This Post is Garbage 🗑️

This post is garbage, literally…we’re going to be talking about trash. You might be wondering, ‘Sammy, why would anyone want to read or write a post about trash?’ Well, it’s Disney trash, and Disney Adults are weird (I’m a Disney Adult, so I can say that.)

Hear me out - Disney doesn’t just care about rides, food, and experiences. They care about the trash too, and today we’re gonna talk all about it!

Courtesy of Disney

Walt Disney wanted Disneyland to be a clean amusement park. Legend has it that Walt ate a hot dog and counted how many steps it would take him until he was done and needed to get rid of the trash. He also took it upon himself to watch guests, noticing they would also carry trash for about thirty steps before getting littering. So Walt came up with the 30-step rule, every 30 or so steps you take in the parks, you will find a trashcan stragetically placed. This makes it more convenient for guests to help keep the park clean and, of course, safe for the park ducks and cats that roam the property.

Walt Disney also didn’t want guests to walk by trash cans and smell leftover food and trash, so Walt designed the trash can that many of us are so familiar with today. The rectangular trash can with a lid that has flaps on both sides, which helps hide the trash and the smell. Disneyland Paris features a trash can where guests can see through the trash can and notice trash, but Disneyland Paris is the only Disney park where trash is visible.

Disneyland Resort in California sees an average of 45,000 to 50,000 guests per day, while Walt Disney World in Florida sees an average of 150,000 to 250,000 guests per day. That means there are lots of people using these trashcans which means Disney needs a place to store the garbage.

It’s unlikely you’ll ever see a trash can overflowing at Disney Parks; that’s because the custodians are always on top of things. But in Walt Disney World, they have what’s called an AVAC system, which stands for Automated Vaccum Collection. It’s a high-speed underground trash system where the garbage travels through tubes at 60 mph to a central compactor facility located behind Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. From here, the garbage is pressed down and prepared for removal from Disney property. It’s reported that more than 80,000 pounds of garbarge run through this system each day, now that will make your head spin!

Disney are pros at creating immersive lands and worlds like any other theme parks. They recognized that they couldn’t just put the same trash cans in every land, as it would stand out and take away from the magic. Each land in Disneyland and Disneyworld are themed to match the land/location.

But who picks up the trash? The job belongs to the Reedy Creek Improvement District 35. Their transfer vehicles, which are full-size garbage trucks, made 191 pickups per day from Magic Kingdom in 2017. Now that’s a lot of garbage!

See, even Disney can make trash pretty fun! Next time you’re in the Disney Parks, count your steps from trashcan to trashcan and pay attention to all the different themed trashcans. And don’t forget, every twenty minutes, you’ll have trash flying by underneath the ground you walk!