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The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida covers 40 square miles of land; it’s no small world.
When comparing its size, Walt Disney World and the city of San Francisco are actually
the same size. That San Francisco skyline has some pretty tall structures but so does
Walt Disney World in an unconventional spread out skyline. These some these are engineering
marvels but most of the structures at Walt Disney World are under 200 feet. FAA regulations
state that structures over 200 feet need to have a blinking red light on the top of the
building. Disney builds under to keep it’s rides and attractions as immersive as possible,
but the tallest building at Walt Disney World is actually well over 200 feet. So while touring
the resorts & theme parks, today we’re gonna be counting down the Top 10 Tallest Rides
& Structures at Walt Disney World.
Number 10 Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened
in May of 2017 and soaring 156 feet over the lush landscape are the floating Mountains.
Framed by the Valley of Mo’ara, the floating mountains are visually stunning with it’s
sweeping vines and cascading waterfalls. These mountain peeks were inspired by the Wulingyuan
mountains in China and building the steel frame took about a year to complete. The vines
are actually what hold the rocks in place and they did a fantastic job of creating the
illusion that the mountains are floating. This is also first structure on the list that
utilizes forced perspective. It’s an illusion commonly used by Disney that tricks our minds
into thinking that something is much larger than it actually is. The larger peaks are
full size but the rock formations near the top are smaller to appear as though they’re
further away. When you’re up close, you can really see the level of detail that went
into everything from the rocks to the moss and it transports you right into the world
of Pandora.
Number 9 One of the most iconic centrepieces of any
theme park would have to be Epcot’s Spaceship Earth which stands 180 feet tall and 165 feet
wide. Spaceship Earth is classified as a Geodesic Sphere and it’s actually the largest free
standing sphere in the world. The structure utilizes triangular pieces that help distribute
the structural stress. It allows the sphere to support heavy loads, like the Spaceship
Earth attraction inside, but we’re just talking about the inside sphere. Spaceship
Earth is actually a sphere within a sphere, that has an inner and outer layer. The inside
sphere is the supporting structure and the 954 aluminum triangular pieces on the outside
are just for aesthetic purposes only but they also act as the drainage system. There’s
a 1 inch gap between each of the pieces that allows water to flow through a gutter and
into the drains found in the legs of the sphere. The geodesic design was inspired by the Montreal
Biosphere, which was formally the American Pavilion at Expo67 in Montreal. Imagineers
loved this design and commissioned the same company to build Spaceship Earth.
Number 8 The slanted angel of Space Mountain’s white
roof draws our eye to the tip of the tallest spire which stands 183 feet above Magic Kingdom.
Construction on the Tomorrowland ride started in 1972 and 72 concrete beams make up the
shell of the building. When it opened in January of 1975 Space Mountain became Disney’s first
indoor steel roller coaster. The inside is about 80,000 square feet and it houses two
mirrored roller coaster tracks, Alpha and Omega. The ride has you reaching top speeds
of about 28 miles per hour, but with its multi track design the building was so large that
it needed to be constructed outside the park boundaries. Now the dome has a very clean
design; something that feels futuristic yet retro at the same time. Space Mountain is
one of the more popular Disney attractions and it’s become an iconic symbol of Tomorrolwand.
Number 7 Staying outside the boundary of Magic Kingdom,
we’ll head next door to Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Standing at 184 feet tall, the Contemporary
was one of two hotels that opened with Walt Disney World in 1971. When building the hotel,
Disney collaborated with the United States Steel Corporation who, at the time, was prototyping
a new way of constructing hotel rooms. Each of 383 guest rooms were constructed off site
and then were slide into the 14 story frame like a drawer; that’s what you can call
efficiency. You’ve probably spotted this A- Frame building from the ferry boat or you
may have passed right through it on the monorail on your way to Magic Kingdom. This is the
4th floor known as the Grand Canyon Concourse but there are 3 other functional floors below
that house the lobby, restaurant and convention spaces. In 2009 Disney opened Bay Lake Tower
which is a Disney Vacation club resort. This tower is slightly taller than the Contemporary
Hotel with its highest peak reaching 195 feet.
Number 6 At the centre of Magic Kingdom sits the elegant
Cinderella Castle which soars 189 feet over the park. This iconic centrepiece took Disney
18 months to build and was completed in July of 1971- 3 months before Magic Kingdom opened.
The 27 spires and towers reflect the late gothic flamboyant style of the 1400’s and
there’s so much detail; like these gargoyles. You can see Cinderella castle from many places
around Magic Kingdom but by using forced perspective, our brains are tricked into thinking the castle
is much taller than 189 feet. Well technically it’s only 183 feet but the 189 figure takes
into account the depth of 6 foot moat the castle base sits in. The first story is full
scale but at higher elevations, the castle’s proportions are reduced when looking at things
such as doors, windows and bricks. A brick at guest level is much larger than the bricks
closer to the top. Well actually, they aren’t even bricks. Disney used a mixture of fibreglass
and plaster to create the appearance and look of stone and brick. It’s very convincing,
and Cinderella Castle may just be the most recognizable Disney structure in the world.
