Q: The closure of my favorite Walt Disney World ride, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, got me thinking about the decommissioning process. What role does the Disney Archives have in the process? How is it decided what elements of an attraction are saved or reused? Does the Archives get first “dibs?” For items not retained by Disney, are they destroyed or sold?
Jenny, Minneapolis, Minnesota
A: The process has not always been the same. Essentially today, first dibs go to Walt Disney Imagineering in case they have another attraction in which to use the item. Then the Archives is allowed to select what it wants. Remaining items are sometimes destroyed or have been sold as surplus property.
Dave Smith