Extra Secret Stories of Walt Disney World

by Jim Korkis

  Everything was coming westward on the trains and this is really an homage to Walt and his love of trains and the westward expansion of the United States. So we played on that to make everyone feel that this was an early settlement. Everything is rooted in the history of railroad and the natural environment. We wanted to make it feel like the interior expanded into the exterior so there’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

  Ken Potrock, senior vice-president and general manager of the Disney Vacation Club, said:

  Our guests have told us they don’t want any old hotel; they want themed hotels. They want a hotel that has a backstory. They want to hear, “Is there a connection to Walt Disney?” So we worked hard to give them what they wanted.

  Copper Creek continues the storytelling of Wilderness Lodge. It is inspired by the “legendary mining and railroad history of the Pacific Northwest” as well as Walt Disney’s love of railroads.

  Where the tale of the original structures at Wilderness Lodge draw their story from the 1800s, the new Copper Creek Villas & Cabins are tied to a slightly later period, when the railroad, mining, and quarry managers and foremen brought their families out west and built homes (like the cabins) along the lakes with some of the materials and objects found in the area.

  Inspired by the popular television home improvement shows, the story is that the units employ “up-cycling” of materials like rustic tracks and reclaimed wood as well as giant cogs that form a wall hanging and an occasional Hidden Mickey. Light fixtures are made from shards of colored glass from the quarry and, above the dining table, a chandelier featuring a giant cog from a crane.

  Artwork in the rooms (like photographs from Vancouver) plus exposed steel beams and lots of wood are all used to reinforce the story. There are also playful references to the characters Ruke and Tuke from Brother Bear (2003) and Chip ’n’ Dale. The villas and cabins also have imitation wood flooring that, according to Miorelli, was “hand-scraped to make it feel like it came out of a sawmill.”

  The Hidden Springs pool was replaced with a significantly larger pool with a zero-entry feature, more deck space, and a lot of decorative rockwork all around that is reminiscent of the sort of natural stone quarry that may be found in the Pacific Northwest. Nearby is a crane recycled from Hollywood Studios’ now closed Catastrophe Canyon.

  The Imagineers attempted to maintain a linear timeline for the entire area, beginning with the arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad in the Pacific Northwest that spurred the development of rustic residential communities (Boulder Ridge Villas) and grand vacation lodges that attracted visitors coming to the U.S. national parks (Wilderness Lodge), followed decades later by the abandonment of the railroad (in favor of cars, planes, etc.), at which time resourceful locals turned railroad relics (abandoned quarries, mines, train stations, railroad-supervisor residences, etc.) into new living spaces for today’s travelers (Copper Creek Villas & Cabins).

  Grand Floridian

  Lane Graves Memorial

  In August 2017, Walt Disney World installed a memorial sculpture of a lighthouse in a little alcove near the Big Pine Key building at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa near the beach to honor Lane Graves.

  Lane Thomas Graves was the two-year-old boy who was snatched by an alligator on June 14, 2016, at about nine o’clock in the evening at the Seven Seas Lagoon. His body was found after a sixteen-hour search on June 15 by divers.

  Graves was with his family from Elkhorn, Nebraska. His parents are Matt and Melissa Graves and at the time they were also accompanied by their four-year-old daughter.

  The Orange County sheriff’s office recovered the body of the boy, intact and about fifteen yards from where he was taken and about six feet underwater. A medical examiner determined that Lane had a traumatic neck injury and drowned and it was ruled an accident.

  Lane’s death marked the first alligator attack on the park’s property since a predator bit the legs of an eight-year-old boy, Paul Santamaria, who survived, at Disney’s Fort Wilderness campground in 1986. Lane’s death was the first alligator fatality in the history of Walt Disney World.

  Alligators have been prominently seen on WDW property since its opening in 1971. During the search for Lane, investigators pulled and killed six gators from the area but were not able to fully determine if they had captured the culprit. Officials estimated the responsible gator to be between four and seven feet long; two of the captured gators were at least seven feet.

