Brought down by gravity: Disneyland's Skyway ride permanently closed due to a falling guest?
It was believed by many that the famous Skyway ride at Disneyland was closed and removed in November of 1994 because a visitor to the park fell out of the ride a few months earlier. Actually, the skyway ride was closed for purely economic reasons; Before the incident even
happened, Disney management was contemplating closure of the ride - not for fear of similar future incidents, but because of a number of cost related reasons, including the age and limited passenger capacity of the ride's air gondolas, the manpower required to maintain the ride, the cost of necessary future maintainence on the ride, and the cost that would be involved in bringing the ride upto newer safety and access codes.The incident in question occured in April 1994, and involved a young man falling out of one of the ride's cars, landing in a tree below. Although the case went to court, the victim eventually admitted that he had actually been climbing out of the car and fell as a result. His suit against Disney was dismissed.
Flash Mountain: Do female riders of the Splash Mountain amusement ride really bare their breasts to the camera taking their picture at the end of the ride?
Apparently, the practise of female riders of the Splash Mountain water ride baring their breasts has been quite common. There is an automated camera system set up to photograph riders as they pass through the final waterfall stage of the ride. After disembarking, riders are given the opportunity to purchase a copy of the picture showing their time on the ride. However it is not uncommon for female riders to pull up their shirt (or to have them pulled up by a fellow passenger) so that they are caught on film. When this happens the photo is not offered at the end of the ride. Apparently, if you are on the ride and this happens and you lose your opportunity to buy apicture because of the actions of another rider, you can tell this to the ride operators and they will get you right back on the ride without waiting in the line up so that you can go again and get your photo op at the end. Almost makes you hope that someone decides to 'bare all' at the end just so you can go again!
The Higher Court: Is there really a basketball court hidden inside the top of Matterhorn Mountain?
The short answer is 'yes'. The longer answer is 'sort of'. Up at the top of Disneyland's Matterhorn Mountain there is acrampped attic space where the mountain climbing performers/cast members can hang out while waiting for their next 'performance' or while sitting out inclement weather. At one point, a cast member brought up a basketball hoop and backboard, and some basic half court markings were put down. considering that the half court set up is smaller than a regulation half court, it is only loosely even a half court.
A popular Disney myth is that when the Matterhorn was built in 1959 it included the court set up to get around Anaheim city zoning laws that restricted building height except in the case of sports facility construction. This is not true however: the law in question was not created until the early 1970s - a good ten yeras after Matterhorn's construction. As well, there would have been no way that such asmall segment of the mountain's construction would have got it through such an ordinance. Neat legend though.
Haunted Mansion heart attack: Was the now famous Disney Haunted Mansion attraction temporarily closed down and remodeled soon after opening due to a visitor's fright-induced heart attack?
The claim here is that shortly after its opening, a visitor to the new attraction was so severly frightened during his time there that he suffered a 'fright induced' heart attack. The attraction was subsequently closed and completely remodelled to tame down the fear factor for future guests.
Not true. Construction on the Haunted Mansion exhibit was originally started in 1962 and was slated to be completed by 1963; however, a number of factors , such as the 1964 New York World's Fair and the death of Walt Disney in 1966, delayed completion of the attraction and it was not finished and opened to the public until 1969 . A likely reason for this rumour having any legs is because even though the attraction was not completed until 69 , the exterior facade was finished much earlier (by 1963 , to be precise) so visitors to the park at this time could clearly see the outside of the exhibit even though it had not yet opened to the public. Throw into the mix the fact that at one time the attraction was being promoted to visitors to the park in 1961 as being ready for a future opening of 1963, as well as the fact that it was previewed in a 1965 episode of "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color", and you can see how such a tale could quite easily take root in the minds of many.
Of course considering that the interior of the building was never actually completed until 1968 it is quite impossible for the exhibit to have had an earlier opening and subsequent closing. According to sources at Disney, other than routine maintenance the only tweak of the attraction aimed at toning it down was the lessening of the volume and intensity of the jumping heads in the attic section of the tour.
Not so 'plane' truth: Is the plane included as part of the Great movie Ride attraction at Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios theme park really the actual plane used in the famous final scene in the classic film Casablanca?
For some time now, Disney cast members have touted the Lockheed Electra 12 that is part of the Casablanca segment of The Great Movie ride as being the actual one used in the now classic film. A claim like this is sure to add an air of authenticity to such an attraction, but the cold hard truth is that it is impossible for the plane to be one used in the film. Once you look back at a key detail of the making of the movie itself, the reasons for me saying this are obvious.
The movie Casablanca was shot during 1942 , soon after the attack on Pearl Harbour and restrictions on access to airports and other aircraft facilities for purposes of filming meant that the now famous final airport scene was not actually filmed on an any airport runway but instead on one of the Warner Bros. studio lot soundstages. Furthermore, because the lot was not big enough to accommodate an actual Lockheed Electra 12 aircraft, the studio had to construct a half size model and a quarter size model for the various shots. To conceal this fact, the set was shrouded in fog (not a natural occurence for the film's setting) and midgets wardrobbed in maintenance crew overalls were hired to work around the larger plane model to further conceal the size discrepancy.
In fact the studio originally did acquire an actual Lockheed for filming but soon realized that the limited space of their sound stage meant that it would be impractical to use it for shooting. the whole story of how Disney aquired their plane and the story behind its own history can be found here.
Disney on ice: Was Walt Disney's body cryogenically preserved after his death?
For decades now this has been a popular and often parodied piece of Disney lore that has refused to go away.
Walt Disney died from complications of his ongoing battle with lung cancer in 1966, a month and a half after having his left lung removed. Disney was an intensely private person and had left instructions with his family that he did not want a public funeral ( for years, Disney had told those around him that funerals truly bothered him and that he would rather be remembered by people as he was when alive with little reminder of his passing). the facts of his passing are all a matter of public record: the time and cause of death, his choice to be cremated, as well as the location of his final resting place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale California (on a plot reserved for his family members). The delay in announcing his death to the public can largely be attributed to the need to first inform family and studio colleagues of his passing, and not to the efforts of underlings to spirit his body away for freezing.
However there is acertain morbid fascination that comes from delving into the subject of cryogenics. By the time of Disney's passing, the concept of freezing the dead for future revival was already being explored in print; the subject of cryogenic freezing was already being discussed in both books and magazine articles of the time. It is totally conceivable that Disney was aware of the concept but that alone would not explain the emergence of this urban legend.
One possibility is that suggested by at least one Disney publicist: that the story was started by a group of Disney studio animators who "had a bizarre sense of humor." The magazine Ici Paris carried the earliest known printed version of this rumour in 1969, just a couple of years after his passing.
Sourcing for this article: snopes.com
