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Now Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is home to many hidden secrets that bring the
magic alive.
In Adventureland there’s a little attraction called The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
Now we’ll get to the physical ride in just a bit but lets take a look at something thats
more of a prop but could arguably be considered be the real stars of the ride: the spitting
camels.
So if you didn’t know, in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom there’s two camels placed
at the Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride that quote on quote spit and squirt water at guests.
Now these camels are always featured on pretty much every list and top 10 video about Walt
Disney World secrets.
What a lot of people don’t realize though is that they actually have a pretty long history
at Walt Disney World that dates back to the early 90s, long before they even appeared
at Magic Kingdom.
So today, we’re gonna go through Disney theme park History and take a look at the
journey of the golden spitting camels, which includes going through some extinct attractions
at Disney-MGM studios then we’ll dive right into the myth surrounding the camels and get
to the bottom of everything.
So here are the Top 5 secrets and myths of Magic Kingdom’s Spitting Camels.
Number 5- Aladdin’s Royal Caravan So lets start right back at Disney- MGM studios
in the early 90’s.
Now as a whole the early 90’s were a pivotal point in Disney history.
From 1989 to 1999 this period was known as the Disney renaissance period which resurged
the production of successful animated films for the company.
Well one of the things the company did to further promote their films was integrate
the newest animated Disney release into rides, shows and parades at the Disney theme parks.
Disney gets a lot of flak now a days with people saying they’re coping out by using
too many IPs, which stands for intellectual properties if you didn’t know, in the theme
parks but Disney was full of IP’s especially in the 90s.
And very little was known about the films these attractions were based off of since
they would open around the same time as a films release.
Well One example of this was a parade called Aladdin’s Royal Caravan.
It opened less than a month after Aladdin was released in theatres and could be seen
along the parade route at Disney-MGM Studios.
Thats right, the park currently known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios used to have parades; ah
the good old days.
Now, Aladdin’s Royal caravan was actually quite a fun parade that was designed to represent
the Prince Ali scene from the film.
Well one of the floats were a pair of camels and this is where their journey officially
begins.
In 1992, the camels made their Disney theme park debut in a parade float.
They stood on a platform that was designed to look like they were being pushed by this
group of guys who’s feet weren’t even touching the ground.
Now thats truly Disney magic.
The camels were always gold in colour, since in the song Prince Ali it says he has 75 golden
camels, but the MGM camels had a red saddle cover with gold fringes.
Some would classify them as audio animatronics but their range of motion was very limited
to only one movement.
Since the beginning of their existence they were designed to turn their heads and spit
water at guests and they were actually already kinda famous in the 90s.
Number 4- Full House In 1993, an episode of Full House titled the
House meets the Mouse part 2 aired.
Well Aladdin’s Royal Caravan is shown in the episode, heavily featuring the spitting
camels.
Actually in part 1 of the House Meets the Mouse, the inflatable genie that appears at
the beginning of the episode where Michelle becomes princess for the day is actually the
first genie float from the parade.
So Danny, Vikki and the kids are watching Aladdin’s Royal Caravan at Disney-MGM Studios
when the camel sprays water at the crowd and Danny gets hit in the face with camel water.
So the spitting camels that are now pretty well known for unexpectedly spraying guests
in Adventureland were once well known for spraying Danny Tanner along the parade route
at Disney MGM Studios.
See- they were famous way before you probably thought, but their existence doesn’t end
here.
So during the 90’s when Disney created attractions to market animated films, they would usually
debut on both the east and west coasts at Disney World and Disneyland respectively.
Although it was 5 months after the debut at Disney-MGM Studios, in April of 1993 Disney
also opened Aladdin’s Royal Caravan at Disneyland in California.
The Disneyland parade floats were pretty much the exact same including the camel float,
so in total there were originally 4 spitting camels produced by Disney.
After the parade at Disneyland ended in June of 1994 it seems like the camels disappeared
from California but its a different story for Florida.
Number 3- The Soundstage Restaurant When Aladdin’s Royal Caravan ended its run
in August of 1995, the spitting camels found a new home guarding the entrance outside of
the Soundstage restaurant at Disney MGM Studios.
