Unless you were a child before the mid-30s, chances are you grew up under the influence of a company co-founded by one Walter “Walt” Disney. The empire started by this visionary cartoonist has flourished and expanded beyond “Steamboat Willie” into all forms of media from film to radio. And almost everyone knows the phrase uttered by winners around the world “I’m going to Disneyland.” Disneyland is just one of 11 theme parks all over the world, which continually rake in cash for this media empire that’s easily as well known as other world renowned brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.
With an empire that big, there are bound to be some interesting, some notable and sometimes bizarre facts about the company. There are truly way too many ways to list all the “magic” found throughout the empire, but these 10 are just a few of the most interesting ones.
10. Hidden Ears
Whether you’re at Disneyland or any of the other theme parks, everywhere you look there are Mickey Mouse Ears. And no, not the merchandise ears. From the shape of the pizza to the hedges to the ears hidden in the tiles, Mickey’s iconic ears are everywhere thanks to Walt’s desire to add to the magic of the kingdom.
9. The first soundtrack
Long before “Saturday Night Fever” was the big hit of the 70s, an animated feature about a wooden puppet and its maker yielded the first soundtrack for sale to the general public. Since the start with “Steamboat Willie” and its use of music, Disney projects have made music an integral part of the process. So soundtracks, and consequently making money off of them, were only a natural extension.
8. Oscars
By the 2008 Academy Awards, Walt Disney’s company had been nominated for more than 200 Oscars with more than 50 wins just in films under the Disney logo. Of those films, there are 51 nominations for animated features with 14 wins. With Pixar under the Ears, that amount close to doubles with 13 Oscar wins for Pixar. Disney will likely continue to tack on more wins since it has distributed all of the major film releases for Pixar and bought the company two years ago.
As for dear old Walt, he holds the record for most Oscars with 22 in regular categories and four honorary out of his 59 nominations.
7. Facial hair
Back in the 60s, long hair and facial hair was considered to be a sign of hippies, which the empire could not afford to be associated with. Hence a policy was born requiring all male employees to have short hair and no facial hair at the theme parks. It took until 2000 for the theme parks to renege on the policy. Now male employees are allowed to have neatly trimmed moustaches.
6. DDD
Talk about keeping quiet. Disney employees are expressly prohibited from dating other Disney employees – hence Don’t Date Disney. A former employee of Disneyland let the cat out of the bag on that policy years ago when he tattled to “LA Magazine” about his time as Jack Sparrow. Unfortunately, someone took a photo of him and his then girlfriend, an Ariel, and showed it to the higher ups, who were displeased. However, it was going to the premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” doing an interview in costume, giving his full name, and the interview being posted online that got his Ears taken away.
At the same time, park employees are discouraged from trying to “excite” members of the opposite sex and to ignore any flirtation from guests. Tough luck, Jack, no lasses or goatee for you!
5. Rigid control of trademarks
Years ago, Disney promised that the corporation would sue three daycare centers in Florida for having five-foot tall painted depictions of Disney characters. The characters were replaced, but that is just one example of how Disney holds its trademarks close to the chest. In another case, a Florida couple was sued for a cool million when they advertised Eeyore, Tigger and Pooh outfits that they had available for parties. The couple sent the costumes back to the Peru ebay seller, which prompted Disney to say the couple acted in bad faith. No honey for you!
4. The Vault
Included in that rigid control of their trademarks is the vaunted Disney Vault. Disney started theatrically re-releasing movies seven years after they were originally released after “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Since then, the home movie craze hit and with the advent of DVDs, the Vault is only reopened once every 10 years. Supposedly this is a ploy to get new generations of children interested in the movies. Or like any business, it could just be a way to make more money.
3. It’s a big, big Walt Disney World
Located entirely within its own improvement district – the Reedy Creek Improvement District of Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – Walt Disney World with its main attractions and resorts is twice the size of Manhattan. Every day, the guests of the resorts use an amount of linens that would take a normal person 40 years to clean. Supposedly the landscaping crew puts over a half a million miles on the mowers covering the 47 miles of WDW throughout the year. In the last seven years, a water saving effort has taken place at the theme parks, which has meant a savings of about 2.5 billion gallons of water. Who said it was a “small, small world?”
2. Fatal Rides
There have been about a dozen deaths in Disneyland California since the park opened in 1955 while there have been at least as many at Disney World and at least one at the Paris Disneyland. Some of these fatalities were due to adverse reactions from the guests, but many of the deaths were the fault of the guests who were not heeding directions. When they say don’t stand up in a roller coaster, there’s a reason.
1. Walt’s Apartment
Because Walt wanted to ensure that everything would be as magical as possible when Disneyland was being built in the early 50s, he had an apartment built in the theme park, which was an hour from where he lived in California. Employees would know when he was in the apartment, above the fire station on Main Street USA, when the light was on in the window at night. To this day, more than 45 years after his death, a light is left on in the window in his memory and supposedly the room has been left untouched since he passed away. Perhaps Mickey’s Ears are not the only things you could ever see at Disneyland.
22 Comments
Wow, interesting facts! lol I swear I read an article where two lovebirds met while working at Disney, so how does Don’t Date Disney apply? lol
Number four is another reason why people porate stuff.
