All Ears® Guest Blog

Town Square Exposition Hall
by
Emily Owens Pickle

One of the greatest characteristics of Disney is an immense sense of vision. For me, it is the cause of the ‘Disney waterworks’ that Mike Scopa recently wrote about and the reason that walking down Main Street USA never seems to lose its luster; it keeps the magic of Disney fresh and emerging year after year for all loyal mice.

Recently while flipping through a family photo album I happened upon some pictures taken in a Steamboat Willie scene about fifteen years ago with my sisters. I couldn’t for the life of me remember where these pictures could have been taken in Disney. They looked very Magic Kingdom-esque but I couldn’t quite place them…

Then I had a head-smacking moment while reading All Ears! With the glitz and light of Main Street and the castle pulling you forward, it is sometimes easy to get lost in the big picture and overlook hidden gems. Main Street USA is designed as the opening credits of the Magic Kingdom Park and nothing here is a coincidence. Think about the ‘movie posters’ that line the tunnel as you enter the park, the design of the cast member outfits, and the smell of fresh popped corn as Main Street finally comes into your view. Doesn’t this remind you of the beginning of a highly-anticipated feature presentation? Well of course that is exactly what it is! This vision and construction from Walt and his Imagineers is why we feel a part of the magic at Walt Disney World.

The ‘room’ I found in the pictures with my family is actually an exhibit within the Town Square Exposition Hall. The Hall is in fact one of the only full-size buildings on Main Street USA as part of the ‘forced perspective design’. This optical illusion is the reason a modestly tall Cinderella Castle (189 ft) feels so large—as you move down Main Street, the buildings are actually getting smaller.

The next time our clan stepped into the Magic Kingdom I steered us towards Exposition Hall. Note that the Hall does not exist in the same form at Disneyland—at the Happiest Place on Earth this structure is named the ‘Opera House’. We skipped the front entrance of the Hall, opting for the secondary entrance on the far right side, underneath the lattice walkway.

This attraction is sponsored by Kodak and in the gift shop you can purchase many film and camera related products and services. The Walt Disney World website also says ‘Guests with digital cameras can download their images and other media information from a digital media card and burn these images onto a CD at this photo location.’…nice!

Being sponsored by Kodak, the Hall features display cases full of camera memorabilia and time points throughout American history.

As you move further into the Hall, you will find a small movie theater surrounded by photo opportunities. The theater plays continuous Disney classics that can be enjoyed in classic comfy-style.

The photo ops include Steamboat Willie, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, and Snow White scenes. These are fun for the reluctant…and not so reluctant models.

A long and detailed timeline along the back wall of the theater presents Disney-history. This is a leftover from the time when the Exposition Hall was a showcase for upcoming Disney world parks and attractions.

From my limited research, the Hall has been host to many exhibits over the years pre-Kodak sponsorship. Once called the Gulf Hospitality House, the Exposition Hall has been a mini-Disney museum, venue for upcoming Disney parks and expansions, and more (see Lou Mongello’s All Ears article for a great overview of the Hall’s history).

Even if you decide not to venture into the theater, this small sitting area towards the back of the hall provides a cool and quiet moment for over-exerted mouseketeers.

So, if it is at all possible, tear your eyes away from the castle sometime and hang a right towards the Town Square Exposition Hall. And if you can, spend a few extra moments looking through the Disney timeline so that we never forget all of the laughter, memories, and magic started with a dream and mouse.