Kate • Disney Cicerone

A drinking fountain in that location in Disneyland seems so odd to us now, but that was mainly what occupied that spot for many years on Main Street 😂 Some points of clarification: The “golden spike” isn’t actually golden, it is made out of brass and the hole in the top is for survey equipment. It’s been a rumor for years that it’s the do you have a graphical center of Disneyland, but it’s not and was never meant to be. The other one on Main Street was removed when they redid the trolley track down the center of the street and added the brick work. Disney had just four swans when the park opened, two white ones purchased for $550 and two black ones purchased for $750. They were removed around the early 2000s likely because of the pyrotechnics on the castle and also because they kept getting sick from eating pennies guests threw in the water. The spot with the Goofy yodel on Alice in Wonderland used to be the end of the attraction in the original 1958 iteration before they added the additional ending in the 1983 remodel. That scene had a cake, exploding after the tea party, and you’d burst through a series of smaller and smaller doors, so that’s why it looks like you get knocked out. Claude coats just wanted to make people smile and that’s the only reason that that sound effect is there. I love that they kept the sound effect it even though the ride changed significantly in the remodel. (I also wish the door had been operating normally while I was there but alas it was broken every time 🙈) If you want more in-depth information about Alice, Big Thunder, or the Skyway, we’ve covered all these topics on our Distory with Kate & Kirk P0dcast 🎙️ #disney#disneyy#disneylandy#disneysecretsy#disneyhistoryy#disneytriviay#disneyfactsy#disneyfunfactsy#disneylandcaliforniay#disneylandresorty#disneyparksy#disneyfuny#disneynerdy#disneyfansy#disneyfand#retrodisneyg#vintagedisneyy#disneyridess#fantasylandt#mainstreeti#frontierlandu#bigthunderi#aliceinwonderlandy#disneytiktoky#disneytok

This is why I stare at that Fantasyland lamp and accidentally creep out the cast member who stands there everytime 🙈 Something I heard over and over again this week at Disneyland (where I got to meet so many of you!) was how you appreciated learning about these things and then being able to go and find them yourself in the parks. Most of these details I’ve already explained previously, but I thought it would be fun to put them all together 😊 The first three clips (not included in the count) were: - A door to a former store in Frontierland - A crane designed by Pat Burke that was put in every version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - A (likely unintentional) nod to Nipper, the RCA dog who used to appear in a UFO in the Magic Kingdom‘s Space Mountain queue, and is now in the form of a robot dog at its exit A few other notes: Emile Kuri was gifted the hitching post because of his set design work on the movie The Heiress, which was set in an 1840s house. He did such a good job paying respect to the property that the owner gifted him the post, and the main street ones are modeled after that hitching post. #disn#disneylandn#disneyn#disneyparksn#disneysecretsn#disneytrivian#disneylandparkn#disneyfactsn#disneyfunfactsr#weirddisneyr#retrodisneyt#vintagedisneyt#vintagedisneyland0#1950sn#frontierlandn#hauntedmansiont#fantasylando#neworleanssquareg#imagineeringg#imagineersn#disneynerdn#disneyhistoryn#disneynerdst#distoryc#obscuredisneyn#disneytokn#disneytiktokn#disneylandscavengerhunt

I mean… he’s not wrong 😂 it did save the studio money. They did the same thing five years later with Peggy Lee and the twin cats in Lady & the Tramp. Happy 75th anniversary to one of the BEST animated feature films Disney has ever produced, made fantastically beautiful by the influence of Mary Blair. Walt Disney insisted on having “More Mary” in the film, which a lot of the male animators resented. But because Marc Davis advocated for Mary, many of the scenes we see now in Cinderella are directly inspired by her art (and that’s why I included so much of it here). As for this story about the bubbles, it came from an interview with Ilene Woods. Here is the full account: “We had finished recording ‘Sing Sweet Nightingale’ and Walt came in at the end of the day. He’d always listen to our recordings with his head down, resting in his hands. This particular time he looked up at me and asked, ‘Ilene, can you sing harmony with yourself? I envision Cinderella scrubbing the floor and a soap bubble rise and I hear a second part harmony begin. Then I see another so rise and hear a third part harmony kick in and so on and so on until we’ve got about an eight part harmony going.’ So he had me sing the song and then record the second part harmony and so on. They mixed all the parts together and it was such a beautiful animation sequence because each time the bubble would rise, so would another voice and it blended so well because it was all the same voice. When I heard the finished product, Walt said, ‘how about that all these years i’ve been paying three salaries for the Andrew sisters, when I could have paid only one for you!’” ##cinderella##cinderella75thanniversary##cinderellamovie##waltdisneystudios##disneyanimation##waltdisney##walt##ilenewoods##disneyparks##disney##disneymovies##disneymovie##disneyfilm##disneysecrets##disneyhistory##wdw##disneyworld##waltdisneyworld##disneytrivia##disneyfacts##movies##disneynerd##waltdisneyanimationstudios##disneyprincess##disneyfan##disneyfans##disneytiktok##disneytok##animationhistory##disneymusic##disneysongs

