- As it turns out,
this so-called happiest place on earth
has some pretty weird secrets.
And no, we're not even talking about Walt Disney's
allegedly frozen head.
Google that, by the way.
Hello Internet, I'm Wil Fulton,
and this is Thrillist Travel Guide,
where we give you all the tools
to become a better traveler,
and in turn, a better human being.
Whether we're telling you where to score
cheap plane tickets to Europe this month,
or how to rid your body of jet lag after you land,
we cover it all.
Today, we are setting our sights
onto a domestic vacation spot
as American as apple pie,
baseball and putting ranch dressing on pizza
while watching baseball.
- Fantastic!
- Yes, we're of course talking about Disney World.
You don't need us to tell you this,
but people all over the country
are obsessed with this so-called
happiest place on earth.
Disney fans will base their entire vacation schedules
around the park,
they'll get married there
and in some extreme cases,
yes, they'll even choose to rest in peace there.
- Oh.
- This episode of travel guide
is all about exposing some of Disney World's
best hidden secrets,
and that was the first one, right there.
A ton of people decide to have
their ashes spread in and around the park.
Sometimes actually on the rides.
And while doing this is certainly illegal,
it's very hard to monitor or enforce.
In 2007, for example, cameras caught a woman
allegedly throwing ashes
into the water of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
- Alright, that's it!
Dishonor, dishonor on your whole family!
- Now the ride shut down for about 45 minutes
while they questioned the woman,
but she said she only dumped out baby powder
and they couldn't prove she was lying.
It's not like you can
look at that pile of dust,
and say hey, that used to be Aunt Linda.
But the spreading of ashes remains something
that happens all over the park,
all over the rides,
and allegedly,
they even have this special vaccuum
to clean up Aunt Linda
and her other dead Disney-loving friends.
And that's not creepy at all.
So if you know any Disney World trivia,
you probably know that Cinderella's
massive fiber glass castle is mostly empty.
The keyword is mostly,
because inside the castle,
is what can only be described
as the most secretive and exclusive
hotel room in the entire park.
It's called Cinderella Castle Suite
and it can't be obtained with money.
It's a 650 square foot hotel room
described as fairly modest,
with two queen sized beds
and a pull-out sofa for the kiddos.
And it was originally designed as a little apartment
for Walt Disney himself.
Now it's mostly reserved for contest winners
and the occasional celebrity,
like Tom Cruise and his daughter, Suri,
and at least one Jonas Brother,
it doesn't really matter which one.
They're all the same.
Speaking of celebrities,
it is only fitting that America's greatest theme park
was the site where America's greatest rock band,
The Beatles, decided to formally break up.
I'm just kidding, I know The Beatles
are actually from France, I'm not an idiot.
Anyways, John Lennon officially signed the documents
that would formally end The Beatles
at the Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World,
while overlooking at the Seven Seas Lagoon.
I think a Ticket to Ride joke
is almost too obvious here,
so let's just call it another day in the life
of the world's most eventful theme park.
And now that we're onto the subject
of strange celebrity links to Disney,
did you know that Richard Nixon's legendary
and eternally repeated, "I am not a crook," speech,
- Well, I am not a crook.
I've earned everything I've got.
- Happened at Disney's Contemporary Resort?
Bottom line, weird stuff happens at Disney hotels,
and no, we're not talking about your family vacation.
Now, let's take a look at the ground.
No, no, no not that ground, look up,
look back at your screen.
Have you ever noticed that the streets of Disney World
are bewilderingly clean?
Well, not only does the park
put an emphasis on Snow White-level clean up operations,
but they even go as far as
completely banning the sale of all chewing gum in the park.
It's kind of like contraband there.
And finally, let's focus on smells.
You'd think with thousands of tourists
wearing sweaty tank tops
and eating giant turkey legs
in the sweltering Florida heat
would make Disney World a little rank, right?
But the park's imagineers
are always looking to make the experience more immersive,
and in that vein,
they've installed devices called smellitizers
all over the park.
So that's why you can actually smell
baking cookies and vanilla on Main Street, USA,
and salty sea air in Pirates of the Caribbean,
as long as you're not smelling ashes.
So, Disney World isn't always
the magical dream scape it was designed to be,
but hey, at least it will smell like one.
I'm Wil Fulton, and that was Thrillist Travel Guide.
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For even more tantalizing Disney World secrets,
you can check out the article
in the description below,
and if you want to find out
about the best places to visit this month,
direct your full attention to the video to my left.
Thanks for watching.