Interesting Facts about Liberty Square at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

By Shendl  

I was listening to my friends at the Disney Exchange, Lisa, Nick and Dave during their latest podcast about Patriotism in the WDW Parks and I got an idea to hunt the internet for interesting facts about Liberty Square!

You will find some things you have seen before and some you haven’t, so please enjoy!

. The Imagineers designed the attractions to show the historical and geographical progression of buildings. This starts in Liberty Square with the Haunted Mansion, which is in the style of the late 1600’s in upstate New York and ends in Frontierland with The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is in the style of the late 1800’s in southern California. 

. Take Notice of the Street Numbers for each building in Liberty Square, they represent the year in which the Building Style of that particular building was popular. An Example, The Hall of Presidents is designed in the style of the architecture of 1787 (the number on the building in 1787) and for the buildings with only 2 digits, just add an 18 in front to find out the year that the building was styled after!

. Wondering why the street in Liberty Square is a red and brown two tone colour? Well, In the Colonial times, nobody had indoor plumbing so they had to throw their ablutions out the windows into the streets….The brown colour in the walkway represents the flow of sewerage! Yucky, right???

. Looking for a Restroom in Liberty Square….you will not find one as in that time period, no one had indoor plumbing – cleverly though the location of the restrooms in Columbia Harbour House are actually in Fantasyland!!

 

. Have you noticed the Shutters on the buildings in Liberty Square hang crooked? The reason for this is that the colonists hung their shutters with leather and over time the leather would stretch causing the shutters to hang skew. The Imagineers designed the shutters to hand skew to fit with the look of the times.

. Ever seen a doll in one of the windows in Liberty Square? This was to show Firefighters that a child lived in the house. Very clever actually….

. The Liberty Tree is based on the original Liberty Tree in Boston which served as the gathering place for the Sons of Liberty in the time leading up to the Boston Tea Party. Disney Imagineers actually transplanted a 35 ton, 135 year old oak from elsewhere on the property to Liberty Square. This majestic tree holds 13 lanterns, one for each of the colonies!

. The Liberty Bell that hangs in the Square is an exact replica case from the same mould as the original Liberty Bell. In 1976, each state received a replica of the bell in celebration of the BiCentennial. Pennsylvania had the original so they were not sure what to do with the replica, when Walt Disney World asked if they could have the replica for the Magic Kingdom, Pennsylvania agreed and the replica now sits in Liberty Square. Florida is the only state to showcase two replica’smade from the cast from the original bell.

. The lobby in the Hall of Presidents is actually a Federally Recognized Presidential Museum! Other than the White House, the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square is the only other place that a Presidential Seal can be used. An Act of Congress had to allow WDW to use the Seal. This show often gets skipped over but you should take the time to view this interesting attraction!

Do you have any other interesting Facts about Liberty Square? If you do, please share them with us in the comments section below! Thanks for Reading!!