by Jim Korkis
It is one of the biggest sculpted pieces Tujunga has ever done. Painting him in terms of time and materials was equivalent to painting fifteen cars.
Pongo is forty feet tall, Perdita is thirty-five feet tall, and their ninety-nine spotted puppies decorate the railings. There is a total of four miles of handrails on the buildings at the resort. Impressions of paw prints and dog bones are embedded in the cement walkways.
The building also features six 36-foot-high fire hydrants to offer relief for the dogs.
Woody from Toy Story is only twenty-five feet high, but the brim of his cowboy hat measures eighteen feet in diameter. A total of 142 Green Army Men, each about eight feet, stand guard on two building rooftops and in the six Buckets O’Soldiers.
Eric Merz, who supervised the structural engineering for the icons, was especially fond of the thirty-six-foot-tall brooms from Fantasia that carried buckets, and recalled:
As far as taking an inanimate object like that, combining the engineering and making it come alive… Well, when the brooms and buckets got to the field and were all assembled, everyone took a breath and said, “Wow!”
The Fantasia section also contains elements from the sequel, Fantasia 2000, that wouldn’t be released until a year after the section opened. As a result, special permission was required of Roy E. Disney who, among other titles, was then chairman of Feature Animation and the producer of the film.
Disney said:
It’s been a great lot of fun to watch these characters [from the sequel] get replicated in the size they are. The ballerina is such a pretty little thing in the movie—just a six-inch-high doll. It’s fantastic to see her blown up to this giant size!
Besides the ballerina, characters from that film included a jack-in-the-box and several toy soldiers.
Herbie is approximately five times his normal size and each car weighs seven tons with tires that are nine feet in diameter.
Imagineer John Hench designed several of the icons and worked with director of sculpting Valerie Edwards in producing the maquettes used for the final figures.
Hench commented:
We use startling icons, beautifully finished in gutsy colors. People smile when they see them. It’s one of the magic elements of Disney parks—engaging optimism.
While the character icons were created at Tujunga, an additional sixty or so larger and smaller ones were fabricated by outside contractors in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Providence RI, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and even Orlando.
According to construction manager Rob Brown, “There is no one in the country that has the capacity to build all of these.”
In 2018, the resort underwent extensive room refurbishment.
PART THREE
The Rest of Walt Disney World
While most Disney fans focus on new additions to the parks and resorts like the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or the recently announced Star Wars hotel, those are not the only areas on the constantly changing property where things are being added or removed.
Walt Disney World has always tried to be environmentally innovative. In terms of solar power, Epcot’s Ellen’s Energy Adventure was designed and constructed with two acres of solar panels on the roof to partially provide power for the attraction since it first opened in 1982. WDW has also used solar power in water-heating systems in a wardrobe facility and at the Animal Nutrition Center.
In April 2018, the Disney company started building a giant new solar farm in collaboration with Reedy Creek Improvement District and solar developer Origis Energy USA. The 270-acre, 50-megawatt solar facility is expected to be online and generating enough clean renewable energy to power two of Disney World’s four theme parks by the end of 2018.
During peak sun hours, the solar power is estimated to provide 25% of the resort’s power needs, or roughly 120,000 megawatt hours. According to Disney, the solar farm will include over a half million solar panels. Switching to solar power will reduce Disney’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 57,000 tons per year. That’s equal to taking 9,300 automobiles off the roads.
The Walt Disney Company has already committed to a larger effort to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2020 compared to its output in 2012. This solar facility will help Walt Disney World meet its goals.
Construction has begun on a site near Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the huge facility. The existing “Hidden Mickey” Epcot solar farm is a mere 22 acres by comparison.
That facility is operated by Duke Energy as part of a fifteen-year agreement and is made up of 48,000 solar panels in the shape of a classic three-circled Mickey Mouse head. It generates five megawatt hours of power. WDW already buys some power from Duke.
Representatives from Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment and Horticulture teams are exploring ways to make the new solar facility pollinator friendly, with rich wildflowers and vegetation, creating a safe and welcoming habitat for butterflies, bees, and other insects.
By creating a habitat for these species, some of which are endangered, aligns with the Disney Conservation Fund’s “reverse the decline” initiative, which has a goal of reversing the decline of ten threatened species that includes butterflies.
Disney and Reedy Creek officials said the project is part of a commitment toward sustainability. Other efforts include a factory that turns food scraps into electricity and fertilizer, and recent conversion of its bus fleet to a cleaner fuel that will ultimately reduce emissions by nearly half.
To become an EPA “Energy Star Partner,” Disney has implemented energy-saving fixtures and other changes throughout the property. The original implementation of the program saved enough energy to power Animal Kingdom in its first year of operation.
For a location that would have an enormous amount of guests no matter what its environmental practices, Walt Disney World has tried to go beyond expectations.
WDW, through its Environmental Intiatives program, states:
Environmentality is an attitude and a commitment to our environment, where we actively seek ways to be friendlier to our planet. We’re committed to making smart choices now to preserve our world for the future. We encourage environmental awareness among our cast members, our guests, and our community.
