Disney World Facts Only Insiders Know Best Life
Ever since Walt Disney World, in Florida, welcomed its first visitors in 1971, it's embedded itself in the American consciousness in ways few other institutions ever have. But Disney's success was no accident. The park struck big because of its unrelenting emphasis on its visitors and their experiences—and maybe just a tiny bit of pixie dust.
Still, when your resort welcomes millions of guests each year, there are a whole bunch of experiences to manage. And naturally, there's a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes. From its hidden underground tunnels that only a select few will ever see to its 36,000 guest rooms, Disney World has a lot going on that most guests never see—or know about.
Read on for 35 amazing facts about America's favorite theme park. Oh, and if you're worried: We promise, no matter how much you know, it won't ruin the magic.
If you added up the number of employees at every other Disney property worldwide—Disneyland Resort in California, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Shanghai Disney Resort—you'd still fall around 5,000 people short of the 75,000 folks who work at Walt Disney World in Florida.
What's more, each of the park's employees—from its costumed princesses to its front-desk clerks—are lovingly referred to as "cast members." And with that many people putting on the show each day, Walt Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the world.
The Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom each stand exactly 199-feet tall. That's no coincidence, either. Buildings taller than 200-feet are required to flash aviation lights. And, of course, that would ruin some of the magic.
When Disney's Magic Kingdom first opened in October 1971, admission set guests back just $3.50—the price of a bottle of Dasani at Disney today. (Adjusted for inflation, that's about $21.) Unfortunately, prices have skyrocketed, and a one-day pass now costs around $109.
To remove trash from the park, the Magic Kingdom uses an automated vacuum collection (AVAC) system that functions in the park's vast underground utilidors, or underground tunnels. To use the system, custodians remove trash and dump it into special processors. From there, it's brought underground and pushed along at 60 miles per hour to a central location where it is processed, compressed, and transferred to a landfill or recycling center.
In addition to the AVAC system, Disney's utilidors are also home to a mammoth network of underground tunnels that help cast members navigate the park. The tunnel walls are color-coded so cast members can easily know where they are. And if they take a wrong turn, that's fine, as most of them get around on golf cart-like battery-operated vehicles (although an ambulance could drive through the utilidor system in case of an emergency). Guests on the Keys to the Kingdom tour are the only ones permitted in the tunnels.
The Disney World Railroad in the Magic Kingdom offers a great photo opp—but it's also worth noting that it's a functional steam-powered train that carries 1.5 million passengers each year. The four trains were originally built between 1916 and 1928 and have been restored to run in tip-top shape.
Walt Disney had big plans for Disney World, and one of them was to create a controlled community at Epcot, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, Esquire reports. The seemingly dystopian plan was to select 20,000 people to live in the city, which would have shopping areas, residential properties, theaters, restaurants, and—most questionably—a climate-controlled setting. After Disney died, the project was deemed unrealistic, and it was scrapped.
Because real American flags must follow the national flag code, such as flying at half-mast during times of mourning, most of the ones at Disney are fakes. Yup, they were purposefully made to be missing a stripe or a star so the park doesn't have to worry about flag etiquette—because its flags are technically pennants.
Epcot's iconic Spaceship Earth was designed so that when it rains, which happens a lot in Florida, no water ever pours off the 16-million-ton sphere—making it a great place to grab shelter during one those brief summer downpours. Instead, the water travels through a passage in the ball and is funneled into the park's World Showcase Lagoon. How's that for recycling?
The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air. Keep in mind that the tallest fountain in the world, located in Busan, South Korea, shoots just 30-feet higher. If the Innoventions fountain released all of its shooters at once, it would emit 2,000 gallons of water.
There's no doubt that Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom is breathtaking. But looks can be deceiving—this castle is more like a fortress. Although the exterior appears to be made of stone, the shell of the building is actually made of fiberglass. That's because the dreamy home was built to withstand hurricanes, and can fend off winds up to 125 miles per hour.
Disney really did think of everything—including how annoying it is to have to carry around garbage. To keep guests happy and the parks clean, each space was designed so that visitors are never more than 30 steps away from a trash can.
Even at a rate of one guest room per night, it would take 81 years to stay in each of the 36,000 rooms at all of the Disney World hotels and resorts.
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Ever the style icon, Mickey Mouse has more in his Walt Disney World closet than a bunch of red shorts and yellow shoes. In fact, he owns around 136 different outfits, including a tuxedo and a scuba suit. Minnie's collection is slightly smaller; she has just around 100 outfits.
On average, around 210 pairs of sunglasses are turned in at the Disney World lost and found each day—that's over 1.65 million sunglasses since it opened in 1971. The lost and found also collects around 6,000 cell phones, 3,500 cameras, and 18,000 hats each year.
Each year, guests purchase more than 75 million Coca-Cola beverages at Disney World. That's compared to just 13 million bottles of water. Hydration is key, people!
