Subliminal Smells and Sounds

[stitchhead28]

So I was in Downtown Riverside recently and I talked to one of the employees at the Dragon's Marsh store. We started talking about the different types of smelling salts and aromas that trigger different emotions and feelings in people. During the conversation he brought up that he used to work for Disney not to long ago helping build special equipment that pumps different smells through the rides to enhance the experience or trigger a certain emotion. Here is just a small sample of smells he explained...

Indana Jones Adventure - Brimstone
Pirates of the Caribbean - Gunpowder
Finding Nemo Submaries - Sea Salt
Haunted Mansion - Dead Flowers
Winnie the Pooh - Honey
Pinnochio - Various candy and other treats such as candy canes and ice cream (during the Pleasure Island scene)

On top of that, he also mentioned that certain rides have certain sounds being secretly pumped into the queue to trigger a certain emotion. For instance, he specifically mentioned Tower of Terror that has the sound of bees in the queue. Why? the buzzing of bees has a generally negative and fearful connotation and causes a feeling of dread. This, according to him, helps build up the anxiety of riding the ride. The other one he also mentioned was the beginning scene of Pirates of the Caribbean. He says it may seem like a coincidence, but they deliberately pump the sound of flowing water in the bayou scene to help give a feeling of tranquility so that tourists riding for the first time are lulled into a false sense of security so that the waterfall is a surprise to them. Right before the first waterfall, the sound of flowing water ends and the sound of low level bass drums mask the sound of the waterfall giving some sense of anxiety before the boat goes over.

I found this really interesting and would like to know everybody elses thoughts on this. I think it's pretty cool and clever on the part of Disney. Way to go Imagineers!!!

[Dragon003]

Anyone ever take the Disneyland RR from Main Street for a full round trip ride around the park and have to fight the urge to get off at the first stop in NOS because the food aroma smelled sooo darn good? Last time I was at DL that happened to me and when I finaly got off at Main Street again I made a beeline treck all the way back to NOS for a nice Monte Christo sandwich at Caffe Orleans lol.

[TimmyII]

Also, the candy store on Main Street pumps the smell of the candy being made out onto the street...however, if they are not currently making candy, the scent of vanilla is pumped out onto the street!

[CoryTheRaven]

Oh certainly… it’s those little nuances and details that actually do the lion’s share of the work in setting the theme of a place. It’s not just the rides – in fact, most of the rides at Disneyland are kind of anti-climactic – but the whole set up and lay and sounds and smells of the landscape. Heck, that even works within the rides themselves: two of my all-time favorite Disney soundbites are the eerie rendition of “Grim Grinning Ghosts” in the Haunted Mansion foyer and the echoy “Dead Men Tell No Tales” in the caverns in Pirates of the Caribbean. Some of it is really obvious, like piping “Once Upon a Dream” and “When You Wish Upon a Star” through the Castle, while others are more subtle, like the smell of candy pumped out onto Main Street.

My only problem is that I come from both a higher latitude and a higher elevation above sea level, which means the air here is a lot rarer. As a consequence, the air at Disneyland feels a lot heavier and more humid to me and I have a hard time picking up subtle scents. On my first trip, I couldn’t really smell anything except the wetness of the air. It got a lot better my second trip, but I still couldn’t pick up a lot of the subtle stuff mentioned in the first post (Pleasure Island smells like candy?! Cool!).

There are some smells that are a little less deliberate that I associate with Disneyland. Every now and then I’ll just stop for a second because some place inexplicably reminds me of the smell of the Jungle Cruise, Temple of the Forbidden Eye or Pirates of the Caribbean.

[FantasmicFan89]

There is nothing like those smells at the park. Every now and then i get this smell of something that reminds me of the darkrides in Fantasyland. Also, there's a parking garage for the mall by where I live that smells like the Indy ride. Can't think of anything else but Disneyland whenever I get those smells.

[Loneknight]

The smell of freshly-made churros or popcorn, wafting through the park (specifically, next to Star Tours on the way to Space Mountain).

...


That is all. Carry on.

[elfkin29]

I found air freshener that smells like the Blue Ribbon Bakery. I bought like 3 cans. It smells so good.

[stevo505]

What kind of brand is it?

[tony]

that churo and popcorn smell. arg

[elfkin29]

Originally Posted by stevo505

What kind of brand is it?

Its Country Vet brand that goes in those automatic sprayers that spray every 15 minutes or so