It's A Small World, After All

Walt Disney was a genius, not only creative, but obviously had sense enough to employ folks around him with the same creative entertainment juices that has captured the attention of travelers all over the world.

DisneyWorld and DisneyLand are two of our biggest family vacation requests every year, and Universal Studios is also been getting a lot of attention in the past 2-3 years with their Harry Potter emphasis. Our Disney sales representative sent us some interesting information about the Disney parks that I thought I would share with you today.

DisneyWorld in Orlando is really not a “small world” after all. It covers 40 square miles, about the size of San Francisco. Of the more than 25,000 acres, less than 35% has been developed with a quarter designated as a wilderness preserve.

Can you believe they have more than 62,000 persons making magic at the Magic Kingdom? They are the largest employer in the United States.

Also, can you believe that Mickey Mouse has more than 290 different sets of clothes, ranging from a scuba suit to a tuxedo. Minnie Mouse's wardrobe contains more than 200 outfits, including everything from cheerleader ensemble to evening gowns.

And check this out....if you were to wash and dry one load of laundry every day for 52 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 285,000 pounds each day and dry clean between 30,000 and 32,000 garments daily.

On any given day, Disney's PhotoPass photographers take between 100,000 and 200,000 photos of guests at Walt Disney World......considered among the most photographed places in the United States. That's amazing!!!

And if you think that's something, more than 75 million Cokes are consumed each year at Walt Disney World Resort, along with 13 million bottles of water. Guests eat 10 million hamburgers, 6 million hot dogs, 9 million pounds of French fries, and more than 300,000 pounds of popcorn.

Here's some unbelievable facts. Every day an average of 210 pairs of sunglasses are tuned in and, since 1971, an estimated 1.65 million pairs of glasses have found their way into the “lost” bin. On an annual basis, Lost and Found cast members collect more than 6,000 cell phones, 3,500 digital cameras, 18,000 hats and 7,500 autograph books. Speaking of lost and found, the most unusual items turned in have been a glass eye, a prosthetic leg and a potty trainer. Each, incidentally, was claimed, but not by the same person!!

Well, that's only a few of the items that go to prove that Disney truly is not as small as you would think, and it is a smart traveler who allows the experienced travel agent at The Travel Factory help with these memory-making vacation plans to Disney. Call us at 325-698-1421 or toll-free 800-760-4040, or drop in for some seriously fun conversation at 4150 Southwest Drive, Ste. 120. We'd love to help you manufacture the vacation of your dreams!!