What's Under the Ground? The Magic Kingdom Utilidors - Confessions of a Theme Park Worker
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2020
- It's a well known secret that there is a "city" under the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney world, a series of tunnels, rooms and facilities called utilidors that allow you to move around, store things, and all sorts of abilities to do things out of the site of guests. They are one of the neatest, most unique, and most memorable parts of working at the park. What are they like?
A behind the scenes look at what a former worker at Disney World, Silver Dollar City, and Busch Gardens Florida experienced in his time working at the parks. From driving large safari trucks around live wild animals while cracking one silly joke after another, to spending 5 years as a #PhotoPass photographer at #WaltDisneyWorld and seeing and experiencing all sorts of things, to being a conductor and #trainrobber on the famous Frisco Silver Dollar Line at #SilverDollarCity. With 10 years of working in the parks, there's lots of stories to tell. Here is some of them...
Not only did I work in theme parks for 10 years, I've visited a whole lot of them as well. Here's some stories of great visits, not so great visits, favorites, reviews, and much more.
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My mom worked “underground” in the 70s when I was a toddler and she took me down there to get her paycheck... she worked in character costumes and I saw the big bad wolfs head... it scared me and I’m surprised I was allowed down there 🤦♀️🤷🏻♀️
Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated with the whole Disney Park. As an adult I love learning all about the history, secrets and how it all worked.
Took the "Keys To The Kingdom" tour back in 2006. Best $60 bucks I had spent in a long time!! Tour started around 9 AM and went to almost 3:30 PM!!! We spent a good 20 minutes in the "Tour Section" of the utilidors. Thanks for the memory refresh!!
06? 60buck? It’s prolly 200 now to do the tour you did
@@RamsayboltonSnow The tour recently restarted and it costs $114 + tax.
@@JeffFrmJoisey that’s not bad at all
Lmao it’s 114 bucks now wish it was 60
More like 6,000 bucks now
The design of the layout, service being subterranean, the garbage Shute, this is classic EPCOT era Disney thinking. It’s nice his dream lived on in a way.
I was in the DCP in 2013/14 and first day we walked down underground and I thought it was just the most unreal thing. They promised anybody who had their phones out and took pictures would not only be terminated, but a lawsuit would be coming, and that’s back when social media was hitting its prime, I couldn’t imagine how it would be now. Really great experience glad I was able to work there at some point of my life
From a former Cast Member, that was my favorite part was getting to walk in the Utilidors all the time as a Cast Member
Walking those utilidors as a castmember was awesome, AND CONFUSING AT FIRST. Then getn used to walking down there for breaks.
I worked as a Park Greeter at Magic Kingdom in the College Program (2021-2022) and had to spend a good bit of time before and after work in the utilidors. Its certainly an interesting place. Great video!
I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour in November 2003 ... it was THE COOLEST TOUR EVER!!! We actually met one of the former Snow White face characters that was often on TV (she had a very touching story as to why she decided to stop being Snow White), she was at that time doing tours. What a great experience.
Love this! Thank you!!
Another SirWillow winner. Love the behind the scenes!
Really enjoyed this video. Love learning about the little secrets about Disney!!
I love your kind energy. ❤😂😊 Thank you. 🎉😊
MINDBLOWING!
Way back in the 90s, I was in Magic Music Days and had the incredible opportunity to go down into the utilidors to get to our performance area. It was a very surreal experience.
Excellent video------Thank you!
Love your displays behind you 💜
It’s fascinating.
Thank you for explaining this underground system
Loved the video thank you so much!!!!
Excellent video...and extra points for Tom Baker!
I’m looking forward to starting in the DCP on February 7th. I found out the other day that my role will be photopass in Magic Kingdom! Your videos have given me great insight on what to expect.
Amazing 👏
Thank you this is great
answered alot of questions for me as I am staring there soon!
Great information thank you😊
Interesting. Sometime when I'm there I would like to do The Keys To The Kingdom Tour. Thanks for sharing.
Cool video - I was in the "underground" a few years after the Kingdom had opened. My company sold all the coin counting machines used in Cash Ops, and I spent a couple of days installing and training their maintenance people. Got the cook's tour and it was really impressive and a stroke of genius for the use of space.
That would be a great tour!
I remember seeing Michael Jackson briefly in the Park then he was shuffled off by handlers through a door. I imagine the Utili-doors were used a lot for famous people visiting.
I almost crashed into Miley Cyrus party in them- was headed off by another cast member around the corner. And there were a couple of other times I saw groups down there. But I think (not sure- different department) that they didn't really want to bring them down there because it is definitely less magical than up above.
