Walt Disney World's Wedding Pavilion

Walt Disney World's Wedding Pavilion is located on a private island on The Seven Seas Lagoon between The Grand Floridian and Polynesian Resorts.

The Largest of all the Walt Disney World Theme Parks

Animal Kingdom is the largest of all the Walt Disney World parks. It encompasses 500 acres!

It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely around animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney himself.

Comic Strip Artist's Kit

This is a guide made by Carson Van Osten with drawing tips!

He was the writer and artist of Disney Comics. From 1969 to 1976, he created Mickey Mouse and Goofy  comics for the publisher Disney Studio, which produced comics for the European market. Starting in 1976, he was art director for Disney's comic strips  department in the 1980s. After that, it seems that he has sporadically worked on new Disney comics, including some covers and the adaptation of the Atlantis: The Lost Empire film.

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The Minnie's Voice

Marcellite Garner, from Disney's ink and paint department, was the original voice of Minnie Mouse (starting in 1928).

She can be heard in such shorts as The Karnival Kid, Mickey's Orphans, and Mickey's Surprise Party. (Thelma Boardman took over thevoice in 1940.)

Holiday Lights to LEDs

In 2008, Disney World converted 430,000 incandescent holiday lights to LEDs, saving an estimated 1.1 million kilowatt hours throughout the holiday season, which is enough to power 61 homes annually!

The Original 9 Nations at World Showcase Lagoon

World Showcase in Epcot originally opened with 9 nations surrounding the World Showcase Lagoon. These nations were Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, the United States of America, Italy, Germany, China, and Mexico.

Amateur Photographs taken at Disney Parks

According to Kodak (one time sponsor of Journey Into Imagination) 6% of all amateur photographs are taken at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

that's just like it is inside the space shuttle

"When you're lying on your back and see all the smoke billow up around the windows before you rocket off, that's just like it is inside the space shuttle." 

-Winston Scott 

(retired astronaut) 

on Epcot's Mission: SPACE

Disney's OmniMover System

Doom Buggy is the show name for Disney's OmniMover system (used in their Haunted Mansion attraction). It was initially developed for the "Adventures in Inner Space" attraction. Disney World's Haunted Mansion has 160 cars with a guest capacity of 3,200 guests per hour.

The Omnimover is an amusement ride system used for Disney theme park attractions. Roger Broggie and Bert Brundage developed the system for WED Enterprises, which patented Omnimover in April 1968. The term was coined by Imagineer Bob Gurr and is a portmanteau of OmniRange and PeopleMover. 

Click Here to read an Exclusive Interview with Bob Gurr talking about the creation of the Haunted Mansion Omnimovers, People Mover, Monorail, small world boats and more! 

 Current attraction series using the Omnimover system

    * Haunted Mansion Series
          o Disneyland
          o Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
          o Tokyo Disneyland
          o Disneyland Paris

    * Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster Series
          o Disneyland
          o Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
          o Tokyo Disneyland
          o Disneyland Paris
          o Hong Kong Disneyland

    * Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (Kings Island)

    * Hershey's Chocolate World Great American Chocolate Tour

Current individual attractions using the Omnimover system

    * Spaceship Earth

    * The Seas with Nemo & Friends System recycled from a previous attraction
          o EPCOT at Walt Disney World

Omnimover attractions no longer in operation

This list includes all Omnimover attractions that have been permanently removed and not recycled.

    * Disneyland
          o Adventure Thru Inner Space (replaced with Star Tours in 1987)

    * Epcot (Walt Disney World Resort)
          o World of Motion (replaced with Test Track in 1999)
          o Horizons (replaced with Mission: SPACE in 2003. Homages to Horizons can be found in both Mission: SPACE and in the Magic Kingdom's newly refurbished Space Mountain.)

--Two Omnimover systems have been in continuous use since their debut but have featured different attractions.

    * Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom uses the Omnimover ride system of two former attractions. The first attraction to occupy this space was If You Had Wings, which was sponsored by Eastern Airlines from 1972 to 1987, when they dropped sponsorship. The ride then was known as If You Could Fly until closing in January 1989. Six months later, the old ride system was reused as If You Had Wings was transformed into Delta Dreamflight, which was sponsored by Delta Air Lines until 1996. The ride vehicles were reprogrammed in 1989 to alter their viewing direction. In 1996, the ride became known as Take Flight, and closed on January 9, 1998. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin uses the very Omnimover ride system of If You Had Wings/Delta Dreamflight, except for having new third generation vehicles that can be rotated by the riders to any angle to shoot at various targets. Space Ranger Spin also uses two of the speed tunnels from If You Had Wings.

Although Journey Into Imagination with Figment in Epcot is now an Omnimover basis track it was once all Omnimover (this was back when the Dream finder was still part of the attraction).

    * The Seas with Nemo & Friends previously was home to The Living Seas, which utilized a different attraction theme as well as a different Omnimover vehicle design.

