Other Secret Stories of Walt Disney World

by Jim Korkis

  Scattered throughout the location are Buffalo Bill’s boots, a giant axe belonging to Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed’s tin pot-hat, Kit Carson’s scouting tools, Davy Crockett’s satchel and powder horn, John Henry’s hammer, Jim Bowie’s famous knife, and Slue Foot Sue’s spurs and gloves.

  One item that sometimes puzzles guest is a display of a black mask and a silver bullet but no identification plaque leading people to ask the famous question, “Who was that Masked Man?” Obviously, the answer is the Lone Ranger and at the time of its installation, Disney did not have the rights to the character.

  There was, however, a Disney connection with the Lone Ranger. Jack Wrather who owned the Disneyland Hotel also owned the rights to the character and in the early years of Disneyland allowed actor Clayton Moore garbed in his full television costume to visit Disneyland for publicity purposes including riding the Mark Twain steamboat with children.

  Magic Kingdom

  Casey’s Corner

  When Disneyland opened in July 1955, at the end of Main Street just at the beginning of the Hub was a quick-service food and beverage restaurant called the Refreshment Corner sponsored by Coca-Cola. It was so popular and beloved that when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, a similar shop was put in the same location on the end of Main Street also sponsored by Coke.

  Originally, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola were served at both Disney theme parks, but in 1982, Coke made arrangements to become the sole provider and has remained so for over the last thirty-five years. Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton back in 1886, making it an appropriate offering on Main Street.

  When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, the traditional shop was instead dubbed Casey’s Corner, referencing the 1888 poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Thayer about the fictional overconfident ballplayer for the Mudville team who famously struck out. Disney even made an animated cartoon based on the poem as part of the compilation feature Make Mine Music (1946).

  The new concept for the venue that sold soda and hot dogs was brought to Florida with the renovation of the northwest block of Main Street and the opening of the revised shop on May 27, 1995. The outdoor sign even incorporated the 1888 date of the Thayer poem in the baseball since it also aligned with the turn-of-the-20th-century theme of Main Street.

  Every detail in the rehabbed restaurant reinforced the connection, from the cast member vintage baseball player costumes (with umpire-style aprons) to the “Enter” and “Exit” signs resembling baseballs and the vintage baseball and Coca-Cola memorabilia, including classic Coke chandeliers, displayed throughout.

  Many of the props on display, including jugs of Coca-Cola syrup and baseball team mugs, trading cards, and pennants, are authentic antiques from around the turn of the 20th century.

  One of the framed photos on the wall depicts a team wearing jerseys representing more than one team and even women players poorly disguised as men. These people are the Imagineering team who worked on the Casey’s Corner (and Main Street Athletic Club) project in 1995.

  In addition to Coca-Cola products, the location also serves traditional hot dogs (a popular treat at baseball games) and gourmet designer dogs like chili dogs, Chicago-style dogs, and BBQ pork slaw dogs at a premium price. Also available are corn-dog nuggets, French fries, cotton candy, ballpark nachos, and Cracker Jacks, just as someone might find at a ball game concession stand.

  Originally, there was a big screen running a loop of excerpts from Disney animated cartoons that were sports oriented and there was bleacher seating for people to try to watch and eat.

  In 2014, that screen and bleachers were eliminated in order to expand the indoor eating area with more traditional seating. The outdoor eating area also expanded to double its size with new walkways and red-and-white umbrellas representing the colors of Coke.

  Outside, two fiberglass lifesize statues of old-time baseball players provide a photo opportunity. Also outside, just like at Disneyland, is a piano where a performer occasionally tickles the ivories and entertains guests with ragtime music and familiar Disney tunes. The mirror on the piano allows him to see the guests behind him and their reactions.

  Magic Kingdom

  Pinocchio Village Haus

  If the 1883 children’s story about Pinocchio, the little wooden puppet who came miraculously to life, is Italian, then why does the restaurant in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland resemble a medieval Bavarian building and uses the German word “haus”?

  Walt Disney specifically wanted his animated feature Pinocchio (1940) to have the same artistic approach that echoed the Old World storybook illustrations done by German artists that had made Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) such a success.

  For the film, concept artist Gustaf Tenggren was responsible for the design of the Alpine town in the shadow of the mountains. The Germanic influences include not only the architectural detail in the streets but also the carved interior of Gepetto’s workshop. The character of Gepetto is German as are the toys, clocks, and music boxes he carves. Even actor Christian Rub who voices Gepetto was German.

  Tenggren’s inspiration for the buildings, signs, streets, and steps in the final film were from the many drawings he had done of a Bavarian town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Gepetto’s house closely resembles the Hotel Altfrankische Weinstube in that town.

  In fact, Pinocchio’s Village Haus was meant to so precisely recall the classic animated feature that the view from above—which, when the Magic Kingdom opened in October 1971, could be enjoyed on a leisurely Skyway ride that closed in November 1999—resembles the overhead opening scene in the film.

  That view, as well as the one in the film, included a distinctive bell tower. Imagineer John Hench had located an old, rusting, dented bell that was able to duplicate the exact ringing tone necessary.

