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I was looking through pictures of our last Disney vacation. And there is a man in one of our pictures wearing an Island of Adventures shirt. This is one of those things that makes me pause. I don’t get why you would wear a Universal Orlando shirt to Disney World. It seems odd to me. I know people will say, they are on vacation in Orlando and he got the shirt the day before, he wanted to wear it today, yea, I get it, but it is one of those things that strikes me as being out of place. Then I started thinking about other things in Disney World that seem out of place. There are a few things that just seem like they don’t belong, so today I bring you, the Unknown Magic of objects that don’t seem like they belong in Disney World and why they do.

The first thing actually things that always had me scratching my head and could be found in the Disney Hollywood Studios until just a few months ago were the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why the Rangers were in Disney at all. Until I did a little research. They were Disney property. When Disney bought Fox-Family Channel way back in 2001, the Power Rangers were part of the deal. So, Disney provided someplace for them to be seen, since they were shown on the Disney owned channels for a while. Disney no longer owns the rights to the Power Rangers, so they have accordingly been dismissed from their duties of protecting the Streets of America, in Hollywood Studios.

This past summer if you had gone into the ABC Commissary for lunch or dinner, while in Hollywood Studios, you would have had the opportunity to see Landon Donovan’s Jersey and cleats from a soccer match in Amsterdam, from back in March 2010. This is a head scratcher to a few people. Why Soccer memorabilia in the ABC Commissary? Well, at the time, the World Cup (Soccer’s Holy Grail) had just finished being played in South Africa. The games were broadcast in the United States on ESPN and ABC (both are Disney Companies). With Landon Donovan being one of the most recognizable names for American Soccer enthusiasts, it would make sense for ABC/Disney to advertise for the World Cup in this way.

Another object that seems out of place in Walt Disney World, and is an Unknown Magic besides, is the building with the grass on the roof. This building is actually Kringla Bakeri og Kafe’s. It may seem odd to have a building with grass for a roof, but In Norway, they still have buildings that are like this. They are very strong structures and with the attention that Disney pays to details, this is actually an appropriate thing to have in Epcot. Also in Epcot it may seem strange when you visit the Canadian pavilion to see Totem Poles. But in the Northwest Totem Poles go back
for generations, telling Family History and Mythical stories. The Vancouver International Airport for example has a large collection of Northwestern Art and Totems on Display.

In the Magic Kingdom, there is an Unknown Magic that you need to find, but when you do, it may strike you as odd and out of place. When you are riding on the Walt Disney World Railroad, as you are in the waiting room area of the station in Frontierland, look around. You will see a wooden leg with Smith written on it. This may seem very out of place. But in the old west, which is what Frontierland is supposed to be, there were people with prosthetics, and back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s they would have been made of wood. And the fact that the name Smith is written on the leg might not be too weird, seeing as Smith is such a common name, but in this case, the Smith on the leg is a shout out if you will to Mary Poppins. In the Movie Marry Poppins, Bert and Mary and the Children are visiting Uncle Albert, Bert says to Albert “I once knew a man with one leg named Smith,” to which Uncle Albert answers, “What is the name of the other leg?” So, not only could this the leg be historically accurate, it is Disney Imagineering working a joke for you to find.

So, now you know, there are some Unknown Magics and some other objects that seem out of place when you are in Walt Disney World. If you take the time to find them, you may wonder why they are here. But as with everything Disney does, the objects that seem out of place are there for a reason, most likely to add to your Magical Experience, by adding details to the area. So, enjoy the details and the things that seem out of place.