The Secrets of Disneyland

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by lashbear

If you want to avoid all the lines in Disneyland, there is a way of doing it...

...by not going.

[lashbear]

Who? If I've never heard of them, they don't exist.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

The left side of Space Mountain is faster.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Many of the bricks that line the sidewalks of Main Street are from the orphanage that used to sit to the north east of the orange groves that Disneyland was built on. The land on which the orphanage stood lay outside the original footprint of Disnyland and would not have impeded the construction in any way. However Walt, according to close friends, simply found it "too depressing" to have near his Magic Kingdom, so he purchased the property and had it demolished. It is unknown what became of the residents.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

It is unknown what became of the residents.

Except that Walt did use them as models for "its a small world"

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Except that Walt did use them as figures in "it's a small world"

I fixed it for ya.

[LashStoat]

Most people are familiar with the “Official” version of how Space Mountain came into being, particularly if they’ve read such books as “The Disney Mountains – Imagineering at its peak” by Jason Surrell, but the actual inspiration behind the design for this attraction is slightly humbler than Disney would have you believe.

It is true that John Hench came up with the original concept drawings for Space Mountain in the mid 60’s, however the final designs for the famous white building housing the attraction were not inspired by nature with its "cartilaginous" forms as is often told; they were in fact inspired by a lampshade. That’s right, a lampshade.

Here’s where:




Recognise this room? Yes, it’s Walt Disney’s private apartment over the Fire Station on Main St USA. Hench had been meeting with Walt to discuss the original concept in this very apartment in 1964, but it wasn’t until the green light for the attraction was given in the early 70’s, together with the urgent need to broaden the base of the show building in order to accommodate the ride structure proposed by Arrow, the shape of Walt’s lampshade (seen far right ) popped back into Hench’s mind and the entire final form for the Space Mountain Building started to gel right then and there.

The rest, as they say, is history.

[flippyshark]

The Disney characters in "It's a Small World" have actually always been there. Back in 1964, Walt was very specific in asking his team to include tributes to classic Disney animation of both the past, AND THE FUTURE! The figures of Woody, Pumbaa, Stitch, Aladdin and so on, are a tribute to Walt's far-sighted vision. In fact, he left detailed notes about which IASW figures he liked best, and the animation department have based many of their productions on these notes. For instance, the Hawaiian surfer with a playful blue totem on his board. This was based on Hah-Ngtenn, the god of the surf in Hawaiian myth. The animators cleverly turned this cultural icon into a mischievous blue alien.

Of course, there is much controversy, because many Guests insist that these Disney characters were never present until the reopening on January 6, 2009. In fact, Disney's marketing department has used this misunderstanding as a crass opportunity to make it seem like the Imagineers were actually adding something new. In fact, they only updated the show lighting. Most of the character-based dolls and toys were underlit, but the rehab brought out many details that were previously hard to see.

[JWBear]

Flippy. You should get a job in Disney PR. You'd be perfect!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Light Magic, the short lived street spectacular that followed the wildly popular Main Street Electric Parade, had to be discontinued due to its overwhelming popularity. Every time the show ran, the entire park would grind to a halt. Attraction queues would empty out and, most importantly to Disney, all food and merchandise spending dropped to virtually nill as nearly every park guest would rush to get a viewing spot.

On top of the lost sales revenue, Light Magic was costing Disney in other ways too. Due to the huge crowds, guests would do anything for a view of the beloved parade/show, climbing on planters, even going so far as to scale Main Street building facades. The cost of daily repairs to awnings, roofs, and windows, as well as restoring trampled landscaping, was running into the millions.