Mousin' It Up

Recently on episode 288 of the Walt Disney World News Today (WDWNT) podcast http://wdwnewstoday.com/blog/archives/1041 they did one of their "top ten" lists, one that had been long joked about, and now they were really doing it, well Disney fans have been joking about the fact that Disney's quality of experience extends even to their restrooms for a long time, (http://www.wdwtoday.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Humorous_nicknames_for_WDW_restrooms) there was even a web site on the Disneyland restrooms called "the Happiest potties on Earth" which is a take on Disneyland's self designation as "The Happiest place on Earth". I have long had a Flickr tag of TOTVKOTW that is an abbreviation for "Thrones Of The Vacation Kingdom Of The World" and in addition to the ones I have tagged I always seem to keep finding ones I have missed.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=TOTVKOTW

Well one of the things that the folks at Walt Disney World News Today always do when they make a top 10 list is they ask others to make thier own lists and send them in, so over the next several days I'll be posting my top 10 WDW restrooms as posts to my blog and will send this list to WDWNT.

by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/bigbrian-nc/]bigbrian-nc[/url], on Flickr

These restrooms are actually across the pathway from Flame Tree Barbecue in their own building as you are headed to Dinoland from Discovery island they are on your right,  if you turn to face the building you will see there is a cast member gate off to the right of the building and when live entertainment was more frequent in this park the little  sidewalk leading back to that gate was often used as a performance space for many live entertainment acts including the Village Beatniks.





Like most (or all?) WDW restrooms a water fountain is near the entrance:



as well as a phone:


Like the other restrooms in Disney's Animal Kingdom, the restrooms have heavy wooden doors rather than the "touch less" walk around the wall entreyways found in many of the high volume restrooms in the other parks, this is done to make the restrooms a safe refuge in the event of an Animal escape.

[

the main thing that makes this restroom rise to the level of a top 10 is the great decor in the tiles, both floor and wall.











even the signs are made of tile:

(this blurry sign is actually a no smoking sign.

The Baby changing station also has a tile sign.









and that's number 10, more to come.

Recently on episode 288 of the Walt Disney World News Today (WDWNT) podcast http://wdwnewstoday.com/blog/archives/1041 they did one of their "top ten" lists, one that had been long joked about, and now they were really doing it, well Disney fans have been joking about the fact that Disney's quality of experience extends even to their restrooms for a long time, (http://www.wdwtoday.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Humorous_nicknames_for_WDW_restrooms) there was even a web site on the Disneyland restrooms called "the Happiest potties on Earth" which is a take on Disneyland's self designation as "The Happiest place on Earth". I have long had a Flickr tag of TOTVKOTW that is an abbreviation for "Thrones Of The Vacation Kingdom Of The World" and in addition to the ones I have tagged I always seem to keep finding ones I have missed.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=TOTVKOTW


Well one of the things that the folks at Walt Disney World News Today always do when they make a top 10 list is they ask others to make thier own lists and send them in, so over the next several days I'll be posting my top 10 WDW restrooms as posts to my blog and will send this list to WDWNT.


  At the Disney's Hollywood Studios all through the front part of the park there are several restrooms that look very much alike inside, no mater how the exterior looks, by the time they got around to adding the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith in 1999, they broke with this and went a bit different, that said I actually like the style and colors  of the tiles in those other restrooms at the studios, and the real things that set the G Force Records restrooms apart are mostly in things on the outside like the signs which resemble compact discs, though the disc here is larger more akin to a laser disc, and perhaps why I have been told that this particular sign has since been removed.



These restrooms are located to the left as you enter the compound of the G-Force records studio:


There's a nice quiet practical place to wait for the other members of your party which is out of the traffic of folks coming and going to visit the attraction.








Now all the signs above are cute but, for some reason, I like the sign for the Women's room better than the one for the Mens or the one for the Companion restroom, (the one for the companion restroom was damaged and missing what looks like it might have been a microphone stand emblem at the time I took these photos). Still this one is not my absolute favorite...



nor is the no smoking sign...


This is the one that is really my favorite!


The headphones really are just the perfect thing here, though I guess nowadays they might go with ear buds and an iPod.

The rest of the bathroom is ok, my feeling is they are trying to make the floor here look like what you might really find at a studio where the money is all put into the recording equipment and the tiles were just whatever they were able to salvage form elsewhere, but I can't help but look for (and see) the patterns in what is supposed to represent a floor without patterns.





if it were not for that flaw it might have made it even higher on my list.

and that's number 9, more to come ...

Recently on episode 288 of the Walt Disney World News Today (WDWNT) podcast http://wdwnewstoday.com/blog/archives/1041 they did one of their "top ten" lists, one that had been long joked about, and now they were really doing it, well Disney fans have been joking about the fact that Disney's quality of experience extends even to their restrooms for a long time, (http://www.wdwtoday.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Humorous_nicknames_for_WDW_restrooms) there was even a web site on the Disneyland restrooms called "the Happiest potties on Earth" which is a take on Disneyland's self designation as "The Happiest place on Earth". I have long had a Flickr tag of TOTVKOTW that is an abbreviation for "Thrones Of The Vacation Kingdom Of The World" and in addition to the ones I have tagged I always seem to keep finding ones I have missed.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=TOTVKOTW


Well one of the things that the folks at Walt Disney World News Today always do when they make a top 10 list is they ask others to make thier own lists and send them in, so over the next several days I'll be posting my top 10 WDW restrooms as posts to my blog and will send this list to WDWNT.


One running theme that you may notice in the restrooms that I like is that many of them have colorful tile patterns. At the Ticket and Transportation center there are actually three different sets of restrooms to chose from, in the building just to the southeast of the Monorail station there are not one but TWO sets of restrooms , after you pass through the gates by Mickey's Gift station
(and in this same building) there is one set on the side facing the monorail station, it appears to be a more "old style" restroom, before they started making them more colorful:



also in that same building but on the side facing the bus loading bay (you might be more likely to approach this from the lost and found building) is one that has had what appears to be a quite recent renovation:



and I do like the tile work and the colors in this restroom, but for some reason it just did not quite make my list, but for some reason the restroom at the North building of the TTC did make my list, I'd be hard pressed to come up with much of a justification of why I prefer this to the more recently renovated ones in the South building, I just do.



Perhaps the view from outside (monorails and flowers) is an easy reason to pick as who the smell and sound of busses is not high on most folks lists of things they use to add a certain ambiance to a scene.





Note that in the shot below you can see that the tiles in the women's room appear to have slightly different colors in their pattern:


Even though i've taken a fair number of photos in WDW restrooms, i do get self conscious, afraid that someone will walk in, and that sometimes results in shaky photos.


















Brawny and Sparkle, both products of the Georgia-pacific Corp. sponsor the hand washing stations in the restrooms of WDW. I wonder if WDW gets free hand towels and toilet paper in exchange for their Georgia Pacific product placement at the sinks around the resort? It would be a variation on that old rumor that WDW gets free soda syrup for all the Coca-Cola logos around the resort.

That's number 8, more to come!