I bet Michael got to see Walt.
Bet alot of little boys saw Michael too. Very magical place
Great description 😃
Very awesome video!
Very cool😀😀😀😀😀
We took the keys to the kingdom tour back in 2006. Loved it. It was interesting and fun. We didn't get to see a lot of the utidoors but it was special. We used elevators to get down but I don't remember if it was elevators or stairs coming back up. I do remember we got yo have lunch at the Columbia House restaurant. Prior to that I didn't know about the upstairs dining room. I would like to take the tour again someday.
Not sure if they currently still offer it, but if you can do it, try the Backstage Magic Tour. I've done it several times, it's not cheap, but I still think it's worth the money. I'ts a fully day tour. We went backstage and the utilidors at Magic Kindom, drove all around the back of Epcot and visited below stage at the American Adventure show and saw the control room for Mission Space. At the studios, we visited the costuming workshops and each guest got to keep a card that contained all fabrics for some characters parade costumes. I got Arielle and I never realized how many layers of different fabrics those costumes consist of. We went backstage at Star Tours and saw the simulators in motion, it looks really wild. Then we had lunch at Mama Melroses, it as a nice sampler menu where they brought out all the stuff they had on the menu on huge plates and everyone could take as much as they liked. We were joined by a Streetmosphere character, playing the tourguides overbearing mom. It was so funny. She then came back to the bus with us and broke character and talked about her job. The last part was the workshops behind the MK where they repaint the carousel horses and a glimpse into the storage for christmas decorations.
Very cool, I'd want to call the stairways to doors... "Portals". :0) Nice video, thank you!
Going to the DCP Program this May, this is super interesting and something I'm stoked to see first hand!
Awesome achievements in engineering,planning and administration
That is too awesome you working and seeing behind the magic. Just wicked. Utilidors is an interesting place too visit . I've noticed. On the top left shelf , there's a picture of the entrance of Texas cyclone 🌀 ride. You must be a Houstonian. I miss Astroworld
Not a Houstonian, but I did get a chance to visit Astroworld a couple of weeks before it closed. That pic is one of my favorites that I took on that trip. Classic coaster. Sad what happened to the park.
I love this content
Mousketeria was my favorite food spot so I didn't mind when I was assigned to drive a CM bus from The Westclock Staff car park to the back of the Castle.
4:10 This shot looks so surreal and creepy, as does the following.
Dark Lord Mickey in his underground lair...
History Channel did a 2 hour Modern Marvels episode about WDW. The Utilidors were one of the things featured.
When I worked at wdw in 2007 & 2008 (in IT), I went down there a few times and explored them. I saw Tigger walking around without his head, Mary Poppins in her bloomers, and Snow White smoking a cigarette. Working there can really burst the 'magic' bubble for you..
...Eeyore doing meth, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell having sex...
@@scottmoore1614 in my experience working for Disney, Aladdin was more Peter Pan's type
07 & 08 when you worked there did you hear about this happened, It's still going in 22' FYI
Jul 14, 2014 - Robert Kingsolver is one of at least 35 Disney employees arrested since 2006 on charges of sex crimes involving children.
Behind its meticulously curated self-image, Disney has had a long-standing problem with child predators gaining employment within the company and exploiting minors.
Since then, three Disney employees have been arrested for soliciting sex with minors, two have been arrested on 40 total counts of child pornography, and four more were arrested earlier this month in a sting operation targeting “human trafficking, child predators, and prostitution.”
Current CM, and been down in the tunnels more times than I can count. Unfortunately they do not give the tours in traditions any more and if you are off, you are not allowed down there unless you forget something. Also even with verizon, the reception can get very spotty, especially under the moat.
Always a great day with a video from Sir Willow! ❤️
Utilidors still have a mystery about them until you see them. I took the Behind The Magic Tour that finishes with the Utilidors. Not a very magical place. Somewhat cluttered underneath Main Street. Especially right under Casey’s. How do I know it was Casey’s. Racks of hot dog buns. I was glad to have visited them knowing they were there for so long. Behind the Magic Tour is fun. More fun for those who didn’t already know how what we visited worked though. Only suggestion, never take that tour in July. Disney supplied plenty of Dasani to keep you hydrated.
Took the tour down there. It was amazing. Highly recommend the 'Keys to the Kingdom' tour for anyone wanting to peek behind the curtain.