What was your source for #9? I’ve been looking everywhere for something to verify that fact so I can use it in a project and this is the only site that says it was Pinocchio. Another site says Snow White, while a ton say it wasn’t even Disney at all. Everyone has a different answer to who released the first soundtrack. AGGRAVATING! lol
I’m a former castmember. I worked for what was then called the DRC, or Disney Reservation Center (a call center.) We went through an 8 week training period, part of which was about Disney History. According to the company, the policy of only trimmed mustaches has been around since the early days of the animation studio in California, because Walt got tired of seeing little hairs and bits of beard dander showing up in his animation dailies, and the policy that was initially for the animators only was eventually adopted by the whole company. The only way you can have a beard at Disney is if your religion requires it or you have a note from the Dr saying shaving every day irritates your skin.
As with some of the other commenters, as a former cast member at Disney World I can assure you that not only are cast members allowed to date/marry other cast members, but many of them do – it’s extremely common for cast members to find The One at the most magical place on earth! Many of the other cast members at the Attraction I operated were dating and several were married.
I have been to both Disney’s but the 1 in florida many time, I think back in the 80’s there use to be
a surger cone i think the name was Hamwich, not to sure now, if that was it. what ever happen to it.
it was good eating. I only remember seeing it for 1 year only.
Just wondering.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Tim
Well, since others mentioned it, so will I-our school band went to Disneyland to play, and they brought the choir along-of which I was a part. The band director had formerly been the leader of the Disneyland band, so he had some ins there. We sang at Carnation Square, Christmas songs. It was a weird day! But fun.
Number 6 is incorrect. In my time working at Disneyland I never came across that rule. In fact i met my wife when we both worked at Disneyland. I know countless others who met their spouses working at the park. This isn't just limited to the hourly employees either. While working there i had and knew managers that were married to each other. Even some that were just dating.
A friend of mine once told me that there is some kind of secret night club in Disneyland/world with something like a three- or five-year waiting list. I was so blown away by the idea, I almost missed my exit on the freeway.
It's called Club 33.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.collecting.pin…
quotes from his posts:
The fancy restaurant shots are inside the ultra-posh
and expensive "Club 33" which consumes most of the second floor of the New
Orleans Square area.. a membership-only private Club which Disney built in
the mid-1960s to entertain VIPs and corporate guests and sponsors, but
which is open to anyone who wants to pay the incredibly steep yearly dues..
I am not a member, just a friend of one who can get me in. Buffet lunch is
about $45.00 a head. Dinner.. I don't even want to guess 🙂
However, someone else made a good point and one that has always festered in
my mind.. considering what a membership to Club 33 costs.. the meals really
should be comped (free).. at least the food. I could understand them
charging for booze, but paying $2500.00 a year dues (plus a huge initiation
fee, after waiting years to reach the top of the invitation to join list)
and then paying for the food on top of that seems.. well, beyond excessive.
Sure, a member gets free admission to the park, 365 days, but any Joe
Schmoo can get that for $200.00 a year with the fanciest Annual Pass. But
what Joe Schmoo can't do is call down to Guest Services and reserve 10 or
12 free park admissions in one shot for his friends, which a Club 33 member
can do, apparently as often as they wish, but with about a month's lead
time.
I was only in Club 33 once.. in the early 1980s. The table was
reserved (by the host company of whom I was a customer) in my name,
and there were real matchbooks on the table with my last name stamped
in gold leaf on the covers. Like an idiot, I used all the matches in
them but kept the empty covers :/
Club 33 was related to the Masonic Lodge, 33 being the highest degree in the Scottish Lodge. Interestingly, Walt is buried at plot # 33 at the cemetery he was laid to rest. While the info is hard to find, I suspect Walt was a good Mason.
The plot #33, in relation to Club 33, I’m sure would be significant, had he been buried. But he wasn’t. Walt Disney’s body was cremated and his ashes interred at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA in ’66.
Actually, just recently there was a death of a College Program participant when there was a monorail crash.
9_9 Sarah, try checking your facts. While they may or may not have a policy that says NOT to, people HAVE been declared dead on the property.
http://snopes.com/disney/parks/declare.asp
Just an interesting fact:
For a psychology course in college we discussed the atmosphere of different large corporations. The main one was Disney.
Technically, no one has ever died at Disney World. Yes, several people have been completely crushed, or decapitated, or what have you. But, no one is ever pronounced dead until they are outside the park.
Other wise it might spoil the magic.
sounds like auto racing. noone ever dies at the track, even if the car ‘spodes into a bazillion tiny bits in a roaring ball of fire. they are called at the hospital.
I never noticed the window above the firehouse when I went to Disneyland a few years back.
If I ever return, I'll have to check for that :
And since someone mentioned band in Disney…
I went with my high school's marching band to Hong Kong back in March, and we went to HKD.
A much smaller park, but still fun.
its not that youre not allowed to date disney, you just shouldnt. the reason that cm got fired was because the picture was taken and put on the internet.
we are allowed to date other cast members of our level. mangers with managers cms with cms
When I worked there, we were encouraged to date and marry other cast members – they did want to keep it in the family. With characters – face characters especially, I could see the problem. But they did ask us not to marry within our departments. Or if we did, someone would get transferred.
Re #6: When I was in high school, our marching band performed at Disneyland. While talking backstage with an employee (can't remember what character she was), someone mentioned that it must be like one big happy family there. Her reply? "Well…one big incestuous family."
"A policy was born requiring all male employees to have short hair and no facial hair at the theme parks. It took until 2000 for the theme parks to renege on the policy. Now male employees are allowed to have neatly trimmed moustaches."
Hmm.. interesting philosophy. They don't let people have long hair, but they'll allow someone to have a Hitler mustache.
A few people have questioned the picture with the hidden ears. The smaller wheels are the ears and the larger wheel is Mickey's head.