  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which generally responds to nuisance gator reports, gives Disney full autonomy in handling the problem and isn’t often involved.

  The family was relaxing on the shore in a play area when Lane bent over to scoop wet sand into his small plastic bucket in order to build a sandcastle on the beach. The area had signs posted against swimming in the lake, but they didn’t warn of the lurking gators.

  Lane’s father, who was standing nearby, heard a splash and turned to see the alligator grab Lane’s head and jumped into the water, pulling on the gator’s snout in an unsuccessful attempt to free his son from its grip. Seconds later, the gator pulled Lane underwater and both disappeared into the Seven Seas Lagoon. The father was injured and treated.

  After the attack, Disney built wide boulder walls and fences along the Seven Seas Lagoon beach in an effort to keep alligators away from the shore. They also put up signs warning of alligators and snakes and instituted training for cast members.

  The statue of a lighthouse is a symbol of the Lane Thomas Foundation, a charitable fund created by the boy’s parents after his death that helps financially support families with children who need organ transplants.

  The gold and blue statue, marked with two stars, was placed near where the tragedy occurred. A plaque at the bottom reads: “Presented to the Lane Graves Foundation. A beacon of hope. A light of love.”

  In a statement issued by Lane’s parents, they said:

  We find comfort that so many people continue to remember our sweet boy, Lane, and we believe the lighthouse stands as a beacon of hope and support for families in the depths of despair.

  George A. Kalogridis, the president of Walt Disney World Resort, stated:

  To provide continued awareness of the foundation and its mission, we commissioned an original sculpture of the lighthouse the foundation uses as a symbol of love and hope, to be installed on our property.

  The memorial is both a lovely and tragic reminder of the life and death of Lane Graves.

  Fort Wilderness

  Alligator Attack

  In 1986, eight-year-old Paul Santamaria was bitten on the leg by a 7-foot-4-inch long female alligator, which had been lurking in the shallows of a pond at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

  Two years after the attack, the Santamarias filed a lawsuit claiming that Disney had failed to warn visitors about the alligator, which had been known to seek people out for food after “losing its fear of humans.” The suit was settled out of court.

  Santamaria, who now lives in Hebron, New Hampshire, was interviewed by a local ABC affiliate when two-year-old Lane Graves was taken by an alligator in 2016:

  It was pretty terrifying at the time. Under the water, where you couldn’t see, there was an alligator.

  Santamaria had been watching ducks waddling out of a small pond located on the grounds of the resort when he was snatched up by the sharp-toothed creature.

  Fortunately for him, his 12-year-old sister and 10-year-old brother were there to save his life.

  Santamaria recalled:

  Instead of just freezing, they decided to fight, to help me to fight to get away, and I’m here because of it.

  It came out of the water, knocked me down, grabbed my leg and started to throw me around and try to pull me into the water. My sister grabbed me under the arms and started pulling me away from the alligator. My brother started hitting it with whatever he could find and trying to get it to let me go, and with my free leg, I started to kick it and try to get away from i
t.

  While he managed to escape with his life, he was left with large gashes in his leg and a gator tooth lodged in his thigh.

  He said:

  I was very lucky. I still have some scars on my left leg, but that’s it.

  Santamaria said that while he felt even more fortunate after hearing about what happened to Lane Graves, it hurt to know that someone had lost their child.

  Santamaria, who has been back to Walt Disney World at least three times since the attack, said he was devastated when he heard about Graves’ tragic death and realized what his parents were going through.

  He added that while it would be wise for Disney to have signs that warn of alligators, people need to remember one thing: creatures like alligators are commonly found in Florida and small children usually can’t read very well.

  He explained:

  It’s hard to say what can and can’t be done. I don’t want to paint this as Disney is wrong or the parents are wrong. All I know is that as a child, at eight years old, there could have been signs there and I wouldn’t have noticed them.

