One of the great things – possibly the best thing – about living in Walt Disney World is that you can look sneeringly at random vacation photos and haughtily announce that you know exactly where that picture was taken. For instance, a close-up of a duck’s head with a smidgen of white rock visible in […]
Lost and Abandoned Disney Details
Tomorrowland Grassy Knoll
Grassy Knoll, as shot by Abraham Zapruder. If you’re a serious park fan, then you’ve seen the film by now. A gritty Super-8 movie, the colors bleeding at the edges, the background overexposed by the harsh Florida sun. The frame jitters from the amateur camerawork. The scenery streaks with every fast pan. History in the […]
The Last Trace of the Walt Disney World Shopping Village Kaleidoscope
The Walt Disney World Shopping Village Kaleidoscope was once the area’s tallest landmark. It disappeared with the arrival of Downtown Disney.
Who you calling dummy… DUMMY!
Test Track is full of dummies. They get smashed and pounded in the queue, during the preshow and on the ride itself. These dummies were made to be abused; fiberglass and steel can take a great deal of punishment. Ummmm, wrong dummies. Carmakers use these crash test dummies to beat up, they are stand-ins, […]
Did This Swiss Family Treehouse Cannon Protect Against Swan Boat Attacks?
If Hans Gruber wanted to attack Adventureland, he’d stand a pretty good chance at turning that Tiki Room pagoda into the next Nakatomi Tower, but everything is else is too much work. The Magic Carpets are guarded by spitting camels, the Jungle Cruise is too spread out, and the Pirates of the Caribbean has all […]
Just Us Chickens
Today I’d like you to meet the only animatronics in Toontown. These lovely ladies may not look like much, but when it comes to three-dimensional moving figures, they’re all you’re gonna get. Everything else is either a statue, a painting, or some college kid in a foam rubber suit. These gals aren’t that hard to […]
Run Tiger Run!
Well you cannot turn on the news today without talk of Tiger this or Tiger that and we here at Parkeology.com are not immune to the salacious speculation of what exactly went wrong with Tiger. Me strong, you pretty… Of course our Tiger is not THE Tiger… our Tiger is what […]
Treasure of the Incas Still Buried Under DisneyQuest Basement
DisneyQuest itself is a virtual treasure trove for parkeologists. Even Alien Encounter, that beloved Magic Kingdom classic, still has a presence here. But on the ground floor, just around the corner from the Virtual Jungle Cruise, in an area currently occupied by a bunch of Jungle Safari-themed video games, there is a lost treasure just […]
The Hall of Imagineers (or how a mop saved the day)
The great thing about parkeology is that you never know where it is going to lead you. Such was the case as I did research on Richard Nixon’s many connections to the Disney parks. As I mentioned in that piece Nixon was the sitting president when the Hall of Presidents opened in 1971, the […]