In 2001, I was working at Epcot and I was trained as a Disney Media Rep for the 100 Years of Magic: Share a Dream Come True celebration. The 18-month event was to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walt Disney, and it officially began on October 1, 2001, which was also the 30th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World (WDW).
This was the celebration that included the snow globe parade at the Magic Kingdom, the installation of the Sorcerer’s Hat and One Man’s Dream at Disney MGM Studios, and the opening of Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama! at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that we were instructed to include in our spiel to the various media as a “tribute to Walt Disney who had a great love of animals both real and imaginary that enhanced his masterful storytelling.”
Because, of course, “all four Walt Disney World Theme Parks will celebrate this milestone in their own unique way with new parades, shows and attractions” according to the approved copy we were told to share.
“The emotional connection that our guests have to the Disney legacy of innovation, imagination and family entertainment combined with new entertainment and attractions will make this our most magical celebration ever,” proclaimed WDW President Al Weiss.
As a Disney representative, I was not just given guidelines, but enforced restrictions including never to discuss anything “off the record,” never to mention anything about attendance or finances, and generally never offer a comment or an opinion other than what we were given in our training binder. Everything else was to be directed to Media Relations.
I was there to be a host to guide the crew, schedule interviews with approved people, keep them out of backstage areas, know where the nearest first aid was located and similar tasks.
All information was to come from Media Relations and to help the media spice up their presentations, they issued a list of “fun facts.” I don’t think WDW has done this in years.
I recently came across my training binder that had a copy of these fun facts. I am sure some of them are now out-of-date but they were true and verified when I gave them out October 2001, nearly a decade and a half ago, and I know many of them are still accurate.
- It's Not “a small world,” After All: Covering 47-square miles, Walt Disney World is about the size of San Francisco or two Manhattan islands. Of the more than 30,000 acres, less than one-fourth has been developed, with another quarter designated as a wilderness preserve.
- A Cast of Thousands: Close to 45,000 to be more precise. That's how many people it takes to create the magic here at the “Vacation Kingdom.” Not surprisingly, Walt Disney World is the largest employer in Central Florida.
- What the Well-Dressed Mouse Will Be Wearing?: Depends entirely on the occasion. Mickey Mouse himself has 175 different sets of duds, ranging from a scuba suit to a tuxedo. Minnie Mouse's wardrobe contains some 200 outfits, including everything from a cheerleader ensemble to evening gowns.
- Suds 'R Us: If you were to wash and dry one load of laundry every day for 33 years, you'd clean as much as the folks at the Walt Disney World Laundry do in a single day. The 550 workers there launder an average of 120,000 pounds each day. In addition, between 30,000 and 32,000 garments are dry-cleaned daily.
- Smile!: Kodak estimates that approximately 4 percent of all the amateur photographs taken in the United States are snapped at the Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort.
- Winter Wonderland: So what if there's no snow in Central Florida? Each Christmas season, Walt Disney World is “decked” with more than 4 miles of garland, 1,000 wreaths and 300 Christmas trees. The tallest of the lot is a 96-foot tree in Disney's Contemporary Resort. In addition, six trees, which range in height from 50-80 feet, are placed in prominent positions in the theme parks.
One of the Walt Disney World Resort's 300 Christmas trees can be found on Main Street, U.S.A. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
- Who's Still Thirsty?: More than 46 million Cokes are consumed each year at Walt Disney World Resort. That goes with 7 million hamburgers, 5 million hot dogs, 5 million pounds of French fries and 265,000 pounds of popcorn.
- Ears To You: There are enough of the famous “Mouse Ear” hats sold each year to cover the head of every man, woman and child in Pittsburgh, and enough Disney character T-shirts strike the fancy of Walt Disney World guests each year to put Mickey Mouse's smiling face on the chest of every Chicagoan.
- Hickory Dickory Dock: More than a half million character watches—mainly Mickey—are slipped onto wrists out of Walt Disney World gift shops each year. At any given time, there are more than 200 different varieties of character watches. The most popular timepiece: a gold-tone relief of Mickey Mouse.
- Gone But Not Forgotten: Walt Disney World Lost and Found is one busy place. Every day an average of 100 pairs of sunglasses are turned in at the Magic Kingdom alone. There have been enough “shades” submitted each year in the Vacation Kingdom to outfit every resident of Sun City, Arizona, Sun City, California and Sun City, Florida. Since 1971, an estimated 1.5 million pairs of glasses have found their way into the “lost” bin.
- Curious Claims: According to long-time lost and found staffers, the most unusual items turned in have been a glass eye and a potty trainer. Both, incidentally, were claimed (but not by the same person).
