The Walt Disney Touch

Here are fifteen facts about Disneyland & Disney World which point to Walt Disney's immaculate attention to detail.

1.  Beneath Disney World are a series of tunnels so that characters can travel to their respective lands without being seen.  Therefore, they never appear in a land that they don't belong in ex. Snow White in Frontierland.

2.  Walt Disney had rules for characters at his amusement park including;  they couldn't say NO, they couldn't break character and they couldn't point with one finger to show directions (it was considered rude to point).

3.  Disney wanted his guests' experience to be a pleasurable and a genuine one so he used "smellitzers" throughout the park:  a vanilla scent was wafted into Main Street USA; a sea salt scent surrounded the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

4.  Walt had an apartment above the fire hall on Main Street USA.  If he was in residence, he placed a lamp in the window.

5.  Disney employees in the parks were not supposed to grow any facial hair until recent years.

6.  Walt Disney once ate a hotdog in Disney land, counting the number of steps he took until he finished it.  He placed the garbage can 25 steps from the snack stand.

7.  Women who played princesses had to stand 5' 4" to 5' 7", except for Alice, Wendy and Tinkerbell who were shorter.  Princesses had to be under 27 years of age.

8.  Walt never wanted to be called Mr. Disney.  Therefore, he had all Disneyland employees wear badges with first names only.

9.  In keeping with the goal of entertaining its guests, Disney World is only second to the US military in purchasing explosives for its nightly fireworks displays.

10.  Disneyland and Disney World's Main Street buildings have names written on the windows.  These are individuals who have contributed to the design of the parks.

11.  Snow White Castle in Disneyland and Cinderella Castle in Disney World were both designed using the artist's trick "forced perspective" which makes them appear higher than they actually are.

12.  Gum is forbidden to be sold at Disneyland and Disney World.  It is not even sold at the Orlando Airport!  Walt was tired of picking gum off the bottom of his shoe every ten minutes when he went to other amusement parks.

13.  The King Arthur Carousel in Disneyland features hand carved and painted horses which are polished every night.

14.  Walt used to stoop down and study the various buildings at Disneyland to get the perspective of a young child.

15.  Once Walt overheard a Disneyland guest say:  "We don't need to go on this ride, we've already seen it."  That was just cause for Walt to have the Jungle Cruise ride overhauled.

For more information, read "90 Facts You Didn't Know About Disney" at http://www.empireonline.com/features/90-disney-facts/9.asp OR "The Walt Disney Touch" at
http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/waltdisney_touch/.

Walt Disney: A Janus-Minded Entrepreneur

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The Magic Kingdom, built in 1955, is a paradox:  Main Street USA preserves America in 1910 while Tomorrowland projects into the future year, 1986.  Walt Disney, a Janus-minded entrepreneur, was forever looking forward and backwards at the same time.  He longed for the days of his youth in turn of the century Marceline, Missouri.  However, he filled his amusement park with examples of the future:  the monorail, the people mover and the Carousel of Progress.

Main Street USA reminds us of America's past with its old town square theatre, barber shop, emporium and city hall.

Likewise, Fantasyland features buildings such as the Sleeping Beauty Castle fashioned after the 19th Century Neuschwanstein in Germany, and the Crystal Palace, modelled after the building from the London World Exposition in 1851.

Frontierland includes a shooting arcade, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Liberty Square features a Mississippi Steamboat, a Victorian style Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents, which all harken back to America at the turn of the century.

However, Tomorrowland projects into the future with the Carousel of Progress, celebrating American inventions, the Speedway and the people mover.

dreamstomemories.net

Walt Disney himself contributed to the progress of America with his pioneering techniques in film and animation.  Disney debuted the first sound cartoon in 1928, Steamboat Willie, and the first technicolour cartoon, Flowers & Trees, in 1932.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, debuting in 1937, was the first full length animated feature film.

Walt Disney also contributed to the growth of American cities.  Anaheim, built on an old orange grove, grew from a town of 15,000 in 1955 to a metropolis of 336,000 today.  Orlando, fashioned out of a Florida swamp, grew from a small city of 99,000 in 1971 to a large city of 255,000 today. Orlando Airport is now one of the biggest in the United States thanks to Disney World.

Note:  To read about another Janus-minded entrepreneur, check out my post about Henry Ford Museum, "Light's Golden Jubilee" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2013/08/august-3.html.