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From Disneyland in California to Walt Disney World in Florida, many tales have been told
over the past decades about these magical places.
Many tips and secrets have been shared on the dozens of Disney rides but have you ever
wondered if all these tales are true?
Does one of the teacups at Disneyland actually spin faster than the others?
Is Cinderella’s Horse secretly hidden on the Carousel at Magic Kingdom?
And what’s a basketball court really doing in the Matterhorn.
Well all these questions plus many more will be answered today.
We’re gonna take a look at some Disney rides and attractions as we count down the Top 7
Disney Secrets & Myths: Debunked Pt 2.
Number 7 Main Street was designed to resemble a turn
of the 20th century American Town.
A common piece of information you hear often is that Main Street USA at Disneyland was
inspired off Walt’s hometown of Marceline Missouri.
This is even something we’ve mentioned here on the channel.
Even Tilly the ticket attendant’s name tag includes a little nod to Marceline, so this
has to be the land’s inspiration, right?
Well this is sort of a myth and is partially true.
Walt Disney wanted Main street to have the charm of a small town.
When Imagineer Harper Goff was tasked with designing Main Street, Walt used his hometown
of Marceline Missouri as an example of the small town feel he was after.
Well Goff wasn’t from Marceline but instead was from the small town of Fort Collin’s,
Colorado and Fort Collins is actually the true city that inspired the look of Main Street
USA.
When Goff showed Walt pictures he’d taken of Old town Fort Collins, Walt loved the look.
Its said that when you walk through Old Town Fort Collins there’s a sense of familiarity
if you’ve visited Disneyland.
Looking at what’s left today, immediately you can see the similarities in the architecture
and style.
Buildings such as the Firehouse Book Store and the former Linden Hotel among others served
as inspiration for the now iconic Disneyland Main Street.
So whenever you hear someone say Main Street was inspired by Marceline, Missouri this is
only partially true and the real inspiration is from old town Fort Collins in Colorado.
Number 6 At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Kilimanjaro
Safaris offers a great way to get up close with wild animals that aren’t audio animatronics.
Many consider this to be a once in a lifetime experience, and you wanna get to see as many
animals as possible.
There is a myth that the best time to see the animals on the safari is first thing in
the morning and at dusk- this tip can be found all over the internet and in many guide books.
Well according to an observational study done by Disney researchers published in 2014 on
the Disney parks blog they debunked the myth and said that the time of day does not significantly
change the probability of spotting animals.
These observations from Disney were taken since the park opened in 1998.
We’ve personally always thought that the morning is the best time to visit the safari
but after taking rides all throughout the day, you realize that different species are
more active at different times.
Since you’re dealing with live animals and not audio animatronics it also comes down
to a lot of luck.
There’s been times when we’ve been on in the morning and have seen tons of animals
but then other times where there’s not as many.
It’s said that in the afternoons you usually wont see as many animals but there’s been
rides in the afternoon where there’s been more animals than ever.
Every ride, no matter the time of day, is such a unique experience that there were always
animals around, but with this myth here I’m curious to know your thoughts and observations
on the ride.
Leave a comment down below!
Number 5 One popular Walt Disney world secret you may
have heard is that Cinderella has a special horse hidden on Prince Charming’s Regal
Carousel.
This horse with the gold ribbon on its tail is apparently Cinderella’s horse.
But this was just a myth started by Cast Members around the year 2000.
The carousel has 5 rows of horses and the A ring, the outside tier facing the guests,
are the more elaborately decorated horses.
As you move into the B, C, D and E tiers the horses become less elaborate but the horse
that’s claimed to be Cinderella’s horse is in the B tier.
According to Isle Vought, the former artist responsible for restoring and maintaining
the Carousel at Magic Kingdom, she said that if it truly was Cinderella’s horse it would
be on the outside ring and not an inner ring.
Vought’s design intention was never to have this be Cinderella’s Horse.
It would be much more elaborately decorated.
This Tweet in 2016, is the only time Disney themselves have ever awknoledged this as being
Cinderella’s horse, even the new backstory the attraction received in 2010 made no mention
of her horse.
With so many people now citing this myth it’s become an unofficial secret but when you look
into the facts it isn’t even really true.
Number 4 In Critter Country at Disneyland there’s
a little myth about some hidden animal figures on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Before this space was home to the Winnie the Pooh ride the Country Bear Jamboree entertained
guests until September of 2001.