- Busman's Holiday: Nearly 165 Walt Disney World buses cover almost 9 million miles every year. That's enough to drive around the Earth (at the equator) more than six times each week!
- Fly Me To the Moon: Since 1971, the total miles logged by Walt Disney World monorail trains would be equal to more than 25 round trips to the moon. One-dozen new cars were put into service along the 14-mile beamway in 1990 as the original fleet received a well-deserved retirement.
- Tee Time:With the addition of the Pete Dye designed Eagle Pines course and Tom Fazio's Osprey Ridge, Walt Disney World now boasts 99 holes of golf. That makes this one of Florida's largest golf resorts. A real “Magic Link-dom.”
- Tune In, Mousketeers: Four low-power radio signals on three AM frequencies keep “Vacation Kingdom” visitors abreast of Walt Disney World information. Guests can tune in to 1030 (driving toward the Magic Kingdom), 900 (exiting the Magic Kingdom), 810 (entering Epcot) and 900 (exiting Epcot).
- Phone Firsts: Vista-United Telecommunications, a partnership between The Walt Disney Co. and the United Telephone System, was the first commercial telephone company in the United States to install a fiber-optic cable system for regular service. Vista-United was also the first Florida system to establish a 911 emergency number.
- Room With a View . . . Disney's Wedding Pavilion was designed to provide the bride with a view of the Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle while she is standing at the altar.
The Walt Disney World Wedding Pavilion offers a magical views of the Magic Kingdom for the bride. Photo by Brian Bennett.
- Boulder Builder: Here's one to stump your friends with. How many stones are there in Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom? NONE. The whole shell of the building is fiberglass.
- A Mountain Range?: Walt Disney World is home to Florida's two highest “mountains!” In the Magic Kingdom, Big Thunder Mountain rises 197 feet above Frontierland. Space Mountain in Tomorrowland is 180-feet tall.
- Six-Shooter: Guides of the famous Jungle Cruise in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom fire off almost 631,000 rounds of ammunition per year. But don't worry, they're only blanks!
- Salad Shooter: If you're enjoying fresh vegetables at Epcot's Garden Grill, Sunshine Season Food Fair or Coral Reef restaurants, chances are they were grown right in the theme park. Last year, more than 30 tons of fruits and veggies were harvested from The Land pavilion's greenhouses.
- Spaced Out: Spaceship Earth, the visual and thematic centerpiece of Epcot, weighs 16 million pounds — more than three times that of a Space Shuttle fully fueled and ready for launch or equal in weight to 158 million golf balls. It can be spotted by aircraft flying along the Eastern coast of Florida. The outer “skin” of Spaceship Earth is made up of 11,324 aluminum and plastic-alloy triangles. Also, did you know that rainwater never falls off the sphere? It's absorbed into the ball, and funneled into World Showcase Lagoon.
Epcot's Spaceship Earth weighs 16 million pounds!
- Water, Water Everywhere: If you emptied the water from The Living Seas in Epcot into one-gallon milk jugs and laid them side by side, they would stretch from here to New Orleans, Knoxville or Raleigh — 540 miles. And the recipe for the artificial sea water called for 27 truckloads of sodium chloride, or common table salt.
- 6-Million-Mile Man: The DNA Tower at the entrance to Epcot Wonders of Life pavilion is 5.5 billion times actual size — just the right size for a human 6-million-miles tall.
- Ready, Aim: The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air…within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth. If all of the shooters were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air.
- IllumiNations: More than 26,000 feet of lights outlines the Epcot World Showcase pavilions—a string long enough to stretch across the Golden Gate Bridge more than six times.
- Height of Fright: At 199 feet tall, The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror™ at the Disney-MGM Studios is the highest attraction at Walt Disney World Resort. It tops the Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle (185 feet), Epcot's Spaceship Earth (180 feet) and The Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom (145 feet). So how is it that the Tower of Terror contains only 13 “floors?” Imagineers say it's because the place is full of so many “tall stories.”
- What Big Ears You Have: The Earffel Tower, Disney-MGM Studios' water tower landmark, would wear a hat size of 342 3/4.
- Recycled: The horse prop that is used in the Bonanza segment in Disney-MGM Studios' Superstar Television is the same horse head that was used in the movie The Godfather.
- Biggest Ever: Disney's Animal Kingdom encompasses 500 acres, the company's biggest theme park. The centerpiece is The Tree of Life, 14-stories high and 50-feet wide at its trunk. On opening day, there were more than 1,000 live animals
- Big Gulp: It would take more than 20 million 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola to fill one of the humongous Coke cups at the Home-Run Hotel in Disney's All-Star Sports Resort.