Disney Springs
The Story of Disney Springs
Florida has one of the largest concentrations of freshwater springs on earth, with more than 900 natural springs. Springs served as locations for Spanish missions, steamboat landings, and gristmills including reservoirs for irrigating crops. A few springs gave birth to towns, including Silver Springs in Marion County, Green Cove Spring in Clay County, and De Leon Springs in Volusia County.
Inspired by these small Florida towns that developed in the early 1900s around these bodies of water, the storyline is that Disney Springs also attracted its first settlers “more than a century ago.”
That original group of settlers discovered a natural spring and a wonderful piece of land near it to settle on in the mid-1800s. They built the Town Center where the residents lived. They even built a water-side promenade where residents could gather to relax after a busy day.
As the population grew, the town branched out toward the water with The Landing, which was the transportation hub, and then, on either side of the Town Center, with the Marketplace and the West Side.
In the West Side there are remnants of an elevated train trestle that was supposedly built for the fictional 1950 Springs Centennial Expo that is shown on a poster in D-Luxe Burger and at Guest Relations. That expo had hot air balloons and a big distinctive central structure like most World’s Fairs that later became Characters in Flight and the Cirque du Soleil building.
According to the backstory, a Florida cattle rancher named Martin Sinclair and his wife Clara discovered the water source in 1850 and settled there. Sinclair shifted from being just a dealer in beef cattle after he attended the St. Louis World’s Fair and discovered a new treat: a hamburger.
That inspiration resulted in the G
lowing Oak Ranch evolving into a small family restaurant. Glowing Oak Ranch became Glowing Oak Restaurant on July 24, 1921. The restaurant provided the refreshments for the Springs Grand Centennial Expo in 1950.
The “current owner, Martin Sinclair VI,” rebranded the Glowing Oak Restaurant to D-Luxe Burger on May 15, 2016.
Blaze Pizza took over the space in Town Center at Disney Springs that used to be occupied by the town’s lumber mill, the Buena Vista Timber Company, established in 1868.
The restaurant design includes elements reminiscent of the workings of a saw mill, from a prop wood planer to the layout of the dining room where the tables and benches are arranged in rows to suggest logs that have been pulled up to the mill from the springs.
The Ganachery Chocolate Shop used to house the town’s only apothecary shop that supplied the necessary medicines for the inhabitants to cure their ills.
The space was taken over by a South American couple (their photos are on the wall) who turned their love for the cocoa bean, a major South American crop from which chocolate is made, into a chocolate shop and adapting the existing pharmacy shelves and equipment to their needs.
An old billboard advertises the passenger train that used to stop in the town. There are some stray rails still embedded in the pathways. STK Steahouse is the home of the old railroad station and is a reference to a 1889 train station in downtown Orlando. The Imagineers didn’t need to reference old photos because the station still stands today. It’s Church Street Station.
The Polite Pig was the location of the original farmer’s market for the area. Ancient machinery sits unused next to a weathered sign, which indicates that the apparatus was used for a spring water ice-works operation that now houses Sprinkles. The bottling plant was a building reclaimed to house Morimoto Asia.
Many more stories behind the various buildings were created by Imagineers and are waiting to be rediscovered.
Disney Springs
D-Luxe Burger
According to the backstory for Disney Springs conceived by Imagineers, a Florida cattle rancher named Martin Sinclair and his wife Clara discovered the water source in 1850 and settled there. Martin became the “Cattle King of the Springs.”
The story of D-Luxe Burger, which is owned and operated by Disney, is recounted on artifacts decorating its interior.The building served as the original ranch house for the Glowing Oak Ranch in Springs, Florida. On the outside is the covered front porch where the Sinclairs could easily see the springs just a few short steps from their door.
Florida has the longest history of cattle ranching of any state in the United States, so this backstory honors that legacy.
In a display case is an undated letter from Martin to his wife:
My Dearest Clara. After weeks spent exploring the wilds of Florida, I have found us a home! The first night I arrived here after a particularly hard rain, the light from my campfire was reflected in the droplets of water clinging to the leaves of the oak tree overhead.
The leaves appeared to be dancing and the sight of it inspired me to name the place Glowing Oak. In a fortnight I will return to you in South Carolina and cannot wait to start our living here in this happy place. Your loving husband, Martin.
On the wall is a map of the cattle ranches in the state of Florida in 1865 including several fictitious central Florida ones created by Imagineering: Reedy Creek Ranch, Buena Vista Ranch, Kissimmee River Ranch, Turkey Creek Ranch, and of course, Glowing Oak Ranch.
A posted vintage advertisement for “Ranch Hands Needed for the Glowing Oak Ranch” stated:
To tend the lands. Square meals and fair deals for all. Must be able to rope and ride. Opportunities for Advancement.
It ended with the slogan “There’s a seat for everyone at our table!” which later became the slogan for the family restaurant. In the ranch house, the Sinclairs cooked meals for the ever-growing number of ranch hands. The reputation for outstanding food sometimes resulted in them opening the house to hungry tourists and locals.
