CHAPTER 4
Behind the Scenes

It takes over seventy thousand cast members to make the magic happen at Disney World. Before beginning their job, most take classes at Disney University, located behind the Magic Kingdom. They learn about Walt Disney, Disney World Resort, Disney characters, and how to behave with guests. After that, there’s more training about how to do a particular job, and how to look and act the part of the character they’ll portray. (Often one cast member switches roles on different days.)

Unofficial and Official Disney Lingo

Adventure—a ride

Attraction—a ride or a show

Backstage—any part of Disney World that guests cannot see

Cast member—a Disney World employee; CM for short

Character—costumed employee acting as a Disney character

Face character—characters like Cinderella and Snow White whose costumes don’t cover their heads

Fastpass+—timed reservation system that can shorten wait times at attractions

Flume—water-chute ride

Good show—when a cast member behaves in a friendly, kind manner toward guests or performs a job or character well when in view of guests

Guest—visitor

Imagineers—Disney employees who come up with creative and technical ideas

Lost parent—since kids might get scared if referred to as “lost,” the parents are referred to as “lost” instead

MagicBand—colorful wristband used as an admission ticket and more

Onstage—any part of Disney World that guests can see

Queue—line of people waiting to enter an attraction (say: KEW)

Rope drop—nickname for the time Disney World officially opens each morning, because guests sometimes stand behind an actual rope until Disney employees move it aside for them to pass

Utilidors—nickname for employees-only under-ground tunnels, also called utilities corridors

Disney employees are called cast members for a reason. Walt wanted them to think of themselves as actors in a big show called Disney World. Anytime they are among park guests, even if they are not on a real stage, they are considered to be acting out a role. Even small things are important. Giving directions to a guest by pointing the way with a finger might be considered “bad show.” Gesturing the way with a friendly open hand is called “good show.” Cast members are expected to be cheerful and polite, which is, of course, “good show”!

Have you ever wondered how Disney characters seem to magically appear in their correct lands? Or why you don’t ever see them where they don’t belong? Well, one time at Disneyland, Walt caught sight of a cowboy cast member walking through Tomorrowland on the way over to Frontierland. It felt so out of place to Walt. It spoiled the magical feeling he wanted for guests.

So at Disney World, there are underground tunnels for cast members. They walk through them to get to their lands without guests seeing them. The tunnels, called utilidors, form one big circle under the Magic Kingdom with a connecting tunnel going under Main Street through the middle.

If you were a cast member, you’d likely park in a lot about a mile away and take a bus to the tunnel entrance. Your first stop inside the tunnel might be the Mouseketeria for a snack. Across the hall is the wardrobe department. You tell them your size and where you’ll be working that day. After you’re given a costume, you change and store your belongings in locker rooms.

Mickey Mouse has about 136 outfits, including a tuxedo and a scuba-suit. Minnie Mouse has more than one hundred, including a safari suit. All the characters’ costumes amount to a lot of clothes that need to be washed. Luckily, Disney World has its own laundries on site.

It is a ten-minute walk from one end of the park to the other going through the tunnels. The tunnels are color-coded and have signs saying which section of the park is directly above.

To get into the land you want, you take an elevator or stairs up one floor. You exit into the Magic Kingdom through one of twenty-nine unmarked doors.

Imagine how hard it might be to remain cheerful on a hot summer day if you’re wearing a costume that covers you head to toe! There are rules to make sure cast members get enough breaks. To relax, they might come back downstairs to one of the break rooms.

Because of the tunnels, you won’t see garbage trucks in the park emptying trash bins. Instead, trash gets sucked from the park down through twenty-inch pipes at speeds of up to sixty miles an hour. In the tunnels, you can sometimes hear trash flying by on its way to a central collection area.

There are also offices, storage areas, kitchens, a hair salon, makeup rooms, plus design and rehearsal spaces. The park’s computer system, Digital Animation Control System (DACS), is here, too. It operates and monitors sound systems, Audio-Animatronic characters, and attractions. It helps make sure stage curtains open on time and parades are on schedule.

Delivery trucks arrive at the tunnels bringing both merchandise and food that eventually get distributed to the parks. Utility workers drive around on golf carts. The tunnels are a busy place!

Audio-Animatronics

Walt was always asking his team of Imagineers to accomplish tasks that seemed impossible. When he found a mechanical singing bird in a store, he showed it to them. They took it apart to see how it worked. Before you knew it, he had them busy building a nine-inch-tall dancing man. This was an early prototype of Audio-Animatronics, which are basically robots. Enchanted Tiki Room opened at Disneyland in 1963, and was the first attraction with Audio-Animatronics. Its tropical birds could do simple actions like open and close their beaks. For the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City, Walt created a full-size Audio-Animatronic human figure—Abraham Lincoln. Abe could talk and do fifty-seven movements. In the 1960s, this was new, amazing stuff.