  Unfortunately, after the bell was shipped from California to Florida, over-eager workmen in Central Shops cleaned off the rust and hammered out the dents and the bell no longer had its pleasing tone. An audio electronic track was substituted.

  The world “village” was chosen specifically for this food-and-beverage location because both the exterior and the interior are designed with a village courtyard and separate “houses” clustered together, since a building this large would not have served as a restaurant in medieval times. There are even different weather vanes on the roof to suggest different businesses or families living below.

  The main entrance, although indoors, is designed to invoke the outdoors with a lighted ceiling suggesting the sky and the various food counters having shingled roofs on building facades with stained glass windows and flowerboxes.

  The largest dining area is the Stromboli Room. Outside the building is puppeteer Stromboli’s cart that he uses to travel from town to town to perform his puppet shows and sell merchandise. Entering from that cart into the building takes a guest into the puppet theater.

  The long, thin stained glass windows feature marionettes on strings while the narrow small balcony up above the seating area is meant to suggest the catwalk of a theater. A large fresco on the wall reads, “Stromboli presents Pinocchio the string-less puppet,” just like a poster for the show.

  Each of the other dining rooms are homages to different characters from Pinocchio: the Blue Fairy, Geppetto (with wooden cuckoo clocks), Cleo (all glassed in like a fish bowl with images of the fish swimming), Figaro, Jiminy Cricket, and Monstro (near the window overlooking the Small World oceans where he roamed).

  The location even includes two porcelain tile-covered authentic German bakery ovens that still work.

  Magic Kingdom

  Main Street Confectionery Shop

  The candy shop on Main Street is more than just a location to enjoy candy apples, Rice Krispies treats, cookies, different flavors of fudge, cotton candy, peanut brittle, and of course, chocolate.

  In 1998, Imagineer Kevin Neary (who has authored several Disney-related books) came up with an interesting concept for the redesign of the location that was developed and finis
hed by Imagineering show writer Shawn Slater. They combined two details from Disney history.

  The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 (also known as the Columbian Exposition) was meant to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus and his arrival in the New World. Walt’s father, Elias, moved from Florida to Chicago in 1890 and found work as a carpenter for a dollar a day, seven days a week, building pavilions for the fair.

  He loved working on the fair and years later shared stories about it with an impressionable Walt, who was fascinated and obviously inspired to some day build a similarly impressive family-friendly venue.

  The Confectionery Shop on Main Street references that fair with a poster, announcing the Columbian Exposition, near the fudge counter, and with all the mechanical devices throughout the store supposedly inspired by the fair’s Hall of Machinery.

  When a young Walt Disney was in a desperate situation in November 1922 and close to losing his first animation studio known as Laugh-O-gram, a local dentist, Dr. Thomas McCrum, came to his rescue. He agreed to pay Walt $500 to make a short live-action film about how bad things would happen to young people if they didn’t take good care of their teeth.

  Tommy Tucker’s Tooth (1922) was not only Walt’s first educational film but provided money to pay off mounting debts and finance the production of the short Alice’s Wonderland.

  The following is the back story of the shop:

  Thomas and Kitty McCrum had run a candy store on Main Street for as long as anyone could remember. In fact, they became famous for their sweet creations. But Thomas McCrum was never one for resting on his laurels. He was always looking for new and exciting ways to improve his candy making and increase his business.

  On a fateful trip to Chicago, for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, McCrum found inspiration. He and his wife entered the Expo’s storied Machinery Hall and were mesmerized by the mechanical machinations on display.

  Upon returning home, McCrum set out to duplicate some of what he’d seen, applying the wondrous new innovations to the creation of chocolate and other such delicacies.

  He moved quickly from prototypes and test recipes to full-blown production. In no time, the McCrum’s little candy store had expanded, pushing into nearby storefronts and taking over an entire corner on the Town Square.

  Now, at the turn of the 20th century, the McCrum’s Main St. Confectionery is poised and ready to take advantage of a new era of technological advancement: the electric age!

  Kitty McCrum, of course, has had to hire additional help, especially to get through the busy season, when streams of tourists pour forth from the railroad station at the edge of town. But it’s all worth it to see the smiles on their faces.

  Now if she and Thomas could only stop sampling their own creations.

  Besides utilizing elements of Disney history, the gag about the shop is that it is a dentist who is operating the store and, in a way, generating more business for his primary profession by selling cavity-causing treats.

  Magic Kingdom

  Tomorrowland’s Retro Future

  Walking down the main street of the Avenue of the Planets in Tomorrowland, guests find themselves in the central hub of Rockettower Plaza. The names are a playful reference to New York’s famous Rockefeller Plaza and the Avenue of the Americas.

  It is a bustling area that allows easy access to all areas of the city and is home to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority that was renamed the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in 2010 in homage to its original 1975 title of WEDWay PeopleMover that operated on the same track.

  This attraction serves as an urban mass-transit system for the citizens and visitors to this popular space port. The Blue Line provided intra-city service to destinations throughout the city, from a beauty parlor to a merchandise shop. It was also the delivery method for businesses like Earth Crust Pizza.