Number 5 Over at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort
you can find the newest Disney structure which is the Gran Destino tower. Standing 195 feet
tall, Gran Destino opened on July 9th 2019 and is home to 545 guest rooms. The resort
celebrates cultures and landscapes of Spain, Mexico and the American Southwest and the
Gran Destino Tower was named after the classic Disney short Destino. In terms of theming
the outside is a pretty minimal design, but this wave pattern found on the outside continues
into the multi level lobby. Disney’s Corondo Springs Resort was originally designed with
just low rise villa buildings but now the Gran Destino Tower acts as the new gateway
to this Disney Resort.
Number 4 Next we’ll head on over to Frontierland
where the highest peak of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad stands 197 feet above Magic Kingdom.
The wildest ride in the wilderness opened in 1980 as Magic Kingdom’s second mountain
and is now its the second tallest mountain at Walt Disney World. As you zip along reaching
speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, you get up close to these golden orange rocks that
have become such an iconic part of the landscape in Forntierland. Now Disney is known for their
rock work; The look of the rocks were actually inspired by Arizona’s Monument Valley and
it took 4000 gallons of paint to transform this 2.5 acre of land. Some of the best views
of Big Thunder Mountain can be seen from the top of the queue or even from the fort on
Tom Sawyer Island. Imagineers use forced perspective to trick us into thinking the mountain is
much larger, but it might surprise you that Thunder Mountain is taller than Cinderella
Castle. The castle looks much taller but that’s just because both structures use different
scales of forced perspective to achieve different desired heights.
Number 3 At the end of Sunset Blvd at Disney’s Hollywood
Studio sits the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror which soars 199 feet over the park. The attraction
opened in July of 1994 and it took 3 million pounds of steel and 145,000 cubic feet of
concrete to create this attraction masterpiece. Everything about the tower was designed with
purpose. The placement of the building was designed to be what’s referred to as the
Weenie. Walt described is as the one thing that draws you from one land into another.
Although you only get as high as 130 feet, you’ll still get some great views of the
park before you drop reaching top speeds of 39 miles per hour. Now the design of the exterior
was inspired by a real southern California hotel. The Mission Inn located in Riverside
California is where a lot of the Spanish and gothic style influence comes from. This design
and color was also chosen to to help blend the building into the architecture of the
Morocco pavilion. That’s because the backside of the Tower Terror can be seen across World
Showcase lagoon; it blends in pretty seamlessly.
Number 2 One of the best Disney coasters is Expediton
Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and this snow capped mountain stands 199.5 feet tall-
making this the tallest mountain and the tallest ride at Walt Disney World. Construction on
Expedition Everest began in 2003 and after 5,000 tons of structural steel and 10,000
tons of concrete, the attraction opened in April of 2006. The Guinness Book of World
Records cites Expedition Everest as being the most expensive roller coaster built to
date, costing the company $100 million dollars. This cost does cover the extensive theming
of the mountain since its all part of this big, thrilling attraction that reaches top
speeds of 50 miles per hour. There aren’t many places where you can see the coaster
track come out of the mountain and this was done intentionally to help sell the idea of
it being a full scale mountain. The real Mount Everest is 29,000 feet tall, so Imagineers
used forced perspective and lots of paint to make this Himalayan mountain range look
hyper realistic. Again Disney really knows how to do convincing rock work. And did you
know that the mountain’s tallest peak isn’t Mount Everest? Yea, this peak here on the
right hand side is the actual Mount Everest.
Number 1 The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort
can be found between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Standing at 257 feet tall,
the dolphin hotel is the tallest Disney structure and it opened in June of 1990. Across the
way, the Swan Hotel opened in January of 1990, and although it might not be as tall and grand,
it’s still 159 feet. Now Disney does not own these hotel buildings and the resort was
a partnered venture between Disney and the Tishman Hotel Corporation. This partnership
stated that it needed to be designed as what former CEO Michael Eisner described as Entertainment
Architecture. It needed to fit the look of Disney so Eisner hired architect Michael Graves
to design the resort and wether it be the 47 foot Swan statues or the 63 foot dolphin
statues, these whimsical features along with the decorative patterns on the hotel and numerous
fountains were a design aesthetic that was very prominent at Disney in the 90s.
So what’s your favorite structure at Walt Disney World. Either from this list or maybe
something smaller that wasn’t mentioned. Maybe something like the Tree of Life that’s
only 145 feet tall. I’d love to know! Leave a comment down below to start a conversion
and don’t forget to hit that like button if you enjoyed the video.
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