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Magic Kingdom has the fastest trash in North America!

Image: DisneyAVAC is a premise that’s easy to conceptualize. Have you ever seen pneumatic tubes? Banks have used them for decades as a way to transfer the items you place in a canister to the teller inside the building. It’s also a reliable way of transferring interoffice mail from a central location. People deposit the mail in a canister, and it reaches a mail room. There, it’s identified and sent along to its ultimate destination.

Believe it or not, AVAC works the same way with garbage. The trash that you dump in the receptacles winds up in these tubes. They’re approximately 20 inches in diameter, and the connecting garbage portals are interspersed throughout the park.

The underlying system is a marvel of engineering. Your garbage travels faster than any ride at Magic Kingdom, no joke. Inside the Utilidor pipes, it speeds along at 60 miles per hour thanks to the scientific magic of compressed air. Every time you throw something in the trash at this park, it winds up behind Splash Mountain, the central location for all Magic Kingdom garbage.

Walt Disney World’s always trying to improve garbage collection

Did you hear about the Custodial of Tomorrow program? Disney executives are still trying to master garbage dispensation more than 60 years after their founder’s original research. Under the pilot program, Disney requires 40 cast members to hold iPhones as they walk around the parks.

These devices text the employees when trash receptacles are overfull or bathrooms are dirty. To maximize efficiency, the new system applies GPS. The closest cast member to the clean-up area gets the signal.

In discussing the innovation, Disney proudly declared that “This new approach will enable us to deploy Cast Members in real time, to areas that need service, ultimately making the Cast and Guest experiences even better.” However, some park employees weren’t as enthusiastic about it. Walt Disney World janitors protested the practice through their local union, Unite Here Local 362. They lamented that the GPS created privacy concerns and also worried that seniority means nothing in this system.

Clearly, Disney’s still pushing boundaries in the field of trash disposal. The latest initiative may have proven divisive, but it’s the latest example that Disney won’t rest until they’ve created the healthiest environment possible for theme park tourists. They’re even prioritizing environmentally friendly practices. Disneyland has recently become more efficient with its water and recycling systems.

You may not think about the garbage when you’re at Walt Disney World, but park planners are absolutely obsessed with it.

 
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Comments

Okay, that was actually a very interesting and informative read! And the Disney Dan trash can video was delightful. Thanks for this deep dive into Disney's garbage-- I hope they keep striving to keep pollution to a minimum.

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