  The unseen Green Line was for commuting to the Hoverburbs above the city and the unseen Red Line took riders off-planet to other destinations in the galaxy.

  One of the treasures on the attraction is a small glimpse of the past representing Walt Disney’s vision of the future.

  It is the display model of Walt’s original concept for an Epcot-like city that was on the upper-level post-show for Disneyland’s Carousel of Progress for many years. This is only a small part of Walt’s model which was originally 115 feet wide and 60 feet deep with 2,500 moving vehicles, 20,000 trees, and 4,500 structures. Walt insisted that the interior of the buildings be finished, furnished, and lit.

  In 1994, the Star Jets attraction was updated along with the rest of the area and renamed Astro Orbiter. The huge central rocket was replaced by a highly stylized iron-work tower along with various planets on the outside of the attraction so it seems like the rockets were weaving between the planets.

  The new storyline is that the League of Planets was giving inexperienced pilots an opportunity to learn how to fly their own rocket ship.

  Nearby is an actual Metrophone booth from the Galactic Communications Network (GCN). As it states on the phone: “Bringing the World Closer Together. Toll Free from Anywhere in the Galaxy.”

  Since 1999, punching several numbers at random will bring up one of nine possible hilarious one-sided conversations from Rocket Realty, Sonny Eclipse’s agent Johnny Jupiter, Earth Crust Pizza (delivering anywhere in the solar system in less than two light years or your order is free), Intergalactic Movie Line (with information on the movie Attack of the 50-Foot Earthling), Psychic Robots Network, and others.

  By the entrance to the TTA PeopleMover is a robot newsboy selling his newspapers. The Robo-Newz vendor is always up to the minute and supposedly guests can get their daily paper printed “while u wait.”

  The main case shows that the latest physical newspaper is a copy of the Galaxy Gazette with its headline of “Stitch Escapes!”

  The Thirst Rangers in their red-and-white (the colors of Coca-Cola) rocket ship are perched high on a landing platform to deliver refreshment to a thirsty galaxy. The Disney Imagineers created this spaceship out of the hull of the Trimaxian Drone Ship from the 1986 Disney film Flight of the Navigator that was originally on view for several years in the boneyard on the backstage tour at the former Disney-MGM Studios.

  At the bottom of the platform are gray crates with images of a Coca-Cola bottle and amusing shipping labels.

  Tomorrowland is an example of inventive, clever, and humorous storytelling that immerses guests into a future that never was, but was what several generations hoped would happen.

  Magic Kingdom

  Stitch on the Loose

  The problem with Tomorrowland was that the future always came quicker than expected, making the land look quaint, not innovative.

  The solution, in 1994, was to make Tomorrowland “the future that never was.” It would be the future that resembled the one predicted in all the science-fiction magazines and movies of the early twentieth century. It would be a timeless future that would never be out of date.

  Entering Tomorrowland, guests are not just in the future but in a hometown community like Main Street, U.S.A. that serves as a galactic space port.

  At the entrance is a huge sign from the Tomorrowland Chamber of Commerce that welcomes guests with its motto: “The Future That Never Was Is Finally Here.”

  This is a metropolis where humans intermingle with aliens and robots and is the headquarters for the League of Planets. This future main street is officially known as the Avenue of the Planets. As in many cities, there is a Chamber of Commerce posting at the entrance, but without the shields of the more familiar Lions Club or Kiwanis organizations.

  Instead, there are colorful emblem logos representing the League of Planets, the Loyal Order of Little Green Beings, Galactic Association of Retired Aliens, and the Sleepless Knights of the Milky Way.

  All of these clever details are to suggest that there is a much larger community than what guests will be able to see and experience during their visit. At one time
there was even a poster for “Lunar Disneyland—The Happiest Place Off Earth.”

  In 1995, the attraction building to the left of the entrance became the InterPlanetary Convention Center with additional advertising inside about upcoming community events and a demonstration of the latest in teleportation technology from X-S Tech.

  The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter was a frightening interactive experience of what happens when people trust in untested technology.

  In 2004, the building was converted into the Galactic Federation Prisoner Teleportation Center to handle “undesirables.” Using the same teleportation equipment as X-S Tech, guests see a demonstration of how convicted prisoners are teleported away from this city of tomorrow.

  Inside is the infamous and mischievous Stitch from the Disney animated feature Lilo and Stitch (2002) that was made by Disney Feature Animation Florida. Of course, something goes horribly wrong and Stitch escapes, but that comes as no surprise since the attraction is named Stitch’s Great Escape.

  Not only has Stitch escaped to plague the guests in their seats, but he has burst through the ceiling of the nearby merchandise shop, the Merchant of Venus, and the ceiling is covered with his distinctive footprints.

  Along the sides of the shop walls are “faux” windows revealing Tomorrowland overflowing with Stitch’s many cousins, introduced to audiences in the Disney Channel television series and made-for-video sequels based on the original film.

  The Merchant of Venus (a humorous pun on Shakespeare’s famous Merchant of Venice play) is laced with blue cable coils from the ceiling that connect to collection orbs atop the fixtures so quality goods from throughout the universe can materialize in these mini teleport chambers.