- Tennis Anyone?: It would take nearly 9.5 million tennis balls to fill one of the tennis ball cans at Center Court Hotel in Disney's All-Star Sports Resort. That's enough to stretch from Walt Disney World to Key West.
- World's Largest: Stormalong Bay, Disney's Beach Club Resort swimming area, holds 750,000 gallons of water, making it the largest sand-bottom pool in the world.
- Five-Legged Goat:The mosaic mural in the fourth-floor lobby of Disney's Contemporary Resort was created in 1971 with 1,800 1-square-foot tiles and took 18 months to construct. Look closely: there's a five-legged goat facing the monorail track.
- Music To Your Eyes: The musical staff notes across the registration desk at Disney's Port Orleans Resort spell out the first verse of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
- Room Roulette: If you wanted to stay in all the guest rooms in all of the hotels and resorts currently open on Walt Disney World property (at a rate of one per night), it would take more than 61 years.
- 50,000 Sprinkler Heads and 2,000 miles of irrigation pipe are needed to water more than 3,500 acres of landscaping at Walt Disney World Resort. Since 1971, more than 100,000 trees and 2 million tended shrubs have been planted. For a burst of color, another 3 million bedding plants are added annually.
- Well Grounded: Each year a horticulture staff of nearly 500 plants 2 million bedding plants and annuals and maintains millions of other plants, including more than 2 million shrubs, 13,000 roses, and 200 or so topiary.
- A “Family” Tree: The “Liberty Oak,” which is the focal point of the Liberty Square area in the Magic Kingdom, is the proud parent of more than 500 young trees. They all started out as acorns harvested from the majestic oak.
- Pack the Trunk: Earth Day 1991 signaled a “moving” experience for yet another impressive oak—a 55-foot tall tree weighing in at nearly 85 tons. The live oak was moved 12 miles across Walt Disney World property. It is doing well in its new “digs”—serving as a centerpiece for the “Ol' Man Island” recreation area at Disney's Dixie Landings Resort.
- Mow Miles Per Year: 450,000 mowing miles, to be exact—that's what it takes to maintain 2,000 acres of turf. For the record, those mower miles are the equivalent of 18 trips around the Earth at the equator.
- Here's Looking (Down) At You: From the air, Walt Disney World boasts a number of “heady” sights. For instance, the unique “Mouse Trap” on the 6th hole at the Magnolia Golf Course that, from above, looks like a famous corporate symbol. Over at the Bonnet Creek Golf Club, a Mickey in profile greets golfers on the large practice green. The famous mouse is the model for the courtyard and area in front of the Chinese Theater at the Disney-MGM Studios
- At Rose and Crown Dining Room and Pub in World Showcase (United Kingdom), a specially designed ale warmer can heat your Guinness to 13°C (55°F), the temperature favored by the Irish.
- The Canada pavilion features, among other things, a replica of the Chateau Laurier of Ottawa, as well as the famous Butchart Gardens of Victoria, British Columbia.
- More than 26,000 feet of lights outline the World Showcase pavilions— a string long enough to stretch across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge more than six times.
- Fascinating facts about Fantasmic! Night-time extravaganza: To create a surface on which animation can be projected, water screens pump 2,400 gallons of water into the air every minute…and if called upon, could fill the 500,000-gallon Earffel Tower in less than three hours. In the grand finale of Fantasmic!, 26 Disney Characters cruise across the moat aboard a replica of the Steamboat Willie. At 80 feet long, it's bigger than Christopher Columbus' Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.
- Each “limo” at Rock 'n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith launches from 0-60 mph in 2.8 blurring seconds—similar to the feeling of sitting atop a supersonic F-14 Tomcat as it blasts off the deck of an aircraft carrier.
- At 199 feet tall, “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” is the highest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort
- There are more than 200 species of animals — mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects — representing 1,000 animals; and more than four million trees, plants, shrubs, vines, grasses and ferns at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
- Twenty-two species found throughout Disney's Animal Kingdom are part of the American Zoological Association's Species Survival Plan. In all, there are 29 endangered species found at the Park.
- More than 325 animals are carved on the Tree of Life and over 100,000 leaves were individually placed on the branches.
- Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park exhibits the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found.
- It would take nearly 9.5 million tennis balls to fill one of the tennis ball cans at Center Court Hotel in Disney's All-Star Sports Resort. That's enough to stretch from Walt Disney World Resort to Key West, which is the last island in the Florida Keys archipelago, a 3-hour drive from Miami.
- The massive, eight story-high stone fireplace in Disney's Wilderness Lodge was built using the same stone colorizations as the Grand Canyon.