After he attended the St. Louis World’s Fair, Sinclair shifted from being just a dealer in beef cattle. In a display is a postcard dated from June 11, 1904, to his wife:
My Dearest Clara, Greetings to you from the World’s Fair! I am finding such wonderful things here. Among my most favorite discoveries is a kind of ground beef sandwich they call a “hamburger.” I dare say, the recipe seems quite easy to discern, so I promise to fashion one for you upon my return. Your loving husband, Martin.
That inspiration resulted in the Glowing Oak Ranch evolving into a family restaurant. It held its first ever “Burger Day” on February 26, 1905, from noon to five p.m, advertising:
It’s no minced steak. It’s hamburgers! Hit of the World’s Fair. It’s time for fun. Join us now for a burger on a bun…with plenty of plates and chairs and outdoor space!
Glowing Oak Ranch became Glowing Oak Restaurant on July 24, 1921. The restaurant provided the refreshments for the Springs Grand Centennial Expo in 1950.
On May 15, 2016, according to the backstory, Glowing Oak Restaruant became D-Luxe Burger. While the ranch itself has been sold off and redeveloped over the years, the oak tree that inspired the original still stands outside the restaurant.
Disney Springs
Blaze Pizza
Blaze Pizza took over the space in Town Center at Disney Springs that used to be occupied by the town’s lumber mill, the Buena Vista Timber Company, established in 1868. Blaze opened August 5, 2016.
The restaurant design includes elements reminiscent of the workings of a saw mill, from a prop wood planer to the layout of the dining room where the tables and benches are arranged in rows to suggest logs that have been pulled up to the mill from the springs.
The cypress wood panels that line the counter have a rough-hewn bark edge. Log hooks hold up the menu signs. Vaulted ceilings and open trusses throughout give an open and airy atmosphere to suggest the vastness of the original mill.
The building is a showcase of the evolution of wood construction— from early, traditional timber framing to modern-day feats of high-strength wood engineering. To highlight the change, the restaurant uses single species wood in the open kitchen and ordering area.
Materials then transition to multi-species wood in the indoor dining room. The design on the outdoor patio features furniture made from eco-friendly, reclaimed wood and sawdust composite.
Award-winning Los Angeles designer Ana Henton worked with Morris Architects to bring the project to life.
On the wall under a sheet of laminate is a cross section of a log with the following description:
This “sinker” cypress log was recovered in 2013 from Florida’s Apalachicola River where it was buried under more than two feet of river slit. At the time of its recovery, the log was estimated to weigh nearly 6,000 pounds and span just under fourteen feet in length. Experts believe the cypress was approximately 350 years old when it was felled in 1812.
Through careful work of a team of craftsmen, the log was split and sawn into wood used in this structure. The result of this effort is a material that displays timeless beauty, is environmentally sound, and represents a time capsule from our nation’s earliest days.
Blaze Pizza is in a 5,000 square foot building with seating for approximately 200 people. The first Blaze Pizza restaurant opened on Aug. 6, 2012, in Irvine, California. It now has over 150 franchises in 31 states and Canada but none in a themed restaurant environment like this one.
Because of the business’ stated commitment to “Intelligent Choices for Our Pizzas, People & Planet,” all dough is made in-house; pizza and salad ingredients are free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives; and the restaurant uses only eco-friendly packaging.
The concept for the restaurant is that the guest can build an artisanal custom pizza by selecting a variety of toppings and then the hot ovens cook it in one of the two open-hearth ovens in roughly three minutes or less.
Teresa Roth, director of food-and-beverage o
perations integration at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said:
When you think about the story of a Disney restaurant, it is the ambience, it is the structure and the storyline that comes with the structure.
We’re fortunate with our Imagineering partners; they have created a great storyline. It’s then taking that great storyline and creating it into a living, breathing document. The last thing you want is for somebody three years later to not understand the story or the “why” behind some of the elements.
Rick Wetzel, co-founder of Blaze Pizza, said:
We are excited to be part of the new Disney Springs expansion where we get the chance to introduce our super-fast artisanal pizza to guests from around the world.
True to Disney’s high standards, we have built an amazing flagship restaurant that will include interesting architectural elements, great service, and fantastic meals.
Disney Springs
The Ganachery
The Ganachery Chocolate Shop opened in The Landing area of Disney Springs in December 2015. A framed sign on the brick wall in the shop with vintage lettering proclaims: “Chocolate is Good Medicine.”
Hopefully, that sentiment is true, but it is placed in this location to explain the intricate design of the interior of this shop that now sells sweet treats. The building used to house the small town’s only apothecary shop.
Ganache is a mixture of chocolate and cream that is often used as an icing or glaze for pastries, but it can also be used as a filling for truffles or cakes. It is usually made with two parts chocolate to one part cream.
Among other things, the shop offers sixteen different kinds of ganache squares, each made fresh in the store. A show-kitchen workshop allows guests to see the fascinating process up close before their very eyes.
A WDW press release stated:
Walt Disney World chefs traveled the world to research and create a custom-blend chocolate with the finest beans for the all-new concept that will feature freshly made ganache.