Maybe i will try that if i visit disney world
worked in the basement of a major hospital for a decade. i find it fascinating how similar they are haha
It's interesting but I'm curious about how long it would take you to walk from one side of the park to the other? It seems pretty huge. I know disneyland has a very small system but I don't know if you can tour it
In the utilidors you could expect it to take 10-20 minutes, depending on where it was exactly you were going. It was suggested that you wanted to be getting off of the cast shuttle bus around 30 minutes before your shift started, and our "base" (where we clocked in and started) was under main street while the utilidor entrance was in the far back of the park.
Now if you were doing that same walk in the park when it was open it could easily take you 30-45 minutes because of weaving through crowds and having to stop and answer questions.
I got to visit the utilidors when I got to stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite
There is also a small tunnel under Space Ship Earth. I love the Key to the Kingdom tour. I've done it twice. It cost a little more than it use to.
The much smaller system at Epcot has an entrance by what will be Guardians of the Galaxy and runs in a half circle under the Communicore/ Innoventions area, including Spaceship Earth. The demolition actually exposed at least one of the stairways to it- one i used on a regular basis at Character Spot. It will be interesting to see what they do with it.
Yeah I used to use that stair way to go to the break room for lunch.
Fun fact, a lot of hospitals have similar tunnels under the buildings. Often, entire departments are belowground. Departments like the morgue and material services. Materail services is fun stuff because you get to freeroam the gtounds because that job includes stocking the tool and medications machines at nurses stations, stocking the red Crash carts, janitorial work, and sometimes even assist discharged patients out of the building. One way to tell material services employees apart from the CNAs and doctors is they'll be dressed down in jeans and a clean t-shirt, and wearing a dark blue coat with and id lanyard. At least, that's the dresscode for St Rae's in New Haven, CT. Your own local hospitall's dresscode for their material services department might vary. Also, it'd be no small exaggeration to say that without the material services department, the doctors and CNAs working on the patients wouldn't have the tools they need for their jobs and the hospital rooms themselves would most likely be left for long periods without being cleaned due to the doctors and CNAs just not having the time to make the runs down to the basement for meds, tools, and other stuff.
I worked the DCP a long time ago. I worked in the laundry department and sometime would finish work at 2am in the morning. Not really fun walking home to the college dorm apartments in the middle of the night.
If you can tell me, what ride did that Tomorrowland stairwell come up into? Always been interested in the tunnels.
I really cant for a variety of reasons. It wouldnt be appropriate. Sorry. :-)
It smells the same as the NYC subway system.
Stale piss and body odour? Damn, thought Disney was cleaner than that
The utilidors sounded so creepy and mysterious to me, but it's actually something really useful and not that scary lol. Would you change anything besides the smell? Is it really cheaper for the cast members to eat there?
That's actually more interesting to me than anything in the parks. They should consider offering tours.
They do. Look for the Keys to the Kingdom tour, part of which goes into the utilidors.
I worked in the Park in 1978/1979. I worked on Main Street and hated the LONG walk twice a day through the Tunnel System. After Parking in the middle of nowhere and taking a bus to the Tunnel Entrance under Fantasyland, I would go to Wardobe to get my Costume. Then the LONG walk to Main Street. Occasionally I got a ride on one of the carts. I miss working there but not those LONG walks.
Have you seen the Epcot center utilladoor? It's being torn down to make the new water attention for Epcot
Former Navy surface engineer and current construction business owner here. Conduit carries electrical wires and is never plural. Pipes carry sewage.
I wonder what the load rating is for the basement ceilings. Surely they have heavy service cranes and other equipment for maintenance drive on it.
don't think of it as basement ceilings. Much of it is solid concrete or other materials like that, and the "ceilings" are several feet of construction material and packed earth. it functions more like a cave or tunnel built under ground, even though they were technically built at ground level and then the rest was filled in over and around them.
Fun
We took the tour, and the utilidors were very cool, but I think you need to go a few times to really get the feel of them
Is the audio in the park controlled in the utilidors? If so, have you been in the room where they do it? How big is the room and what's in it?
Yes it is. No I haven't. Pretty big and lots of stuff. ;♧
How would you enter the park form the wardrobe picture at 3:47? do you have to walk to the nearest utilidor at the park? or is their utilidors in the wardrobe? but even then, it seems like a far walk.
As a cast member you would get on the bus that's right there by the wardrobe and ride it into the park. That area is not open to guests
If you have ever been on a naval vessel that has been at sea for a period of time, you will immediately recognize the smell!
Nice shirt
It's been nearly two decades, and I can still smell the utilidoors. LOL
5:58 Or perhaps a whole...... newwww world!!!!
Nothing sinister to see here
Great video. Is there any chance you can do a complete tour of Cinderella’s Castle?
