In 1953, Walt Disney created a company that was separate from the Disney Studios called "WED" (for "Walter Elias Disney"). The company was formed in order to take over the design and construction of attractions for Disneyland, so as not to put any additional financial burden on the parent company. The company was later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), and continues to create, renovate and expand all of the Walt Disney Company's theme parks.
There are more than 20,000 different colors of paint used in Walt Disney World.
There are enough of the famous "Mouse Ear" hats sold each year to cover the head of every man, woman and child in Pittsburgh and enough Disney character T-shirts are sold in Walt Disney World each year to put Mickey Mouse's smiling face on the chest of every person in Chicago.
When Walt Disney World turned 15 years old in 1986, prizes were given out every 15 seconds. Guests were given a ticket upon entering the park that let them know if they won anything from small buttons to full-sized automobiles!
The real town of Marceline, Missouri has a school named after its most famous resident. About 320 children from grades Kindergarten to 5th attend Walt Disney Elementary School. There are other schools bearing the same name in Burbank, California; Alvin Texas; Rochester, New York, and numerous other states.
Walt Disney originally wanted to name Mickey "Mortimer", but his wife Lillian convinced him to change the name during a train ride from New York to California.
Walt Disney, the visionary behind the entire Disney empire, attended only one year of high school.
According to Kodak, 4% of all amateur photographs worldwide are taken at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
By 1978, guests visiting Walt Disney World spent more money on merchandise than on food.
Walt Disney World is the largest supporter of the "Give Kids the World" program, providing over 50,000 tickets a year and special services and wish fulfillment for terminally ill children and their families.
To keep the Magic consistent, the characters that sing during the parades are all lip-synching to prerecorded music. Many of the Cast Members who perform in the parades and shows are often chosen for their looks, personality and ability to dance rather than their singing talent (or lack of any!).
As part of Disney's commitment to the environment and the local community, used and excess building materials are sent to the Orange County Distribution Center, where they are distributed to local non-profit organizations. Construction and demolition waste amounts to around 620 tons (or 1,240,000 pounds) a year.
Both Walt and Roy Disney passed away in the month of December - Walt on December 15, 1966, and and Roy on December 20, 1971, just about 2 months after his brother's dream of Walt Disney World opened its doors to the public.
Walt Disney World welcomes millions of international, and offers numerous amenities to cater to the foreign visitor including telephone information in almost any language, guidebooks to the four major parks written in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Japanese, and currency exchanges. Even park Cast Members who speak foreign languages wear a badge with the flag of that country on their name tags to make themselves recognizable and accessible to international guests.
Disney doesn't allow any pets into the theme parks, with the exception of service animals such as guide dogs for the blind, (although pets are welcome at certain locations within Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, such as the full hook-up campsites). So, while you're on vacation, your pet can have a magical time at one of the five Pet Care Kennels, each of which is a member of the American Boarding Kennel Association, found at all four theme parks and the Fort Wilderness Campground.
Mickey Mouse has about 175 different outfits in his wardrobe, including a scuba suit and a tuxedo. Minnie Mouse's massive "walk-in closet" contains about 200 outfits, including a cheerleader costume and various evening gowns.
Disney World bought about 150,000 gallons of paint -- enough to cover nearly 7,500 average sized homes in 2004
Number of miles buses travel annually: nearly 18 million.
If you were to stack all of the buttons used by the Costuming Plant Seam Team in one year, you would have a stack 96 times taller than the height of Cinderella's Castle.
Number of trees, shrubs and flowers on property: more than 7 million
Daily water usage: 15 million gallons 2,000 acres of turf. At three mowings a week, that adds up to 450,000 mower miles per year, or 18 trips around the Earth at the equator.
Largest working wardrobe in the world with more than 1.5 million operational garments in use and over 7,000 different garment types. In addition there are over 2 million pieces of entertainment costumes. Each day the costuming plant processes between 27,000 and 31,000 garments.
More than 50 million soft drinks sold annually.10 million hamburgers, 7 million hot dogs, 9 million pounds of french fries and 300,000 pounds of popcorn sold annually.
Every year, Walt Disney World:
Uses 194,871 miles of toilet tissue
Uses 24,409 miles of paper towels
Uses 319,353 lbs. of chocolate
Uses 1.2 million pounds of watermelon
Uses 741,150 pounds of sugar
Uses 1.8 million pounds of flour
Uses 245,000 pounds of fruit filling
Uses 38,000 pounds of white icing glaze
Uses 2.9 million pounds of eggs
Uses 606,000 pounds of bananas
Uses 510,000 of grapes
Serves more than 1.5 million soft pretzels
Serves more than 639,000 pounds of macaroni and cheese
Orders more than 3.8 million ballpoint pens
Orders more than 337,000 pencils
Uses nearly 148 million sheets of recycled copier paper
Uses 730,102 gallons of bleach
$1.7 million worms are ordered each year to feed animals at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
214,000 bandages were provided to guests during the year 2004
In 2004, Walt Disney World recycled 18,322,000 pounds of paper products.
