Credit: DisneyThe Walt Disney Imagineers are wizards when it comes to creating environmental effects in their parks, especially the Walt Disney World Resort. However, as guests enter a world of Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy, they might also expose themselves to some rather unsightly elements.
Inside the Magic has posted several times before how Disney gets guests fully immersed in their magical world, but that doesn’t mean all of them are friendly. In the words of The Dark Knight’s Scarecrow, “I told you my compound would take you places. I never said they’d be places you wanted to go.”
Disney World Gets Gross
A trip to the Disney Parks is an escape from the treacherous world of reality, and the Disney bubble is definitely a real thing. From the splendid smells and colors of Main Street, U.S.A. to the unsettling atmosphere of Expedition Everest, Disney knows how to truly pull you in.
The sights, the sounds they’re everywhere and all around, and they play a huge factor in portraying whatever environment Disney wants to create. However, it’s not all cotton candy and popcorn, as some Disney attractions call for something a touch more abrasive.
Everyone can identify their favorite Disney smell, taste, or sensation. While most might instantly think of pirate water from Pirates of the Caribbean, this writer heavily prefers that sugary aroma of Goofy’s Candy Company at Disney Springs.
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Disney has introduced some truly gross, ghastly, and outright disgusting effects to the parks and attractions. The best part is that guests have been eating it up for years.
Figment’s Fart Tunnel
Starting with an obvious one, the Smell Lab segment of Journey Into Imagination with Figment isn’t exactly winning any blue ribbons for some fans. Especially not when the famous purple dragon morphs into a skunk and rips a gnarly fart right in their faces.
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Appropriately, the gross-out factor is mainly in the audience’s imagination, as the scent went from skunk to burnt coffee in recent updates. Of course, that doesn’t mean Disney hasn’t intentionally tried to make guests hurl.
Jabba’s Porcelain Throne
While this might be more of a coincidence, there’s no denying that it works in a cosmic and comical way. Whether it was intentional or a happy accident is irrelevant, as it definitely created some disgusting implications.
If you’ve ever been to Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll know it’s one of the most immersive park areas in Walt Disney World. However, the use of environmental visuals and sounds works a little too well at times, especially when sound travels.
Galaxy’s Edge uses a lot of music and noise cues from the Star Wars universe, such as droid and machine noises, along with alien languages. While that works in the marketplace, using the same tracks in the restrooms is a little unnerving. The idea of Jabba the Hutt’s sluggish form in the adjoining stall isn’t really the most magical mental image.
When Disney World had Guts
At one point, Walt Disney World hosted one of the scariest attractions in the amusement park industry. After the fall of Mission to Mars, Michael Eisner unleashed a hostile extraterrestrial on Tomorrowland visitors in the ’90s, and the results were horrifying.
Tim Curry wasn’t the only creepy performer in this immersive attraction from Disney’s heyday, as a carnivorous alien monster terrorized the guests with special effects that sprayed guests with blood and bile as the creature killed off an unfortunate cast member. All accomplished with water and smoke, it was definitely too dark for Disney.
The same space would later be converted into Stitch’s Great Escape, which toned down the scares but not the gross factor. If you thought Figment’s coffee farts were terrible, they were nothing compared to Stitch’s chili dog belch breath.
While these might be appealing sensations, there’s no denying that Disney utilizes them to great effect. The studio still knows how to make us part of their world for good or bad.
What’s your favorite Disney special effect? Tell Inside the Magic in the comments below!