Extra Secret Stories of Walt Disney World Read online

  The tree in Liberty Square displays thirteen lanterns commemorating the thirteen original colonies. It is the largest tree ever transplanted on Walt Disney World property.

  The preparation to move the live oak from the east side of the property to the Magic Kingdom, a distance of eight miles, took almost a year of planning. The tree was forty feet tall, sixty feet wide, and weighed thirty-eight tons. The root ball measured eighteen feet by sixteen feet by four feet deep.

  It was too large and heavy to tie a chain around the trunk and lift it as was common because that would have caused massive damage to the bark and sensitive cambrium layers and might potentially kill the tree.

  In 1985, I did interviewed Disney’s director of Landscape Design, Bill Evans, who said:

  Necessity is the mother of invention. We occasionally had to move trees and couldn’t use the accepted practice of putting a large box around the root system because sometimes the weight would have been more than we could have handled.

  We drilled through the hardwood center of the trunk and inserted steel rods to form a cross: north-south and east-west. These rods served as handles for hoisting and hauling the tree with a 100-ton crane to its present location. We went around with pruning shears to reduce the root system to something we could handle. By doing all this, we reduced the weight to about one-fifth.

  Local nurserymen and landscape people were absolutely horrified including the professional pathologist from the University of Florida who predicted the tree would die in two years if we bored a hole through it.

  When we planted it, we re-inserted the original wood plugs. Unfortunately, over time they became diseased and had to be removed and we filled the holes with concrete to stop any further spread of the disease. We also grafted a small live oak onto the tree to give it that fuller shape it has today.

  The tree began its journey on June 11, 1970, but was so heavy that the truck on which it was placed could only move slowly, inches at a time, much like the vehicles that haul rockets to a launch site. It was replanted on March 6, 1971.

  The tree is the proud parent of more than 500 young trees that started out as acorns harvested from it.

  Magic Kingdom

  Princess Fairytale Hall

  On June 2, 2012, Walt Disney World closed the Snow White’s Scary Adventures attraction. The Disney princesses had been at the Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A. awaiting an expansion of Fantasyland that was originally going to feature individual areas for each of them. Those plans changed and instead Princess Fairytale Hall opened in Snow White’s former location on September 18, 2013.

  Imagineer Jason Grandt, who was the creative art designer of the space, told me in 2013:

  Princess Fairytale Hall is an annex to Cinderella Castle where our royal guests, our park guests, will come to meet a visiting princess. It is done in the same regal style as other additions to the castle so that it is a wonderfully detailed architectural environment fitting of Disney royalty.

  Guests pass through lush purple and gold exterior trimmings with stained glass windows featuring animal characters from the classic Disney animated movie Cinderella (1950), like the mice Jacques and Gus-Gus as well as shields adorned with each princess’ symbol that hang around the marquee. The outdoor light fixtures are in the shape of crowns.

  Entering an elegant corridor filled with tapestries and themed lighting leads to an airy, high-ceilinged royal gallery with nearly full-sized portraits of Aurora, Tiana, Rapunzel, Mulan, Jasmine, and Snow White. This room also houses Cinderella’s glass slipper illuminated in a special case.

  Grandt said:

  The space is really opulent and filled with ornate chandeliers and several framed custom princess portraits that are stunning. They were painted by talented Disney artists who diligently labored to capture the atmosphere, design, and story moments of the films. When they came into the office full size rather than just a computer-sized image, we all just gasped; they were so lush and full of detail. Our portraits are to show that there are Disney princesses all over the world, but the hall is primarily devoted to Cinderella.

  From there, you will be dispatched to a magnificent receiving room to meet with a princess and get photos, autographs, and time to talk with her.

  The rooms with luxurious carpets and drapes contain open story books. Snow White’s story book is permanently placed as a tribute to the former ride and to the first Disney princess. The rooms also include props from the films, like the king’s bookends in the Cinderella room.

  Grandt continued:

  The team kept playing the films while we were working and the more you watch them, the more you see subtle things that you can include.

  For our Disney guests, we know that next to meeting Mickey Mouse, the Disney princesses are their greatest wish for us to make those fantasy worlds become a reality. Our Disney princesses are truly the heart of Fantasyland and now they have this very special location to interact with our guests.

  Part of the fun will be not knowing until that day which princess might be visiting with Cinderella or Rapunzel. Ariel and Belle have their own locations so won’t be here. Our guests want opportunities to meet the princesses and this royal encounter location will help satisfy those wishes.

  According to the Imagineering storyline, Princess Fairytale Hall is a gift from the king to Cinderella, and acts as a place where she can meet with visiting royalty and where other princesses can greet the subjects of Fantasyland.

  Imagineer Pam Rawlins, assistant producer, said:

  Guests are immersed into this majestic world of the princesses. It is all very elegant, with dark wood panelings and elegant finishes, with a bit of a gothic motif, so you really feel like you’re in the castle. You will be a royal subject meeting your princess.

