Watch Your Step ~ It Is All In The Details!

There is so much to see and do and so much excitement and anticipation to get it all done, families often overlook the little things that Disney includes in their theme parks.  One of the best examples of that attention to detail is the New Fantasyland.  There is the forced perspective that makes Beast’s castle appear to be looming in the distance to the oversized chair and antler décor in Gaston’s tavern that brings to life exactly what you imagined the inside of his home away from home to be.  And I would be completely remiss if I didn’t include the hidden Mickey’s that imagineers have been hiding in plain sight throughout their properties for decades.   Those are the things that we have come to expect from a Disney park and things that are typically noticed by guests as they rush from one attraction to the next, taking pictures along the way.  What many guests miss is right under their noses, er, feet!

When waiting in line for Dumbo, you will find peanut shells embedded in the sidewalk, animal prints walking through Storybook Circus or seashells on your way to the Little Mermaid.  This isn’t the first time Disney has used the sidewalks as part of their storytelling.  In Adventureland you will find jewelry embedded in the ground, hoof prints from the ghostly horse pulling the hearse in front of the Haunted Mansion with the Bride’s wedding ring embedded not too far away and my personal favorite, the yellow/brownish gravel path through main walkway of Frontierland representing the “urine trough” created by the horse-drawn carriages of colonial times.  Even the red brick when you enter Main Street has a purpose.  Walt wanted guests to feel that he had rolled out the red carpet for their arrival.  And that’s just at the Magic Kingdom.  More can be found at the other parks as well.  So next time you visit Walt Disney World, slow down and take a look around, or more specifically, down, and see how many hidden treasures you can find.