The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 7

Saturday, Oct. 2, 1971 ODrlanbn futtrtrl 7 A S-Uiide World In IZwuj (hie Unvn In Catacombs By BILL DUNN Florida Matiilnt editor Sleepy, Sneezy and Grumpy are arguing about press relations. "You can quote me but only as Sneezy," Sneezy is telling a reporter, "but don't use my real name." "No," yawns Sleepy, "You can use our real names as long as you don't give away our roles." rground 'M fill V) "THAT'S NOT RIGHT at all," Grumpy is Kiumoiing now. "Just tell it like it is, man." As the interview is about to begin, the dwarfs' supervisor ambles up to clarify the policy: "The dwarfs aren't allowed to grant interviews at all," he says. The reporter moves on.

As the dwarfs are resting on a cool, concrete floor, Snow White, no doubt, is resting elsewhere in the eight-acre basement beneath the mammoth Walt Disney World Theme Park. It is here where the cast of Disney characters, hostesses and guides checked in early Friday morning and were fitted and issued costumes. LATER, BETWEEN parades and performances, they retreated here 50 feet underground for a moment's relaxation, costume alterations, cold drinks, air conditioning and to discuss such matters as the press relations of dwarfs. 1 1 'V I I A i To the left of the dwarfs there is a door and a sign which says: MALE ZOO DRESSING DEN. Inside, on a bulletin board, there is written on the master schedule: "MICKEY MOUSE, MINNIE 'MOUSE DONALD DUCK, Main Gate at DUMBO, lunch at PLUTO GOOFY, Main Gate at PINOCCHIO UNIT, parade at 5:30." 'HI, HO IT'S OFF TO WORK WE GO SOUNDS GAILY IN LIBERTY SQUARE Visitors step out jauntily as brass band passes in old fashioned scene My Oh My, What A Wonderful Day From Pagci 1 TERRI BARNES (L) GUIDES PATRICIA DAVIS Map helps workers find way in tunnel Walt Disney It is midmorning and a young, bushy-headed lad dressed in a bright turquoise pantsuit is red faced.

And lost. The Disney basement consists of nearly 11 miles of nondescript tunneling. THE YOUNG MAN is perplexed. A supervisor has just told him to get a hair cut before climbing the three flights of stairs to his post. But where is a barber shop? This is where 21-year-old blonde Terri Barnes from Kissimmee comes in.

She is sitting in a folding chair at the corner of Tunnel and Tunnel D. When the Disney campgrounds open in November, she will be a recreation hostess. But today, she has been placed at the tunnel intersection to help lost employes find the light at the end. Behind her on the wall is a huge map of the complex catacomb. Somewhere on the map, there is a barber shop.

THE LAD IS ONE of 25 lost employes Terri has helped so far and it is only 10 a.m. As he sprints off, she settles back to read a paperback book, "The Late Great Planet Earth," by Hal Lindsey, a heavy, heavy book about Biblical philosophy. She is not getting too far into it because of the interruptions. Two dozen breathless residents of Pinocchio's Village can't find the tunnel to it. Later, some dwarfs stop.

They can't locate Snow White. "You have to get lost down here, some way or another," explains Miss Terri. Kay Fedd is a clerk at the Main Street U. S. A.

china shop and she wants to make a good impression opening day. But she has been issued a 41-inch full length skirt. She needs a 39. Tom Linville, assistant manager of Disney wardrobe issue, already has issued 2,500 costumes today from his $2 million, inventory. So finding a 39-inch skirt for Kay Fedd is quite routine.

No problem. She'll have to settle for a different color though. As Kay goes off to make a good impression at the china shop, 24-year-old brunette Jean Smith is ready to go home. Her 'opening day' began Thursday night and she has worked through to 6 a.m. as a hostess at the Polynesian Hotel.

How did the first day go? "Okay, but I still get confused. I sometimes call my dress a uniform. I must get it through my head, this is my I sometimes refer to the other girls as waitresses. I know better. I've been trained to call them food and beverage service hostesses." For every error, "I have to put a nickle in the pot." His Dream Comes True "If I had any regret, it is that a guy called Walt Disney wasn't 1 1 mjiiiiiiiii.i; iiiwijiiiii.iiMiiiiiiipiiiiiiiiiiiw.

