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1. "The night show at Hollywood Studios is called Fantasmic, and it ends with a bunch of characters going by on Steamboat Willie. Then they all go inside and fireworks/sparks stream down the side of the boat. Well, Ariel has a tail and can't walk, so she has to stay outside on her pedestal at the back of the boat. So Prince Eric wraps a fireproof blanket around her before going in. It's dark on that part of the boat when it happens, but if you watch for it you can definitely see it."
"I used to be a [cast member] and we called it 'putting the fish in the bag' lmao."
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2. "I have been stranded on a stopped 'rocket' inside Space Mountain at Disneyland. It took about 15 minutes to get the ride moving again. Anyway, we ended up riding it with the lights on, and it’s a surprisingly slow, tame roller coaster. There are fans blowing air in your face to give it the illusion of speed."
3. "If you forget your name tag, you wear a spare from the mangers' office. Most of the spares say Chris from Orlando, because that's a unisex name."
4. "The reason the Tower of Terror at Disney World is the color it is is because you can see it over the buildings in Morocco in Epcot, and that color best matches the Moroccan area of the World Showcase."
5. "I went on a behind-the-scenes tour (it was super fun, BTW), but behind all the pretty colors, in the backstage area for lack of a better term, everything is painted a patented color they call, and I'm not joking, Go Away Green."
6. "The American flags in certain parts of the park don't actually have 50 stars. They have something like 45, so they don't have to be taken down at night, or have a light shined on them."
7. "Workers go around the park EVERY NIGHT and touch up anything and everything with paint if it was chipped or scratched during the day."
8. "As you pass between [lands] in Disney World, pay attention to your feet. At the edge of each world, the pavement abruptly changes. Walt called them 'sensory tickles.' They're there to startle you and make you look up and look around, realizing that your surroundings have changed."
9. "Main Street is based on 1910 America, while Tomorrowland was designed to represent 1986. Both were chosen because they were Halley's Comet years."
10. "In Disneyland, California there used to be an old attraction called America Sings where animals would sing to an audience. When the ride closed, some of the geese in the attraction were stripped and used in the queue for Star Tours as droids. A lot of others ended up going to Splash Mountain."
11. "Disney built the railroad tracks in Anaheim elevated as a way to block the horizon. This allowed for an immersive experience as to not be able to see outside of the park."
12. "Cast members can get their names on the windows on Main Street if they've worked there long enough. There's a lady that works in the Silhouette Studio on Main Street that only has a few more years to go before she gets a window. You can go in there and ask her, she loves sharing her story."
13. "[Tower of Terror] is the same height as Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom. Both of them are 10 feet taller than the Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom, which is 189 feet. This is because when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, anything 190 feet tall (or taller) had to have a flashing light on the top to warn aircraft, so they just built the castle one foot shorter so as to avoid having to do that. By the time they built Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest, the rule had been changed to 200 feet, so they could build them a little bigger."
14. "The Beatles officially broke up at Disney World. John Lennon signed the contract that legally dissolved the band while he was staying at the Polynesian Resort across from Cinderella’s castle."
15. "Every 'land' in the parks has its own unique soundtrack, and when you transition between lands, the music is a cross between what you hear in both lands so that's it seamlessly transitions. Except between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, as there is no natural way for those soundtracks to blend. So outside of the Tomorrowland Speedway is the only place in any Disney park where there is no music."
The area they're talking about would be between Tomorrowland Speedway, Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
16. "There’s a cast member-only recreation area called Mickey’s Retreat. It has all sorts of recreational activities like basketball courts, baseball diamonds, etc. It also has water sport equipment like paddle boats! It's only for cast members and their immediate family, though."
17. "On the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, the trucks cannot go backward. At one point during the ride, the truck going in reverse is simulated by all of your surroundings being moved away from you. Before the trucks were installed during the ride's construction, a friend of mine (a cast member) got to walk the ride and said everybody, without fail, would fall over during that part on foot."
18. "Wondering how the walls stretch in the Haunted Mansion? In the California version, the Stretching Room is actually an elevator that brings you downstairs into the ride area. But since the Imagineers couldn't make an elevator in Florida, they did the next best thing: Raise the roof!"
19. "All of the woven art, signs, ceilings, etc. in Pandora: The World of Avatar are made from an invasive species of vine that was polluting water ways in tropical parts of the world. Keeping with Animal Kingdom's theme of conservation, the vines were removed and dyed for the decorations, in the process cleaning the water ways and helping remove the invasive species."
20. "Why do the restrooms at Animal Kingdom have doors on them when the other parks don't, you ask? Well if an animal escapes, guests will be instructed to go to the nearest restroom and close and lock the door once full."
21. "There is a cast member-only store at both parks where damaged merchandise, larger size items that used to be in parks and resorts, and retired merchandise go. CMs and their family and friends can buy these items for up to 75% off. One of my favorite household purchases is an end table that came from one of these locations known as Property Control."
22. "There's a Subway sandwich shop in every park (but just for cast), and I honestly thought that was the coolest thing ever."
23. Finally, "One year, while putting away the Halloween decorations and putting up the Christmas decorations, they accidentally left a black cat decoration behind. Since then, every year when they decorate for Christmas, they hide the black cat somewhere in the park amongst the Christmas lights...this is in Hollywood Studios."
Were you a cast member? Do you have any excellent Disney fun facts? I want to hear them! Tell me in the comments below.
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