Weird Disney › Tales from the strangest places on earth

When World Disney World Canceled the Persian Resort in 1973, the Shah of Iran Offered to Pay for It

Walt Disney World Is Built Inside Its Own ‘County’: The Reedy Creek Improvement District

Walt Disney World Is the Largest Single-Site Employer in the World

You Can’t Buy Chewing Gum at Any of Disney’s Parks

Oddities

There Is an Incredible Hotel Room inside Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle

Some of Spaceship Earth’s Most Famous Animatronics Were Once U.S. Presidents

The Flags on Main Street U.S.A. Are Props

There’s a Basketball Court Inside Disneyland’s Matterhorn Bobsleds

Every Building at Walt Disney World Is Under 200 Feet Tall

History

Why Are Walt Disney World’s Swan and Dolphin Hotels So out of Place?

Aerosmith Wasn’t Disney’s First Choice for the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean Featured Real Human Skeletons

There Was Once an Airport at Walt Disney World

The Beatles Broke Up at Walt Disney World

Scrapped

Walt Disney World Has Tried Twice, and Failed Twice, to Build a Venetian Resort

Germany at Epcot’s World Showcase Nearly Had Its Own Rhine River Cruise Ride

In the 1960s, Disney Tried to Build a Major Amusement Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Walt Disney World Planned an ‘Asian Resort’ That Was Nixed by the 1973 Oil Crisis

Epcot’s World Showcase Scrapped Plans for Iran, Israel, and Russia Pavilions

Factoids

Space Mountain’s Launch Was Attended by Real Astronauts

Disney World Has Hidden Hundreds of Lightning Rods in its Florida Parks

Disney’s Cast Members Always Point with Two Fingers

The Carousel of Progress Is America’s Longest-Running Stage Show

Walt Disney World Has the Planet’s Ultimate Lost and Found