It’s surprising how much of a difference it makes in making them appear lifelike. You can see an example of what it was supposed to look like in that one clip with the woman chasing the man from earlier in 1967 👀 which was before Alice took these notes on August 26th of the same year. The chase scene & the auction with the redhead were both significantly changed in 2018. But the characters are still running around in circles, even if the storyline of who is chasing who/what is different now. Alice emphasized that this was a huge error to not have this effect working in her notes, saying, “There were a number of figures not animating. Other figures animated, but less than 50% of planned animation. These figures I shall not list, because I know reports are sent to WED what is and isn’t working. I am most interested in curious why the animated bosoms, in the chase scene have never been placed on the check sheet as not animating. I understand, after checking with many people, the bosoms haven’t been animating for weeks!” Alice really was looking out for the good of the show, however, and noted at the end of her report, “The show is a wonderful show. I know the upkeep isn’t easy. The public will come to see the show as long as it runs and looks well, and love it!” #piratesofthecaribbean #disney #disneyland #pirates #potc #alicedavis #disney #disneyparks #imagineering #wdi #waltdisneyimagineering #imagineers #retrodisney #vintagedisney #disneylandpark#disneyhistory #disneylandresort #wdw #magickingdom #disneysecrets #disneyfacts #disneytrivia #disneyfan #neworleanssquare #1960s #disneynostalgia #disneytiktok #disneytok #distory #disneynerd #disneyworld #costumes #themeparkdesign #audioanimatronics #pirateslifeforme

Honestly, it makes so much sense though. They had to do what they could to make Snow White easier to animate, since they were going for more realistic features and movement vs “rubber hose” animation that was common in the 20s and 30s. There’s also evidence that her collar being so large was partially to hide the issues they had with her neck not looking right. If the collar hid a good portion of it, then it was very forgiving as she moved about. Grim Natwick said that they moved her waist up and moved her neckline and “tried to overcome difficulties by making a braceless outer collar.” Disney’s animators managed to get Snow White looking believable as a human, but the prince was another story. No one wanted the job of animating him, because no matter what they did, he still looked too feminine and awkward. 🙈 They cut many of the scenes he was in because of this difficulty, which is why he doesn’t show up much in the 1937 animated film. He also had an error where he “shimmied” in the final scene where he awakes Snow White. Walt Disney hated it and wanted to go fix it, but when his brother Roy learned how much it would cost to fix just that scene, he refused and said, “Let the Prince shimmy.” And so he did, for years. It’s since been digitally repaired, so the shimmy isn’t as obvious, but there is still quite a lot of instability of his character in that particular scene. All of these stories came from interviews with the original artists and performers who worked on the film back in the 1930s, including Grim Natwick, Joe Grant, Adriana Caselotti and Ward Kimball. #snowwhitemovie #snowwhite #disneyssnowwhite #disneysnowwhite #disney #disneystudios #waltdisneyanimationstudios #disneyparks #disneyland #disneylandcalifornia#disneylandparis #snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs #animationhistory #disneyhistory #disneyfilms #disneyanimation #disneyanimators #disneysecrets #disneycharacters #disneyfacts #disneytrivia #disneymovies #disneyfan #disneyfans #disneynerds #disneytiktok #disneytok #weirdhistoricalfacts #disneylandvideos

