Best Smells at Walt Disney World!
As a kid, I never thought of theme parks as the place to go for pleasant smells.
Thanks for ruining it for me, dude who hadn’t showered in three days but had to raise your arms on every roller coaster hill!
Photo: Disney
That guy’s fear of soap worked in Disney’s favor. I was so stunned when I visited the parks for the first time and realized that they had pleasant aromas.
Here are my choices for the best nine smells at Walt Disney World.
Photo: Disney
Grand Canyon Concourse
I’m only listing one Disney resort lobby. Without that arbitrary limitation, that’s all this entire list would be.
However, I’m cheating a bit with the Grand Canyon Concourse at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Yes, this floor contains the same delightful scent you’ll find in the hotel lobby…and the room spray sits two feet from me as I type this.
So, I’m obviously a massive fan of that smell. However, it’s only a part of what’s on display on the hotel’s fourth floor.
Photo: Yesterland.com
This unique area features three stores, two restaurants, and a monorail station.
The scent of food wafts through every area, and much of it is sweet. In recent years, Contempo Café has added a cupcake display by the elevator.
Photo: Disney
You’re smelling sugary treats anytime you’re on this floor…and sometimes even two floors below it when you’re standing outside the conference rooms.
When you visit the Grand Canyon Concourse, you’re gonna get hungry. This is why.
Source Credit: Disney
Great Ceremonial House Lobby
Come on, you KNEW this one had to be on here.
I would argue that Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort defines the concept of “lovely smells at Disney.”
The citrus and island fruit fragrance instantly transports me to the South Seas, making me feel like I’ve escaped to a faraway land.
I purchase many Disney candles, sprays, candle waxes, and Scent Air cartridges, all of which are a must for pet owners.
Photo: Magic Guidebooks
My go-to fragrance for all these things is the Polynesian’s lobby. In fact, it’s oddly recursive.
When I smell it at home, my first thought is of the hotel lobby. However, when I’m at the resort – and I will be soon! – I travel to the Polynesian Islands instead.
Photo: Disney
That’s some Disney magic right there!
Main Street, U.S.A.
Many of the places we’re discussing today don’t smell nice via natural means.
Instead, Disney hides Smellitzers near ventilation systems. Yes, the parks pipe wonderful smells into those areas to set a mood.
Technically, the same statement applies to Main Street, U.S.A. as well. It’s just not needed.
The sweet aroma of those baked goods in the oven is more than enough to make us all hungry.
We find ourselves wandering into Main Street Bakery almost subconsciously. It’s like we have no choice.
Pirates of the Caribbean
There’s a Simpsons joke about “the dank” that fills appropriate here because that’s the intentional mood-setter on this ride.
You’re supposed to believe that you’re trapped at sea with smelly pirates, and the unpleasant aroma here really does the trick.
Photo: MaleficiousVillain/https://disney.fandom.com/
However, that’s only part of the scent here. Some sweeter fragrances are also on display elsewhere on the ride.
Even better, there’s a permanent smell that exists throughout the ride.
Photo: Yahoo
Disney uses bromine rather than chlorine in the water, keeping the water cleaner while simultaneously improving the smell. It’s strong but not chemical-y.
Maple Popcorn
The Canada pavilion at the World Showcase offers more than just a loving display of the cultural traditions of our friends to the north.
Photo: TouringPlans.com
This place also doubles as the popcorn capital of Walt Disney World. There’s a popcorn kiosk here that I can never walk past.
That’s because I smell it a mile away…almost literally. I pick up that scent of maple popcorn whenever I’m heading toward Canada.
At that point, I turn into a bloodhound on the hunt for my prey. I must seek and destroy that bucket of maple popcorn.
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
What I love about this movie attraction is its 4-D nature.
Photo: Disney
Disney accentuates many of the things happening on screen with scents to support the action.
The camera pans in on a delicious-looking baked apple pie during the Be Our Guest part of the story. Sure enough, that’s the scent in the air at that moment.
Of course, you won’t smell apple pie for long. Champagne corks pop almost immediately afterward, overloading the room with an even more pungent pie spice aroma. It’s glorious!
Soarin’
I’ll start with a confession. I vastly prefer the old scents from Soarin’ Over California. Simply by my mentioning it, you thought about orange groves, didn’t you?
Photo: Touring Plans
That’s the power of Disney’s sensory manipulation right there. We associate specific memories with the scenes that rides pump in to establish a tone.
Soarin’ Around the World does the same thing. However, it makes the odd choice to add some pungent scents like sweaty elephant.
Thankfully, the island, whale, and Taj Majal scenes counterbalance the stinky elephant. But I sure do miss those orange groves.
Spaceship Earth
I used to order countless Rome Is Burning candles from a Disney fragrances company. Why did I stop?
A health insurance official performed a home inspection and downgraded me on the form. She marked me down as a smoker since the place smelled like an ashtray.
This individual had no idea that I’m asthmatic and physically unable to smoke. Instead, the lingering smoke smell in the air stemmed from my love of Spaceship Earth.
Photo: Tomorrow Society
The highlight of this ride occurs when Rome falls, turning its libraries into flaming wreckage.
You can smell that this scene is coming before you can see anything. That’s some clever Imagineering.
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe
It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!
Photo:Disney
That’s right, folks. The famous song gets its own lyrics wrong. Christmas at Walt Disney World isn’t a one-day thing.
You can buy ornaments here throughout the year…and I do!
The moment I enter the place, it smells like cinnamon and sugar and spice. It’s basically one giant candy cane.
Photo: couponingtodisnev.com
Okay, the smell is really more of a Christmas tree pine combined with cinnamon, but my brain mentally fills in the blanks with the candy cane.
As a yuletide fanatic, I love this place. It’s probably where I’m most likely to splurge on tourist junk I don’t really need, too.
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Photo: Disneydiary.com
