Today was
the Backstage Magic Tour. I was at the bus stop for 8am, having
got up at 7:15am. The Epcot bus was just pulling away, but luckily
stopped to let me on. There were only a few people on the bus,
and we were there by 8:15am. We only had to meet at 8:45am at
guest relations outside Epcot, so I sat and waited. Our tour guide,
James, came at 8:45am, and checked our names off. We then had
to stand in a circle and say our names, where we were from and
what our favourite Disney song is (mine is Once Upon a Dream).
There were 20 people in our group. We had a small minibus for
the day, our driver was Bob, who used to work at Disney, and if
James didn't know the answer to any questions, Bob did! James
told us he works part time for Disney, and full time as a magician,
his wife Theresa works at the Grand Floridian Cafe. There was
a cooler on the bus filled with water and sodas which we could
help ourselves to throughout the day.
We started
off at the back of the American Adventure at Epcot. James pointed
out how the buildings are very plain and square 'offstage' where
the guests can't see, it's only when you go 'onstage' that the
buildings are themed. To go onstage you always have to go through
two sets of doors, shutting the first ones before going through
the second doors, this is so guests can't see the backstage areas.
Wardrobe Cast Members were in the American Adventure checking
the audio animatronics' costumes and wigs. We were in the back
of the theatre, behind the stage, where all the mechanics for
the show are. The show is all done electronically, no staff are
there when the show is on, and the lights are out so that the
guests can't see through to the machinery. James explained that
if something goes wrong in an attraction, e.g. the head falls
off an audio animatronic, the show goes to '101' - it is closed
to guests so that it can be fixed. The engineers do everything
they can to fix something as quickly as possible, they know how
important it is to the guests.
Next, we moved
onto the Living Seas. James pointed out how the trees are densely
planted near to the wall onstage, but once backstage, the trees
start to thin out and get thinner so that they fade into the horizon.
The path onstage is painted a certain colour of pink to make the
grass look greener (and it really does work!). The water in the
Living Seas is 27ft deep. The coral isn't real, as it's illegal
to remove coral from the ocean. Disney has a permit to visit Florida
Keys once a year and remove a certain number of fish to bring
back to the Living Seas. There are two manatees there at present,
both of which have been rescued and will be returned to the wild
once they are recovered. There are also two dolphins. They needed
to feed vitamins to the manatees, but they kept on spitting the
vitamins back out, so they devised a way to feed them --the vitamins
are ground up with cookies, mixed with gelatine and frozen in
ice cube trays. These 'ice cubes' are then fed to the manatees,
who don't know that they contain vitamins! It will come as no
surprise to many of you that the hydrolator doesn't move a single
inch. If you stand in the middle of the viewing area in the Living
Seas and look up at the ceiling, you'll see lines of numbers around
the centre, these are the birthdates of the imagineers who worked
on the attraction!
Back on the
bus and over to Body Wars. We went into a room where we could
see the inside of simulator 4 on a tv screen, then 10 at a time,
we went into another room, where we were stood almost underneath
the simulator. We were surprised at how much the simulator actually
moves, no wonder it makes a lot of people feel sick! Once the
simulator stops, platforms are lowered between the simulator doors
and the queue doors, for people to walk across. Once the simulator
is full, the doors close, the platform is raised and it can begin
to move again. There are 4 simulators at Body Wars and 6 at Star
Tours.
Next it was
MGM, and into the Fantasmic stadium. We walked round to the back
of the stage. The lagoon at the front of the stage is only 1.5ft
deep! The water is filtered, but they deliberately don't filter
the algae out, that way the water stays murky and people can't
see how deep it really is. There is a driver in each of the princess
boats in the show. The canoes just have a motor, the actors use
a paddle to steer. Steamboat Willie is the only boat used that
is on a track. We then went into the rehearsal rooms. The rooms
have a sprung floor, and also have tape on the floor marking out
specific areas (e.g. the princess barges), so the actors know
how much space they have to work on. James pointed out how they
made the ceilings too low, which means the actors can't practice
their lifts! He said that at Fantasmic in Disneyland, a cult has
developed, people take bubbles to blow, and inflatable pink elephants
for the Fantasia/bubbles section of the show, but this hasn't
yet caught on in Florida. We were parked near the back of the
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and Jim told us that the coaster was
built first, then the building was put up around it. Also, Disney
had originally intended to change the band associated with the
ride every so often (?few years), but Aerosmith's lawyers found
a loophole in the contract, and so it will always be Rock 'n'
Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith!
Then it was
back on the bus to creative costuming. This is where costumes
for all Disney parks and resorts are designed. After they have
been designed, the pattern is worked out, then transferred into
the computer so that colours, fabrics and sizes can be worked
out without wasting fabric. A small mock-up of the costume is
made in muslin, but only one half is made (as both halves are
the same). We saw the machine room, where the costumes are made
up. If there are a large number of one costume to be made, the
machining is contracted out. We were all able to choose a piece
of fabric from a character's costume - Cinderella, Belle, Prince
Charming, Snow White, and Mickey. I chose Cinderella. Disney has
35,000 character costumes copyrighted. Belle's dress (the ball
gown) was on display, that one dress is worth $10,000.