1 mi 1 11 in' rriT-ir1 11 1111 1 f19 4 a vjC Bill Chaney, brought in from Disneyland to help with the monorail operation, said, "It's been kind of slow. We have the capability of handling many more." THE MONORAIL, which delivers guests from the parking lot to the theme park by way of the hotels, used four trains two on a "limited" basis. The monorail avoided the Contemporary-Resort Hotel where work continues. Richie Rochelle, gate attendant at the Grand Prix Raceway, said business was "slow but steady." Again, those who participated enjoyed. "They say it's the best thing here," said Rochelle, who vowed that even the "little old ladies" got a kick out of driving the cars at the shocking speed of seven mph around simulated banked curves and hairpin turns.

RESTAURANTS did a good business both at the theme park and at the Polynesian Hotel where the "first family" was feted Polynesian buffet style. The William J. Windsor family of Lakeland, first through the turnstiles, said two young tow-headed sons tired at mid-afternoon but "had a wonderful time." Vicki Fogleman and Denise Meara steered guests into the regal King Stefan's Banquet Hall in Cinderella's Castle and reported "good crowds, but no waiting." "And they really loved the food," added Denise. "They said it was delicious, fabulous and well worth waiting for." DINNERS, with prime ribs of beef as the specialty, cost $4.25 for adults and $2.25 for children. Just around the Carrousel at the Crystal Palace buffet-style restaurant, pretty Bonnie Snyder said.

"They just come out rubbing their stomachs and saying the food is great but they ate too much." Shops were doing a good business along Main Street, U.S.A. where Denise Weddle said biggest sales in the Magic Shop was a deadheat between monster masks and a coffee mug fashioned into the shape of a skull. "We're not as busy as we thought," said Denise, "but wait 'till here to enjoy it." E. Cardon Walker Disney Executive Vice President and Operations Chief ALSO A big hit was the Country Bear Band with stupid-looking "Big Al" stealing the show with his rendition of "Blood on the Saddle." Rookie attendants at "It's A Small World" kept their smiles throughout the busy day as they ushered thousands aboard boats for a trip through a fun-filled tunnel of color, sounds and movement all reflecting happiness. Attendants on some of the attractions stood almost idle as the crowd passed up such things as the "Mad Tea Party" and "Mr.

Toad's Wild Ride." BUT DISNEY officials said the crowd was just what they wanted. Obviously missing were the chil-dren. Adults ou tnumbered youngsters, 10-to-l, leaving several of the child-oriented attractions with not much to do but wait for the weekend when school is out. Peter Pan's Flight and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea never got going. E.

Cardon Walker, executive vice president and operations chief, said, "Maybe tomorrow." WALKER SAID he expects much bigger crowds today and Sunday. "We'll be very happy," he said, "if we get 20,000 to 25,000 for Saturday and Sunday." Walker said October is "a month to get acquainted, to establish ourselves and to record our television show." A 90-minute color spectacular will be filmed Oct. 23-25 and be shown Oct. 29. Walker said first-day problems were minimal and "insignificant." HE ALSO SAID the public will dictate operating hours for the park.

It has advertised it will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., "but if the demand is different," said Walker, "we'll change it." "If I had any regret," said Walker, "it is that a guy called Walt Disney wasn't here to enjoy it." Walker also credited the some 6,000 employes most of them young and inexperienced with a "remarkable job." He also said there is more to come. "CONSTRUCTION IS beginning for Eastern Airlines and RCA nw' rv jf 1 1 1 I 1 rlj attractions," he said. "We also are giving consideration to construction of a Space Mountain. Phase I is just the beginning." Construction also continues on Tomorrowland and the two hotels the Polynesian Village and the huge Contemporary-Resort Hotel.

