WDW Magazine December 2014 - Crowds at WDW | Page 74
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WDW Shutterbug
with different shades of concrete. Broken tiles and gems embedded in the
Adventureland concrete are a nod to Agrabah, and at the Haunted Mansion you can see
“ghost horse” foot prints and an abandoned engagement ring left in the concrete.
Epcot’s Future World has a amazing pavement that looks plain in the day but comes
alive at night with glowing fiber optic patterns, and near Mission Space watch out for
planets and comments in the ground underfoot. In World Showcase, the ground
signifies paving styles from each country represented. There’s cobbling in Germany,
Flagstones in Japan, decorative tiling in Italy – and my favorite – in Morocco, the “old
city” and “new city” are differentiated with different types of concrete stylings!
In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll find celebrity prints embedded in the concrete in
front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Dinosaur Gertie’s foot prints near Echo Lake, and
game pieces stuck in the ground near Toy Story Midway Mania. On Sunset Boulvard,
the polished art deco tiling near Sweet Spells gives way to exposed bricks and train
tracks peeking out of the asphalt near Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. And the Streets of
New York are authentically pot-holed and painted with traffic lines!
Animal Kingdom is maybe the most detailed park at WDW and it’s concrete confirms
that! Throughout the park look for leaf, brush, and bird foot prints appropriate to the
area of the park you’re in. Bicycle or tire tracks, animal paw prints, human footprints
can be seen too! In Asia, check out the mosaic style tiling in the concrete, and notice in
Africa how the ground looks worn in and dusty. There’s a contractor’s stamp
embedded somewhere in the park that is a nod to Mickey’s birthday and original name
– Mortimer.