What the fairy tale hides: the secrets and rules of Disneyland, which you did not know

Disney parks are favorite entertainment places not only for children, but also for adults. However, if children believe in the ideal world that they see in front of them, then adults often wonder what is hidden behind these fabulous bright decorations.

The veil of secrecy opened edition "Our Texas".

When the night falls

With the advent of darkness in the park there are people who do the dirty work. All year round at night, around 600 gardeners, cleaners, painters and decorators work here, so that in the morning the park, which has an area around 85 acres (34 ha), is perfectly clean.

Although officials do not disclose how much money is spent on the total maintenance of the parks, they say that most of the money is spent on the night shift.

Three employees are solely responsible for repairing and replacing 800 umbrellas, 25 thousands of chairs and about 7 thousands of tables in restaurants and eateries at Disneyland and the nearby California Adventure Park. Four certified divers collect garbage from water and repair water rides such as “Finding Nemo" and "J". A master Patrick pendleton 17-minute music show several times every nightEnchanted Tiki Room»: 225 of mechanical birds and plants are involved in it, and it’s impossible to check at once whether all the characters work correctly.

The work of gardeners is hard enough - after all, they have to put the plants in order at night, in the dark, when pocket lanterns are not enough.

Painters check every detail of the attraction to paint over scratches and chips. They use a special quick-drying paint.

Despite the fact that chewing gum in the park is not for sale, the cleaners scrubbed a huge amount of chewing gum all night long until the park opened, which the children spat out on the asphalt or glued secretly to a bench or table.

A separate time is given to updating the props because of vandals: every time they steal some objects, be it a bamboo branch in an artificial jungle, a skull or even a piece of rope.

Cat Kingdom

Many years ago, cats began to inhabit the park. During the day, they hid among the trees and bushes, and at night they left their shelters for hunting. But the park staff did not begin to expel the animals, but on the contrary, began to support their population, because cats save "Disneyland" from the invasion of rats and mice. Now the park's tailed staff are around 200. They live in special "cat houses". They are cared for, sterilized by adult cats and find a home for kittens born here. In the parks "Disneyland and California Adventure Park»About five permanent feeders, where cats can eat.

At the same time, people in the park are not allowed to stay overnight. From time to time, the security service finds those who wish to spend the night in the country of fairy tales that are hiding on “Tom Sawyer Island” and other attractions. Park management warns: do not even try, the guards know all the secret places to hide.

Фото: Depositphotos

Secret corridors

Legend has it that once Walt Disney saw a cowboy from a theme park "Frontierland"Dedicated to the Wild West, in a fantastic park"Tomorrowland". Being a perfectionist, he considered it impossible for a cowboy to walk around the country of the future, and, for example, an astronaut at a medieval fair. It is impossible that in the world of children's fantasies and dreams something reminded of reality.

Therefore, in all parks there are hidden passages through which heroes disguised as costumes can pass to the desired theme park. In addition, there are warehouses, wardrobe rooms, canteens for the park and kitchen workers, as well as hairdressing salons, emergency rooms and banks for employees. All this is hidden from the eyes of visitors behind the walls of souvenir shops and cafes located in “fake” Disneyland buildings, behind decorative facades, and sometimes underground (there is only one small “underground” corridor in Disneyland, and inDisney World“Built in Florida later, there is a whole system of underground corridors planned in advance). That is why it is almost impossible to see a scavenger walking with a package of garbage through the entire park.

In the park "Disney World"In Florida, there is no need to take out the garbage at all: there is an automated vacuum collection system" AVAC "installed there. Using this system developed in Sweden, garbage from tanks is moved through pneumatic pipes underground at a speed of 60 miles (97 km) per hour. So he gets to the central collection point, located behind the attraction "Splash Mountain"Where processed, compressed or recycled.

Get backstage park "Magic Kingdom World"Can, ordering a special tour"Keys to the Kingdom". This tour is best ordered if your children are older than 16. You can see half-dressed fairy-tale heroes, Mickey Mouse with his own head in his hands and other surprises behind the scenery of the park, and therefore workers call this tour “Murder the magic».

Secret "33 Club"

There is a door on Disneyland Square in New Orleans, above which there are no signs or identifying signs. This is an entry for members of the club "33". The club was founded in 1967 year and is named after the number of sponsors. The clubhouse is located just above the attraction.The Pirates of the Caribbean ride", And is intended for private parties with celebrities, politicians and investors. This is the only institution in the Disneyland, where alcohol is poured. Club members include actor Johnny Depp, musician Elton John, companies Boeing, Chevron and AT&T. The clubhouse is decorated with antiques personally chosen by Walt Disney and his wife.

