Disney Parks Fun Facts!

We asked a few of our soon-to-be travelers which attractions they were most excited to experience on their next trip! Despite the flurry of new rides that have peppered the parks in recent years, a few familiar favorites still take the cake; Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Today, we are going to drop some Disney Parks Fun Facts on all five of these attractions. So, hang on to your hairpins, because this is going to be one awfully big adventure full of pirates, ghosts, runaway trains, and more!

Pirates of the Caribbean

• One of Walt’s original ideas was for Pirates of the Caribbean to be a swashbuckling walk-through wax museum attraction. Later, Disney Legend Marc Davis groomed the concept into a more interactive walk-through, where guests would experience approximately six various vignettes, each showcasing a short story. However, after a new ride system was developed for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, this idea took to the high seas!

• Early on in the development phase, Walt asked Disney Legend X Atencio to join the. Immediately, X. immersed himself into the scurvy scum of pirate culture. Naturally, he found one of his greatest bits of inspiration from Disney’s live-action blockbuster, Treasure Island.

• Can you imagine a world without Pirates of the Caribbean at Magic Kingdom? Crazy, right?!?! However, believe it or not, Imagineers felt that the attraction would fail to be a hit in Florida given the proximity to the Caribbean. Thankfully, an astounding number of guests complained about its absence from the park that Disney has had no choice but to build the ride in Florida!

The Haunted Mansion

• The Haunted Mansion is the only attraction located in four different lands in four different Disney Parks: New Orleans Square at Disneyland; Liberty Square at Walt Disney World; Fantasyland at Tokyo Disneyland; and Frontierland at Disneyland Paris.

• If you’re ever scared while aboard your Doom Buggy inside The Haunted Mansion, just remember this helpful little fun fact – Paul Frees, voice of the Ghost Host, also provided voices for Ludwig Von Drake, Boris Badenov, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and Tony the Tiger! It’s that GRRREAT!?!?

• Though Imagineers had no idea Pirates of the Caribbean would someday have a baby-sister, they were fully aware that The Haunted Mansion would be spooking up the parks on both coasts! So, there produced the Audio-Animatronics® figures, props and set pieces for both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions at the very same time! Talk about a time saver, huh?

Tower of Terror

• In preparation of creating the Tower of Terror, Imagineers binged all 156 episodes of the thrilling series… twice! Some episodes even received three or four views, as the creators examined specific props, set dressing, music, and more!

• Next time you’re daring enough to enter the 5^th dimension, search closes for a Mickey Mouse cameo!  A Mickey Mouse doll can be found clutched in the hand of “the child star.”

• Tokyo DisneySea features a unique spin on the Tower of Terror attraction, where guests are invited to investigate Harrison Hightower III’s mysterious disappearance thanks to a mysterious idol.

Splash Mountain

• Disney Legend Marc Davis designed many of the Splash Mountain Audio-Animatronics® figures, albeit for America Sings, a Tomorrowland attraction from 1974 through 1988. The America Sings figures were renovated for Splash Mountain, along with new Audio-Animatronics® figures of Brer Bear, Brer Fox, and Brer Rabbit!

Space Mountain

• Though Disneyland gets the honor of opening the first Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion, Walt Disney Word was first to open Space Mountain! Today, there is a Space Mountain in each and every Disney theme park.

• It took 10 years to develop this classic attraction because Walt Disney Imagineering had to wait for developments in technology to catch up to their concept! That’s right, Space Mountain is not only out of this world, but it is also lightyears ahead of its time!

• The Space Mountain rockets only reach a top speed of 28.7 miles per hour. Seems a bit slow, don’t you agree? It is the darkness of the attraction, moving galaxy projections and drops that make the attraction feel much much faster!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

• The sounds of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad trains were recorded and used for the mine cart chase scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

• The mining equipment and tools within Big Thunder Mountain are real life antiques, including a century old stamp mill, hand-driven drill, press gears, picks, shovels and other artifacts from real abandoned mines.

And there you have it, our Disney Parks Fun Facts for Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! We hope you enjoyed our Disney Parks Fun Facts!

Do you have any favorite Disney Parks Fun Facts that you would like to share? Be sure to leave them in our comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Featured Image: Way To Explore The World