From: Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Disneyana - Backstage Tour - Pt. 2
Distribution: world
Date: 6 Oct 92 06:13:13 CST
Organization: The Amiga GateWay BBS * New Orleans, La.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 * SPOILER -- This whole article should not be read if you think you *
 *            might someday take the Innovations In Action - Behind  *
 *            The Scenes Tour at Walt Disney World which takes you   *
 *            "backstage" at the Magic Kingdom, including inside the *
 *            Utilidor tunnel system!  This article is a big spoiler,*
 *            SO BEWARE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!! :-)                *
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
Part 2: "Under Fantasyland with Bubba!"
 
We turned right at the end of the entrance corridor and entered the
tunnel under Fantasyland.  According to the map on the wall, if we
had instead made a left and then a quick right we would have gone
down the corridor where all the money is collected together.  I wonder
why they didn't want us walking past all the money? ;-)  (Since later
in the tour they showed where our human wastes end up, it would have
been nice to see where some of the other fruits of our labor end up! ;-)
 
We turned right off the Fantasyland Utilidor and were allowed to peek
into the central computer complex, where the audio animatronics of
the attractions are controlled, along with many other things like
lights, automatic doors, sound, and music.  We weren't brought in
there, although apparently some groups are allowed in.  We were told
that the soundtrack for the Jungle Cruise, controlled from in there,
contains the sound of the tribal warriors who are actually chanting
"We like disco! We like disco! We like disco!" over and over, but
speeded up.  Listen for that on your next trip through the Jungle
Cruise at WDW and you'll probably recognize it and start laughing
out loud (which might make the others in the boat think you are
strange!).  We were told the Disney imagineers ofte include little
inside jokes like that at WDW as the "signature" of the imagineer
who put it in.
 
Next, we walked up a stairway one level.  There is a beam above the
lower part of the stairway which has the name "Bubba" written on both
sides of it.  Could this be another imagineer joke rather than
graffiti?
 
At the top of the stairs we walked down a hallway that ended at a
door in front of us and a door near it on the right.  As we gathered
there, a cast member who looked very much like she needed a break
came out of the door in front of us.  She looked as if she wasn't
expecting to see us there!
 
When all of our group came to the end of the hallway, our tour guide
picked one of us who had a red shirt on.  She said that she wanted to
pick someone with red shoes, but since we were all wearing white
eeboks that this was the best that she could do!  She had the woman
she picked stand with her back to the door on the right, and then --
just like Dorothy did in "The Wizard of Oz" (it is okay for them to
use that title since Disney and MGM have a deal!) she told the woman
to click her heels together 3 times, and think of when that movie
switched from the black and white of Kansas to the vivid colors o Oz
as Dorothy walked through the door of the farmhouse onto the yellow
brick road.  Our guide pointed out the drab monotones of the hallway
we were in, then dramatically opened the door and had us step through
it.  We felt like we truly were entering a fantasy land, and
Fantasyland felt even more magical than ever before!  I'd swear there
was pixie dust in the air as we stepped out into the area next to the
Mad Hatters shop.
 
Out guide pointed out how even the trash cans were themed to the land
they were in, with the same colors as Cinderella's carrousel and with
a decorative Fantasyland design.  We walked in the sunshine along the
Magic Journeys theatre and past the Tinkerbell Toy Shop to an area
behid the castle overlooked by many guests: Cinderella's statue.
Even those who have found it might have been too tall to notice an
interesting detail built into the area.  Our guide had each of us
scrunch down to a child's height as we got in front of the statue,
as she pointed out that the imagineers had painted a crown on the
wall behind the statue so that a child would see Cinderella wearing
a crown.  As we scrunched down, my wife remarked that we were all
curtsying to Cinderella, and rightly so!
 
Then our guide pointed out the water sprinklers almost hidden in
the spires of the castle, which help cool the fiberglass and provide
fire protection.  She explained how Disney was an innovator in using
fiberglass panels in building construction.  She said it was a good,
inexpensive building material which is safe to use as long as water
sprinklers are built-in to not let it get too hot.  Before the
fireworks in the Magic Kingdom go off, these sprinklers are turned on
to keep the castle's outer surface cool.
 
A fellow guest asked about hurricane preparations and how she had
been there the other week when it was thought that Hurricane Andrew
was approaching Orlando -- she had seen cast members scurrying around,
putting away almost everything in sight.  The tour guide said that
the way the Utilidor system was built, that was one of the safest
places to be in the area.  This brought up the tale that perhaps
the castle can be dismantled quickly if need be, an this story was
brought up by our tour guide -- but she said she had only been able
to get confirmation of it from the guys who run the boats in the
Jungle Cruise, so take it for what it's worth!
 
End of Part 2. Coming up in Part 3: "What's that smell? It's not
chocolate!"

-- Via DLG Pro v0.992

Internet: rich_koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US
    UUCP: rex!agwbbs!rich_koster