There are about 500 members in total, and the list of applicants on the waiting list is very long. So for years people are waiting for a chance to pay an entrance fee of $ 25 thousand with an additional annual membership fee of $ 10 thousand. But even money does not guarantee invitations to the club: the biographical data of each applicant is strictly checked.

Walt Disney Apartments

During the construction of the park, Walt Disney spent a lot of time here, so a small apartment was equipped for it in the fire station Main Street, at the main gate. Emil Kuri, who worked as a decorator in many Disney films, became the apartment's decorator.

It was in this apartment in 1955 that, standing by the window, Disney watched the entrance of the first visitors on the opening day of the Disneyland park. Here he also spent a lot of time with his family - his wife Lillian and two daughters. The apartment was equipped with a small kitchen, bathroom and even a patio, hidden from human eyes. Here Lilian loved to have tea parties with guests.

Walt used to work at a small writing desk by the window overlooking the main street. The light of the desk lamp served as a sign for the park workers that their boss was in place. After the death of Disney, this lamp is always on, as if reminding visitors that the creator of the amusement park is always with us. The light of the lamp can be seen when it gets dark, if you stand in front of the building of the fire station. Or, once inside the apartment, you can order a separate tour.Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps, Which runs twice a day.

As part of this tour you can also visit a large luxury apartment. The Disneyland Dream Suite area in 2200 square. feet, which is located in the same place where the "Club 33" - on the Square of New Orleans.

Another apartment for famous clients (area - 650 sq. Ft) is located in the park "Disney World»At Cinderella's Castle. It was originally planned that Walt Disney would remain in it during his visits to Florida, but he died five years before the park opened.

Фото: Depositphotos

Interesting Facts

• Inside the attraction "Matterhorn Mountain“Right at the top of the mountain there is a small basketball court. It is used by employees for recreation, and climbers working on the attraction are trained here.
• In Disney parks, the “No Sad Children” rule applies. This rule allows the park staff to treat ice cream for free or to give a souvenir to a child who is crying.
• Employees will never show you the direction with one index finger, only a hand or two fingers, since in many cultures it is considered offensive or indecent to show with one finger.
• «Disney World"In second place in the United States in the number of ordered explosives for fireworks. In the first place - the US Army.
• In water rides Disney Bromine, not bleaching powder, is used for disinfection. Although this tool is more expensive, the administration buys it, so that there is no specific smell of the pool and the clothes of the visitors do not spoil.
• There are Disney prisons in the parks. And although many deliberately get up something to get there, nothing special is there - just a waiting room, where you sit until “sentencing” for your tricks. This is usually a ban on visiting the park for a year, or even for a lifetime, as for the famous singer Justin Bieber, who hit Mickey Mouse between his legs.

How Disney rules us

You enter the park, walk along the main street with souvenir shops and shops with sweets. It smells of caramel and pastries, and you really want to buy something tasty. You think that you decided so, in fact, a tricky trick has influenced your decision: this alluring caramel aroma spreads from small openings in buildings. And when you go to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, it smells like sea water. At the attraction "Haunted Mansion»The smell of a musty old house and damp earth. You get an impression at several levels, including at the level of smell, and came up with this device with smells called “Smellitzer»Walt Disney employee Bob McCarthy. Bob and his colleagues chose around 300 different smells from thousands of 3, the distribution of which is regulated using a computer system.

Also, employees of the company came up with a paint color, which they called “Go away green"(" Green, pass by "). This gray-green paint of a pale, inexpressive shade painted those objects in the park, to see which, in the opinion of the park employees, visitors are not necessarily: fences, shops, garbage cans.

According to park workers, there is a group of employees in “Disneyland” and other parks Guest Controlwho direct the flow of visitors in the right direction, so much so that no one even guesses that they were sent there. The tricks are incredibly simple, but surprisingly effective. For example, after the night show “Fantasmic!»You need to quickly lead the audience to the exit in order to give the audience the opportunity to go to the next show. The park is already dark, and along the road a set of illuminated shopping carts with luminous toys are installed so that guests walk to the exit without turning, while buying toys that are almost impossible not to buy.

Cemetery in disneyland?

It is said that many people before the death will bequeath to dispel their ashes in the attraction of "Disneyland" "The Haunted Mansion". In 1994, a former employee of Disneyland David Koenig released a bookMouse tales”, Which tells one of these stories. Allegedly, one tourist group once asked the park management to give them extra time to travel on this attraction in memory of a deceased family member, an 7-year-old boy. Permission was granted, but then it turned out that the small family memorial service was only part of the plan. Seated in a special seat "doom buggies», Which move along the rails, they began to dispel the ashes of the deceased. The attraction immediately ceased its operation and was closed until everything was cleaned.

