Some random trivia/observations:
- All vendors in WDW only do card or magic band transactions, otherwise they need to keep a cash float … too much hassle.
- Thanks to Teddy Roosevelt, the residence of the US president, is called the “White House” and not the Executive Residence … to him it was just a house, a white house.
- 600 horticulturists maintain 500 plant species. They work mostly at night (with headlamps), to ensure all the flowers and plants remain healthy looking.
- By ‘modern’ standards Disney is not very PC: they still do “merry Christmas” and I do not know where Halaal or Kosher guests will eat.
- All the cast members dealing with the public are of above average looks and appearance. It was only during the backstage tour that we saw “normal” looking employees. Discriminate much?
- Bars and Restaurants in the Orlando area need to close at 02:00, as per Disney. This is to prevent guests leaving WDW in favour of partying elsewhere. Rightly so I suppose, given that thanks to Disney, Orlando became a city.
- Cast members in character costume – due to the weather – only spend 20 minutes in public (“on stage”). They will always have a plausible in-character reason for quickly leaving (eg. Woody needs to go and check that Bullseye has food to eat). Meanwhile a second cast member in identical costume is waiting behind the scenes to step in and continue the show.
- Cast members are chosen for costumed characters not by gender, but by height and body type. (inside, Mickey can thus be a girl or a boy)
- Disney searches your bags as you enter the parks. One morning, the security found my iPad and told us “This is for photos only! Remember you are on holiday!!” Sweet.
If you travel with children you can either schlep your own stroller (“pram”) around, or rent one from Disney. Close to each ride entrance there is stroller parking space. It is such a bizarre sight. Often it literally looks as if the parents left everything behind and merely grabbed the kid to do the ride … (bags, shopping etc. are left inside the strollers).
At the happiest place on earth, anyone can be a princess …
WDW hides for the die hard fans “Hidden Mickeys” all over their parks. It is basically three circles arranged to the likeness of this famous mouse’s head. We have managed this find only three … this one was during the Jungle Cruise ride.
Continue reading Disney – part 10 (of 13).