There really isn't much to see. The murals in the bottom entryway (I do have photos of those), Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant on the second floor, which I only saw when I worked there a couple of times (oh, those steps from teh basement...), the royal suite they created for the Year of a Million Dreams, whcih I never saw at all, and that's about it.
SirWillow Thank you, I’ve watched videos of the Cinderella Suite, I just thought the rest of the castle would be elegant.
I am curios about how much chat and talks you have ”backstage” or down in areas like the utility doors between CMs and CMs from other areas? Are there like ”beware lists” or ”wonderfull guests lista” floating around there? Could be a subject for a video even. Johan.
Nothing at all like that. Remember, when I was there WDW had 55-60,000 cast members. Today it's closer to 70,000. Think about those numbers. Photopass in itself had 100-200 cast members just to it at each park, and probably around 1000 in our department alone. So no, there wasn't much mixing between departments because there wasn't a good chance you were going to see them again.
the one exceptions I'm really aware of, for us at least, was some of entertainment. Because we worked with the characters and attendants we would talk with them some, but otherwise we kept pretty much to ourselves. That was true of most divisions at Disney
So no ”djungle telegraph”? Inbetween areas? Are the character CM swapping around between characters and areas as much as PP members seems to do? EQ could Belle from MK one night be friend with the same CM as Snowwhite in EPCOT the next? J.
Some of the entertainment characters will rotate from park to park, and sometimes role to role, depending on what their status is. But the vast majority of CM"s have one area in one park they work. Attractions CM's will often only have 1-3 rides they work- especially those on the bigger ones. Merch will have a handful of stores. Custodial one park. Kitchen help I believe just a couple of restaurants if not just one. AS photopass we had one park we were assigned to.
Best way to look at that is to look up my old video about bidding on lines. We bid on specific shifts and specific parks and that was true from almost all CM"s. you could pick up extra shifts in other places, but that was dependent on what training and jobs you did.
Hello weird question, did you ever go up to the elevator that leads to the tip of the castle tinkerbell and if you went up it was small or big since the higher it is the smaller it is all because of the forced perspective
No. The only ones allowed to so that are Tink and her crew
When i worked at wdw in 2007 & 2008, my dept had a team build day, and they took.us up to the apartment in the castle (via elevator). It was beautiful, and had amazing things in it. They also took us out to the balcony where Tinkerbell flies from every night. Whomever plays tink and makes that zip line flight every night has bigger balls then I do! Lol
Does the other florida parks have secret access rooms
I use to walk through the magic kingdom utilladoor to My job at crystal palace
Is it true that when guests are given tours of the utilidors, cast members have to put on their costume fully on? So if the guy who plays Mickey was in it, he would have to put on the Mickey head. If the actress for Princess Aurora isn't naturally a blond, she has to put on her blond wig? Is there also something that lets Disney workers know guests are coming through? A flashing red (green, blue, purple, or some color) light?
Not true. It may have been at one time, when they very first started those tours. But if there had been a warning, it would have simply been a "keep your eyes open". You're told and warned before the tour starts that there is a chance you may see a character- or a few- not ready to meet guests. And then told again before you go down below. And I would imagine it's one reason the tours don't go by the main cafeteria (besides it being a very high traffic area since it is near the main entrance to the utilidors)
i have a question, can you here people stomp/yell on certain areas or the entire park? curious cuz i saw someone comment about yelling “get back to work” and didn’t know if people actually hear them.
No. Not really. The only thing I really remember is the horses and trolleys. You also tend to tune it all out when you are down below
I saw a video on here of a couple of guys that snuck a camcorder down there and this was back when the security wasn't as tight as it is today and they were walking and I faintly heard 98.9 WMMO as well as journey's don't stop believin song playing so they run regular radio station music down there.
If the just played “It’s a small world after all” on an endless loop, people would snap.
@@DeflatingAtheism I actually like the music WMMO plays. A lot of songs they play I know.
Did you ever get to see rare characters in the utilidors? Like Darkwing Duck, the Three Little Pigs, Stromboli, Jafar, etc;?
the utilidors weren't places that you would normally see characters. They have their own break rooms and dressings rooms, so about the only time you might see them would be if they were going to eat at the cafeteria, or if they were starting or ending their day. and in all of those cases they wouldn't normally be wearing their costumes.
If you work at another park at Disney can you go to the utiladoor just to see it? They changed traditions and arnt giving that tour anymore.
technically you're only supposed to be in them if you have some sort of at least semi-official reason to be in them, even if that's visiting the Disney learning center, getting a bite to eat at the cafe, or something like that. :-)
I heard another youtuber say there’s a subway restaurant down there, I guess that could be the small eaterie place you mentioned about?
