updated  May 2, 2001

Behind The Scenes at Walt Disney World - Innovations in Action

My wife and I took this tour on May 24, 1996. It was a special tour arranged for CES (Consumer Electronics Show) attendees.

Cost: $71 per person (must be 16 or older)

Time: 9:00am - 1:00pm

Their Description: An exclusive, private tour has been arranged for you to see Walt Disney World as you've never seen it before. Showcased are the innovations and technologies in use across the 43 square miles of property and attractions. You will travel to a variety of backstage locations for a view under the Magic Kingdom Park: costuming, wardrobe, tunnel system, nursery and tree farm, treatment facilities and service areas.

Our Comments:

Waste Water Treatment Facility

Sludge Treatment and Drying - The sludge from the water treatment facility is dried and used on the grounds for fertilizer. The reclaimed water is used for watering grass and plants. The water valves are labeled "Reclaimed Water - Do No Drink" for safety.

Fire Department

Fireworks Launching Area

Flower and Tree Nursery

We spent quite a bit of time at the nursery. We got to walk around the topiary area where they grow and shape all of the topiary for the parks. It takes about 7-8 years to grow a character and it only lasts about 1 year. We also saw a demonstration of topiary pruning and shaping.

Our bus drove past the Monorail Repair and Storage Station where the monorails go when they are not being used.

Parade Storage

Our bus took us to the parade storage area behind Splash Mountain. The back of Splash Mountain had many doors to the different sections of the ride. They were labeled "Access To Scene 24", for example.

We saw where the Mickey Mania, Spectromagic and Electric Water Parade are kept. We were allowed to walk through the parade pieces but were not allowed to take any photos. The Spectromagic floats are made of mesh (so the driver can see out) and are covered with small Christmas lights that are controlled by computer. There is also a small fan to cool off the driver. We were allowed to look inside of the Sea Witch float from The Little Mermaid.

Tunnel System (Utilidor)

The Utilidor is not called "The Tunnels" because it is not actually underground. Since the water table is very high in Florida it would be very expensive to keep tunnels dry. Disney built this system of utility corridors at ground level and then covered them with dirt, making a new ground level one floor higher. The Magic Kingdom is built on top of this. Therefore, Main Street USA is actually on the second floor.

The Utilidors make a circle around the park connecting all of the Lands. There is also one under Main Street USA connecting the entrance to Cinderella's Castle. Our bus drove in behind Tony's Town Square Restaurant and the Main Street Cinema. We entered at park level and went down the stairs into the Utilidors. We walked under Main Street USA towards Cinderella's Castle.

All of the utilities are in the Utilidors. There is water, electricity, fiber optics and the Vacuum Trash System. The trash system uses pipes about two feet in diameter to suck the trash to a central collection point. Another unusual device in the Utilidors is one that supplies various odors to different parts of the park. There is one under the bakery that releases chocolate cookie smell into Main Street. They wanted to use real cookie smell but there was no way to produce enough of it. These odor producers are also used in many other places for the smell of smoke, orange groves, etc.

The Utilidor has various Cast Member services like a Credit Union, a 2-Hour Film Developer, cafeterias, lockers, etc.

Costuming and wardrobe is also located down here. We saw many characters in various stages of dress (Pooh, Goofy, etc.).

The walls of the Utilidors are color coded as to which land they are under. There are also many maps and directional signs to help lost Cast Members.

We went up a flight of stairs and out a door and we were in the Magic Kingdom at Cinderella's Castle! The rest of the tour was conducted during the walk back down Main Street USA. We walked down a side street by the Main Street Bake Shop and ended up a large green double door. We walked through the doors and we were back in the parking lot where our bus was parked.

Misc. Park Secrets :

Our guide explained that since most Americans are right handed that they tend to move to the right and look to the right. As you enter the Magic Kingdom you find stroller rental, places to eat breakfast, places to buy supplies (film, suntan lotion, etc.) on your right. As you walk down main Street on your way out you will find the souvenir shops on your right.

He also suggested that you could avoid some crowds in the morning if you start in Adventureland or Frontierland (on the left) instead of Tomorrowland (on the right). My Disney World guide book says this also. This also works in restaurants where there are many queues formed at the various check out lines. Most people will tend to fill up the right hand lanes. GO LEFT!

To draw people into the park they placed Cinderella's Castle at the far end of Main Street USA. To help people find their way back out at night they make the lights brighter near the Train Station at the exit.

The buildings along Main Street USA look like three story buildings but they are only two stories tall. They use a technique called Forced Perspective to create the illusion.

We were at Disney World during a hurricane and one of the Cast Members told us that they can drop Cinderella's Castle in ten minutes if a storm is coming. I asked our tour guide if that was true and he said no. He said that once about 5 years ago they took the spires down for repair. It took several hours to get the cranes setup to remove the spires. They would never have enough warning to dismantle any part of the castle before a storm. He also mentioned that Disney World is far enough inland that the storms have usually weakened considerably.

Each spire of the castle has four antennas. These antennas broadcast the music synchronization signals for the parades.
There is a camera hidden high on the castle. It can see all around the park. It is near the window of the room that was to be Walt's private office. Walt of course died before he could use it.

The MGM water tower is not real. It does not contain any water.

Misc. Park Details:

Our guide said that each year 19,000 cars are locked with their keys in them and 1,500 of them have their engines still running!

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