Some fun facts that maybe you didn’t know…
World’s Largest . . . Stormalong Bay, Disney’s Beach Club Resort swimming area, holds 750,000 gallons of water, making it the largest sand-bottom pool in the world.
Room Roulette . . . If you wanted to stay in all the guestrooms in all of the hotels and resorts currently open on Walt Disney World property (at a rate of one per night), it would take more than 68 years.
It’s a Tall World, After All . . . Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (just under 200 feet) is the tallest attraction at Walt Disney World Resort, followed by The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (199 feet), Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle (189 feet), Spaceship Earth at Epcot (183 feet), Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom (180 feet) and The Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (145 feet).
Ready, Aim . . . The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air – within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth. If all of the shooters were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air.
Spaced Out . . . Spaceship Earth, the visual and thematic centerpiece of Epcot, weighs 16 million pounds – more than three times that of a space shuttle fully fueled and ready for launch. The outer “skin” of Spaceship Earth is made up of 11,324 aluminum and plastic-alloy triangles. Also, did you know that rainwater never falls off the sphere? It’s channeled into the ball and funneled away.
Gone But Not Forgotten . . . Walt Disney World Lost and Found is one busy place. Every day an average of 210 pairs of sunglasses are turned in and, since 1971, an estimated 1,650,000 pairs of glasses have found their way into the “lost” bin. On an annual basis, Lost and Found cast members collect more than 6,000 cell phones, 3,500 digital cameras, 18,000 hats and 7,500 autograph books.
Lost items are held for a period of time to be reclaimed by the guests, than if unclaimed, sent to a reclaim center to be sold, and than donated to local organizations. If you can attached your name & phone number (sticker) to items, return is much more likely!
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A Cast of Thousands . . . around 62,000 to be more precise. That’s how many people it takes to create the magic at the Vacation Kingdom. Not surprisingly, Walt Disney World Resort is the largest single-site employer in the United States.
This cover of Life Magazine shows 1,500 employees that Disney Opened with in 1971… Today, the 62,000 cast members that work at Disney World in Florida to create and maintain the Magic for guests… well… they would fill the park to near capacity.
It's Not a Small World, After All . . . Covering 40 square miles, Walt Disney World Resort is about the size of San Francisco or two Manhattan islands. Of the more than 25,000 acres, less than 35 percent has been developed with a quarter designated as a wilderness preserve. A little side note: All of Disneyland in California would not even fill just the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom…
about the size of this “O” if you put it on the map.
Bloomin’ Beauty . . . Nearly 12 percent of Walt Disney World property – an area equivalent to nearly 3,000 football fields – is devoted to gardens and maintained landscapes. That’s 4,000 acres worth of beauty.
Pack the Trunk . . . Earth Day 1991 signaled a “moving” experience for yet another impressive oak – a 55-foot-tall tree weighing in at nearly 85 tons. The live oak was moved 12 miles across Walt Disney World property to where it serves as a centerpiece for the Ol’ Man Island recreation area at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort-Riverside.
More fun facts and photos to follow… from time to time!
