Your best Disney fact or insider story...

[Rhongepooh]

It refers to a song in"Grease" I believe.

My family has it's one use of the term "Pink Ladies". . . any older lady that drives us crazy---the kind that follow the rules to EVERYONE'S detriment --- we call Pink Ladies. . .

We came up with the term after I had my youngest daughter. Think of the pink ladies, ladies with the pink uniforms at the hospitals that don't let you do ANYTHING. Don't let the family hold the baby, don't want your other kids coming into the room when the baby is there. . . that's our definition of a "Pink Lady"

 

[bcrook]

Here are some more tidbits I didn't see mentioned:

Between The Pirates League and The Pirates Bazaar shop there are 5 Pirate movie props - but getting the Pirate CMs to point them out is difficult because the Pirates aren't familiar with the phrase "movie." There used to be 6, but one was stolen shortly after TPL opened.

Inside Casey's Corner there is a team photo where females are wearing mustaches - since women weren't supposed to be playing the sport in that time period.

The official fruit of the Grand Floridian is the Pineapple. You will see Pineapple inspired art from light fixtures to the wall paper if you look.

We've all heard of shows being canceled, for whatever reason... but Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular prides itself on never canceling a show. They can always offer some modified version (which may only last 5-10 minutes), but they avoid canceling if at all possible.

There are 4 mechanical balloons inside the Land pavilion which represent the 4 seasons. When the location originally opened the balloons moved up and down. However, when the area was remodeled for the seating, they later discovered they could no longer fit the cherry picker in the building to service the balloons, so eventually they all stopped moving and sit stationary today.

And I had to correct this one...

It's not an animatronic. The four large animals in FOLK are puppets, Simbas front legs are the Puppeteers legs.

That is awesome. I just watched a youtube clip from the Festival of the Lion King. I can see how Simba could be a puppet. There is no way he is 12 feet tall either - although from the base of the "rock" to the top of his head he could easily be 12 feet.

I will look for the pineapples in the Grand Floridian. I usually eat at the GF Cafe each trip, I will be on the lookout.

Even though I started this list to entertain my father...it is going to be fun to share with all the groups I go with.

 

[bcrook]

My family has it's one use of the term "Pink Ladies". . . any older lady that drives us crazy---the kind that follow the rules to EVERYONE'S detriment --- we call Pink Ladies. . .

We came up with the term after I had my youngest daughter. Think of the pink ladies, ladies with the pink uniforms at the hospitals that don't let you do ANYTHING. Don't let the family hold the baby, don't want your other kids coming into the room when the baby is there. . . that's our definition of a "Pink Lady"

When you google pink lady it comes up with a cosmopolitan cocktail quite a bit. But, I like your explanation too.

 

[bellazachmom]

Another reason for all the pineapples at the Grand Floridian ...

The pineapple has served as a symbol of hospitality and warm welcome through the history of the Americas.

In colonial America, hostesses would set a fresh pineapple in the center of their dining table when visitors joined their families in their homes. Visiting was the primary means of entertainment and cultural exchange, so the concept of hospitality was a central element in colonial life. The pineapple, then, symbolized the warmest welcome a hostess could extend to her guests, and then often it also served as the dessert for the meal. If the visitors spent the night, they would be given a bedroom with a bed in which pineapples had been carved on either the bedposts or the headboard -- even if that was the master bedroom.

Creative food display became a competition among the hostesses, because it declared her personality and her family's social status. Hostesses tried to outdo one another in creating memorable dining events. In larger, more affluent homes, the doors to the dining room were kept closed to create an air of suspense and excitement over the preparations of the hostess. Colonial grocers sometimes rented pineapples to hostesses desperate to create a dining experience above their financial means. Later, once that hostess had returned the pineapple, the fruit would be sold to more affluent clients who could afford to actually buy and eat it. Regardless of ones financial ability to actually buy and eat the pineapple, however, visitors to the homes that displayed the pineapple felt particularly honored that the hostess had spared no expense to secure one in their behalf.

By the Gilded Age, which was the era in which Samuel Couples lived, through the present day, the pineapple became a familiar symbolic image of welcome, good cheer, and warmth and affection between all who dwell inside the home.

 

[bcrook]

D'oh! I totally meant to include a spoilers warning! So sorry!

For everyone else - don't click if you don't like to see "behind the scenes" on rides!

Text-only:

First link:
Graveyard harpist, Caesar's Ghost, and one of the flying ballroom ghosts in the HM have the same head as the wench in purple and one of the pirates watching the auction in PotC.