  Magic Kingdom

  Kugel Ball

  Imagineer Alex Wright said:

  New Tomorrowland [that opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1994] was conceived as the meeting place of the universe. It is an interplanetary hub chosen to serve as the headquarters of the League of Planets. Everything in this land relates to excitement and optimism about the future. Every detail relates to this theme.

  Ours is a retro-future concept replete with all the trappings of an intergalactic spaceport. We all remember when we thought the future would be like this. Tomorrowland offers us the opportunity to visit it.

  In keeping with the theme that this is a city that exists in some alternative version of the future, at the entrance is a huge sign from the Tomorrowland Chamber of Commerce that welcomes guests with its motto: “The Future That Never Was Is Finally Here.”

  Walking down the main street of the Avenue of the Planets, guests find themselves in the central hub of Rockettower Plaza. The names are a playful reference to New York’s famous Avenue of the Americas and Rockefeller Plaza.

  This hub is the main transportation system for the community.

  With so many interstellar travelers passing through this area, some are bound to need directions. So a map of the universe was installed near the Merchant of Venus merchandise shop.

  The map is a large black granite ball floating on a very thin layer of water less than the thickness of a credit card. The water, pumped from below, lubricates the stone and creates a pressure so that the solid heavy piece of stone is easily rotated.

  Looking closely on the exterior of the ball, there is a gold “You Are Here” star that marks the location of Rockettower Plaza. Further examination will reveal other clever notations including an exit from the fabled Route 66 and not far from that marking is a symbol indicating that fuel can be obtained just like on the iconic gas station road maps of the 1950s.

  This unique ball is not a Disney creation and several exist in similar fountains around the world with different images. It is just another example of a Kugel Ball.

  The term kugel is from the German word meaning ball or sphere.

  Kusser Fountainworks of Tampa, Florida represents the sophisticated fountain constru
ction technology developed by Kusser Aicha Granitwerke, a leading European fountain company. This family owned business with almost one hundred years of history is in the hands of its third generation.

  In 1989 the first Kusser Fountain known as The Kugel was installed in the United States. Today there are similar versions in science museums, parks and more.

  The granite must be a perfect sphere, placed on a base that has the exact same curvature as the ball in order for the magic of physics to make it possible for even a child to move the several tons easily with a push.

  The kugel ball in Tomorrowland reportedly weighs about six tons, or over 13,227 pounds. Roughly that is the same weight of a full-sized adult African elephant. While lack of friction helps the ball to rotate, there is still some friction so the ball will not perpetually roll and guests can use their hands to stop the ball as well. Of course, shutting off the water pressure will also stop the ball from moving.

  Magic Kingdom

  Disney Coat of Arms

  Walt Disney’s daughter Sharon recalled:

  [Dad] is not one of those to think the family tree is terribly important because of any important connections you might have had. He just thinks that it’s interesting to know just where your family came from. What they did. He was proud that they were good, honest people who worked hard and amounted to something in their own little way.

  Isgny-sur-Mer is a small village on the French coast near Normandy where Allied troops landed during World War II.

  From this location nine centuries earlier, French soldiers sailed to invade England and after the battles remained and established a new life. Among those soldiers was Hughes d’Isgny and his son Robert.

  In that era, people were often identified by the town from where they came. So Robert d’Isgny meant the Robert from the French seacoast town. Over the decades, the name became anglicized to the more familiar “Disney.”

  So, Walt’s ancestors came over to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, and some of them ended up in the small village and parish of Norton Disney in the western boundary of the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire from around the 13th century.

  St. Peter’s Church in the village has five monuments of Disneys (including Sir William, a knight) which have shields on them bearing three lions passant.

  The “Disney window” in the church at Flintham, Nottinghamshire, has one quartering that is argent, three lions passant in pale gules.

  A surname like Disney may have many different coats of arms since it was granted to an individual rather than an entire family and passed on to the oldest son.

  Just like at Ellis Island in America when immigrants arrived, medieval scribes in the 11th and 12th centuries often simplified or spelled names as they sounded, so there were frequent variations of the name “Disney” including “Deisney.”

  Also, in recent years, selling family heraldry is such a big business that some examples have been fabricated, making it problematic to determine an exact coat of arms that belongs to Walt’s branch of the family.

  According to the Disney company, the Disney heraldry is:

  Coat of Arms: Three gold fleur de lis on a red fess, representing purity or light.

  Crest: A red lion passant guardant representing bravery or courage. A crest is a part of the coat of arms. Red symbolized a family whose members served in the military.

  Motto: Vincit qui patitur (translated: He conquers who endures).

  A golden emblem of three lions passant in pale was installed on the archway above the drawbridge on Sleeping Beauty Castle sometime between the end of June 1965 and early July 1965 in connection with the Disneyland tencennial celebration. Decades later, more accurate banners were hung on the backside of the castle.

  At Walt Disney World, the coat of arms is prominently displayed on the Cinderella Castle archway facing Fantasyland.

  Cinderella’s Royal Table, formerly known as King Stefan’s Banquet Hall until 1997, includes forty coats of arms representing some people who were instrumental in Walt Disney World, such as Imagineers Roger Broggie Sr., Marc Davis, John Hench, Dick Nunis, and Marty Sklar, as well as the Disney coat of arms.