  Children can’t read signs or just don’t pay attention to them. And parents who are trying to watch their kids might not notice those signs, either. They could have all the signage in the world there, and people could still not notice it.

  While attacks are rare, they do happen and people who live up north don’t even think about the possible danger. While it won’t affect my decision for bringing my children to Walt Disney World in the future, it will definitely have me more alert of the surroundings.

  My kids love their movies, and I even plan on taking them back in the next year or so. It’s a place that families love to go. I look forward to taking my children there. With my situation, I was more fortunate than this [Graves] family was, so their feelings might be different.

  Old Key West

  Conch Flats

  In the early 1900s, the only way to get to Key West was by plane, boat, or train. It was not accessible by car until many years later. That is why the check-in desk at the Old Key West resort resembles a train station with actual antique lampposts from Key West’s Duval Street.

  After a guest passes the security gate, they drive over a bridge to suggest the bridges that have to be crossed to get to each of the fabled island keys.

  Just to the left of the check-in desk is a small lounge called Papa’s Den filled with books on shelves. “Papa” was the nickname of famed author Ernest Hemingway who supposedly wrote part of his novel A Farewell to Arms while living in Key West.

  On either side of the fireplace are sets of framed pens, authentic to the early 1900s, to suggest Hemingway’s writing. The marlin fish hanging overhead and vintage lures underneath suggest Hemingway’s love of fishing and his famous book The Old Man and the Sea.

  Hemingway had a great love for cats and so there are eight small statues of cats in the den as well. The two lion statues on the shelves reference his love of big game hunting, the bull his interest in bullfighting and running with the bulls, cigar boxes to hold his Cuban cigars, and a hand bell to symbolize For Whom the Bell Tolls.

  The fictional mayor of the town of Conch Flats is Cooter Trumbo, Esquire. Cooter is a call-out to a slang name for a turtle (a recurring theme in the resort) in the southeast United States and Trumbo for Trumbo Point, a man-made addition to Key West created in 1912 by the Trumbo American Dredging Company to accommodate a shipping port for the railroad.

  The town’s logo includes an image of the city and three Latin phrases: Pro Bono Persona (For Your Own Good), Veni Vici Veni Adinfiintium (I Came, I Saw, I Stayed Forever), and Carpe Diem Omnidiem (Seize the Day Everyday.)

  On the upper shelves and rafters of the Conch Flats General Store are items that reflect Old Key West’s history of causing ships to run aground and salvaging from nearby shipwrecks, making it the richest city in the United States at one time.

  Turtle Krawl, sometimes spelled Kraal or Kraul, is an Afrikaans and Dutch word that refers to a corral for sea turtles that were often gathered in Key West for export and the making of turtle soup that was once considered a delicacy for the elite. In 1971, the United States government banned the killing of green sea turtles and today turtle soup is made from regular turtles.

  That reference to the turtle industry is also in Old Turtle Pond Road and the Turtle Shack at the resort.

  The semaphore flags outside spell out “Welcome Home Members” and in the distance to the right is a bridge designed to resemble the famous bridges that Henry Flagler built for his railroad. In fact, crossing the bridge transports guests to the back of the check-in desk which was meant to be a train station depot.

  There is a lighthouse by the pool that calls to mind the famous Key West lighthouse opened in 1848 to help stop the inhabitants from causing shipwrecks.

  Toward the end, the brick road ends and REST Beach begins. Because of its hard coral, Key West had man-made beaches. REST is actually an acronym for Recreation, Exercise, Swimming, and Tennis.

  The “family tree” just beyond the gigantic sand castle was planted in 1991 and is one tree with multiple trunks springing from it. To the left of it is a similar tree that was planted to show the height of the family tree in 1991.

  Coronado Springs

  The Legacy of Juan Francisco

  Francisco de Coronado left Mexico in 1540 and headed north in search of the fabled seven golden cities of Cibola. Imagineers used that story as a springboard to create a resort that would reflect the textures, colors, and art of both Mexico and the American Southwest.

