Sounds & Sights Along the Way

In the early years of Walt Disney World, that trip up World Drive to the Magic Kingdom offered little to see but trees and the occasional sign. Even the Auto Plaza was fairly nondescript. The fancy pink and purple Welcome statement that's there today only dates back to the 20th anniversary in 1991 (Interesting side fact: the arch across the top that holds the words "Magic Kingdom" was once part of the marquee for the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot).

Keeping Guests entertained and informed during the drive was a limited-range radio station (broadcast from a space inside Cinderella Castle that's now part of the Castle Suite). One of the first signs encountered on Disney property invited you to tune your AM dial to the station, where you could hear information on park hours, show times and special events, along with a selection of popular Disney tunes. Until it was discontinued in the mid-90s, the Walt Disney World radio station was a key element in creating that sense of "arrival."

While the '90s silenced the radio station, other forms of Disney promotion found their voice. With rare exception, Walt Disney World never used to directly advertise itself, opting instead to rely on word of mouth and the "free advertising" that resulted from regular press events. Today, those are still key to Disney's marketing strategy, but the company has also entered into television and outdoor advertising in a big way.

Billboards touting Disney Parks and attractions have become part of the landscape along Interstate 4, International Drive and other Central Florida roadways, but the most special examples are found within the borders of the actual resort. The entire entrance to Disney's Hollywood Studios is a giant Streamline Moderne and film strip statement, promoting some of the newest and most popular elements of the park.

Nearby, a billboard for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror looms over World Drive, bringing the excitement of the attraction to life with animation and lighting effects. This particular billboard, one of the first to land on Disney property, has been in place for nearly fifteen years. It debuted shortly after the Tower of Terror's 1994 opening and has even been altered slightly over the years with the introduction of each variation to the attraction.

Elsewhere, dimensional billboards promote Disney Vacation Club, Mission: Space at Epcot (with glowing rocket flare) and "It's Tough to be a Bug" at Disney's Animal Kingdom (complete with a smoke effect emanating from the rear of stinkbug Claire de Room).

On-property advertising has certainly come a long way from that quaint little AM station, and it just goes to show that even when it comes to something as everyday as highway billboards, nobody does it quite like Disney.

Mission: Hidden Disney

Mission: Space at Epcot is a thrilling attraction with lots to see and discover. Apart from the obvious story details and astronaut training information, it also features quite a bit of Hidden Disney.

At the center of the Mission: Space Cargo Bay shop is this statue of Mickey Mouse. Look up at the sky above him, and you'll notice a familiar silhouette formed by the nebula:

Hidden Mickey shapes also show up in this bank of control boxes along one wall of the shop:

This mural behind the register presents us with an un-hidden Mickey, along with his pals, rendered in a comic book style (note the X-2 Space Shuttle from the attraction):

But it's below the mural, on the front of the register counter, where you'll find this - a graphic representation of the symbol for the former Horizons pavilion which once stood on this spot.

The Horizons logo can also be seen in the Mission: Space queue, placed at the center of the large, rotating gravity wheel.

There's something else to look for while you're waiting for your training session. When you're in the corridor alongside Mission Control, watch the small monitors on the workstation behind the glass. You may spot footage of an albatross coming in for a rough landing. It's a clip once used for comic effect during the pre-show of the Mission to Mars attraction in the Magic Kingdom (1975-1993).

Moon Markers

In the Planetary Plaza outside Mission: Space rests a large-scale model of Earth's moon. Take a closer look at that model and you'll notice it's dotted with markers, each designating one of the 29 rocket missions to the moon. Blue markers indicate manned missions, white unmanned. And there is a single red marker in honor of the Apollo 11 mission, during which Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on the moon's surface.

The date on the marker - July 16, 1969 - was the date of the Apollo 11 launch. The landing actually took place four days later on July 20, and was broadcast live to televisions around the world, including a large screen set up for the occasion in Tomorrowland at Disneyland.

Mission to Mars

Epcot is unique among the Disney Parks in many ways, not the least of which is its resemblance to World's Fairs. The pavilions at Epcot serve primarily as presentations on specific subjects, rather than completely immersive environments like the lands and attractions in other parks. There are a few exceptions, though - pavilions where we get to go "behind closed doors" at fictional, albeit highly realistic, facilities. Among these are the GM Test Track, Imagination Institute, and the International Space Training Center.

Stepping through the portal of Mission: Space, we find ourselves in the year 2036, a time when civilian space travel is becoming more common. As recruits at the ISTC, we're signed up for astronaut training and headed for the centrifuge bays where we'll experience the first in a series of simulated space flights, all with the goal of preparing us for an eventual trip to Mars.

Yes, you read that right. We don't actually go to Mars on Mission: Space. Pay close attention to the story being told throughout the pavilion, and you'll see that the Imagineering designers who developed the attraction make no bones about the fact that this is a simulator. But they're not punching holes in their own story. The simulator is the story. Mission: Space is about what it takes to prepare people to go into space. Real astronauts spend hours in simulators, being trained for every conceivable contingency.

So the next time you disembark and an ISTC Crew Member bids you, "Welcome back," be sure to reply with "Haven't we been here at the ISTC all along?"