 Click Here to read "Limbo: Loading the Doom Buggies" at doombuggies.com

 

The Walt Disney World Wardrobe

Walt Disney World has the largest working wardrobe on Earth with more than 1.5 million operational garments in use and over 7,000 different garment types. In addition there are over 2 million pieces of entertainment costumes. (That's a lot of dry cleaning!)

The Original Magic Kingdom's "E ticket" Attractions

The original eight "E ticket" attractions at WDW’s Magic Kingdom were Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents, Jungle Cruise, It’s a Small World, and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

The Original Monorail Track at Walt Disney World

WDW's original monorail track ran in a loop directly through the concourse of the Contemporary Resort, to the Polynesian Resort, the Magic Kingdom gate & the Ticket & Transportation Center. In 1982 the monorail was extended with a four mile run to Epcot, including a scenic loop through Future World.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Walt Disney personally selected Richard Fleischer (son of his old competitor in animation, Max Fleischer) to direct the live-action film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The Disney Symphonic Legacy

Today, back in 2009, the Walt Disney Concert Hall hosts an event called The Disney Symphonic Legacy - a program featuring, for the first time ever at the Hall, Disney music. It also marks the Disney Hall debut of longtime Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor John Mauceri.

Here is a glimpse of the WD Concert Hall:

Dumbo premieres at the Broadway Theater in New York City

October 23, 1941

Disney's 4th animated feature film, Dumbo (directed by Ben Sharpsteen) world premieres at the Broadway Theater in New York City. Walt Disney, his wife Lillian, and a handful of his staff are in attendance. The 64-minute film, released by RKO Pictures, will win the Oscar for Best Score for a Musical Film and "Baby Mine" (the song that plays during Dumbo's visit to his mother's cell) will be nominated for Best Song.

"It's like 64 minutes, and it's so concise in its storytelling. I learned a lot from it, as a student at CalArts and a young animator at Disney."
-Pixar's John Lasseter on Dumbo

Like Dopey in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo never utters a single word!

Animator Bill Tytla, known for his sinister characterization of Pinocchio's Stromboli, was the key animator for Dumbo. He based the character's childlike expressions and earnestness on those of his son, Peter.

"What's the matter with his ears? I don't see nothin' wrong with 'em. I think they're cute."

- Dumbo's Timothy Q. Mouse (voiced by Edward Brophy)

Walt Disney World's STOLport in Action [Oct. 22, 1971]

Down in Florida, inaugural service to Walt Disney World's own airport STOLport, by both Shawnee and Executive airlines, begin. The occasion is marked by a lunche on ceremony, with the state of Florida presenting Disney with STOLport license No. 1. A group of local and state politicians and officials are on hand, as well as executives from the airlines. Disney announces that STOL service will commence with around 26 flights daily.

 

 

A single airstrip located not too far from the Contemporary Resort, the Lake Buena Vista STOLport, consists of a 2000-foot runway (and plans for a terminal building). Disney has high hopes for the service. (Unfortunately by December 1972, the idea of affordable short-range air routes became completely impractical and STOLport closed.)

A rare picture of the Lake Buena Vista STOLport in action, 1971

Pirates of the Caribbean or The Western River Expedition?

Pirates of the Caribbean was never intended to be part of Disney World out of fear that it would not be exotic enough to Floridians, due to its geographic proximity to the real Caribbean. Instead, planners intended to build a ride called the Western River Expedition. Designed by Marc Davis, it would've featured Audio-Animatronic cowboys, banditos and Native Indians.

Western River Expedition was an Audio-Animatronic delight with dozens of new AA figures, and certainly as many as in Pirates of Caribbean. Just like in POTC Marc Davis designed scenes where humour was always present. Potential scenes included:

A stage coach robbery




Banditos where even their horses had bandanas across their faces!



An Indian (Native American) rain dance that causes it to rain



Other gag scenes with desert animals, cactus, buffaloes, bear...





A western town called Dry Gulch with scenes showing a cowboy on horseback on the roof of the town's saloon - and 10 characters, including a bartender ( who is trying to shoot the cowboy and his mount off the roof ), saloon girls, and other cowboys hooting and hollering, and more...





...And a waterfall-drop finale.

Click Here to read this entire article (How Marc Davis Legendary Attraction was Almost Built at Disneyland Paris) at the amazing Disney & More blog!

Click Here to read "Thunder Mesa & The Western River Expedition" at Widen your World!

From the Earth to the Moon

From the Earth to the Moon, the Space Mountain attraction in Disneyland Paris, was built by coaster designers Vekoma 

(who also designed Rock 'n' Roller Coaster).

The only DisneyQuest in the world

Florida's Downtown Disney Westside is currently the home to the only DisneyQuest in the world

 DisneyQuest Chicago closed in September 2001

King Louie from Disney's The Jungle Book

King Louie (the orangutan voiced by Louis Prima) was one of the characters created especially for Disney's The Jungle Book, for he doesn't appear in Rudyard Kipling's original story.