Walt Disney World Fun Facts

It's Not a Small World After All . . . Covering 40 square miles, Walt Disney World Resort is about the size of San Francisco or two Manhattan islands. Of the more than 25,000 acres, less than one-fourth has been developed, with another quarter designated as a wilderness preserve.

A Cast of Thousands . . . 58,000, to be more precise. That's how many people it takes to create the magic here at the Vacation Kingdom. Not surprisingly, Walt Disney World Resort is the largest single-site employer in the United States.

What the Well-Dressed Mouse Will Be Wearing . . . depends entirely on the occasion. Mickey Mouse himself has 175 different sets of duds ranging from a scuba suit to a tuxedo. Minnie Mouse's wardrobe contains some 200 outfits including everything from a cheerleader ensemble to evening gowns.

Suds 'R Us . . . If you were to wash and dry one load of laundry every day for 44 years, you'd clean as much as the folks at Walt Disney World Laundry do in a single day. The cast members there launder an average of 240,000 pounds each day. In addition, between 30,000 and 32,000 garments are dry-cleaned daily.

Smile! . . . Kodak estimates that approximately 4 percent of all the amateur photographs taken in the United States are snapped at Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland.

Winter Wonderland . . . So what if there's no snow in Central Florida? Each Christmas season Walt Disney World Resort is "decked" with more than 11 miles of garland and draped with 300,000 yards of ribbon on more than 1,300 Christmas trees.

Who's Still Thirsty? . . . More than 50 million Cokes are consumed each year at Walt Disney World Resort. Guests also gobble 10 million hamburgers, 7 million hot dogs, 9 million pounds of french fries and more than 300,000 pounds of popcorn.

Ears To You . . . There are enough of the famous "Mouse Ear" hats sold each year to cover the head of every man, woman and child in Pittsburgh and enough Disney character T-shirts to put Mickey Mouse's smiling face on the chest of every Chicagoan.

Hickory Dickory Dock . . . More than a half-million character watches -- mainly Mickey -- are slipped onto wrists from Walt Disney World gift shops each year. At any given time, there are more than 200 different varieties of character watches. The most popular timepiece: a gold-tone relief of Mickey Mouse.

Gone But Not Forgotten . . . Walt Disney World Lost and Found is one busy place. Every day an average of 100 pairs of sunglasses are turned in at Magic Kingdom alone. There have been enough "shades" submitted each year in the Vacation Kingdom to outfit every resident of Sun City, Arizona; Sun City, California; and Sun City, Florida. Since 1971, an estimated 1.5 million pairs of glasses have found their way into the "lost" bin.

Curious Claims . . . According to long-time lost and found staffers, the most unusual items turned in have been a glass eye and a potty trainer. Both, incidentally, were claimed (but not by the same person).

Busman's Holiday . . . More than 230 Walt Disney World buses transport guests around the Vacation Kingdom, making the Walt Disney World fleet the third largest in Florida behind Miami and Jacksonville.

Fly Me To the Moon . . . Since 1971, the total miles logged by Walt Disney World monorail trains would be equal to more than 30 round trips to the moon. One dozen new cars were put into service along the 14-mile beamway in 1990 as the original fleet received a well-deserved retirement.

Tee Time . . . With the addition of the Pete Dye-designed Eagle Pines course and Tom Fazio's Osprey Ridge, Walt Disney World Resort boasts 99 holes of golf. That makes this one of Florida's largest golf resorts. A real "Magic Link-dom."

Room With a View . . . Disney's Wedding Pavilion was designed to provide the bride and groom a view of Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle while standing at the altar.

A Mountain Range? . . . Walt Disney World Resort is home to Florida's three highest "mountains." In Disney's Animal Kingdom, Mount Everest towers nearly 200 feet high in the Asia section of the theme park. In Magic Kingdom, Big Thunder Mountain rises 197 feet above Frontierland. Space Mountain in Tomorrowland is 180 feet tall.

Green Thumb. . . More than 30 tons of fruits and vegetables grown at The Land pavilion at Epcot are served in Walt Disney World restaurants.

Finger Food. . . More than 1.6 million turkey drumsticks are devoured every year in three Disney theme parks -- Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios.

One Tall Ball . . . Spaceship Earth at Epcot is the tallest attraction at Walt Disney World Resort. The giant Sorcerer Mickey hand and wand make the attraction approximately 240 feet at its highest point. It tops Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom (just under 200 feet), The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios (199 feet), Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle (185 feet) and The Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom (145 feet).

Room Roulette . . . If you wanted to stay in all the guestrooms in all of the hotels and resorts currently open on Walt Disney World property (at a rate of one per night) it would take more than 72 years.

50,000 Sprinkler Heads . . . and 2,000 miles of irrigation pipe are needed to water more than 3,500 acres of landscaping at Walt Disney World Resort. Since 1971, more than 100,000 trees and 2 million tended shrubs have been planted.

Well Grounded . . . Each year the horticulture staff plants 3 million bedding plants and annuals, and maintains millions of other plants including more than 2 million shrubs, 13,000 roses and more than 200 topiary.

A "Family" Tree . . . The "Liberty Oak," which is the focal point of the Liberty Square area in Magic Kingdom, is the proud parent of more than 500 young trees. They all started out as acorns harvested from the majestic oak.

Pack the Trunk . . . Earth Day 1991 signaled a "moving" experience for yet another impressive oak -- a 55-foot-tall tree weighing in at nearly 85 tons. The live oak was moved 12 miles across Walt Disney World property. It is doing well in its new "digs" serving as a centerpiece for the Ol' Man Island recreation area at Disney's Port Orleans Resort-Riverside.

Mow Miles Per Year . . . 450,000 mowing miles to be exact -- that's what it takes to maintain 2,000 acres of turf. For the record, those mower miles are the equivalent of 18 trips around the earth at the equator.

Here's Looking (Down) At You . . . From the air, Walt Disney World Resort boasts a number of "heady" sights. For instance, the unique "Mouse Trap" on the 6th hole at the Magnolia golf course that looks like a famous corporate symbol. Over at Disney's Eagle Pines & Osprey Ridge Golf Club, Mickey's profile greets golfers on the large practice green. The famous mouse is the model for the courtyard and area in front of the Chinese Theater at Disney-MGM Studios.