Studio Facts

There are alot of things guests don't know about the Studios. It's not where to find the best ice cream or the cheapest on ride photo, it's trivia about the Studios that most people don't know about. If you know of something we didn't mention, email us at quickgold@studioscentral.com

General

• Guests are now allowed to travel on the backstage road between Oscar's and the Theater of the Stars. If you eat dinner at the Brown Derby, Hollywood and Vine or Mama Melrose, you get priority seating to Fantsmic. You take this route to get to your special seats at the Fantasmic Theater.
• All of the Disney 3D Adventure Shows, such as Muppet Vision 3D, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience, It's Tough To Be A Bug, as well as the since past show Magic Journeys all use the same principle of presentation. Unlike normal 3D show (red/blue lenses) these film use a process of reverse polorization every other frame. The clear glasses are reversed polorized which allow your eyes to detect the difference of angle between the two frames - this method is cheap for filming, and it can be added after filming is done. It also adds a higher degree of control on the 3D effects.
• A replica of the Colony Theater, New York, is at the Studios. The Colony Theater is where Steamboat Willie, Mickey's first starting roll, debuted
• The only place on Disney World Resort property where you can buy a photo of Walt Disney is at Sid Cahuenga's one-of-a-kind shop in the Disney's Hollywood Studios where they sell for $4.00. Occasionally, the store carries an authentic autograph of Walt that can be purchased for about $3,000!
• The Sorcerer's Hat in the center of the park weighs a wopping 150 tons and stands 122-foot-tall. Under the cap are computers with quizzes about Walt and his work. The pens they give out will light up at certain attractions through-out the park (Like over at the Haunted Mansion, it lights up like a heart beat). At night they call it a "Pen Light presession" as the pens light up and flash during the night.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

• The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was built first, then the building was constructed around it.
• The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster building volume is over 3.7 million cubic ft.
• The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster limos go from 0-57 mph in 2.8 seconds.
• There are 125 speakers and 24 sub-woofers in each limo of the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
• There are over 900 speakers in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
• There are three inversions - two rollover loops and one corkscrew in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
• There is 3,403 feet of track in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
• The launch of the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster catapults you 200 feet.
• Each Rock 'n' Roller Coaster limo can hold 24 guests.
• At 40 feet tall, the larger-than-life stratocaster guitar that adorns the entrance of the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster has a 32-foot-long neck which is nearly 15 times the size of the neck on an average stratocaster guitar.
• As you enter the first inversion in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, the G-Force is between 4 and 5.

The Great Movie Ride

• All the lead characters in the show have real human hair wigs. Supporting anamatronic cast has synthetic hair.
• During tour guide training, it is revealed that the original concept for The Great Movie Ride (then called Great Moments at the Movies) involved having real live celebrity look alikes portraying all of the characters on the ride instead of audio animatronics. That means that that would have been a real person portraying John Wayne on top of his horse or Sigourney Weaver hiding from the Alien. This later proved to be impossible to do for various reasons.
• Here's a tip about the Great Movie Ride, if you have children, ask to wait for the next show (if the first or second row on the Gangster or Cowboy is filled, ask to wait for the next ride for the first or second rows, and the Gangster or Cowboy will talk to your kids ("Mugsy" might say "Hey kid, I just want to ask ya's one question, ya got any cash?" or The Cowboy or Cowgirl would say (on the jewel part) "Hey kid save my seat!"
• The bandits, a.k.a. the cowboys or cowgirls, are called Kate and Kid Durango
• The belt buckle worn by John Wayne in the Western Scene is an actual buckle worn by the Duke in one of his movies.
• In the western town across from John Wayne, there is a sign on the wall for Ransom Stoddard Attorney. This is a reference to a Jimmy Stuart/John Wayne movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. Ransom Stoddard was played by Jimmy Stuart!
• When entering Gangster Alley, there is a movie poster of an Edward G. Robinson film that has been "torn" so that his face and the title are not very prominent. Apparently, the estate of Edward G. Robinson would not approve the use of his likeness in the gangster scene; they did not want him to be remembered only for his gangster roles.
• In the Alien section, the first status monitor on the bottom left side, you read the ship's statistics. However, if you scan to about the middle of the message, you read something like "Walt Disney World welcomes all aliens currently residing on board this ship" or something like that, then continues something about Goofy and some other characters. Then, it says "Estimated time till next special effects failure, 45.8 years".
• The computer screens in Alien have all the names of the creators of the ride. (You're moving to fast to see them while on the ride.)
• As you approach the gangster scene look at the building that the gangster comes from. Look at the top of the stairs and you will see the time clock and times cards the employees clock in on
• There is a part prior to the Wizard of Oz scene that features Mickey in Fantasia. If you notice it is very windy and dark in that scene. This is because it was originally supposed to be the tornado scene that "takes" you to Oz, but the creators of the Wizard of Oz would not agree for some reason.
• In the Emerald City scene in Oz, if you look at the Yellow Brick road, you will see that it forms the word "OZ" with one of the parts of the Emerald City.
• How about that slime that falls on you? The stuff that falls on you is water. However the stuff in the back of the ride that is just dripping from the ceiling is another story. It is a mix of Glycerol and water. You can make it at home, the stuff needed is sold at your local drugstore.
• There is a third Star Wars character within the Great Movie Ride. As you enter the abandoned mummy's tomb after the Tour Guide returns, look very closely at the flat board with the small Egyptian figures lined up on it. In the back right hand corner, there is a small figure of Wicket the Ewok from Return of the Jedi. You have to be on the far left to see it and it is easily missed.
• The Humpfry figure is taller than in actual life because that's the angle they shot the sceane in the movie. (Ms. Bergman was actually taller in real life).
  
• During the Jungle Cruise '94 rehab when the back half of a plane was added to the cruise. The other half is in the Great Movie Ride in Disney.