Now you might be wondering what is the soundstage restaurant?
Well its an extinct restaurant at the park in the building where Disney Junior- Live
On Stage! is today.
It opened with the park in May of 1989 and was a character dining buffet that served
breakfast and lunch.
You can see here that the camels pretty much look the exact same as they did in the parade,
expect now they were removed from their base on the float and they lost the gold tassels
on the ends of the saddle cover.
Now whats never documented is if they sprayed water during their time at the Soundstage
restaurant.
Looking at this short clip you can see the camel’s head turn sideways, so clearly the
heads were mobile but it never shows them spraying water.
And when you take a look at the ground here it looks completely dry so it might be safe
to say that during their time guarding the soundstage restaurant entrance they did not
spray water.
Well the restaurant closed in November of 1998 to make way for Bear in the Big Blue
House Live, and with the closure of the restaurant, the camels also disappeared after spending
3 years at the entrance.
Now the next time we see the camels at Walt Disney World, it wouldn’t be until 2001.
So from Nov of 1998 until May of 2001 the camels most likely spent time in storage backstage
at one of the theme parks.
Number 2- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin In May of 2001, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin
opened in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom and the spitting camels were relocated to
their current home around this attraction.
Now the attraction was rumoured in early 2000 which is only a year and a couple months from
the closing of the Soundstage restaurant.
So they were most likely saved with the intention of using them for this Aladdin ride or something
else themed to Aladdin around the parks.
This picture shows the rides construction as of April 18th, 2001 and right here is where
one of the camels would be so its safe to assume that they weren’t installed until
closer to the late May opening of the ride.
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin features both camels, separated in different locations;
one faces the spinner directed towards riders, and the other is located behind the ride’s
sign directed towards guests walking down the path.
Over their 2 1/2 years off duty they received a little makeover with the most notable differences
being the red saddle covers painted gold, the re addition of the original gold tassels
and the re introduction of their spitting water feature.
The ride was actually Adventureland’s first addition since the park opened in Oct of 1971
and although, yes it did add a ride to the park, it may have not been the best location
for a ride since that area in Adventureland can get pretty backed up on busy days.
Now walking through Adventureland from the hub, there is a chance you’ll get a little
wet when you’re approaching that golden camel.
By this point, a lot of people visiting the park already know about the camel being able
to spit water but its really funny watching people walk by not expecting to get wet.
Now while you’re on the magic carpet ride, if you want to be in the spray zone make sure
you’re flying your carpet about mid way up.
If you want to completely avoid the water then fly your carpet at the highest it can
go.
Now theres a little rumour and myth surrounding who the camel choses to spray with water and
we’re gonna put this rumour to rest.
Number 1- The Cast Member Secret As we said in the introduction of the video,
the camels are usually included on many lists about Walt Disney World secrets.
Specifically that the camels are controlled by a cast member on the look out for the perfect
guests to spray with water.
Now around 2013 this rumour started to gain a lot of steam for some reason.
Some people have speculated that theres a cast member in disguise as a photo pass photographer
or theres a cast member positioned near the ride’s sign controlling it.
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this secret and rumour isn’t true and is
in fact just a myth.
The camels aren’t controlled by a cast member and this is based off accounts from current
and former cast members, including cast members on the Keys to the Kingdom tour at Magic Kingdom.
They’re simply just automated camels, like they were in the parade, that turn their head
back and forth at regular intervals spraying guests on the ride and on the walkway.
Also, if you always seem to get sprayed with water, thats probably because you walk through
the camels direct spray paths just at the right time when its about to spit.
If you take a look at the walkway in front of the camel, you’ll notice isolated wet
spots.
If it was controlled by a cast member, the wet spots on the ground would be much more
spread out and not concentrated in one spot.
Although the cast member myth isn’t true, the golden spitting camels are still a cool
detail of Adventureland.
I mean who knew they crossed through so much Disney theme park history.
Camels are known for traveling long distances in the desert and its safe to safe these camels
have definitely traveled miles and miles through multiple decades at Walt Disney World.
So did you know the camels original home wasn’t at the Magic Kingdom and has it ever sprayed
you while you