Disneyland’s 17 Secrets

Disneyland has been voted the Happiest Place on Earth. Disneyland is so magical, in fact, that even after 50 years in existence and having had over 500 million people visiting the park, there are still secrets hidden in and about the Magical Kingdom.

A very good friend of ours, from the USA, came to visit us recently, with his wife and family, he has worked for a considerable number of years at Disneyland and one night over an evening meal he relayed to us what he called the Seventeen Secrets of Disneyland. I wrote quite a lot of notes, while he was telling us what they were and I have listed them here in the order and context that he provided to us.

1. Disneyland was expected to fail. Opening day was a disaster, with the temperature at 100 degrees, the newly laid street asphalt was sticking to shoes and by the end of the first day, 46 of the 48 Autopia cars crashed and about half the rides were broken. Press organizations predicted the park would fail within one year.

2. It took the construction team, guided by Walt Disney, only 364 days to build Disneyland.

3. Have you ever noticed the telegraph clicking at the New Orleans’ train station? It’s ticking out the speech Disney gave out on the opening day. Traces of Disney are all over the park; at his old apartment over the fire house on Main Street, they always leave the light on in his memory.

4. Main Street represents Walt’s home town, Marceline, Missouri, as it was in 1901, the year he was born.

5. Tomorrow Land is out of date. Or at least, the first version is by now. The only Tomorrow Land ride that still exists in its original state from the opening is Autopia. One major change in Autopia from the original was the adding of a guide rail to keep people on track. Maybe Disney trusted the good nature of people too much.

6. The organ that was in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea now lives in the ballroom of the Haunted Mansion.

7. In the early years of the park, the Rivers of America were stocked with catfish and visitors were allowed to fish off the docks of Tom Sawyer Island.

8. When Disneyland launched its original Submarine Voyage ride, it included Weeki Wachee-type mermaids swimming among submarines.

9. There are cameras everywhere. And apart from the average security teams, there are at least two Special Forces at the park, one dedicated to arresting people who use drugs at the park, and the other dedicated to catching people who tamper or abuse the cameras during the photo parts of the rides.

10. The drawbridge to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle really works.  It’s been raised only twice: once on opening day, and once in the l980s when Fantasyland reopened.

11. The crest that you can see, high above the drawbridge to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, is the Disney family crest.

12. There’s a Disney Underground. It’s not quite as exciting as it sounds though. The area under the park is not a massive underground city, but there are many underground basements, where all the cast can relax, change costumes and eat their lunch in peace. Disney World on the other hand was built more recent and they have a full city underground.

13. Just walking around the park is enough exercise for most people, but employees have the option of working out in the Matterhorn. Surely you didn’t think that huge mountain was only used for one little ride? The Matterhorn is officially classified as a gym and has a full basketball court inside. In 1984, it was certified as an official Olympic Stadium.

14. Despite the persisting urban legends that claim no one ever died in the park, people have. At least 12 people have died there. But with all things considered, 12 deaths in 50 years that’s not bad. Just remember apart from dangerous rides, there is the Southern Californian gang violence, but this does not occur that often at Disneyland.

15. There are numerous reports of people trying to scatter the ashes of their loved ones in the Haunted Mansion. There are plenty of ghosts in the Mansion already and if everyone dumped their ashes there, then the whole thing would be covered in dust. When it does happen, the whole Mansion is closed and a team moves in to clean it.

16. Need a real drink? Many Disney fanatics may already know this, but others may find it surprising that there is but one place in the entire park that serves alcoholic beverages. Club 33 is a very exclusive club. It has a ten year waiting list and the admission is one thousand dollars.

17. We all know that Johnny Depp is real sexy, but so is the character of Jack Sparrow. A lot of women still think he is just as good as Depp. In Pirate’s Booty, an ex-actor at Disneyland confessed that the stories range from flirting to receiving napkins with naughty offers.