Second link:
Another one of the HM flying ghosts has the same head as the auctioneer in PotC.
Another HM flying ghost has the same head as one of the graveyard tea party ghosts, and the blacksmith in Fort Langhorne.
The rocking chair Grandma ghost from the HM ballroom has the same head, wig, body, and costume as the grandmother from the first scene of the CoP.

I think I will stick with the text version. But these connections are wonderful.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Sorry for all the Pink Lady confusion, Barry. I thought it was one of those "classic" moments but I forget my experience isn't everyones. I mean there are actually people out there who DON'T love the Hall of Presidents and Dole Whips! One woman's pop culture is another man's apple or cocktail.

But the head talk and links have been interesting.

 

[magicbob]

Has he been down in the tunnels of the MK?

Definitely do the Keys to the Kingdom tour. We just did it a couple of weeks ago and it was well worth the time and money.

One of the tidbits I've always been fascinated by is that the entire MK is actually built on the "second floor." The utilidors are the ground level.

Edit: I just noticed that this is post #1000 for me!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Another reason for all the pineapples at the Grand Floridian ...

The pineapple has served as a symbol of hospitality and warm welcome through the history of the Americas.

That is a myth about pineapples in Colonial America. It was really pinecones, not pineapples, that were used.

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter08/stuff.cfm

FROM THE ERA OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, PINEAPPLES HAVE BEEN A SYMBOL OF HOSPITALITY, WHICH IS WHY THEY WERE FREQUENTLY SERVED TO GUESTS AT MEALS AND USED AS A DECORATIVE MOTIF

The myth of the pineapple as a symbol of hospitality is powerful. The usual story goes that the pineapple was served to guests as an expression of hospitality because it was so rare. Rare it was, and relatively expensive, coming from the West Indian tropics to American colonial ports—the pineapple would have been a treat on any colonial table. But there is no evidence that anyone at the time thought of the fruit as a symbol of hospitality.

Early Spanish and Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to notice the fruit, called na-na by the natives. The Portuguese ananaz and the Spanish ananas may derive from that word, but the English called the fruit a “pine-apple,” a word heretofore interchangeable with “pine-cone,” because it so resembled the pinecones they knew. The pinecone had strong and ancient ties to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine—Bacchus to the Romans—who carried a thyrsus, a staff entwined with grape vines and topped by a pinecone. That association relates to the use of pine resin in wine making. Since classical times, the pinecone has symbolized fertility and regeneration and has been used as a decorative motif. It is the pinecone that the colonists were using in their decorative arts, evoking the classical symbolism that they, educated in the classics, would have understood well. Amateur historian Melvin Fulks, who has spent decades gathering information about origins of pineapple/pinecone symbolism, says that the earliest incidence of the pineapple-as-hospitality story he has found is in a 1935 book about Hawaii.

 

[tzvdmd]

If you stand in Liberty Square and look at the top of Splash Mountain, the opening the cars come out of, right before the plunge, makes an image of Mickey facing off to the right.

It's easy to spot Mickey from the inside when going up the lift for the last drop too. He will be on the left though. One of my favorite hidden Mickeys.

 

[bcrook]

Sorry for all the Pink Lady confusion, Barry. I thought it was one of those "classic" moments but I forget my experience isn't everyones. I mean there are actually people out there who DON'T love the Hall of Presidents and Dole Whips! One woman's pop culture is another man's apple or cocktail.

But the head talk and links have been interesting.

It's easy to spot Mickey from the inside when going up the lift for the last drop too. He will be on the left though. One of my favorite hidden Mickeys.

That is cool. Can't wait to see it!

 

[Chuckers]

That is a myth about pineapples in Colonial America. It was really pinecones, not pineapples, that were used.

That makes MUCH more sense.. when I read that, I was thinking where would they get pineapples with any type of regularity?

 

[bcrook]

I never noticed that the Cathay Circle Theater is recreated in Hollywood Studios. I have spent a lot of time in front of that store, and I didn't even know the significance. Throw this in with the Grease allusion, and my pop culture IQ keeps going up.

Here is a good link about the Cathay Circle in DHS.

 

[bcrook]

According to mouse planet the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House has over 300,000 fake leaves and the entire tree weighs over 200 tons.

How many attractions have remained virtually unchanged since the park opened in 1971?

 

[WrenMatilda]

Nothing to add, but I love this thread. Keep coming with the secrets guys!

