look dated, so in an effort to avoid that happening in the future, the Imagineers gave it a more general design, creating a “city of the future,” with all the services of a major interplanetary metropolis.
In the process, the WEDWay PeopleMover adopted the name Tomorrowland Transit Authority, creating instant confusion for new visitors looking for the TTC (Transportation and Ticket Center). Despite the name change, many purists persisted in calling it the WEDWay. Even more distressing, the classic attraction 20,000 Leagues under the Sea closed, another victim of difficult maintenance.
On July 8, 1994, The Legend of the Lion King show debuted in the former Mickey Mouse Revue theater, with a unique blend of animation from The Lion King movie, human-animal puppet performances, and some wonderful lighting effects. On November 21, 1994, the Timekeeper attraction with Circle-Vision 360° film From Time to Time opened in Tomorrowland’s Transportarium, with voices by comic duo Robin Williams as the Timekeeper and Rhea Perlman as time-traveling camera droid 9-Eye.
The wonderfully hometown Penny Arcade and the House of Magic closed on March 19, 1995, and on April 7, the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree returned to its original name, the Diamond Horseshoe Revue. On the heels of the major refurbishment of Tomorrowland, Star Jets was reborn as Astro Orbiter, with the central rocket tower being replaced by a futuristic orbiting-planets theme.
Flying in circles around Tomorrowland wasn’t enough to hold teenagers’ attention, so on June 20, 1995, the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter began scaring the daylights out of little Mouseketeers (and big ones). Incredibly innovative, Alien Encounter was the theme-park equivalent of a psychological thriller and ultimately proved too un-Disney-like, especially as a Magic Kingdom attraction.
Mickey’s Starland, now called Mickey’s Toontown Fair, enjoyed an expansion in June 1996, adding kiddie coaster The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm (which replaced Grandma Duck’s Petting Farm) and Toontown Hall of Fame. The Grand Prix Raceway’s track was shortened to make room for the added attractions in Toontown, reopening on September 28 as Tomorrowland Speedway. On the other side of the park, the Richard F. Irvine riverboat was rechristened the Liberty Belle.
One of Disney’s Nine Old Men, animator and railroad enthusiast Ward Kimball, received the honor of a namesake fifth locomotive, which made its debut at Magic Kingdom on March 1, 1997. That April, popular King Stefan’s Banquet Hall restaurant was renamed Cinderella’s Royal Table.
After a May 17, 1997, accident dumped a boatload of guests into the Rivers of America at Disneyland California, the Mike Fink Keel Boats attraction there and in Orlando closed for good. Some Disney purists believed a more startling catastrophe occurred when Cinderella Castle was transformed into the Cinderella Castle Cake during Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary Celebration in late 1996, and they were delighted to see the balloon-like covering removed in January 1998.
On the strength of three enormously popular movies, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Toy Story, the Tiki Room reopened as the Enchanted Tiki Room—Under New Management, with Jafar’s (from Aladdin) screeching parrot Iago acting as joint host with The Lion King’s Zazu, while the brand-new Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin became an instant E-ticket hit. Sadly, September 7 saw the closing of a Disney classic, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Toady handed over the deed to his former home on June 5, 1999, when The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh arrived.
The year 2001 added new entertainment to the park, hot on the heels of a major promotion for Walt Disney World’s Millennium Celebration in 2000. These included Cinderella’s Surprise Celebration stage show, the daily parade Share a Dream Come True, and the return of the nighttime parade SpectroMagic, which replaced Main Street Electrical Parade on April 2. Geared toward the Dumbo the Flying Elephant crowd, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin provided a much-needed kiddie ride in Adventureland. On October 1, Disney’s 100 Years of Magic celebration began, honoring the anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth.
The 3D multisensory treat Mickey’s PhilharMagic took over the former Legend of the Lion King theater in 2003, a year after Lion King closed. Nearby, the Diamond Horseshoe Revue closed, replaced by the ill-conceived Goofy’s Country Dancin’ Jamboree, a preschool free-for-all with Cowboy Goofy and Friends.
