Subscribe for FREE!
Receive our Daily Disney Newsletter.
Have the best in Disney News & Views Delivered to you!
Tag Archives: Walt Disney Imagineering
Do You Speak the Disney’s Language?
The world of Walt Disney entertainment is so unique it requires its own language. Some words originated directly from Walt and his Imagineers. Others, it seems, have grown into their own Disneyness and have acquired new meanings along the way.
Attraction = a theme park ride or show
Audio animatronics = realistic robotics that bring 3-D effect to an Attraction
Automagic = play on automatic; the Disney way of making things magically happen
Backstage = a park area not accessible to guests
Cast Member = a Disney theme park or resort employee
Casting center = theme park or resort employment office
Costume = the uniform worn by a Cast Member
Crew Member = Disney Cruise Line employee
Disney point = to point with index and middle finger together; in some cultures it is rude to point with only one finger
Earffel Tower = water tower at DHS; example of wienie
Epcot = from EPCOT, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow
E-Ticket = the newest, best, most popular attraction; stems from former system of ride coupons ranking rides A-E (A were least popular, E most popular)
Fantasmic = lights, lasers, fireworks, and waterworks show at DHS
FastPass = ticket generated to assign Guest a time to return to a busy Attraction without waiting in long line
Guest = visitor to Disney theme park or resort
Hallowishes = special Magic Kingdom fireworks during MNSSHP Halloween celebrations
IllumiNations = fireworks at Epcot
Imagineer = employee of Walt Disney Imagineering (formerly Walter Elias Disney, WED Enterprises); combination of imagine+engineer; scientists and artists who design the Attractions
Innovention = innovation+invention
Mousekeeping = resort housekeeping/maid service
Mouseketeer = play on musketeer; cast members of the TV show The Mickey Mouse Club
On stage = any area where a Cast Member might be seen by Guests
Philharmagic = philharmonic+magic 3-D film at MK
PhotoPass = barcoded card/web access to photos taken by Cast Member photographers
Plussing = constantly striving to improve a project even when it is considered complete
Pooh-sized = big, like Pooh Bear
Protein spill = term used by Cast Members to indicate someone has vomited
Show = everything that encompasses an Attraction or park feature; all the effects & mood setters that combine to make it feel like you’re walking into that world
Utilidors = utility+corridors The underground tunnels at Magic Kingdom that provide access for maintenance, Cast Members, readying, etc.
VoluntEARS = The Disney VoluntEARS program provides opportunities for Cast Members to contribute their time and expertise to charitable causes.
Wienie = a visual Attraction or landmark that can be seen by Guests from far away; it is used to guide visitors through park, i.e. Cinderella Castle
Wishes = Magic Kingdom fireworks
The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Disney has announced via the summer edition of Mickey Monitor, the newsletter for Annual Passholders, that a new attraction will be coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow will be “will be a first-of-its-kind sensory experience in which Guests will have the chance to be enveloped by the world of the Pirates of the Caribbean® as seen in the four feature films.” It is assumed that the new attraction will be located in Stage 4 which was the home to Journey Into Narnia. Jason Roberts, Walt Disney Imagineering Project Manager and Show Producer the new attraction says that “This is going to be an immersive experience” and that they will “put our Guests in the middle of it all in new and exciting ways.”
While it was first reported that this attraction would open this summer, the Disney Parks Blog posted today that it would not open until this fall. An official opening date will be announced later this year. I am excited to see what this new attraction will include. I always liked the idea of Journey into Narnia but I was let down by the actual attraction. I love seeing props from films and I think this is something that Hollywood Studios has been missing.
Related articles
- Top 5 Hollywood Studios Traditions (chipandco.com)
- Top 3 Snacks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (chipandco.com)
Disney Cast Members’ Children Win National Safety Poster Contest
Two Disney Cast Members are the proud parents of children being honored next month in Washington D.C. as winners of the American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) annual ‘Safety-on-the-Job’ poster contest.
First-place honors went to Victor Fan, the 13-year-old son of Ming Fan, who works in merchandise at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, while 5-year-old Takoda Paschel, the daughter of Christie Paschel with Walt Disney Imagineering, placed third in her age group.
In addition to the awards ceremony and earning a savings bond, the winners will have their posters featured on billboards in Central Florida when North American Occupational Safety and Health Week kicks off May 6.
“As a company that encourages our Cast Members to talk about safety while at work, we’re thrilled when they bring the conversation home and discuss the importance of safety with their children,” said Trevor Larsen, vice president of worldwide safety for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “The annual safety poster contest is a creative way to get kids engaged in thinking about the importance of safety and we were proud to sponsor so many entries from the children of our Cast Members.”
