Magic Kingdom Utilidors

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Here's a fun article about whats UNDER the Magic Kingdom...

 

 

Inside Disney World's Secret "Tunnels"

Stacy Conradt

 

There’s never a dull moment at the Magic Kingdom. Parades, food vendors, shows, rides, characters, barbershop quartets, shopping—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But what you may not realize is that there’s almost as much hustle and bustle happening right beneath your feet.

 

Legend has it that Walt Disney was once strolling around Disneyland in Anaheim when he saw a cast member in a Frontierland cowboy costume wandering through Tomorrowland. He felt the incongruity was disruptive to the “magic” people were meant to experience at the park, and decided to do something about it at his next park.

 

When construction began on the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, the first layer of the park that was built was 392,040 square feet of “underground” tunnels, known as utilidors. Fun fact: They’re not actually underground. The “basement” level of the park is actually at ground level, and the part of the park visitors experience is the second floor. Cast members access the utilidors via staircases positioned at key areas in the park.

 

Solarius.com

 

The utilidors are used for way more than just allowing cast members to move about undetected. Here are some of the others:

The Mouseketeria

All of those cast members have to eat somewhere. The Mouseketeria is where you’ll find Snow White and Elsa munching on pizza alongside Tigger and Gaston. The eatery, which includes a Subway, is located back behind the castle, near Pinocchio’s Village Haus restaurant.

Kingdom Kutters

Disney is notoriously strict on the hairstyles their employees are allowed to have. Luckily, cast members who find themselves getting a little too shaggy can pop down to Kingdom Kutters to get a trim before their shifts start. There’s another one at Epcot called “HairPort International.”

The “Glow Room"

Don’t get your hopes up—the Glow Room isn’t a secret place for raves. According to former cast members, there’s an area under Adventureland where all of the carts selling light-up bracelets, necklaces, swords, and Mickey ears are stocked.

Garbage

Despite the massive amounts of trash generated at Disney parks every day, you won’t see garbage trucks anywhere. That’s because the AVAC (Automated Vacuum-Assisted Collection) system takes care of it instead. Giant pneumatic tubes at designated areas in the park carry garbage to a processing area behind Splash Mountain—and it’s all concealed within the utilidors.

Your Food

Similarly, you’ll never see food trucks backing up to a gate to deliver produce or meat. All of those churros, turkey legs and Dole Whips you eat are stored and, in the case of prepared meals, even cooked down in the utilidors.

The Character Zoo

It takes a lot of costumes to make the Magic Kingdom go ‘round, and until 2005, all of those 1.2 million costumes lived in the Character Zoo area of the utilidors. Many of those costumes moved to a building in the cast member parking lot about a decade ago, but the wardrobes of key characters, such as the Mouse himself, are still housed in the Zoo.

The Entire Park Operating System

It’s not just Tick-Tock Croc lurking beneath Peter Pan’s Flight. Engineering Central, or what used to be known as DACS (Digital Animation Control System), is the place where parades, lights, music, and more are controlled for the entire park.

 

http://mentalfloss.com/article/67485/inside-disney-worlds-secret-tunnels

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'd love to see the utilidors.  But many years ago our two older children went through them during a class they were taking.  They were underwhelmed.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Very neat article. I have heard to save the money on the utilidors tour as it is very underwhelming. Still what an amazing idea man and visionary Walt was. One of the things I so appreciate about WDW is the attention to detail. Sure they are not perfect but to put on the level of stage show they do everyday at each park. To create the happiness and magical feeling you experience in the bubble. To the cleanliness, care, and over the top service they provide. WDW really has achieved a level others should strive to exceed. To think it all started with one man's dream. Amazing.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

The women's dressing room was located under the submarine ride...remember that one?...it leaked sometimes.

[devores 382]

20,000 leagues submarine ride?

The utilidores do not run that far back. They stop at the edge of fantasyland. Pinochios village haus is as far as they go. The woman's locker room is located below the carousel.

[dvccamper 32]

We went in the utilidors when we took the keys to the kingdom tour. We had no idea where we were but the tour guide stopped talking at one point and said to be very quiet and tried to guess what we were hearing. It was the clip clip of the horse pulling a trolley up Main Street right above us.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Really?  Only know what I was told, that the leaks were from 20,000 Leagues, never knew where I was under the park.  The food cast workers had to go to the tunnel for fresh costumes, back then we were not allowed to take them home (we had lockers to store them in) and we would eat in the cafeteria that was near the entrance, to the right as you walk in, if I remember correctly.  If we were OK for uniforms, we ate in the Center Building,  it's called something else now, which my brain has blocked.........   Is there still a cafeteria in that building?

 

The Central Food Facility building is used to store Christmas decorations these days.

[Santa ... Shannon 160]

It's worth mentioning, the "sea floor" of 20K and the bed of the Rivers of America are basically the same height as the floor of the Utilidors (i.e. original ground level). 

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

That's interesting Santa, and makes sense too, thanks.