  While Walt was always curious about his ancestry, he did not display his alleged coat of arms on his clothes, jewelry, office, or home.

  Magic Kingdom

  The Pirates’ Redhead

  For over fifty years, since 1967 at Disneyland, guests have drifted by a scene where intimidating pirates are holding female captives and putting them on the auction block with a huge banner above their heads proclaiming, “Auction. Take a Wench for a Bride.”

  In 2018, the women were no longer auctioned off. The banner was changed to read “Auction. Surrender Ye Loot.” One of the most distinctive women in the scene, a self-assured redhead now officially known as “Redd,” became a musket-carrying pirate with a bottle of rum helping to oversee the surrender of the town’s “loot” and auctioning it off to her fellow pirates.

  Kathy Mangum, senior vice president of WDI, stated:

  Our team thought long and hard about how to best update this scene. Given the redhead has long been a fan favorite, we wanted to keep her as a pivotal part of the story, so we made her a plundering pirate! We think this keeps to the original vision of the attraction as envisioned by Marc Davis, X Atencio, and the other Disney legends who first brought this classic to life.

  Of course, the attraction was never meant to be historically correct. It is doubtful that pirates ever auctioned off women. It is more likely they simply took whatever they wanted by force, whether it was loot or physical female companionship.

  However, especially recently, the issue of sexual slavery has become a more prominent issue, even though it has existed for centuries. Some claim that the attraction shows tacit approval of such an action, despite it being cloaked in the aura of fantasy and the pirates getting their tragic comeuppance.

  Something that never occurs to guests is that the redhead is the only female with the color red in the scene. Her clothes are more expensive, emphasizing a pronounced bust. Her hat is very stylish. She wears more make-up. She even originally had a beauty spot on her right cheek. She doesn’t reflect any of the awkwardness or fear of her fellow companions.

  Even the auctioneer has to reprimand her: “Strike yer colors, ya brazen wench! No need to expose yer superstructure!”

  Based on Davis’ original research and early sketches, she is obviously a popular and well-off lady of the night, the town prostitute, who is well aware of what her fate might be and is already negotiating to get top dollar, realizing that she is much smarter than whoever purchases her.

  She is not a victim. In fact, she realizes that the drunker these unsavory scoundrels get, the more in control she can be of the situation, even to the point of being able to escape.

  Marc Davis told me that he believed that after the redhead was sold, she became a pirate herself and took over the ship. He suggested that the eye-patched woman wearing a pirate hat in the painting over the bar in the early part of the attraction was what happened to her in later years. However, her new costume in the new scene is much more demure than real-life female pirates Anne Bonney and Mary Read who Davis sketched for the original walk-through attraction.

  Walt Disney had initially expressed some concerns to Imagineer Claude Coats about whether the scene was appropriate, but it was pointed out that the scene was purposely staged with humor so that the men seemed like raucous boys rather than real threats.

  By putting up the banner to buy a bride, it transformed them from licentious reprobates to lonely men who couldn’t get a wife on their own. Whether any of this alleviates anything in this day and age is debatable.

  Magic Kingdom

  Parades

  Parades have been a part of Disney theme parks since Disneyland opened in 1955 and it seemed appropriate for a small-town Main Street to host a parade for special occasions.

  At a Disney theme park, every day is some type of special occasio
n because on a normal Main Street people would be at work during the week and at church on Sunday rather than wandering the streets in the afternoon unless it was a holiday like the Fourth of July (which explains the red, white, and blue decorations on WDW’s Main Street).

  Walt Disney was influenced by parades like the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade (that sometimes featured Disney floats) and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (that sometimes had Disney contributions).

  Originally, the idea of a parade was to provide a free entertainment experience for a large number of guests without the need for a stage facility. The first parades were simple but grew more elaborate by 1961 when Walt himself became directly involved in the designing of the costumes and floats.

  The parades became so popular that multiple performances were scheduled during peak seasons like Christmas and more money began to be dedicated to the parades. The parades were scheduled for times when there was peak attendance or as a way of leading guests out of the park.

  The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World was the first Disney park that had a parade route planned for floats. A dedicated facility for the floats and performers was built behind where the Splash Mountain attraction is today.

  A circular pathway was created so the vehicles could access the entrance gates by the car barn on Main Street to start or finish the parade and return to the backstage facility with ease.

  At the Magic Kingdom, sophisticated sound systems are located behind some of the upper-floor Main Street, USA windows that open during the parade. Check out Tom Nabbe’s window during the parade and you will easily see the speaker normally obscured by the window.

  Both America on Parade and the Main Street Electrical Parade prompted breakthroughs in parade technology of using sound, float engineering, costuming, and logistics that are still the foundation for today’s WDW parades.

  Of course, being the oldest and most popular WDW park, Magic Kingdom has hosted the most parades over the years. It was awkward to stage parades at the other three theme parks that did not have a dedicated parade route.