All of these costs are included in what you are paying. Our images are made using a scanner at very high resolution, exposing many minor flaws that are NOT visible to the human eye. On rare occasions, especially with pins that have gold and silver which may not scan well, I will use actual photographs. Description: This pin is a Cast Recognition pin for employees who work at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch which is located within the Fort Wilderness Resort area of Walt Disney World. Pin has a Green background with a gold Mickey Icon with a D in the center. The dangle reads “RANCH” “Trail Rides”. The pin, though limited to 500 was still reported as being awarded as late as 2005, but yet proves extremely rare to find on the open market or via trade. If youve ever visited Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground at Walt Disney World, you probably stopped in at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch. But you may not know the ranchs background, or the important role it plays in current Disney World operations. Tri-Circle refers to the three circles that make the famous Mickey Mouse head silhouette and, of course, D stands for Disney. Some Disney fans get confused and think the name refers to the ranch in the The Adventures of Spin and Marty serials for the original Mickey Mouse Club television show. That ranch was actually called the Triple R. The Tri-Circle-D Ranch has two sections that are located roughly a mile apart. Horseback riding takes place at the Trail Blaze Corral located just inside the main entrance of Disneys Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground next to the Outpost area. Guests can take the reins for a 45-minute guided trail ride through the resort. The remaining Tri-Circle-D Ranch areas with the Draft Horse Barn, Blacksmith Shop, Carriage Rides and Pony Rides (the ponies are adults and weigh on average 500 pounds; pony riders have to weigh less than 80 pounds and be under 48 inches tall) are located at the Settlement area, next to Pioneer Hall at the rear of the Campground. To get to this area, there are buses that run from the Outpost Depot at the Main Entrance parking lot to the Settlement Depot. Or guests can take one of the boats from the Magic Kingdom or Wilderness Lodge. The Tri-Circle-Ds roots trace back to a man named Owen Pope. Pope made the first harnesses for the horses at Walt Disney World when he was living in and working at Disneyland. Yes, LIVING IN Disneyland. At the Magic Kingdom, a window on the Car Barn proclaims Owen Pope. Like the windows on the second floor of Main Street U. That honor those who contributed to the making of Walt Disney World, there are other references to real people scattered throughout the park this particular window is one of those references. Popes contribution to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland is much, much larger than just making gear for horses. Owen Pope and his wife Dolly made their living exhibiting horses. In 1950, at the suggestion of Imagineer Harper Goff, Walt Disney caught one of their shows at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. He was especially impressed by their galloping small ponies that pulled a miniature stagecoach (built by Pope himself) around the arena at breakneck speed. In March 1951, Walt asked them if they would be interested in training horses for Disneyland. A week after Thanksgiving that year, Pope moved his 30-foot long trailer onto the Disney Studio lot. The Popes became the only people to ever live at the Disney Studio in Burbank, California, where they built 10 stalls for the horses. The Popes stayed at the Studio for about two-and-a-half years, with Walt visiting them every day to ask questions. Once the horses were moved to Disneyland, Owen trained the horses to get used to the expected crowd noise and gunshots (due to the shooting galleries) by setting up loudspeakers cranked up to the highest volume. In addition, Pope supervised the building of Frontierland vehicles like the stagecoach and Conestoga wagon. As work was beginning on the construction of Disneyland, one of the houses on the land was moved to a 10-acre location behind Fantasyland dubbed the Pony Farm (known as the Circle D Corral since 1980). The house had belonged to the Witherills who were walnut growers on Harbor Boulevard. The Popes moved into the house three days before the opening of Disneyland and were the first and only people who actually resided in Disneyland. At one time, the stray dog that was the live-action reference model for Tramp (from the animated film Lady and the Tramp) lived with them as well. In January 1971, Pope and his wife moved to Florida, where Owen helped supervise the building of the Tri-Circle-D Ranch. The Pope House at Disneyland became the administration offices for the Pony Farm. It was relocated to a parking lot off of Ball Road in 2016 to make room for the Star Wars: Galaxy Edge expansion. Popes legacy lives on at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch. In fact, an authentic example of one of those original 1971 antique harnesses by Pope is on display at the Draft Horse Barn at the ranch in a small one-room museum called Walt Disney Horses, devoted to Walt Disneys love of horses. Generally, 80-90 horses are maintained at the ranch. Roughly 30 of them are draft horses, which can get to be 18 hands tall (or 72 inches). They weigh approximately 2,000 pounds each. The horses that are chosen to work in the Disney parks go through a probation process, during which they are observed as to how they interact and whether they are comfortable around people and activity. When Walt Disney World opened, there were four horse-drawn trolleys and it cost a dime or an A ticket to go one way either up or down the street. Today only one operates and soon after the 1 p. Trolley show it is pulled off the street to avoid the congestion of the parades and crowds. Just as in Popes day, the chrome and brass on the show harness for the trolley horse is cleaned and polished every day it is used. The carriage harnesses are wet down as needed during the week before a cleaning. The staff at the ranch (approximately 30-35 cast members) names the animals. When you visit, youll notice that all these horses have their names on big nametags on their stalls. But the horses are now considered service animals, so guests are asked not to pet them without supervision. Horses are naturally curious, so fingers too close to a mouth sometimes are reminiscent of carrots and the horses may want to take a nibble. Also, while the horses enjoy the attention and petting, too much can be overwhelming. Cast members have tried to be considerate of that fact. Did you know you can adopt a Walt Disney World horse when it retires? There is an application process that is intensely scrutinized and the waiting list is very long. Disney is very particular who the horses go to, including investigating whether the person is financially capable of taking care of the animal, and Disney will take back horses if they find out that the horses are not being well treated. As stated above, the Draft Horse Barn at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch is a small museum decorated from floor-to-ceiling with black-and-white photos of Walt and horses. Theres one of Walt on top of the Disneyland stagecoach and another of him riding one of his polo ponies. One wall has photos of the horses at Walt Disney World over the years in a variety of events. No FastPass or MagicBands are needed to enjoy these hidden treasures at Fort Wilderness, although guests often forget that Walt Disney World was designed to share many memorable experiences that were not in the parks. Owen Pope, Harness Maker, was instrumental in making sure that the Tri-Circle-D Ranch at Fort Wilderness provides many of those memorable out-of-park-experiences. Year of Release: 2000? Where Released: Walt Disney World. Traders Having This Pin: 2. Traders Wanting This Pin: 34. Backer Card: Never Came On A Card. Edition Type/Size: LE 500. Please read all information below! Any failure to follow these guidelines results in ALL liability being borne by the purchaser. The item “Walt Disney World Cast Member Tr-Circle D Recognition Pin” is in sale since Monday, February 15, 2021. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Disneyana\Contemporary (1968-Now)\Pins, Patches & Buttons\Theme Parks\Walt Disney World”. The seller is “hidden_walt” and is located in Orlando, Florida. This item can be shipped to United States, all countries in Europe, all countries in continental Asia, Canada, Australia, South africa, Bahamas, Mexico, New Zealand, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Antigua and barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Montserrat, Turks and caicos islands, Barbados, Bermuda, Bolivia, Egypt, French guiana, Guadeloupe, Cayman islands, Martinique, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Reunion, Uruguay.
- Country/Region of Manufacture: China
- Theme Park/Store: Walt Disney World
- Type: Cast Member Pin
- Features: Dangle
- Year: 2000
- Brand: Disney
- Time Period Manufactured: Contemporary (1968-Now)