No. The small eatery is a snack bar. Subway is in the main cafeteria which is near the opening into the utilitors. Different places
@@SirWillow thanks for your reply. Are there other restaurants down there too like a McDonald’s?
No. Subway is the only one and only as a counter in the employee cafeteria, which has a few sections. Grill, salads, and things like that.
Does EPCOT, Animal Kingdom and Disney Studio have a similar underground area?
Only Epcot, and it's much much smaller, only under a bit of Future World. The other Disney parks don't have anything like that
This guy looks like a 50 year old husky 13 year old from the 80s
So how come you can hear the horses going by up above? I thought they would have sound proofed it “underground”. 🤔
Just like any building, even with thick floors/ ceilings, if you have 1000+ pounds stomping above you, you'll hear it. :-)
SirWillow
Oh ok thanks! Definitely one large drift horse! 😱
Just a quick question for you. This is just a personal curiosity thing. Having worked as several different parks and obviously having done many different jobs in them, if you could go back right now just for fun and work at a park, which park would it be and which job would you do again? And conversely, which would you say that no, you would never do again or never have done in the first place had you known what you know now? Love the stories BTW. Thanks from another brother in God.
All of them doing what i did. Really wasnt one i didnt like. They were all awesome jobs.
But the caveat is i would want to do them like we did them then. They've had some changes since then.
@@SirWillow That's really cool. Yeah I understand things changing over time. Thanks for that :)
All the Vegas casinos are like this.
Hello, I want to ask something that I think can ruin the magic, where I can ask it without wondering if I ruin the magic for someone
Drop me an emal. :-) sirwillow at gmail dot com
What would happen to employees that had an accident that took of the mask/ clothing of the costume?
That person would probably “disappear” somewhere in the Florida Everglades.
Can anyone confirm is the barber shop is still there???
do they still do the keys to the kingdom tour
Yes they do. You can find what tours are available and the costs on the Disney website
Curious as how many miles of tunnels?
I don't know if they've ever actually said. Top of my head guess I would say 2 -3 in total. It's essentially a loop around the park with a squarish grid under main street and another pass that runs across the loop under the castle to the other end of the park. It's not miles and miles worth.
I'm curious if you ever worked with a dear friend of mine who has since passed. His name was Paul Christopherson
My all family accept for my dad work at Walt Disney world and work in Utilidors I work at Disney over 21 years but I never been in the utilidors
Disney land here in California is like that and there is a tunnel in back of the park it's not guarded it can be access from a park not owned by Disney land
I worked for the Disney Store in 1990... a different time, a different world. I had a chance to go on a tour there, but my parents didn't want me to do. I was crushed... but thankfully the internet has given me insight. I wanted to work in the park back in the day, but my social anxiety to move to Florida and live alone was too much for me. I love the old Disney ways... the conservative escapism and magic! The company I worked for was so strict. No jewelry, no tattos, no hair coloring, not even a fancy wedding ring. You had to iron your clothes with the steamer and shine your white shoes. What a trip!
You briefly mentioned servers; when you were wondering did you ever see DACS, or at least the doors to it?
When I took the Backstage Magic tour we were in the Utilidors for a few minutes but I don't remember a smell; she's sleeping now but I'll have to ask my wife if she does. Guess it is just one more reason to try K2tK!
I knew where they a couple were, but they were closed and secured doors. No way you could get in to see them unless you had clearance or were with someone who did.
What is DACS
Can you enter the character zoo in a tur
@@josequezada7142 no. Its actually in a part that most tours dont walk past. You only get to enter the halls, noy any of the rooms or facilities
@@TheRealMr.Higgbottom DACS is the system they used to run the animatronics and sync them with the soundtracks.
Are the utlidors handicapped acessible?
Yes they are, but not every stairway to them has an elevator nearby.
Do you have any idea how a Disney Princess can get all the way from this Tunnel to Princess Fairytale Hall?
Generally walking is the best way. ;-)
@@SirWillowAlso further more, is there a Staircase leading to the Door connecting the Tunnel to Princess Fairytale Hall?
I won't give any information about where any of those entrances, exits, passage ways, or anything are. I don't want to encourage guests to be going any place they shouldn't be or looking for things they have no business seeing. Hope you understand
I can't read your shirt. I did eventually figure out that the center is Dr. Tom, but the words don't look like English to me.
"Would you like a jelly baby?"
@@thoughtengine ah, ok. Thanks.
The kids when they meet the characters “ why do you stink?”