Fastpass to History – The Smell of Disney

Fastpass to History – The Smell of Disney

Disney World Smell

Oh the smells of Disney – we all have our favorites.   But did you know Walt Disney was the first filmmaker to ever explore the idea of including scents in his movies.   In the 1940 film Fantasia, Disney wanted to add to the senses with smell, unfortunately the cost became too high for him to pull this off.    General Electric went on to develop the Smell-O-Rama in 1953 and the first smelly movie was released in 1960 called Scent of Mystery.

The device that Disney parks use has had many names, one of them is “Smellitzer” or “Scent-Emitting System” as it’s called in the 1984 patent application.   This device blows out any smell Disney would like towards park guests in areas all around the parks.   Have you smelled the peppermint by the candy store or the fresh baked cookies by the bakery?   No, Disney is not always cooking up a fresh batch of candy or cookies, but that’s definitely what it smells like.   Take a look on the outside of these buildings, you will likely see a circle that looks similar to a speaker, yeah that’s your smell.

Today there are smells all around the Disney property.   From the moment you walk down Main Street USA and smell the popcorn.   To the rides such as the musty smell of Pirates of the Caribbean, Stitch’s chili dog belch on Stitch’s Great Escape, Rome burning on Space Ship Earth, the watermelon and animal crackers on Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train and our favorite Soarin and the smells or oranges, pine forests, and the ocean.   Don’t forget the 3D/4D movies where smell was first introduced and Disney has perfected with Mickey’s Philharmagic pies and the wonderful stink bug smell at It’s Tough to Be a Bug.

Disney loves to fill all of our senses.   Whether it is piped in or natural, what is your favorite Disney smell?