I Found Out that Disney World Has a Second Floor You've Never Seen

When you stroll down Main Street, U.S.A. at either Magic Kingdom in Florida or Disneyland in California, your eyes are likely drawn to the vintage lampposts, turn-of-the-century signage, and colorful window displays. But next time, look up.

Lining both sides of Main Street are rows of charming second-story windows—each carefully crafted with signs and names that appear to advertise local businesses from the early 1900s. Some guests wonder: Are those real spaces? Is there anything behind those windows? Or is it all just part of the show?

The truth is far more fascinating than you might expect. Those upper levels aren’t just for show. While forced perspective makes them appear smaller than they really are, many of the second floors on Main Street U.S.A. are in fact fully functional spaces—and some of them hide key pieces of Disney magic the average guest will never see.

Not Just Facades: Offices, Storage, and Secrets

Let’s start with Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Is there anything actually on the second floor on main street?
byu/BobTheCrakhead inWaltDisneyWorld

According to several former Cast Members and Disney insiders, the second floors of Main Street are used for a variety of operational purposes, including:

• Offices for upper park management

• Conference rooms

• Inventory storage

• Cast Member break areas

• Audio and parade control

One former Emporium Cast Member shared that the area above the shop was used as both storage and office space for managers. Another mentioned regular team meetings taking place above Main Street, including nightly briefings for Parade Audience Control (PAC)—the Cast Members who direct crowds before fireworks and parades.

So yes, people do work up there—though most guests will never notice. Windows stay shut during normal hours, and the entrance to these upper levels is, unsurprisingly, hidden backstage.

At Disneyland, It’s a Little Different—but Still Active

Over in Disneyland Park, the story is similar—but with a few unique twists.

For example, above the Opera House, you’ll find park-wide audio operations—the team responsible for orchestrating sound across the entire park. And above the Emporium, you’ll again find storage areas and offices for Main Street West managers.

Interestingly, some second-story windows are also used as part of the parade and show infrastructure. According to Cast Member accounts, windows may briefly open to allow speakers to project parade music more clearly during big nighttime events. It’s rare to spot, but if you’re standing on Main Street during a parade and happen to glance up, you might catch a momentary flicker of movement.

Some Disneyland Main Street buildings also house call centers, ventilation systems, and scent-pumping machines—yes, those famous devices that waft the smell of fresh waffle cones or chocolate chip cookies toward guests as they pass by.

And above City Hall? That’s where some of the park’s top-level managers work.

What About the “Fake” Second Floors?

Of course, not every second story you see is functional. Both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom rely on forced perspective, an optical illusion that makes the buildings appear taller than they really are.

On Main Street, this is done by shrinking the size of upper windows and architectural elements, so they appear farther away. A two-and-a-half story building might only be one or one-and-a-half stories tall in reality.

So yes, some of those second floors are purely decorative, used to sell the illusion of a bustling turn-of-the-century town. But that doesn’t mean they’re empty. In many cases, even those smaller spaces are used for vents, lighting, speakers, or small storage nooks that help keep the magic running smoothly.

The Windows Tell a Story, Too

Even if you’ll never step foot inside most of the second-story spaces, the windows themselves tell their own story.

Each second-floor window on Main Street U.S.A. is designed to look like an old-fashioned business sign—but if you look closely, you’ll find that many of them are tributes to Disney Imagineers, executives, and legends.

For example, in Magic Kingdom, you’ll find a window for “Roy E. Disney – Vice President, Sales” and “Walter E. Disney – Founder and Dreamer.” Over at Disneyland, there are nods to Marc Davis, Bob Gurr, Harriet Burns, and others who helped build the parks from the ground up.

These “Easter egg” tributes act as the credits to the show, according to Walt Disney himself. So while they may not be advertisements for real businesses, they’re very real pieces of Disney history.

A Second Story Most Guests Never Notice

Unlike Cinderella Castle or the Haunted Mansion, the upper floors of Main Street aren’t designed to grab your attention. Their job is to blend in, to complete the illusion, to support the magic without stealing the spotlight.

But they’re very real—and if those walls could talk, they’d have a lot to say. From parade control meetings to scent machines, sound engineers to upper management, those second stories are quietly buzzing with activity, even as guests stroll below, ice cream in hand, never realizing what’s just above their heads.

So next time you’re walking down Main Street, U.S.A., take a second and look up. You might not see anyone inside those windows—but now you know: there’s a whole world operating just above the magic.

Fun Fact for Disney Diehards:

In Walt Disney World, some Main Street buildings connect to underground utilidors, the legendary tunnel system that allows Cast Members to move between lands unseen. That’s right—the action doesn’t just happen above you; it might be happening beneath your feet too.