Maintaining the Magic

Although the Magic Kingdom Park will be 40 years old next year, it doesn't look a day over 4, and there's good reason for that. Maintenance work is conducted around the clock to keep this and all the Disney Parks looking their best. Some of this work can be accomplished overnight while the park is closed, but other efforts are more extensive, requiring weeks or months of refurbishment.

In the case of building facades, lengthy repairs might necessitate the use of unsightly scaffolding and scrims. Over the past decade, though, the Imagineers have developed a way to shroud the work with a little Disney magic. Today, those scrims are digitally printed with a full-scale image of the building behind. The result is a near-seamless view for passing Guests and a reaction of, "Wow! Only at Disney!"

The first printed scrim I recall seeing was used on the Doge's Palace in the Italy pavilion at Epcot. It was summer 2001 when the scaffolding started to go up, and I was getting nervous. My wife and I had plans to get married on the Italy Isola shortly thereafter. When the morning of August 9 arrived, I was too distracted by the events of the day and my beautiful bride to really notice the Doge's Palace. Looking at the photos later, though, I was amazed at how the scrim just blended right in as if nothing were different.

These days, printed scrims are used any time repair work on a building or facade is expected to last more than a week or so. In the Magic Kingdom right now, scrims can be found up and down Main Street, as well as in other sections of the park.

Peter Pan's Flight in Fantasyland is currently undergoing a refurbishment, as is the Liberty Tree Tavern in Liberty Square. This particular one really made me smile when I saw it. You have to look closely in the picture to tell, but the tree in the planter to the right of the entrance is actually behind the scrim. Most of it is printed along with the rest of the image. A couple of branches, though, protrude forward through holes in the scrim. It all blends together so well, you really have to do a double-take to determine what's real and what's illusion.