That Mowgli costume though 😳 When Disney decided they wanted to design their own costumes instead of renting the Ice Capades ones (which had leased the rights to the characters for the show), some of the characters were a challenge. As Imagineer John Hench put it, “It is actually astonishing that Mickey held his identity. Making him a real, live character represented a violent shift that violated the head-to-body proportions [of the 2-D character]. They also didn’t have any standardization of the performers at that point in time, so sometimes Mickey was 6 feet tall, with their human limbs more than evident. In 1961, Bill Justice and John Hench helped redesign the characters to make them all more realistic and proportionate at the request of Walters Disney. They also made the costumes more durable, as guests didn’t always go easy on the characters. As Billy Justice put it, “Everything had to be re-designed to more accurately represent the characters and stand up to the rigors of every day use among the guests." I think it’s interesting that not only did no one think to make these costumes before opening day, but that they didn’t even think they would have the characters long-term. But it was quickly evident that the characters needed to have a presence in Disneyland, as they were the living embodiment of the movies that the public loved so much. As Bill Justice said, "Walt told me 'Other places can have thrill rides and bands and trains. Only we have our characters.'” #disney #disneyland #disneycharacters #creepy #mickeymouse #minniemouse #mickey #disneyparks #disneyworld #disneynerd #weirddisney #retrodisney #vintagedisney #disneynostalgia #disneycostumes #disneyhistory #disneylandcalifornia #disneylandresort #disneysecrets #disneytrivia #disneyfacts #obscuredisney #1960s #1950s #disneytok #disneytiktok

Bored at work games are the best games 😂 Storybookland Canal Boat cast member Sheryl Fisher said she was mortified that this happened to her. She said she was sorry and promised to be more considerate. The exchange only lasted a few minutes and was never mentioned again by anyone afterward, but she was worried that her character had been called a question and that she’d earned the “undying distain of Walt Disney, the most important man alive.” Luckily, later she ran into Walt Disney on the pirate ship in fantasyland when she was getting lunch one day and he didn’t seem to remember her at all. She was breathed huge sigh of relief that she wasn’t remembered forever for her taffy shenanigans. Here’s more of Sheryl’s account: “This engineer’s timing was really quite remarkable – slowing the train until just the right moment then successfully targeting the apron of the boat operator seated at the stern. Occasionally, an off-course piece of candy flew into the canal, but to my knowledge, none ever fell into the seating area.” Thank you to Yesterland for preserving this story back in an interview in 2002, and thank you also to all of the amazing Fantasyland CMs that make our Disney days so magical! If I could, I’d give each of you a whole bag of taffy 🍬🥰 - #disneyland #disney #disneyparks #disneystories #disneyfacts #storybooklandcanalboats #fantasyland #disneylandcalifornia #disneylandpark #disneysecrets #disneyfacts #disneyfun #castmember #castmembers #retrodisney #vintagedisney #caseyjr #caseyjrcircustrain #disneyfan #disneyfans #disneynerd #disneyhistory #disneytiktok #disneytok #disneyride #disneyrides #workgames #coworkers

This is one of my BIGGEST Disney history pet peeves, because this myth just won’t go away no matter how completely wrong it is 😭 Please, I beg of you, help me stop the spread of this false info to all the Disney fans you know🙏 I love the Queen of Hearts, but she’s not THAT hot 😂 This wasn’t the only myth we busted in our latest episode of Distory with Kate & Kirk 🎧 Doing a deep dive of the layout of Mr. Toad’s Wild ride has not only given us more context of how this ride changed in the 1983 remodel, but also helped debunk some of the other misconceptions about how Imagineering used the limited space of Disneyland in creative ways. #disneyland #disney #alice #aliceinwonderland #disneyrides #disneyparks #disneylandcalifornia #disneyattractions #disneysecrets #disneyhistory #vintagedisney #disneytrivia #disneyfacts #mrtoad #mrtoadswildride #mythbusters #disneynerd #disneyfan #disneyfans #fantasyland #disneytok #disneytiktok

