LittleBoPeep
"I found my moving buddy!"
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2004
There is a thread on the WDW theme parks forum for WDW secrets. I thought I'd add what I found on Disneyland's secrets from an article printed in the San Francisco Chronicle. Please share your finds of Disneyland secrets, tips and tricks!!
Disneylands original Tinkerbell was a 71-year-old Hungarian circus performer named Tiny Kline. She was the first to fly off the top of the Matterhorn on a zip line, and had previously worked as a stunt aerialist, hanging from a flying airplane by her teeth!
High up inside the hollow Matterhorn, there is a basketball court. Its part of an employee break room. Los Angeles Lakers center Vlade Divac has been up there to shoot hoops (there is no word as to whether or not this is still there since its recent renovation).
Many of the faces on the Pirates of the Caribbean are modeled after the Imagineers that helped the ride. There is one face even modeled after Walt Disney!
The spooky voice that narrates the Haunted Mansion ride is also the voice of the Pillsbury doughboy! Paul Frees supplied the voice for these, as well as some of the pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean and most of the characters in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, though he did not supply Abe Lincolns voice.
The sailing ship Columbia, which is supposed to be a replica of the first U.S. ship to circumvent the globe, actually was built in large part from the plans of the H.M.S. Bounty, of mutiny fame.
From groundbreaking to opening, Disneyland was built in 365 days!
Opening dayJuly 17, 1955was a disaster. Asphalt poured just hours before guests had arrived hadnt fully dried, and womens spiked heels sunk into Main Street. VIP passes were widely counterfeited, and double the number of people expected showed up. Rides broke down. Because of a plumbers strike, Walt had to choose between drinking fountains and bathrooms. But despite all the opening day issues, the magic Walt had created drew the people back!
Frank Sinatra was there on opening day, and took a ride around Autopia!
Disneyland cost $17 million to build in 1955, which equates to $116 million on todays dollars. Space Mountain, which opened in 1977, cost more than half that amount (in constant dollars)!
Disneyland is home to feral catsnobody knows how manythat come out at night, after visitors leave. Years ago, more than 100 were discovered living inside Sleeping Beautys castle.
If the droid pilot in the Star Wars ride sounds a little like Pee Wee Herman, its because it is both are voiced by comedian Paul Reubens.
At least 3 babies have been born at Disneyland.
Untold thousands of the old A, B, C, D and E ride tickets are still in circulation, and occasionally, are turned into the ticket office for redemptionat face value (of all the tickets, the E ticket was most expensive at 95 cents)! Of course they fetch a much better price from collectors when sold on Ebay!
Sleeping Beautys castle is based largely on Mad King Ludwigs Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, but with one big difference: the top is on backwards.
On the Star Tours ride just before your runaway star speeder exits the Space Station, keep your eye to the lower right corner of the screen: you flash past what looks like a giant electron microscope. This is homage to Monsanto's Adventure Through Inner Space, which was torn down two decades ago and replaced by Star Tours.
At the end of the Star Tours ride, just as your star speeder is about to crash into a fuel truck, a man in the control booth ducks down, then stands up and picks up the phone. The man is George Lucas!
Conspicuously missing on opening day: the Matterhorn. In its place was a two-story-high dirt pile of dirt from the excavation of the castle moat. It was billed as Lookout Mountain. The Matterhorn didnt open until 1959.
The original soundtrack of Space Mountain , Aquarium from Saint-Saens Carnival Des Animaux is played by 1960s surf guitar legend Dick Dale.
Walt Disney, as popularly believed, never turned Nikita Krushchev away at the front gate of Disneyland. Disney was eager to show the Soviet Premier his submarine fleet, which was at the time, the worlds sixth largest. It was the U.S. State Department that nixed the visit, saying security wasnt adequate.
Main Street is based largely on the town of Marceline, Mo., where Walt Disney spent part of his childhooda whistle stop on the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail line between Chicago and Kansas City. The town named a swimming pool and elementary school after its most famous son. The latter is the only place outside Disneyland authorized to fly the official flag.
Walt Disney is not frozen cryogenically at Disneyland or anywhere else. He did have an interest in the technology, but he is in fact buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA.
Buy souvenirs in the morning when stores are less crowded, or in the afternoon when attraction lines are the longest.
See the less crowded second showing of the parades and Fantasmic, and take in the more popular rides during the first showing. Or skip Fantasmic and head to these attractions: Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. The parade is a good time to ride Space Mountain, Star Tours or the Matterhorn.
Eat lunch early (before 11:30 a.m.) or late (after 2 p.m.) to avoid a crowded dining experience.
Use Fastpass when rides have wait times of 20 minutes or longer. Or use the Single rider lines where they are available if you dont mind splitting from your party. If two or more adults are traveling with small children, use the Child Swapone adult rides with the older child while one stays with the younger ones. Then they switch, and the older child gets to ride twice!