 

[MellinMickey4333]

I've learned quite a few new things since reading "The Vault of Walt" by Jim Korkis. Here are the things that really stuck with me:

-Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel (aka Cinderella's Carrousel) is nearly 100 years old! Anything you see that is gold on the carrousel is real gold leaf. And urban legen deemed that the horse with the yellow ribbon on its tail belonged to Cinderella. Walt would have made it much fancier if this was truly so!

-The water surrounding Tom Sawyer island at Disneyland used to be full of fish... meant to be caught by guests! Walt had it so there were plenty of fishing poles and bait for his guests to catch a fish and take it home. But then the guests would forget their catch in a bush next to some attraction, and the smell made him re-think the fishing thing.

-Magic Kingdom's Mickey's Philharmagic show used to be the home of the Mickey Mouse Revue, where an animatronic Mickey would lead a band of Walt's classic characters to play, (and also sing to) some equally classic songs! It eventually moved to Tokyo just in time for opening day, and stayed there for quite a few years, until their own Mickey's Philharmagic came along.

-You know that miniature rustic old cabin at One Man's Dream in Hollywood Studios? That little piece of work, built by Walt, eventually led him to getting the idea of making a large scale version, complete with moving puppets and such... (long story short) and thus he came up with basic attraction ideas he needed for Disneyland!

There are SO many more awesome stories in this book... a really great read!

 

[bcrook]

I've learned quite a few new things since reading "The Vault of Walt" by Jim Korkis. Here are the things that really stuck with me:

-Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel (aka Cinderella's Carrousel) is nearly 100 years old! Anything you see that is gold on the carrousel is real gold leaf. And urban legen deemed that the horse with the yellow ribbon on its tail belonged to Cinderella. Walt would have made it much fancier if this was truly so!

-The water surrounding Tom Sawyer island at Disneyland used to be full of fish... meant to be caught by guests! Walt had it so there were plenty of fishing poles and bait for his guests to catch a fish and take it home. But then the guests would forget their catch in a bush next to some attraction, and the smell made him re-think the fishing thing.

-Magic Kingdom's Mickey's Philharmagic show used to be the home of the Mickey Mouse Revue, where an animatronic Mickey would lead a band of Walt's classic characters to play, (and also sing to) some equally classic songs! It eventually moved to Tokyo just in time for opening day, and stayed there for quite a few years, until their own Mickey's Philharmagic came along.

-You know that miniature rustic old cabin at One Man's Dream in Hollywood Studios? That little piece of work, built by Walt, eventually led him to getting the idea of making a large scale version, complete with moving puppets and such... (long story short) and thus he came up with basic attraction ideas he needed for Disneyland!

There are SO many more awesome stories in this book... a really great read!

Sounds like a good Fathers Day Present (for me and my dad). I will drop some hints to my kids. .

 

[Chuckers]

-Magic Kingdom's Mickey's Philharmagic show used to be the home of the Mickey Mouse Revue, where an animatronic Mickey would lead a band of Walt's classic characters to play, (and also sing to) some equally classic songs! It eventually moved to Tokyo just in time for opening day, and stayed there for quite a few years, until their own Mickey's Philharmagic came along.

I *LOVED* The Mickey Mouse Review... I really wish they would bring it back.

 

[dadddio]

I *LOVED* The Mickey Mouse Review... I really wish they would bring it back.

I missed MMR at MK, but was able to see it in Tokyo. Honestly, it didn't wow me. It felt very dated.

 

[jw50]

How many attractions have remained virtually unchanged since the park opened in 1971?

Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Treehouse, Dumbo, Teacups, Carrousel, Its a Small World and Hall of Presidents (assuming that you don't consider adding the new presidents as changing the attraction).

The Country Bear Jamboree has changed fairly significantly since it first opened.

Tomorrowland Speedway (Grand Prix Raceway) is essentially the same attraction.

Frontierland Shooting Gallery went from pellets to infrared so I wouldn't say it is virtually unchanged.

 

[mesaboy2]

Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Treehouse, Dumbo, Teacups, Carrousel, Its a Small World and Hall of Presidents (assuming that you don't consider adding the new presidents as changing the attraction).

The Country Bear Jamboree has changed fairly significantly since it first opened.

Tomorrowland Speedway (Grand Prix Raceway) is essentially the same attraction.

Frontierland Shooting Gallery went from pellets to infrared so I wouldn't say it is virtually unchanged.

I would not agree that HM is "virtually unchanged" with the replacement of the spider room with the Escher stairs room, the changes in the attic, and the changes to the Hitchhiking Ghosts. I'm not including the new queue elements since they are not part of the ride itself.

Dumbo also is at its root the same, but also pretty different--new location, over water, and two spinners.