Here’s something we hope will bring some midweek ch-ears to our readers!
Disney has opened a solar farm in Florida just off the entrance road of its Epcot theme park. But what’s so special about that, you might ask? Well, what a quick glance while driving past might not reveal is that there’s a familiar face hidden in the design of the site which includes 48,000 individual solar panels. Helicopter pass-overs have spotted that the solar panels are actually arranged to feature the shape of Disney’s mascot Mickey Mouse!
Photos have now surfaced showing the site as viewed from above and the iconic cartoon character and brand ambassador of the Walt Disney Company is instantly recognisable thanks to his massive mouse ears. It’s a wonderful and amusing sight and just as amazing is the sheer scale of the 11.5 acre solar farm compared to the road and tiny cars in relation to it.
Combined, all the solar panels on the site equate to the same power collection as 1,000 household solar systems and these will be used to power businesses and properties owned by Disney in its Reedy Creek Improvement District.
This isn’t the first time Disney has quietly slipped Mickey into its properties. Also in Orlando, Florida is the Mickey Mouse Forest which, when viewed from the air, includes around 60,000 trees shaped to look like the famous rodent.
It may come as a surprise to hear that Disney are running a solar farm, especially since many of us know them best their cartoons, movies and theme parks, but there is also a big part of the business set up for science and technology research with current projects including mobile computing, robotics and machine learning and human-computer interaction.