Disneyland says they have a no outside food or beverage policy, but you can bring in small coolers with bottled water or juice (no cans or glass allowed), and pre-made sandwiches and snacks.
Disneylands original Tinkerbell was a 71-year-old Hungarian circus performer named Tiny Kline. She was the first to fly off the top of the Matterhorn on a zip line, and had previously worked as a stunt aerialist, hanging from a flying airplane by her teeth!
High up inside the hollow Matterhorn, there is a basketball court. Its part of an employee break room. Los Angeles Lakers center Vlade Divac has been up there to shoot hoops (there is no word as to whether or not this is still there since its recent renovation).
Many of the faces on the Pirates of the Caribbean are modeled after the Imagineers that helped the ride. There is one face even modeled after Walt Disney!
The spooky voice that narrates the Haunted Mansion ride is also the voice of the Pillsbury doughboy! Paul Frees supplied the voice for these, as well as some of the pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean and most of the characters in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, though he did not supply Abe Lincolns voice.
The sailing ship Columbia, which is supposed to be a replica of the first U.S. ship to circumvent the globe, actually was built in large part from the plans of the H.M.S. Bounty, of mutiny fame.
From groundbreaking to opening, Disneyland was built in 365 days!
Opening dayJuly 17, 1955was a disaster. Asphalt poured just hours before guests had arrived hadnt fully dried, and womens spiked heels sunk into Main Street. VIP passes were widely counterfeited, and double the number of people expected showed up. Rides broke down. Because of a plumbers strike, Walt had to choose between drinking fountains and bathrooms. But despite all the opening day issues, the magic Walt had created drew the people back!
Frank Sinatra was there on opening day, and took a ride around Autopia!
Disneyland cost $17 million to build in 1955, which equates to $116 million on todays dollars. Space Mountain, which opened in 1977, cost more than half that amount (in constant dollars)!
Disneyland is home to feral catsnobody knows how manythat come out at night, after visitors leave. Years ago, more than 100 were discovered living inside Sleeping Beautys castle.
If the droid pilot in the Star Wars ride sounds a little like Pee Wee Herman, its because it is both are voiced by comedian Paul Reubens.
At least 3 babies have been born at Disneyland.
Untold thousands of the old A, B, C, D and E ride tickets are still in circulation, and occasionally, are turned into the ticket office for redemptionat face value (of all the tickets, the E ticket was most expensive at 95 cents)! Of course they fetch a much better price from collectors when sold on Ebay!
Sleeping Beautys castle is based largely on Mad King Ludwigs Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, but with one big difference: the top is on backwards.
On the Star Tours ride just before your runaway star speeder exits the Space Station, keep your eye to the lower right corner of the screen: you flash past what looks like a giant electron microscope. This is homage to Monsanto's Adventure Through Inner Space, which was torn down two decades ago and replaced by Star Tours.
At the end of the Star Tours ride, just as your star speeder is about to crash into a fuel truck, a man in the control booth ducks down, then stands up and picks up the phone. The man is George Lucas!
Conspicuously missing on opening day: the Matterhorn. In its place was a two-story-high dirt pile of dirt from the excavation of the castle moat. It was billed as Lookout Mountain. The Matterhorn didnt open until 1959.
The original soundtrack of Space Mountain , Aquarium from Saint-Saens Carnival Des Animaux is played by 1960s surf guitar legend Dick Dale.
Walt Disney, as popularly believed, never turned Nikita Krushchev away at the front gate of Disneyland. Disney was eager to show the Soviet Premier his submarine fleet, which was at the time, the worlds sixth largest. It was the U.S. State Department that nixed the visit, saying security wasnt adequate.
Main Street is based largely on the town of Marceline, Mo., where Walt Disney spent part of his childhooda whistle stop on the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail line between Chicago and Kansas City. The town named a swimming pool and elementary school after its most famous son. The latter is the only place outside Disneyland authorized to fly the official flag.
Walt Disney is not frozen cryogenically at Disneyland or anywhere else. He did have an interest in the technology, but he is in fact buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA.
Buy souvenirs in the morning when stores are less crowded, or in the afternoon when attraction lines are the longest.
See the less crowded second showing of the parades and Fantasmic, and take in the more popular rides during the first showing. Or skip Fantasmic and head to these attractions: Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. The parade is a good time to ride Space Mountain, Star Tours or the Matterhorn.
Eat lunch early (before 11:30 a.m.) or late (after 2 p.m.) to avoid a crowded dining experience.
Use Fastpass when rides have wait times of 20 minutes or longer. Or use the Single rider lines where they are available if you dont mind splitting from your party. If two or more adults are traveling with small children, use the Child Swapone adult rides with the older child while one stays with the younger ones. Then they switch, and the older child gets to ride twice!
Disneyland says they have a no outside food or beverage policy, but you can bring in small coolers with bottled water or juice (no cans or glass allowed), and pre-made sandwiches and snacks.