Thank you Imagineering for finally fixing that Marc Davis scene in Disneyland 👏👏👏 It has been working correctiy in the WDW version for a while, but the trumpet was aimed at the floor for a good long time in the Disneyland version until recently 😂 Marc even admitted this scene never worked quite as well as he’d hoped (he was similarly disappointed with the meager flames coming out of the jug of rum near the end of Pirates 🔥). The Ghostess or Ghost Hostess was never called “little Leota” in Disneyland as some like to nickname her. She sometimes was called“female figure with blowing clothes” or Small Girl, but the only time she was “officially” called Little Leota was in WDW’s blueprints and intrusion alert board. Phantom Manor also calls her Petite Leota, but Disneyland never had that label for her anywhere. The Ghost Hostess does look more like a bride now than when she first appeared. Her original role was to look similar to a female mortuary attendant from the movie the Love One, which is why she is talking about death certificates instead of bridal things 😂 Rolly Crump designed the hand sconces (no surprise there). Also note: There were many more changing portraits that never got used, including one featuring rotting fruit and one with withering flowers. You see six slides for the dust bowl concept here because most of these changing portraits had six different slides when they were first created so they could fade one into the other rather than using the lightning effect (like April-December in the queue). Shout out to Long Forgotten HM for a few of the discoveries in this post, thank you for your work preserving the history of the HM 🙌 #hauntedmansion #disneyland #imagineering #marcdavis #disneysecrets #disneyhistory #disneyparks #disney #disneylandpark #hm #disneylore #disneylandhauntedmansion #disneytrivia #disneyfacts #disneylandresort #disneyrides #disneyattractions #disneyfan #disneyfans #disneyfunfacts #disneytok #disneytiktok #disneyconceptart #vintagedisney

It’s possible that there was a version of that devil in Disneyland’s 1955 Mr. Toad, as photos/footage of that scene are extremely hard to come by. But from everything I’ve seen, they only used Bruce Bushman’s “Jaws of Hell” concept for that version and didn’t use many of his other ideas for that finale. The only figures I’ve seen in the 1955 version are the little wiggly cow devils. The big green coughing dragon and the pan-styled judge didn’t appear until the 1983 version. The Tree of Life wasn’t the only ideas pulled from Equatorial Africa for Animal Kingdom. Many of the structures you see in the Africa area today have nods back to that original concept art. So while it’s sad that pavilion never made it into Epcot’s World Showcase, we eventually got what I would consider to be a much grander version in Animal Kingdom. Still would have been interesting to go up in that treehouse and look down on animals in a watering hole, though. As for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, there was another Mickey ride they considered making even before Mickey’s Magical Studio Tour in the 80s. When the Imagineers were developing an area of Fantasyland called Dumbo Circus Land, they were going to make a roller coaster through 1930s era black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons in a dark environment (kind of like space Mountain). That project was canceled, but they resurrected the idea of a Mickey Mouse ride for the Entertainment Pavilion that was going to be in Epcot. When that pavilion grew too big of an idea for Epcot, it became MGM Studios (what we know today as Hollywood Studios) and that’s when Mickey‘s Magical Studio Tour came about. I absolutely love when the Imagineers do their research into the history of unrealized attractions and recycle them into current concepts. MMRR to me feels like the perfect blend of honoring the old while integrating new technology… truly a delightful little ride 🥰 #disneyworld #disneyland #epcot #animalkingdom #disneylandpark #toontown #hollywoodstudios #disneyparks #wdw #waltdisneyworld #imagineering #disneysecrets #disneytrivia #disneyfacts #disneyfan #disneyrides #winniethepooh #mrtoadswildride #treeoflife #worldshowcase #disneyattractions#disneyconceptart #mickeyandminniesrunawayrailway #mmrr #disneytiktok #disneytok #HistoryTime #tiktoklearningcampaign

We also know it’s not just a dark corner because the tapestry in the load area shows Mr. Toad busting out of prison 👀 The railroad tunnel sign actually changed from the 1955 version, which said “RR Tunnel No. 13,” and now it says “Danger - do not enter” but it goes by so quickly and it’s so dark, it’s really hard to see. Just to clarify… there weren’t actually feral hogs in the sewers in the mid 1800s, it was just a urban legend perpetuated by the “toshers” (sewer hunters looking for scrap metal and valuables). As the story goes a pregnant sow had entered the sewer near Hampstead and then raised her offspring in the pipes below London, feeding on the “offal and garbage.”🐖 The two estate sale signs in London Square are located on the walls outside of Winky’s pub and on the buildings just before the law court (it’s tough to get great footage of them because that scene flies by so fast). We go into MUCH more detail about this attraction in our multi-episode Mr. Toad series in our p0dcast called Distory with Kate & Kirk! 🎙️ #disn#disneyo#mrtoado#mrtoadswildriden#disneyparksn#disneylandn#disneylandparkn#disneyridesn#disneyattractionsg#imagineeringg#imagineersn#disneylandcalifornian#disneyfann#disneyfansn#disneysecretsn#disneyfactsn#disneytrivian#disneyfunt#vintagedisneyn#disneytokn#disneytiktokn#disneynerdt#distorysn#disneylandsecretst#fantasyland

