We all know there are lots of things to do at Walt Disney World. Most of them right out in the open, but Disney is great at hiding things. I am not talking about Hidden Mickeys, I am talking about little things here and there to surprise and amuse us. It seems that each country in the World Showcase has some hidden gems or secrets and we are going to explore them all.
We’ll start with Canada and explore some unknown trails and some little known secrets.
- There is a walking trail in Canada that will take you to the top of the mountain. To the right of Le Cellier, before you get to Kidcot, is the walkway that leads toward the theater that plays O’Canada, and that is where you will find a little trail that will take you to the top of the mountain. Once you get to the top you can look down the mountain and appreciate the waterfall and the scenery around you. This is a quiet place to rest, get away from the crowds or just re-group. You can head back down the mountain on the front side and walk through the little “village” of shops. Down one more set of steps brings you back to the main walkway of the World Showcase. You can either head right towards United Kingdom or head left, stop off at the popcorn cart for some authentic Canadian beer and head back through The Victoria Gardens towards Le Cellier. We have made this loop many times with my kids while waiting for our reservations at Le Cellier, they love climbing the mountain and popping out at the top and then watching the waterfall.
- Only one of the totem poles in the pavilion are real. While standing in the pavilion you will see that there are three poles, one on the left and two on the right. The one on the left is real. It was carved by renowned Tsimshian Indian carver, David Boxley. It is a 700 pound, 30′ tall cedar that depicts three stories of Raven, which is a traditional story among the Northwest Coastal Indians. The other two have distinct markings to show they are large pieces of fiberglass stacked on top of each other.
- The Hotel du Canada, which is designed after the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa is only 3 stories tall, but they added 5 stories of windows to give it the illusion of being much bigger than it really is.
- The trees in Canada will be replaced when they grow too big.
- There is a huge generator in the mountain, it’s noise is masked by the waterfall. The 30′ tall waterfall was installed strictly to hide the noise the generator makes.
- The plants at Canada change with the seasons, to simulate the changing of the seasons in Canada, white in winter, gold and red in autumn, etc. The Buchart Gardens, located on Vancouver Island, are the inspiration for the gardens in the Canadian Pavilion. The weather at Disney is very different from Vancouver, so they don’t correspond, but they do represent them really well.
Have you ever explored the trail to the top of the mountain, seen the plants change, or just taken a break next to the hotel? What do you think of the hidden gems in Canada?
Stay tuned to see what we find on our hunt for secrets in The United Kingdom.
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I need to do the walking path next trip! It’s on my list now! I love these articles!
Does anyone know what the generator is for?
I am so excited that you are posting these articles! My trip to WDW this year will be spent mostly in EPCOT. The only other thing we are doing is going to the new Fantasyland in MK. I plan on spending significant time in each showcase country and being able to know these secrets and tell my DH is going to make our trip fantastic! THANK YOU!