The Unofficial Guide to Things They Hope You Don't Notice

Clusty · Post by **Clusty** » Jul Sat 18, 2009 12:20 am

Wow, I can't believe Disney hasn't done something to cover that up. It really is an eyesore.

noledawg · Post by **noledawg** » Jul Sat 18, 2009 9:21 am

Len90 wrote:Up until recently, there was the big waste of land in MK where 20,000 leagues used to be. That was a bad eye sore.

Also, there is the Millenium Pavilion at EPCOT which you can get a sneak peak of if you look through the gate. It is scary that the building still looks exactly as it did for the one year that it was open.

We can also add the old Discovery Island to the list along with the STOLport (small takeoff and landing strip). For those unfamiliar with this, the Take-off and landing strip was built sometime in the very late 1960's to early 1970 while the MK was being built. It is located to the right off of World Drive just after the MK toll plaza. It can be accessed from World Drive and I believe from Fort Wilderness. Also it is viewable from the EPCOT monorail. The strip was built to serve as a small landing spot for the corporate planes and for a commuter flight that operated between Orlando McCoy (then only known as McCoy Airfield) and the STOL. It was about a 10 minute flight operated by Shawnee Airlines. They flew 19 seat twin propeller De Havilland planes. The strip operated through the 70's and was closed down sometime in the 1980's. The STOLport is currently serves 2 purposes. It is an overflow lot for buses and the staging area for construction vehicles. As of recently, a lot of construction vehicles were seen parked here for the construction of the Bay Lake Tower.

Those who have more information on this STOLport, please feel free to share as I feel I have barely scratched the surface!o

Regarding the STOLport, I think technically it may have been on airport maps into the early 80s, but everything I have read (what little there is) suggests that it was used extremely rarely, like into the mid-70s, but very little after that. It officially went out of commission when they built the EPCOT monorail track, since the idea of taking a small plane just above a monorail beam didn't really fly (no pun intended).

Though I do agree Jim Hill is an idiot and an angry, tired old man, sometimes he posts some things that (assuming they are true), are worth reading. Check this out about the STOLport. http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ ... 8/554.aspx. Some neat stuff about the rumble strip sounds one could hear upon landing.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Sat 18, 2009 1:00 pm

You can also now see the Balloon from DTD in the background of China/Germany. I dont have a picture handy but it defnitely stuck out on my last trip down there.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Jul Mon 20, 2009 6:17 pm

DisBeamer wrote:...ToT was colored that way by design, specifically because you could see it as 'part of' Morocco; that's been mentioned in a few Imagineer-y books I have/have seen.

More evidence that it's purposeful is the matching lighting you can see at night.

Post by **Len90** » Jul Tue 21, 2009 11:04 pm

On this past trip we decided to rent a boat from the Wilderness Lodge so we could explore the seven seas. Of course our first stop was River Country and it was quite creepy. We also went around Discovery Island.

Another thing I noticed is the ceilings in attractions. In the queue to TSMM after you climb the stairs, I decided to take a picture of the ceiling. After looking at he picture, I get to see what is above. There are fire sprinkler pipes, airvents, and what appears to be black ceiling tiles. It's pretty cool.0

agingerbugg · Post by **agingerbugg** » Aug Fri 14, 2009 8:24 am

I was playing around with Google Maps the other day and realized how badly Eisner and his crew maimed Mickey Mouse.

Here is what he looked like before the stuffed shirts got their hands on him.

Mr.ToadWildRider · Post by **Mr.ToadWildRider** » Aug Fri 14, 2009 11:19 am

agingerbugg wrote:I was playing around with Google Maps the other day and realized how badly Eisner and his crew maimed Mickey Mouse.

Here is what he looked like before the stuffed shirts got their hands on him.

To be fair, the first picture I see a distinct side profile of Mickey, although I agree it's not as clear as the older image of his face.

Where are these shots of by the way? MGM/DS? The first is definitely DS, with Gertie's lagoon on the right and the Hat to the left and the 2nd appears to be a shot from behind the GMR looking down towards the main entrance? Seeing as how Eisner helped create MGM I think it might be a tad unfair to also say he maimed Mickey.

Post by **Len90** » Aug Sat 15, 2009 2:46 am

That second picture looks like it is from around 1992-1993 since it looks like there is construction underway for ToT. I am not happy with what has happened to that Mickey, but in all fairness the trees have grown over the 16 years since that second picture was taken making the eyes tougher to be seen. The hat was a bad ides, but it now makes Mickey look like he has a big nose... almost like he just told you a lie. I am saddened that the left ear is gone. Is that Rockin Roller Coaster that destroyed the ear?

noledawg · Post by **noledawg** » Aug Sat 15, 2009 10:38 am

I don't know if that's RNR, must be a shop? Villains in Vogue or the candy store or something?

agingerbugg · Post by **agingerbugg** » Aug Sun 16, 2009 9:33 am

Len90 wrote:Is that Rockin Roller Coaster that destroyed the ear?

It isn't Rockin' Roller Coaster, I believe it is Playhouse Disney. That building is there in the older picture, they just removed the paint.

Soarin08 · Post by **Soarin08** » Aug Fri 21, 2009 5:03 pm

packwingfn wrote:You can also now see the Balloon from DTD in the background of China/Germany. I dont have a picture handy but it defnitely stuck out on my last trip down there.

Like this?

Took that on my cell phone waiting for Illuminations.

Post by **Len90** » Aug Sat 22, 2009 4:36 pm

Yeah I've seen that. It really saddens me to see how no thought went into that. Disney strived so hard to match the Tower of Terror to Morocco, but they let a balloon sit above Germany.

Soarin08 · Post by **Soarin08** » Aug Sat 22, 2009 11:37 pm

It looks like a big creepy yellow glowing moon.....

Very out of place.

metsofny · Post by **metsofny** » Aug Sun 23, 2009 12:31 am

I guess they hoped you wouldn't notice google Earth.

Soarin08 · Post by **Soarin08** » Aug Sun 23, 2009 7:18 pm

metsofny wrote:I guess they hoped you wouldn't notice google Earth.

Well the park certainly looked less crowded and cramped back when that was taken.