There’s a reason we feel the way we do when we walk into Disneyland 🥹 Disneyland was not only made to be a place of reassurance and fun for all ages, but, knowing this, I think it’s safe to say that it’s also a place of healing. Walt Disney was betrayed by many many people over the years, and while we could debate the pros and cons of the strike, there’s no doubt that Walt felt utterly betrayed by many people that he trusted in those five weeks in 1941. The animators at Disney studios had the best pay and working conditions in the industry when they chose to strike, their grievances mostly about pay inequality between animators, working hours, and resentment over lack of screen credit. Joe Grant said that he thought Walt was a fair man that would have done most of the stuff the strikers were fighting for, but that they never gave Walt a chance. They never brought their demands (outside of the threat of unionizing) to him first before they went on strike so they could be discussed in a civil manner. Walt gave a speech to all the employees the day before the strike that essentially explained that those that work hard and contribute the most get the most benefits, a speech that was obviously not well received. Regardless of the politics of it, numerous accounts of people close to Walt expressed that he felt betrayed by many of the animators who chose to strike, as he’d thought of them as close friends. Some who went on strike said they later regretted it only because of how it changed Walt and the entire culture of the studio. It makes sense that not long after this time he started dreaming of a small park, something to take his mind off of what happened and give him a new creative space to heal and process without the shadow of what happened. Disneyland was, at its beginning, a place of healing, and I believe it remains so today. 💜 #disneyland #disneylandpark #disneyparks #disney #disneystrike #disneystudios #waltdisneystudios #waltdisney #disneylandcalifornia #disneysecrets #disneytrivia #disneyfans #disneyfan #disney #disneynerd #disneyanimation #joegrant #disneylandconstruction #disneyhistory #disneylandhistory #healing #betrayal #disneytiktok #disneytok #retrodisney #vintagedisney

Other rejected Doom Buggy names: Ghost Mobile, Ghost Coach, Phantom Mobile, Banshee Buggy, and Ghostly Host mobile. The Imagineers went with Doom Buggy because surfing culture was huge in the 1960s and they thought it would be popular with the youths 👻 One story I didn’t have time to tell was how the aluminum they used for the Moonliner didn’t work well with the wooden super structure inside. As the wood expanded and contracted during the heat of day, it created a series of loud bangs that often startled guests 😂 because Kaiser aluminum was a sponsor, they wanted Disney to use aluminum wherever possible. That’s also how aluminum bumpers got added to the Autopia cars, although they didn’t work well because it was such a soft metal. There’s also more to the Indiana Jones buckets… The film’s production crew visited that attraction to study the mining equipment props and get inspiration for the movie. They assumed Disney had done their homework (which they had… mostly). When they told Tony Baxter later, “we especially loved those buckets that you used in the mineshaft,”Tony Baxter admitted that that wasn’t authentic mining equipment at all, he had actually just gotten the idea from the water bucket conveyor belt over on the Swiss Family treehouse in Adventureland. #disneyland #disneyhistory #disneyparks #disney #disneysecrets #disneyscavengerhunt #disneylandcalifornia #disneytrivia #disneyfacts #disneylandpark #disneyfans #disneyfan #disneynerd #hauntedmansion #fantasyland #retrodisney #disneyconceptart #imagineering #frontierland #disneytok #disneytiktok

Do you think they made the right decision? It’s fascinating to see how little boundaries guests had in those early years of the park, but it makes sense if you consider Walt’s inspiration for Disneyland of Denmark’s Tivoli Gardens. People there treat the grass like a picnic area and while there are some fences, in general the landscaping seems to be relatively left alone by the public. The idea that Disneyland would be partially a recreational park is likely what kept them from fencing it in for the first few decades. The iconic green fences were finally added in the early 1970s (after Walt passed) at Disneyland to keep guests out of the landscaping (and often for safety purposes as well). Fences (boundaries) keep us safe, but can also keep out good things/people if we aren’t careful how we build them. The balance for how high and what kind of fence to construct… these are still questions I wrestle with myself, and I don’t know if there are any easy answers. #disneyland #disneylandhistory #disney #disneyparks #disneylandresort #disneyvintage #disneyretro #disneynostalgia #fences #boundaries #relationships #waltdisney #disneyhistory #disneyfacts #disneysecrets #disneytrivia #disneyfan #disneyfans #healing #imagineering #disneytiktok #disneytok