Walker said the "Flight to the Moon" attraction, one of the main events of Tomorrowland, "will be ready sometime in November or December." ROY DISNEY, chairman of the board for Walt Disney Productions, did not attend the opening day. Donn Tatum, president, explained, "Roy had to leave because of a serious illness in his wife's family. We are sorry he could not be here, and it is difficult to estimate when he will return." Although Disney executives were pleased with the first day's attendance, many employes were surprised. A NICE PLACE IN CASE OF BOMB ATTACK There are miles of tunnels underneath Disney World Business Slow At Lost Children Area lllllllilllllllillllHIIIIIIIIIillllHIillilllllllUMi! lHliltllllHI -''iiiiniiiliilil No liooia Wov Mesi Wvmn Question and stuffed chairs in the waiting mother's room. There is a diaper room with several bassinets.

And there is a bright and sunny play room. Mrs. Angers, who has three chil- dren of her own, and the other hostesses try to make lost children comfortable. They do not do this by buying them ice cream cones, however. INSTEAD, THEY take them to the sunny play room which has four small, wooden tables.

On top of the tables are things like "Walt Disney Dots Coloring Book" and "Donald Duck Coloring Book." The children also play with puzzles. Mrs. Angers often times their efforts. Sometimes, instead of games, the hostesses just talk to the children. During the recent shakedown of the center, when employes' families tried out the attraction, Mrs.

Angers remembers a lost girl who wanted to talk about Cinderella's castle. She said she would like to live there and wear a pink dress. "We do the best we can to put children at ease," said Mrs. Angers. "We try to relax them, to relate to them as their own parents." The converted sandwich vending machine with Beech-Nut baby food was ready.

So was the diaper room. And the waiting mother's room. And the play room. But there were hardly any lost children Friday at the long-awaited Walt Disney World opening. Or there were few lost parents, since that is the way Disney officials prefer to look at the situation.

MRS. CHARLOTTE Angers of Clermont, a pleasant woman who is one of three equally pleasant Lost Children Hostesses, said the day was almost a disappointment. She does not want anyone to get lost, but: "We think it's so beautiful here that we want someone to see it." A quick tour of the quarters for lost children turned up the vending machine with beef and noodles, vegetables and beef, and various other baby foods. THE BUILDING, near Main tHtft, also has comfortable iiofas says Miss White. "It really did." "We have to hold it for six months," she adds unhappily.

"That's Florida law." Just as Miss White spoke about the diaper, a man came over for the time to ask: "WHERE CAN I find a ust room?" "Between city hall and the fire station," answered Diane, reciting the answer like a student who has learned her ABC's by rote. ''One thing about Disney World," she observed as the man left. "They hide all rest rooms. You'll never see one if you just walk by the buildings." The question is always the same. And almost everyone seems to ask it.

How can I find the rest room? "Fifty thousand times a day, I get that question," says Diane White, a pretty, 22-year-old Orlando girl. MISS WHITE is guest relations hostess at the Walt Disney World railroad station. She stands behind a counter under a big sign that says "Information." A band playing outside forces Miss White to almost shout as she repeats the directions for finding the nearest rest room. She always does this with a smile. Besides supplying valuable information, Miss White takes lost and found items.

Friday was a slow day in that department, but business is expected to pick up. "WE EXPECT to be as busy as any other area in the park," says Miss White. During the shakedown of the attraction last month, when employes tested rides, Miss White says that lost items included these: Wallets. Sweaters. Handbags.

Baby strollers. Shoes. And one baby diaper. THE LATTER was unwelcome. "It really smelled very bad," Nctv Camera Recortls Coiov Page one color photograph of Walt Disney World was taken by Sentinel photographer Frank Russell, using a recently purchased camera, similar to the one used by Astronauts on Apollo moon landing missions.

The highly acclaimed Ilas-selblad camera is known for its finely ground lenses for the ultimate in sharpness, especially in color photography. This particular picture was taken with a 150 mm telephoto lens, shot at 125th of a second at 116. iMiiSiSlllfti.llllilIii:IIliltlillltlllltIIlliillllllilitlli1lliIlttISIIIlisJllIIlIItliliiilll"iiiltiSi;tifitIIJl.