The goal of the contest is to teach children about the importance of safety and help them learn about careers in occupational safety and health. This year’s contest drew a record number of entries, more than 2,300 posters were submitted from the U.S. and 11 other countries, including more than 200 entries from Disney Cast Members’ children and their friends.
Related articles
- Disney Releases Wreck-It Ralph Poster (chipandco.com)
- Orange Bird Returns to Sunshine Tree Terrace D23 Event, Vintage Props from Horizons, Original Journey Into Imagination, Mr. Toad and More – Photos and Video (jefflangedvd.com)
Disney Confidential – Fantasyland Expansion Gossip
Here there guys and gals Anonymouse here.
We get tons of questions here on Chip and Co about the Fantasyland Expansion. The biggest one is when is it going to open? While I would love to see it open as soon as possible but unfortunately an Expansion this size is going to take some time. Not to mention we are coming up on the busy season at the parks and Disney is not going to open anything when the park is SLAMMED.
But I wouldn’t be a gossip columnist if I didn’t have some tidbits to share. Here is what I do know..
The Little Mermaid Dark Ride is pretty much finished. Navigating to the ride is another story. If you remember way back when Disney said they were going to open the new area in stages but I think through construction issues and ride placement they are going to do the whole thing at once.
Lets be honest wouldn’t you rather have the whole area opened at one time with a big ceremony and not a little here and a little there? I know Chip suffers from Veruca Salt syndrome and wants it now! I think were just going to have to wait a little longer than expected.
I would venture to say we probably won’t see a grand opening till 2013. You can get a good idea on how the construction is going over here on the WDW Magic site.
I know what you’re gonna say now. But Anonymouse how come they opened Storybook Circus already?? That’s easy it’s because that area already had a way in and out
Overall I think it would be wise for Disney to release some details and not rely on the words of Imagineers. They could do a nice little press conference and give us a full update on the park instead of bit and pieces from Gossip Columns like this one 
Anywho that is all the Disney Gossip I have right now. For my past Gossip articles be sure to check them out here.
Got any good gossip/rumors? Please email me at AnonyMouse@chipandco.com or on my Facebook Page
Related articles
- Fantasyland Construction Update At Disney World’s Magic Kingdom (onlywdworld.com)
- New Burger Restaurant Coming to Downtown Disney? (chipandco.com)
Storybook Circus ‘soft-opens’ at Magic Kingdom Park Photos
This week was a big day for the Magic Kingdom! The first phase of the new Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland “soft” opened to guests including:
- The first part of “Dumbo, the Flying Elephant,” with Dumbo spinning clockwise for the first time in Magic Kingdom history
- “The Barnstormer, Starring The Great Goofini,” a family coaster attraction featuring Mickey’s best pal and
- “The Fantasyland Train Station,” one of the three stops for The Walt Disney World Railroad.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
“The Storybook Circus area pays tribute to the traveling circuses of the 1950s and 1960s – the setting for Walt Disney’s Dumbo – and we’ve put a lot of signature Imagineer details into every nook and cranny” said Chris Beatty, Creative Director, Fantasyland Expansion for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Dumbo, one of the circus’ most famed acts, flies guests around the Big Top area – featuring shiny new red and gold colors (inspired by ‘50s- and ‘60s-era tin toys), newly-created signature illustrations from one of the animators of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” and a beautiful new water feature circling the base of the attraction – a first for the Magic Kingdom Park attraction.
“We were truly honored to be asked to design the new Dumbo,” Beatty said. “Every time a new piece of it came in, it would get us excited all over again.”
The Storybook Circus has just set up shop and peanuts, hoof and paw prints can be seen in the walkways – remnants of the circus animals and guests milling about the area.
The Great Goofini, the circus’ stuntman, presents for guests one of his most daring stunts – The Barnstormer – which features an amazing array of aerial acrobatics. Some of the Great Goofini’s other stunts can be seen in posters around the circus area including “Bear Wrasslin” and “Aquamaniac.” The stunts and posters are a tip of the hat to some of the great Goofy short subjects of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
And the Fantasyland Train Station design pays homage to both the elegant train travel of America’s past and Disney history, complete with a Casey-Junior-inspired weather vane and Carolwood Park sign, with “Fair Weather Place,” a nod to “Fair Weather Route,” Walt’s tag line for the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, the steam engine Walt Disney had running through his backyard.
The attractions are in what we, in the biz, call “soft opening,” which means that they will be open at certain times and not at others.
This is just the first phase in what will become the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom Park history – nearly doubling the size of Fantasyland.
Related articles
- Fantasyland’s Storybook Circus Will Open By Late March, Snow White Closing May 31st (chipandco.com)
- Soft Opening of Storybook Circus and New Buses Coming to Walt Disney World (chipandco.com)