  The resort opened in August 1997 with a backstory:

  Coronado Springs was founded by the descendants of a Spanish explorer named Juan Francisco. Searching for gold in 1569, Francisco stumbled upon the ruins of a forty-six-foot-tall Mayan pyramid.

  Hundreds of years later, relatives found his charts and decided to mount an expedition of their own. The rugged group liked the place so much that they built houses and put down roots.

  Wing Chao, then senior vice president of Master Planning and Architecture, said:

  We looked at a map to see where people go on vacation. After determining that they like to go to Mexico and the Southwestern U.S., we just blended the themes.

  The project was put on hold several times for a variety of reasons after it was first proposed in 1992. The original plans did not include a convention center, but new studies showed that Walt Disney World did not have enough convention space. However, those WDW resorts with that space had room rates too high for many associations’ budgets.

  Finally, with the introduction of tunnel-form cost-conscious construction with poured concrete bays, it became feasible in 1995 to provide convention space and moderately priced rooms. The Coronado ballroom is roughly 60,214-square-foot and is the largest ballroom in the southeastern United States.

  The resort was designed to reflect three themes: cabanas, ranchos and casitas. The two-story cabana buildings represent the coastal regions of the American Southwest and Gulf Coast villas. The cabanas surround the rocky beach adjacent to the fifteen acre man-made lake, Lago Dorado.

  The architecture and landscape of the ranchos suggest the more arid, country ranch or farmhouse parts of the region with a small stream or arroyo tumbling over a rocky stream bed.

  Project coordinator Mark Kohl said:

  We made sure the vegetation selected would really grow next to a river in the same region of Mexico.

  The casitas were inspired by the urban areas of Mexico and the American Southwest. The casitas are interspersed with colorful plazas and fountains and palm-shaded courtyards.

  Kohl continued:

  We had to find a balance between Mexico and the Southwest when it came to selecting colors and how they relate. It was a two-year research process where team members went to look and bring back photos, art, and books for inspiration. I have a Mexican stone calendar on my wall. The art we finally selected for the guest rooms provides a better fit for the theme of that part
icular area.

  Palacios are decorated in shades of desert sand and sunset pink. The red tile roofs, mosaic accents, shady courtyards, and sunny patios recall the grand haciendas of the Spanish Colonial era.

  Project coordinator Cindy MacKenzie returned from a research trip to Oaxaca with three-foot-tall props in the form of frogs, lobsters, and iguanas to take up residence in the 420 seat Pepper Market food court meant to suggest an old warehouse where individual food vendors have set up shop. The restaurant is divided into three areas: the fire temple, the water temple, and the sun temple.

  A new 15-story tower overlooking Lago Dorado, the resort’s central lake, will add 500 rooms featuring suites, concierge level services, and a rooftop dining facility that will include panoramic views of nighttime fireworks shows at the theme parks. There are also plans to refurbish current resort rooms and transform some of its landscape.

  All-Star Movies

  Icons

  All-Star Movies is the third and final resort hotel in the All-Star complex of value resorts that also includes All-Star Sports and All-Star Music. It features buildings themed to Disney movies.

  The Mighty Ducks and 101 Dalmatians sections opened January 15, 1999; Fantasia (based on both the original movie and its 2000 sequel) and Herbie: The Love Bug sections opened in March; and the final section, Toy Story, opened in April 1999.

  The Disney Character icons at the resort were all created at Walt Disney Imagineering’s Tujunga facility in North Hollywood.

  John Nelson, a technical direction for Show Production, said:

  The dalmatians [Pongo and Perdita] are tall but thin. With Buzz Lightyear [forty-seven-feet high and weighing thirty thousand pounds] you’ve got spindly legs topped by a Winnebago. You could literally have an apartment in his chest cavity.