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01/12/2021

01/12/2021

Epcot's iconic Spaceship Earth was designed so that when it rains, no water ever pours off the 16-million-ton sphere. 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?

01/12/2021

Because real American flags must follow the national flag code, such as flying at half-mast during times of mourning, the ones at Disney were purposefully made to be missing a stripe or a star. That means the park doesn't have to worry about flag etiquette—because its flags are technically pennants.

01/12/2021

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. 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.

01/12/2021

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.

01/12/2021

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.

01/12/2021

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.

01/12/2021

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.

01/12/2021

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 70,000 folks who work at Walt Disney World in Florida.

01/12/2021

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.