Seven Things You May Not Know About the American Adventure
Publish date: 2024-07-11
When Epcot and World Showcase were first being designed, the United States pavilion was originally going to be located between Future World and World Showcase. The two-story building would have hovered above the lagoon on stilts, serving as a gateway to World Showcase. The attraction itself would have been located on the upper floors. Of course, those plans changed dramatically, and the pavilion, which become known as the American Adventure (after the attraction that the pavilion hosted), was placed in the center of the other World Showcase pavilions.Many people, especially first-time Guests, may not realize that when they enter World Showcase and see the American Adventure across the lagoon, they’re not seeing the actual attraction building. Instead, what they’re seeing is the back of the American Gardens Theatre. Though part of the theatre blocks the view of the actual pavilion, Disney’s Imagineers took painstaking efforts to ensure that the back of the theatre blended in perfectly with the pavilion.Traditionally, Colonial buildings were never constructed more then two or three stories high. But the American Adventure Pavilion needed to be five stories tall to accommodate the attractions, galleries, and other areas inside. To make the building historically accurate, Disney’s Imagineers needed to make the pavilion look smaller then it actually was. They turned to a tried-and-true method – forced perspective. Though typically used to make a structure, like Cinderella Castle, appear taller by making the upper windows and architectural elements smaller than they would normally be, they reversed this approach for the American Adventure. Using forced perspective, the Imagineers scaled the upper windows to make the building seem like it was only three stories tall, not five, in order to maintain its historical accuracy.How about some numbers? The façade of the American Adventure Pavilion is made of 110,000 bricks handmade from Georgia red clay, aged for an authentic look and feel. Its central rotunda is approximately 35 feet high, with its dome adding another 10 feet. The pavilion itself encompasses an expansive 108,555 square feet, nearly as large as two football fields!As you make your way to the American Adventure theatre, you’ll pass through the Hall of Flags. Though you often won’t have time to take a close look at the display, we can tell you that there are 44 flags hanging proudly in the hall. These include the many flags that have flown over the United States, with the addition of each state adding another white star to the blue field. (Interesting side note: In 1889 a 39-star flag was constructed by a few flagmakers who mistakenly believed that the Dakota Territory would enter the Union as one combined state. This did not happen, and thus this flag was never adopted; instead, in 1890, a new flag was introduced with the correct number of stars, 43.) Other flags include the Colonial Union Jack, used by North American governors’ ships; the first Navy Jack, sporting thirteen alternating red and white stripes under a rattlesnake and the warning, “Don’t Tread on Me”; the Bennington flag, similar in structure to the standard American flag, but with the number “76” joining thirteen stars in the blue square; and the Commodore Perry flag, bearing the infamous words, “Don’t Give Up the Ship.”Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain are your Animatronic hosts for the show itself, and at the time they were some of the most advanced Audio-Animatronic figures ever created. Franklin and Twain do things that no other Audio-Animatronic had ever done before, such as “walking” up a flight of stairs. Another major innovation for the characters was the sound system used for their voices. Instead of the being projected through the theater’s sound system, Franklin’s and Twain’s voices are actually projected from inside the Audio-Animatronic figures themselves. (And there are even more realisiting touches to be found; the next time you’re there keep on eye on the candle flames and Mark Twain’s cigar!)Imagineers needed to design a mechanism that could quickly and efficiently change the massive scenes without interrupting the flow of the show. Housed under the stage, the mechanism weighs an astounding 175 tons and measures 65 x 35 x 14 feet. It contains 10 sets, and it uses a combination of hydraulic supports and lifts to raise the sets in and out of place right on cue. This complex choreography is controlled by nearly 30 computers!ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo77AraCopqOlv6a%2F0meaqKVfZ31yg45pbmhoY2SurrHRopqapl2Wsbexza2sq51dm66kwNJo