The poignantly beautiful Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams fireworks show lit up the sky for the first time on October 8, 2003, and four days later, the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter closed, a victim, perhaps, of its own success. The attraction set out to be terrifying—and did so in grand style.
Its replacement arrived on November 16, 2004, when the mischievous alien from the megahit movie Lilo and Stitch teleported to Magic Kingdom with his own show, Stitch’s Great Escape. Preschoolers were frightened by it, elementary-age kids loved it, and many parents dubbed it “just plain gross.”
New attractions were not high on the list for 2005–2006, but Disney could not ignore a generational problem caused by the wild success of 2003’s blockbuster movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Youngsters clamored for the movie’s star, played by the iconic Johnny Depp, prompting Audio-Animatronics of the inimitable Captain Jack Sparrow to be added to the Adventureland attraction.
In keeping with the trend of creating movie-inspired attractions, the Laugh Floor Comedy Club soft-opened briefly in December 2006, with one-eyed comedian Mike Wazowski of Monsters, Inc. movie fame acting as the show’s Monster of Ceremonies. In December 2006 it was renamed Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club, and finally Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in March 2007. The attraction did not generate the screams of laughter expected, though many guests found the show’s acronym to be hilarious, as it was, unfortunately, also an obscene pop-culture cinematic reference.
Urban legend came full circle during a major Haunted Mansion overhaul in 2007, formally introducing the ghostly bride story line, which was not intended in the original design. Purists railed at the idea this classic attraction would be tampered with, but just as the Imagineers did a beautiful job in making Pirates of the Caribbean a more contemporary story without losing any of its original charm, so too did the Haunted Mansion’s remake find favor. Some would argue it was better than ever!
The years 2008 and 2009 were quiet, with rumors floating around about the next big thing coming to Magic Kingdom. By mid-2009 blueprints were leaked that showed a major Fantasyland expansion in the area occupied by a Winnie the Pooh playground, the former 20,000 Leagues under the Sea attraction, and Toontown. While most of the plan’s attractions came into being, some, including Pixie Hollow, fell by the wayside.
With an estimated five-year span before the expansion would be realized, very little happened to breathe new life into the park. The long-running parade SpectroMagic ended June 5, 2010, and was replaced by Main Street Electrical Parade the next day. Seven months later a small fire occurred at the Enchanted Tiki Room—Under New Management! on January 12, 2011, closing the attraction. On August 15, 2011, the original version returned, effectively doing what millions of visitors wished they could do: bump off that annoying bird, Iago.
The Haunted Mansion’s queue was extended, giving guests the option of a detour through an interactive graveyard, which opened in March 2011. The augmented “hitchhiking ghosts” scene at the end of the attraction began on April 4, 2011, and after the successful addition of Captain Jack Sparrow and other characters from the hit movie series, mermaids from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides were added to the Adventureland attraction in October 2012.
Mickey’s Toontown Fair closed permanently on February 11, 2011, as part of the Fantasyland expansion plans, and on March 12, 2012, Goofy’s Barnstormer at Wiseacre Farm reopened as the Barnstormer featuring Goofy as the Great Goofini. Dumbo the Flying Elephant was relocated from Fantasyland to Storybook Circus (formerly Toontown), reopening on March 12, 2012. A second Dumbo opened next to it, in July 2012. The remainder of Storybook Circus, including Casey Jr. Splash ’n’ Soak Station, opened in July 2012.
Enchanted Tales with Belle and Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid opened December 6, 2012, as a debut of the addition to Fantasyland, nicknamed Fantasyland Forest.
Princess Fairytale Hall meet-and-greet began receiving visitors on September 18, 2013, and the final element of the Fantasyland expansion, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, opened May 28, 2014, adding a sense of kinetic excitement to the most magical land in the park.