Obscure Disneyland factoids

Cory Doctorow 1:05 am Wed May 11, 2005

As part of the PR blitz leading up to the 50th anniversary of Disneyland this July 17 (which is also my 34th birthday and no, I won't be able to go to the celebration, thanks for rubbing it in!), the San Francisco Chronicle has a good piece on Disneyland trivia featuring 50 interesting and little-know Disneyland factoids:

21. As a teenager, Steve Martin worked in Merlin's Magic Shop in Fantasyland…

24. An early Tomorrowland attraction was Monsanto's House of the Future, made entirely of plastic. It had the requisite picture phone and other Jetsonsonian appliances, but the most talked-about feature, according to "Mouse Tales," was the microwave oven. "Nobody believed you could bake a potato in 3 minutes," said attendant Dick Mahoney. Years later, when Disneyland tried to tear down the plastic house, the wrecking ball just bounced off it.

25. On Star Tours, the short, squat robots you pass while waiting in line are the audio-animatronic ducks from the old "America Sings" attraction, with their feathers and skin yanked off. One still has its webbed feet.

(Thanks, Jeffrey!)

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