Do you want to peek into some Disney magic? The question you might want to ask is “What’s a utilador?”
The utiladors are a series of tunnels below the Magic Kingdom that connect the various lands as well as many of the shops. The entrances for this tunnel system are behind the scenes so you’ll never see them without being invited. For most folks, there are only two ways that you’ll ever see the utiladors at Disney. The first way is to work at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. The second is to take a behind the scenes tour of Magic Kingdom.
What is the Purpose of Utiladors?
These wide tunnels are basically designed to move things around the park, without having guests see things moving around the park. One thing you might not notice until it’s pointed out to you is that you’ll never see someone pushing large bins of trash around the park. You’ll also never see a cast member from one land wandering around another. This is because the trash, as well as the cast members can use the utiladors to get around out of sight.
The interesting thing about the utiladors, and actually about the Magic Kingdom, is that the untiladors are actually on the ground level. This means that the park itself is actually on the second story. The climb up is so gradual that most people never even notice it, but next time you’re in the magic Kingdom, try to pay attention to the slopes taking you up to the park.
Are Utiladors in Every Park?
This design feature is not at every park, in fact the true utiladors are only at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. The design is something Walt thought up before he passed away. The story is that he saw cast members walking through different lands wearing the wrong costume at Disneyland. He felt that cast members wearing the wrong outfits in a land ruined the magic. When he was designing the Magic Kingdom, he thought up the idea of the utiladors to alleviate this problem. You’ll never see a cast member from Tomorrowland walking down Main Street. It also keeps garbage collection out of sight and allows Mickey and his friends an easy way to move around the parks.
Some of the newer parks are said to have some of the features of the utiladors, but Magic Kingdom is said to be the most extensive. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of thing that can be built anywhere, and for a place like Disneyland in California it’s way too difficult to add in later.
How to see an utilador yourself, as far as I know there are only 3 possible ways:
- The easiest way to see the utiladors is to book a behind the scenes tour. This can cost a lot, but it may give you the chance to see these magical tunnels. Keep in mind that you will not be allowed to take pictures, and not all behind the scenes tours offer this opportunity.
- You can also work for Disney and be lucky enough to be a cast member at the Magic Kingdom. This might seem like the most complicated way, but there is a harder way to get into these secret tunnels.
- Either be a famous celebrity, or work on the crew that might be filming something at the park. This is a far smaller group of people, but even if you’re shooting a commercial for Disney (Disney does not make all of their own commercials all over the world), then you might have a chance to wander these tunnels.
- If you know another way, let me know.