It was now
time for lunch at Mama Melrose's. We were seated on two long tables.
Bread rolls, iced tea and coke were all freely available. Pizzas,
pasta, lobster ravioli and Caesar salad were brought out, and
served family style. I'm a very fussy eater and don't like Italian
food, so I just ate bread rolls. A waiter noticed this and offered
to make me something else, but I declined, it would have taken
too long and I didn't want to cause a fuss. When the desserts
were brought out, they told me I had first choice because I hadn't
eaten anything else! There was chocolate cake, tiramisu, ice cream
and cheesecake, I chose chocolate cake. I had a cafe latte to
finish. We
were entertained while we ate, by Luigi the 'Quality Control Man'!
Luigi
Then it was
off to the Magic Kingdom. This was one of the best bits of the
day, we went to where the parade floats are stored. The Magical
Moments floats were outside, and inside were the floats from the
Main Street Electrical Parade and Spectromagic. They look really
different in the daylight, they're just made of thousands of fairy
lights! There is a driver in each float for the MEP and Spectro.
In the Ursula float from Spectro, the person inside Ursula has
their legs dangling down into the driver's cab! The parade is
controlled by a computer called PAGEANT, and there are small magnets
embedded in the ground on the parade route, six in each section
(there are around 34 sections on the route). As the float passes
over the magnets, the computer can tell if that float is in the
right position or if it is too close to the float in front, and
a light will come one in the driver's cab to let them know if
they are too close/far. They always try to get the parade out.
If the weather is bad, they announce that the parade will be delayed
for a short while. If there is too much water on the ground, they
won't send out the dancers or characters with furry feet, but
they always try to get the parade out. They were now bringing
the costumes out ready for the 3pm parade. It was funny seeing
three Mickey heads! We went on to see the Electric Water Pageant
barges. James explained that it was developed when WDW opened
because they wanted something to make the water look less boring
while the Poly Luau was going on. Disneyland liked the idea of
the EWP, but didn't have a lagoon to put it on, so they developed
the Main Street Electrical Parade, which WDW like and then copied!
The original Main Street Electrical Parade from WDW went to Disneyland
Paris, and Spectromagic replaced it. The MEP from Disneyland was
disassembled and the bulbs sold for charity, but everyone missed
it so much, that they had to build it again from new. James told
us that the MEP will be finishing in March next year, and Spectromagic
will be returning, and they may run both parades on a few nights!
We then moved
onto Central Shops, where most props and attractions for WDW are
made (the Indiana Jones show wasn't made here, which is why there
are no hidden Mickeys to be found there). We saw the metal room,
woodwork room and painting and finishing room. Among the props
we saw being fixed or made were Buzz Lightyear costumes, Mickey
heads, a Pumba audio animatronic, Jungle Cruise audio animatronics
and Small World dolls. In the painting room were two horses from
Cinderella's Golden Carousel. The horses are constantly being
repainted, the job is done by one man who works there full time,
with the help of two part time workers. The carousel horses came
from the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. 90 of the horses were
from there and they are carved out of wood. There are also 11
fibreglass horses made by Disney, which equals 101 horses! The
horses on the very outside of the carousel are the largest, decreasing
in size to the smallest horses in the centre of the carousel.
Next time you're on the carousel, take a close look at the horses,
only one side of them is very intricately detailed - the side
that faces outwards, the inside of the horse is very plain. 23-carat
gold leaf is used to decorate the horses, real silver and bronze
is also used. We visited the make-up room, where various wigs
were on display. A CM was just finishing washing and styling Cruella's
wig. Each character is shown how to apply their stage make-up,
it's then up to them to do their own each time. There are reference
books on the shelf showing each character's make-up in detail,
should they need to refer to them. All character wigs are made
from artificial hair, but the wigs on the audio animatronics use
real hair!
Next came
the part of the tour everyone had been waiting for - the Utilidors!
For those that don't know, the Utilidors are the corridors that
run under the Magic Kingdom. The utilidors were quite busy, with
CMs rushing about, we even saw Pinocchio without his head (it
was a female inside the costume)! Cast members each have an ID
card with a bar code on it, they hand the card in at the window
of the costume store, the card is scanned and the CM gets their
particular costume. When they have finished with the costume,
their are special laundry bins located throughout the utilidors,
the CM holds the costume up to a scanner on the wall and then
puts it in the bin. There are 26 costume departments in WDW. The
utilidors aren't really tunnels, they are on the first floor,
the Magic Kingdom as we know it is on the second floor. This is
because the water table in Orlando is 15ft, so the 'tunnels' couldn't
be dug out of the ground. Instead the utilidors were built at
ground level, and earth was dug to cover them. The Magic Kingdom
park was then built on top. The large hole left where the earth
had been dug became the Seven Seas Lagoon.
