A Utilidor is a utility corridor built underground or aboveground[1] to carry utility lines such as electricity, water and sewer. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television and telephone cables are also sometimes carried. An optical fiber (or fibre) is a Glass or Plastic fiber that carries Light along its length Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information They are most common in very cold climates where direct burial below the frost line is not feasible (like in Alaska, where the frost line is more than eighteen feet below the surface and is frozen year round. The frost line —also known as frost depth or freezing depth —is most commonly the depth that the Groundwater in Soil is expected Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent This article is about frozen ground For other meanings see Permafrost (disambiguation. They are also built in places where the water table is too high to bury water and sewer mains and where utility poles would be too unsightly or pose a danger (like in earthquake prone San Francisco). The water table is the level at which the ground water pressure is equal to Atmospheric pressure. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city These tunnels range in size from just large enough to accommodate the utility being carried to very large tunnels that can also accommodate human and even vehicular traffic.
The largest and most famous utilidors are at Disney theme parks. Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group They were first built for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida. Walt Disney World Resort is the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world containing four Theme parks two Water parks twenty-three themed hotels This article is about the Theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the A smaller Utilidor system is built under the central section of Epcot's Future World, primarily beneath "Spaceship Earth" and "Innoventions". Epcot is a Theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The park is dedicated to international Culture and technological Innovation.
The Utilidors are a part of Disney's "backstage" (behind-the-scenes) area. They allow Disney employees ("cast members") to perform day-to-day park operations, such as trash removal, out of the sight of guests.
Contents |
Utilidors at Walt Disney World
According to modern legend, Walt Disney was bothered by the sight of a cowboy walking through Disneyland's Tomorrowland on his way to his post in Frontierland. Tomorrowland is one of the many "themed lands" at the many theme parks owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world For the closed theme park in Morecambe, England, see Frontierland Morecambe. [2] He felt that such a sight was jarring, and detracted from the guest experience. When plans for the Magic Kingdom in Florida were being developed, engineers designed Utilidors to keep park operations out of guests' sight.
The Utilidors are beneath the Magic Kingdom, but they are not a basement; they are actually the ground level of the Magic Kingdom. A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the Ground floor. The park is actually the second level. Parts of Fantasyland, including Cinderella's Castle, are at third-story-level (this is why the castle seems to loom so large as guests approach it via Main Street, USA). This is an article about the structure at the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland. Main Street USA is the first "themed land" inside the entrance of the many Magic Kingdom -style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the The ground's incline is so gradual that guests do not realize they are ascending to the second and third stories. The Magic Kingdom is built upon dirt which was removed from what is now the Seven Seas Lagoon.
The Utilidors are built on nine acres, and the floor plan resembles a wheel with spokes. The hub lies beneath Cinderella's castle; tunnels to all the other lands branch out from this central location. The walls of the tunnels are color-coded, to make it simple for cast members to tell which land they are in. The Utilidors can be accessed from a main tunnel entrance located behind Fantasyland, or through various unmarked doors located throughout the Magic Kingdom. This is an article about a themed land at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland All Magic Kingdom cast members park about one mile away and are transported via a Disney bus to the tunnel. Some shops, restaurants and attractions have direct access to the Utilidors.
Cast members navigate the tunnels on foot or in battery-operated vehicles that resemble golf carts, which cast members call "Pargo's". The battery electric vehicle, or BEV, is a type of Electric vehicle (EV that uses chemical Energy stored in Rechargeable battery A golf cart or golf buggy (officially referred to as a golf car according to ANSI standard z130 Gasoline-powered vehicles are not allowed in the Utilidors, with the exception of armored cash pickup trucks, and, in extreme emergencies, ambulances. An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury.
Functions
The Utilidors have been referred to as an "underground city," and with good reason. Its functions include:
- Waste removal: The Magic Kingdom uses an Automated Vacuum Collection system for waste removal. The Automated Vacuum Collection (AVAC system also called "pneumatic refuse collection" transports waste at high speeds through underground tunnels to a building where Sanitation crews remove trash from the park twenty-four hours a day, and dump it into AVAC system processors throughout the park. The trash then travels through pneumatic tubes to a central location where it is processed, compressed, and/or recycled. [3]
- Electrical operations: The park's computer system, the Digital Animation Control Systems (DACS), is operated and monitored from control rooms in the Utilidors. This system monitors everything in the park, from sound systems to attractions, Audio-Animatronic figures to parades, fire prevention and security systems to cash registers.
- Deliveries and storage warehouses: All deliveries are received, processed, and stored at the Utilidors until use. This ensures that guests do not see delivery trucks pulling up at the Magic Kingdom's gate, nor do they see cast members carting merchandise through the park.
- Food service: The park's cooking and prep kitchens are housed in the Utilidors.
- Costuming: Until recently, the park's costuming department (for cast members and Audio-Animatronic figures) was located in the Utilidors. Over 1. 2 million costumes were housed here, making it the largest operating wardrobe department in the world. However, in 2005, Disney replaced this facility with a larger location in the cast member parking lot.
- Cast member services: Separate locker rooms for men and women are located in the Utilidors, as well as cast member cafeterias. There is also a check cashing service, an employee hair salon called "Kingdom Kutters," rehearsal rooms, and administrative offices.
References
- ^ utilidor - Definitions from Dictionary.com
- ^ Betcha Didn't Know (World View) by Mark Goldhaber on September 11, 2003
- ^ Fun Facts of Magic Kingdom's Underground Complex
External links
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic