Pooh's Hunny Hunt was Disney’s first trackless ride (we love Universe of Energy, but it’s a different thing). We still think it’s the best! The moment you encounter a free-roaming ride vehicle filled with characters changes everything. Why haven’t they done more with that idea?
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This is a carousel. A merry-go-round. A carnival ride. It is not something special or unique. Yet look at it. In the right hands, the mundane becomes magic. Do you see something special or something unremarkable? We see care and commitment.
The Magic Kingdom’s Peter Pan’s Flight has an effect that no other version has. The ride vehicles appear to start on a track, before it abruptly ends as the ships lift off the rail and, um… fly. It’s always been a favorite detail of ours. Have you noticed?
Disney infamously built bathrooms for a proposed Denmark World Showcase pavilion, prior to actually securing the country’s participation. In EPCOT's early days, they had no pavilion to call home. Denmark dropped out, but the bathrooms remained. Do you know where they are today?
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Have you ever been first into the Mansion?!
Splash Mountain used to feature a huge air cannon that sprayed water out over onlookers! Do you miss this namesake effect? It really sold the effect of the logs hitting water and cooled down those watching. We think that it would be a fun addition even today.
Have you looked closely at this waterfall on Kali River Rapids? Imagineers wanted live tigers on the original version of the ride. While that didn’t happen Disney did hide a tiger in the attraction, you can even hear roars! We are surprised how many guests miss it completely.
Did you ever see the (apparently now removed) geysers at Kali River Rapids? We can’t remember the last time we’ve seen them working. It’s been years! Is it our bad luck or are they really gone for good?
When was the last time characters waterskied at Walt Disney World? 35-40 years ago? There was a time when waterskiing shows were everywhere, especially in Florida, just another memory lost in time.
Disney used an ultralight aircraft, complete with a pilot, to make a Fantasyland dragon fly! After one official flight, it now hangs in Walt Disney Imagineering offices. The "living characters" never seem to last long. Would you have the nerves of steel to fly with him?