According to the stories of other workers, this was not the only incident. A couple of times a year, families turn to the park management with such requests, and the management always refuses. However, many decide to dispel the ashes of deceased relatives in secret, forgetting about hidden cameras.

Find the mouse

If zoo workers are actively fighting with real rodents and even have brought a whole detachment of cats to catch rats and mice, the image of the famous mouse Mickey Mouse, on the contrary, is distributed everywhere. The outline of Mickey's head can be found on many objects in the park as small, barely noticeable details. Even a bun in a cafe can be made in the shape of a mouse's head - three circles connected to each other. Classic benches in the park are also made in the shape of the head of Mickey.

There are special websites on the Internet where hunters “behind the mouse head” post photos of the trophies found.

Character selection

Heroes of "Disneyland" are divided into two groups. One group wears both costumes and an artificial head - those who play animals, gnomes from “Snow White” and others. Another group of characters plays “people”. At first, everyone is selected for height, so that the actors from different shifts have the same build and can get into the character's costume. Moreover, male and female villains (witches, Cinderella's stepmother) are tall, and Cinderella, Rapunzel and other heroines are shorter. Those who play children (Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan) are even smaller.

“Get ready to spend on samples up to 6 hours,” warns the recruiter from Disney college program. The color of hair and eyes is not important, since everything can be changed with the help of wigs and contact lenses. The main thing is to show your ability to mimic silently the movement of the cartoon characters, to be able to dance. Then you are sent to make-up, you put on a suit. Next, there is a briefing on how the character should sound, how to talk and move, or what the emphasis should be. Then you are photographed in costumes, and you are waiting for the decision of the casting directors.

But even if you were selected for the role of Prince or Cinderella, the first weeks before training you should “sweat” in the costume of Winnie the Pooh or another animal character. The outfit usually weighs about 50 pounds (about 23 kg) and leads to a lot of injuries due to the fact that it is inconvenient to walk and poorly visible.

Then you start the rehearsals of the "human" role. For five days, the actors watch the cartoons, memorize the quotes of the hero who is portrayed. Also, the actors are taught themselves to impose makeup, and even correctly sign autographs. Many fans collect similar signatures of their favorite cartoon characters from year to year, and they should look the same.

Фото: Depositphotos

Disneyland Actor Rules

Former employees share secrets on the Internet about how hard it is to be a “Disney Hero”. You yourself have to put on make-up and dress, which takes a lot of time, you can’t sit down while working, you always need to smile, and if you’re not in a suit, you can’t tell which of the characters you are depicting in the park pages in social networks. Sufferings are compensated for a good salary for a novice actor or a student as a student - from 10 to 14 dollars per hour, depending on the length of service in this role. But every six months or a year you need to re-take acting tests, and they can fire you even if you have recovered a little or have reached a certain age (one Snow White was fired in 27 years).

According to the actors, the most difficult thing is to be able not to leave the role in any situation and to be able to answer the awkward questions of children who can put an adult at a standstill. For example, one boy told a girl in the role of Pocahontas that, in fact, the real Pocahontas died a long time ago.

“I was with the class at your grave last year!” He reported to her.

And the most wonderful thing is to talk with children who are really sure that they meet their favorite characters. Many people also recall how they barely held back tears when they met with terminally ill children who come to the park with the help of a charitable society.Make-a-wish».

“I'm glad that my face was hidden in tears,” says the former Mickey Mouse. “Because the kid told me that he wanted to meet me before he met Jesus.”

Nothing human is alien

According to the Disneyland heroes, not children, but adults behave badly in the park. At the same time, according to the rules, fairy tale characters should pay attention to children, not their parents.

I wonder how the actors manage to stay in the image when adult visitors behave aggressively or strangely? Some people rush to embrace, and some may strike. Superhero actor in "Disney California Adventure Park»Complained that some drunken lady pinched his ass. Also adult visitors slip little notes with phone numbers.

Personal relationships between employees in the park are prohibited. There is a rule that they call "Three" D "("DDD "-" Don't Date Disney"). However, there is still having novels. As a result, managers are often faced with the fact that it is urgent to replace Jasmine with an actress from another shift, because Aladdin changed Jasmine with Rapunzel. Jasmine has a nervous breakdown, and she weeps in the toilet, and Aladdin answers the children's questions where his beloved has gone.

Some thus lose their jobs.

“I once kissed a colleague. A family with five small children walked by, and one of them asked: "Mom, why does the Mermaid's fiancee kiss with her fiancé Rapunzel?". After that both of us were fired, ”the hapless groom complains.

No matter how hard the leaders of Disney parks try to protect the fairy tale from reality, reality always takes over. Even in the happiest place on earth.

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