Not all of the creatures in Disney's Animal Kingdom love the daytime. To see the park's nocturnal animals in their element, visitors can go on a thrilling nighttime safari. In addition to a trek through the Harambe Wildlife Reserve after hours, the experience also includes a meal of African-inspired dishes paired with regional beer and wine.
Disney's Magic Kingdom spans 142 acres, while Disneyland in Anaheim, California, covers just 85 acres. Both sound teeny tiny when you consider that Disney World as a whole is some 27,000 acres—or the size of two Manhattan islands.
You might have thought Disney World was located in the City of Orlando, but it's actually a part of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special taxing district that acts with the same authority and responsibility as a county government. Disney helped organize the district himself, so he could leverage more control over the areas surrounding his theme park. And technically, Reedy Creek is comprised of two cities of its own, the City of Bay Lake and the City of Lake Buena Vista. The district has its own contracts for fire, law, and traffic protection, and boasts just a few dozen full-time residents—all of whom work for Disney.
The 143-year-old live oak tree was found on Disney property in 1990 and transferred eight miles to Disney's Magic Kingdom. The tree weighed 38 tons and was only able to be relocated by drilling holes through the trunk, inserting steel pins, and lifting it with a crane. The process took months.
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The man-made tree was built over a retrofitted 14-story oil rig. The 145-foot creation is covered with more than 100,000 leaves that are each more than a foot long. The tree's trunk is made of concrete, not wood.
There's nothing like feeling the warm sand under your feet at the beach. And at Stormalong Bay at Disney's Beach Club Resort, you can feel like you're really there. Its 750,000-gallon pool is the largest sand-bottom pool in the world. And it's not just a pool, there are 3 acres of aquatic activities (that is over two football fields) including a lazy river and shipwreck replica that you can actually swim through.
In order to protect the park from unsightly globs of gum, Disney World stopped selling the stuff. It isn't banned, but if guests want a piece, they'll have to bring their own.
If you're going to meet your favorite Disney characters, you might as well document the experience with an autograph. And as it turns out, Disney sells so many autograph books a year that if you stacked them on top of one another, the pile would be about 4,000-feet tall—the same height as 200 Cinderella Castles.
In 1975, Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain attraction officially welcomed visitors. Although the ride can't actually take you to space, astronauts Scott Carpenter of Mercury 7, Gordon Cooper of Mercury 9 and Gemini 5, and Jim Irwin of Apollo 15 all attended the grand opening to commemorate the space-themed ride.
Disney World isn't only about rides and restaurants. In fact, more than 12 percent of the park, or 4,000 acres, is taken up by gardens and other maintained landscapes. That's around 3,000 football fields of greenery. To keep things fresh, each year horticulturalists plant some three million annual plants.
The 18-minute safari ride in Animal Kingdom allows visitors the chance to get up close and personal with animals that are seemingly roaming free. But have no fear, these creatures can't run up and get you—or each other. Barriers such as water features and moats are added to the reserve to keep the animals in specific areas.
The sights at Pandora—The World of Avatar—which opened in May of 2017, are so magical they might not seem real. In fact, when it was built in 2017, there were 500 real trees and 10,000 shrubs included in the landscape. To add to the experience, there are glow-in-the-dark paths that are charged during the daytime and glow at night.
Each year, Disney visitors consume seven million hamburgers, a half-million pounds of mac and cheese, one million pounds of watermelon, and two million pounds of ketchup. It takes 350 chefs to keep up with the demand.
At DinoLand U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom, you can find Dino-Sue, an exact replica of the largest T-Rex skeleton ever found, a 13-foot tall, 40-foot long creature discovered in South Dakota by archaeologist Sue Hendrickson. You can pose for a picture, but don't expect to get all of Dino-Sue in the frame—after all, she's the length of a four-story building!
Keeping thousands of cast members squeaky clean takes work—and most of it is done by the folks at the Disney World Laundry. Each day, cast members there do around 285,000 pounds of laundry. If you broke that down to one load of laundry a day, it'd take you 52 years to get through.
The Disney Imagineers took the historical accuracy of the Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square seriously. To maintain the essence of the colonial time period, Liberty Square was built without any restrooms. (Magic Kingdom itself boasts 27 though!) However, a sneaky loophole allowed for bathrooms to be installed at the Columbia Harbour House and the Liberty Tree Tavern, since they are technically not located in Liberty Square.
Whether you're a first-time park visitor, it's your birthday, or you're celebrating another special event at Disney, you can get a complimentary celebration button if you put in the effort. All you have to do is stop by guest services or at the front desk at any of the Walt Disney Resorts to pick one up. Expect extra-special attention from cast members when you wear your button!
Walt Disney World is the most popular vacation resort in the world, with over 58 million yearly visitors. The Magic Kingdom specifically is the most visited amusement park in the world, with over 12 million people visiting in 2021. That's a whole lot of mouse ears!
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