We went into
a large room were all of the MK attractions are controlled from,
yet surprisingly there were very few people around. Each attraction
is controlled by a computer, which is housed in a sort of cupboard.
The attractions are operated automatically by each computer. It
was now 3pm & the parade had started, so we went to see the parade
control room, were Steve was at work. The parade is controlled
by the computer, and if the computer fails, the music can be controlled
manually. We saw the parade on monitors. Next, we headed out through
the utilidors and emerged in Town Square, just in time to watch
the parade coming by - great timing! James pointed out the magnets
embedded in the street, remember how I said earlier about the
magnets being used to control the parade? He also showed us the
speakers in the upstairs windows of the shops in Main Street.
Keep watching after the parade has finished and you'll see the
windows close automatically when the music has finished.
Some more
facts that I learned from the tour - there are around 60,000 cast
members working at WDW, and over 200 buses, some with over 1 million
miles on the clock. Cast members earn $6.35 an hour, characters
earn only 20c more. James said they are aware that the monorail
needs expanding, but the problem is that there are so many new
projects on the go in the WDW resort that Imagineers don't know
where to put the tracks. So the monorail probably won't be expanded
until construction slows down. There are 12,250 parking spaces
on the Magic Kingdom parking lot, and by 10am each Christmas day
they will all be full. Christmas Day is the busiest day of the
year at WDW. $35,000 is spent on fireworks each night for IllumiNations
at Epcot. On Millennium New Year's Eve, $500,000 was spent on
fireworks! The USSR was considered as a new country for Epcot
World Showcase, but then they broke up! Imagineers have considered
putting a Matterhorn type ride in the Japan pavilion and calling
it Mount Fuji, or building it in an African pavilion and calling
it Mount Kilimanjaro.
Sadly the
tour was now over and we got on the bus for the drive back to
Epcot. Once back at Epcot we were given a folder, in which was
the itinerary of the day, and also a perspex ornament of Mickey.
James told us that he knew exactly who had been given the ornaments
so he didn't want to see any appearing on Ebay!
Bob the bus driver, me & James
I totally
enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend it to anyone who has
visited WDW more than once. I learned so much, I'm sure I've forgotten
to include some things here.
I decided
to spend the rest of the day at Epcot, starting at the Art of
Disney store. I have always wanted to buy one of those limited
edition cels, but can never afford it. I found the next best thing
here - a framed limited edition pin set, it's a Cinderella and
Prince Charming pin surrounded by drawings of them both, in a
beautiful frame. It was $55, which is just within my price range!
I arranged to have it delivered to my room and then went and spent
some more money at Mouse Gear (great store!).
Just as I
was walking up to WS Plaza, the character bus pulled up, with
Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, Meeko, Baloo and Mushu on board. I
had photos with Meeko and Mushu, then went to the UK for fish
and chips from the Harry Ramsden's counter. Now I'm a great lover
of Harry Ramsden's fish and chips, I've been to five of his shops.
The fish and chips served at the counter in Epcot are nothing
like real Harry Ramsden's, they were nice but just not the real
thing! The only seat I could find was in the garden at the side
of the shops.
Family from Tapestry of Nations
I walked round
to Morocco and sat for a while, until they started putting the
tape on the floor for the Tapestry parade. I hadn't seen the parade
before, so I didn't know how soon to start waiting. I had read
that a good place to watch was by the gates in Morocco, so I stood
up and found a spot right next to the gates. After a few minutes,
a lady who was sat on the bench opposite the gate came over and
said I could go and sit with them. She said no one would stand
in front and block the view so I went and sat with them. They
were a lovely family from Tampa, she was with her husband (he
works for Disney CRO), her little boy (Teddy) and parents-in-law.
The view was great, we saw them as they came out of the gates.
The parade was excellent, one of Disney's best, I loved the music.
What was especially nice was the way the performers interacted
with the kids, lowering the puppets so the kids could touch them.
The good thing about sitting near the gate was that once the parade
had gone, we saw the parade coming from the other side and exiting
through the gate - two parades for the price of one! It started
to rain just as it was finishing, so after taking a photo of the
nice family (never did get their names). I put on my poncho and
walked over to the Living Seas.
I only wanted
to go into the shop to buy a diver Mickey beanbag, but was told
I had to go through the ride. Luckily, you get the opportunity
to skip the briefing film and just get into the hydrolators to
the viewing area. I got my Mickey and went to the exit. There
was some sort of convention on in the park, Test Track had shut
at 5:30pm and as I was leaving there were loads of people with
badges on walking over to the Imagination pavilion. Just as I
exited it started to rain very hard, thankfully the bus for DxL/PO
was in, and I was back in my room at 8:30pm.
