September 30, 2011
Location: Disney's Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom
In 1986 Walt Disney World received a brand new
attraction that revolved around space travel in Epcot. In the
attraction guests could find futuristic costumes, aliens, and of
course, a spaceship. The same year Disney released a new film that
consisted of these things as well. The film focused around a boy who
disappears in the year 1978 and is found 8 years later. It ends up
the boy had been traveling aboard a spaceship which allowed him not
to age when his family discovered him 1986! The film? Flight of the
Navigator!
While riding the Studio Backlot Tour you will go
through a "bone yard" which shows guests vehicles from past films.
Here you can find Herbie the Love Bug, some Star Wars vehicles, and
the spaceship used in Flight of the Navigator! Pretty simple Fun
Find Friday, right? Wrong!

You see, the film actually used two spaceships for
different scenes throughout the film and the second spaceship can
actually be found somewhere else in Walt Disney World! You see,
Disney has a habit of placing props from old films in attractions as
a nice little nod to their past. For instance, do you know where the
organ in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is actually from? We'll get to
that in another Fun Find Friday. First let's finish this one.
At times when Imagineers place a prop in the park
they will dress it up so guests don't realize what they are looking
at right away. Some times, in fact, guests can go years looking at a
prop from an old film and just think they are looking at something
that was made specifically for the park (much like I did for the
second Flight of the Navigator spaceship). So I know what you are
thinking, Where in the World is the second ship at?
The second ship, after a paint job and some
detailing, was placed in Tomorrowland. Where exactly? While facing
Space Mountain you can find a Coke stand on your left hand side
called "Cool Ship." Adorning the top of this stand is a red
spaceship called "Thirst Rangers." While studying for the D23
Scavenger Hunt I studied every inch of this spaceship and it wasn't
until a few months later that someone pointed out to me what the
ship truly was. None other than the second ship used in the filming
of Flight of the Navigator!