Buff, Max and Melvin from the Country Bear Jamboree are the well known animal busts mounted
on wall and these characters can actually be found in The Many Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh.
As you leave the Hefelump and Woozles scene, take a look behind you and you’ll spot Buff,
Max and Melvin up on the wall.
A lot of people do miss these characters but there’s one common misconception- they actually
aren’t the old animatronics from the Country Bear Jamboree.
The current Winnie the Pooh gift shop used to be home to the Mile Long Bar and in the
Mile Long there were static, non animatronic busts of Buff, Max and Melvin.
These figures from the one were recycled and not the animatronics from the attraction.
If you look at the mouths, you can see there aren’t any joints that would have allowed
them to move.
So the next time you’re on the ride, take a look behind you to spot these long lost
friends.
They still act as a little nod to the extinct attraction but they are in no way audio Animatronics.
Number 3 This next one sort of goes back to the topic
of illusions we spoke about in a previous video.
Now the stretching room at the Haunted Mansion is an iconic part of the attraction.
As the ghost host’s voice moves around the room he asks *insert* Well as you take a look
around the room is clearly stretching, its a convincing illusion and many people seem
to think the effect is achieved by being lowered on an elevator.
This is where the misconception comes into play because depending on the park you go
to, its stretching in a different direction.
The original Haunted Mansion opened at Disneyland in 1969 and the stretching room was designed
out of necessity.
The Disneyland railroad circles around the park and the only way to have room for the
Haunted Mansion was to build the main show building on the other side of the tracks,
but the entrance needed to be built inside the park boundaries.
So Imagineers came up with the idea of building the stretching room that uses an elevator
to lower you below the train tracks underground.
So yes, at Disneyland you are actually being lowered.
When it came time to build the Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, there
was no need for an elevator since there was room for the show building inside the park
boundaries.
Imagineers wanted to keep the stretching room effect so in Florida the floor doesn’t move
at all.
There’s no elevator at Magic Kingdom and instead it’s the ceiling that rises to create
the stretching illusion.
Number 2 A common myth and secret you hear a lot about
the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland is that there’s a basketball court at the top of
the mountain which is partially true.
We say partially because its only one hoop and a backboard with some floor markings,
which you can see here in this rare look from a program Disney produced called Fact or fiction.
So with there being only one hoop calling it a court is kind of a stretch.
So why is there this quote on quote basketball court in the matterhorn, well thats whats
gonna be debunked today.
The long time myth was that Disney built a basketball court in the Matterhorn to get
around a city of Anaheim building code.
It’s said that there was a law that structures could only exceed a certain height if it was
a spots facilities.
Since the Matterhorn stands 147 feet tall the myth is that a basketball court was installed
so they could call the building a sports facility.
This would get them around the law.
Well this isn’t true but the basketball court was the result of an idea from Walt
Disney himself.
The top 3rd of the matterhorn building was empty and Walt Disney thought about what the
strangest thing would be to occupy that space.
He asked matterhorn cast members and they said a basketball court, so Walt delivered.
For many years the area served as a break room for the matterhorn mountain climbers
and to this day that basketball net is still there.
Number 1 Taking a spin in one of the 18 teacups on
the Mad Tea Party at Disneyland is a doozy and there’s been a longtime myth that a
couple of the ride vehicles spin faster than the others.
Its been said that the purple colored teacup along with the Orange Diamond teacup spin
the fastest, and numerous books and tip lists have citied this as being true.
Back in 2004 Disney made the wheel inside the cup that guests manual spin much harder
to move allowing for much less spinning on the ride, but due to guests complaints, Disney
made it easier again to spin but it wasn’t restored to how it originally was.
So maybe prior to 2004 this was true but with that being said, when maintenance went back
to adjust the teacups in late 2004 they were all adjusted to have equivalent speed.
Werner Weis of Yesterdland says that this myth is just a myth and is no longer true,
if it ever actually was true.
Multiple Cast members who’ve worked the Mad Tea Party have stated that this myth is
false and they all spin at the same speed.
We even heard from some Fantasyland Cast Members that said this was something that was never
shared by Disney.
Some were not even aware of the myth but still said they all spin at the same speed.
Usually the more weight you have in a teacup the faster you spin, so cram as many family
members and friends into one teacup and you’ll really, really go for a spin!
So were you aware of any of these myths and secrets?
What’s one thing you’ve heard someone say about the Disney Theme Parks that is completely
false and not true.
I’d love to know!
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if you enjoyed the video.
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