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Walt Disney Imagineering has once again proven why it’s the best at what it does with this secret society woven into the parks… if you know where to look.
One of the best things about the Disney experience is how wholly immersive it is for guests and fans. It’s one of the reasons that the Disney Parks have earned the reputation they have globally for being centers for entertainment.
Walt Disney Imagineering has outdone itself time and again, delivering some incredible rides and attractions for guests to enjoy. Whether it’s the iconic Haunted Mansion or its a classic like Space Mountain, Disney Imagineers have gone above and beyond to create the ultimate Disney Park vacation for guests.
Sleeping Beauty Castle, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort / Credit: Disney
However, there is always more Disney lore to dive deep into and more to learn and enjoy about this enthralling world that the Walt Disney Company has created for fans to enjoy. In this world is a lesser-known Disneyland secret society.
As Los Angeles Daily News explained, “A secret society of explorers and adventurers created by Walt Disney Imagineering ties together the backstories of Disneyland’s most popular rides and connects attractions at Disney theme parks around the world with an underlying mythology.”
Provided guests know where to look and what to look for, they can find allusions and nods to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers hidden all over Disneyland.
Mystic Manor, Hong Kong Disneyland / Credit: Disney
For the uninitiated, the Society of Adventurers and Explorers is associated with some specific rides that have elaborate backstories. Namely: Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Adventureland Treehouse, Tropical Hideaway, and Bengal Barbecue at Disneyland Resort, as well as Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland, and Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea.
The fictional organization also has ties to Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Club 33, and Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar, but those are less explicit.
A 1938 letter from S.E.A. member Aya Kouame-Beauciel is found at the recently reopened Adventureland Treehouse / Credit: Disney
Fans will know that Dr. Albert Falls (from Jungle Cruise), Barnabas T. Bullion (from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad), Lord Henry Mystic (from Mystic Manor), and Jock Lindsey (from Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar at Walt Disney World) are some notable members of S.E.A.
And now, the recently reopened Adevntureland Treehouse in Disneyland throws its hat in the ring for a S.E.A connection, and how! Rather than focus on the marooned family, the Robinsons, the new inhabitants of the treehouse are “a nameless yet creative family of five.”
Pixar Pier, Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort / Credit: Disney
As guests make their way through the treehouse, they will find callbacks to Jungle Cruise and connections to many a Disney theme park attraction associated with this society, giving fans who are in-the-know a true treat.
Even though the fictionalized history of the S.E.A. stretches back hundreds of years, Walt Disney Imagineering only began employing this easter egg as a storytelling device with the Adventurers Club in 1989.
The Adventurers Club was a Disney Springs location in the Pleasure Island nightclub district at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. As with many other attractions, Adventurers Club closed in 2008, but the stories and legends are what make the Disney experience, and true to form, they have lived on to enthrall guests for decades to come.
