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About the Book

Counting Pixie Dust

How much pixie dust is there at Walt Disney World, anyway? Can you count it? Nope. But there are many things at Disney World you can count, and Tony Caselnova has counted and measured and calculated and quantified them all.
You'll learn things about the Disney World theme parks and resorts that you never knew before—and that you never thought to ask.
Think you know Space Mountain? Tony knows the length of the tracks, the speed of the rockets, how many guests can ride per hour, how much of the ride is below ground, the weight of the concrete beams that support the mountain, and much, much more to amaze and edify any Disney fan (and especially the ones who think they know it all).
And that's just Space Mountain. Every Disney World theme park, resort, attraction, and show is "enumerated" in the book, as well as Disney dining, Disney transportation, Disney recreation, and Disney water parks. You'll even find out how much Disney pays in taxes!
Disney by the Numbers: a unique look at your favorite theme park!

About the Author

Anthony M. Caselnova

My enthusiasm for all things Disney all started when my parents took our family to WDW for a vacation. My first trip was at age 13. Since that first time, I have made a trip to WDW almost every year from age 13. As far as I knew there was only one place to vacation!

My fascination with WDW began on that first trip. I wanted to know how things at WDW operated and what made it so magical. I wanted to know details like how many people worked there and the length of the monorail track. It is that fascination that fueled my interest in WDW. Each year that my family vacationed at WDW, I learned more about WDW as they built more parks and added more attractions.

I am not the average fan; I want to know all the details and I love researching the facts of WDW. I research facts through the Internet, books and DVDs. To me, the best part is to conduct research trip at WDW.

After college, my father was transferred to Orlando and I moved with my parents. Seeking employment, I applied for a job at WDW. I passed the first rounds of interviews and was proud to join the Disney family as a security cast member!

The job was great. It included Disney-specific training and security training before assuming four duties: driving a security vehicle, standing a post, working in a resort or walking a park or other area. Sometimes I even had special duties like working the Epcot Christmas Processional. I would escort the celebrity guests from backstage to onstage. Interestingly, every cast member is given a WDW fact book monthly to aid in answering guest questions. The pocket book contained great Disney facts that added more fuel for my thirst of Disney facts.

Table Of Contents

Table of Contents

 

Chapter 1: Walt Disney World

Chapter 2: Magic Kingdom

Chapter 3: Epcot

Chapter 4: Disney's Hollywood Studios

Chapter 5: Disney's Animal Kingdom

Chapter 6: Walt Disney World Water Parks

Chapter 7: Walt Disney World Resorts

Chapter 8: Walt Disney World Dining

Chapter 9: Walt Disney World Recreation

Chapter 10: Walt Disney World Transportation

Chapter 11: Mousecellaneous

Publisher's Note

Publisher's Note

This is not a book of words. It’s a book of numbers. Lots and lots of numbers. There are words around the numbers, but it’s the numbers that matter.

 

There isn’t a plot. There’s minimal structure. The content within each section isn’t presented in any particular order. It’s all random, even scattershot. You’re not meant to read this book; you’re meant to wallow in it.

Open the book to any page and you’ll be presented with facts and figures—hard data—about different aspects of Walt Disney World. You’ll be amazed how many numbers support the pixie dust you enjoy whenever you’re at a Disney World park or resort. Without these numbers, there wouldn’t be a Walt Disney World.

We all know it started with a mouse. But before the mouse, there were numbers.

Excerpt

Cinderella Castle...By the Numbers!

189 feet to the highest point on Cinderella Castle, which can be seen as far as 2 miles away at the Ticket and transportation Center.

3,727 towers are on the castle. They were pre-fabricated near the site, then slated, gilded, and hoisted into place.

29 towers were in the original design, but 2 were deleted during construction.

13 gargoyles are on the exterior.

40 coats of arms are on display inside Cinderella’s Royal Table restaurant. Each refers to someone who played a significant role in the heritage and history of the Disney company.

18 months were need to construct the castle.

500,000 bits of glass in 500 different colors are used inside the castle.

1 mile away is the distance the castle is designed to be seen from.

13 intricately carved, winged gargoyles appear on the exterior.

600 tons of steel went into the construction of the castle, and not a single stone.

1996-97, to celebrate Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary, the castle was transformed into a huge “cake” with large decorations and more than 400 gallons of pink paint.

25 candles adorned the cake.

1 day is the number of times the castle was vandalized with toilet paper and graffiti to commemorate the opening of Stitch’s Great Escape.

3 elevators are inside the castle.

5 tile mosaics designed by Imagineer Dorothea Redmond tell the story of Cinderella just inside the castle breezeway. Each of the panel tile mosaics is 15 feet high and 10 feet wide.

5 murals contain about 500 colors and 1 million pieces of glass, many of them fused with real silver and 14-karat gold. Smooth-faced Venetian glass and rough-surfaced smalti (enameled or glazed glass) traditionally used by Italian craftsman were incorporated into the design.

6 artists worked more than 2 years to complete the murals in the archway of Cinderella Castle.

300,000 pieces of glass were used to make the interior murals.

30,000 pictures are taken of Cinderella Castle everyday.

18 towers and spires are topped with sparkling gold-painted finials.