Retro digital photo essays from DisneyFans.com. Home of the Universal Orlando Resort Garden Walk maps.
Okay, fine. I signed up to TikTok:
I am also posting things to Instagram:
And X (I think the the BEST theme park news comes from X):
And of course Facebook (dual account):
https://www.facebook.com/disneyfanscom
There.
This post is not sponsored, not an ad, and I am receiving nothing from sharing this. I just want to know if anyone has used this site yet.
I received an interesting e-mail today, telling me about onsiterates.com. Their pitch was simple:
“I came across your post from September 2025 about Universal hotel rates going down after you booked. Two stays coming down $569 is a nice chunk of money.
I run a small site that does that rechecking for you. You put in your hotel, dates and rate (standard, annual passholder or Florida resident), and it checks that room every morning and emails you when the price of the stay drops. You still do the rebooking on Universal’s site.
It’s $10. If the price doesn’t drop at least $20 within 60 days, you get the $10 back. Trips that are 30 days out or less are free.
Here it is if you want to take a look: onsiterates.com
From what I’ve seen, prices go up plenty too, so your advice about not waiting holds up.
If you think your readers would find it useful, feel free to mention it. Happy to answer any questions.
Tim at Onsite
Has anyone tried this out? I took a peek and it appears to be specifically designed to monitor the Universal Orlando onsite hotels. With a “pay me $10 if it saves you over $20” price point, that sure sounds like money well spent to avoid having to check rates manually every day, like we do.
As annual pass holders, we get deeper discounts than the normal rate, so I am going to ask some follow-up questions and see how (or if) it handles that. For example, one date I spot checked had no pass holder discount yet, so the Standard rate was cheaper. If I booked that, would it tell me when a pass holder rate showed up? We shall see…
Anyway, if you’ve used this, leave a comment and tell us what you think.
I should probably just make this a series.
Something I noticed during our most recent visit to Atlas9 was found in the Manager’s Office.
During our first visit in June 2026, we explored this “manager’s office” but did not make many connections with story – we had not learned the story yet.
As we visited a few more times, things in this room started to make more sense. For example, there are photos along the back wall. Some seem random. Why is there a photo of someone dressed a Dorothy from Wizard of Oz?
I did a quick Google Reverse Image search and did not find a match for that image, but I am sure there is some narrative reason why the office manager would have had this photo on her wall. Perhaps it is meant to be one of her childhood photos, showing how much she loved classic movies like Wizard of Oz? Or maybe it is a famous photo, and my search engine skills are just lacking. Either way, leave a comment if you have information.
On this most recent visit, I paid more attention to these photos. I believe they are using A.I. to generate them since they have this:
Since this attraction is perpetually stuck in 1995, the hair in this photo likely indicates it was “taken” in that era or before. Perhaps the woman on the left is meant to be the theater manager, Melissa Hartwell.
If so, do we know who she is with? If the hair style is more 1980s than 1990s, this may be meant to be an “old” photo in 1995. Could the person on the right a younger version of projectionist Frank? Frank also wears glasses and button up shirts. Here is what Frank looks like in the “current” 1995 time of Atlas9.
But I digress.
What actually caught my attention was the background of that photo. I did not make the connection until this visit: it looks like it was meant to have been taken in the nearby theater break room. Notice the round windows on the cabinet doors in the break room:
…and look at the ones in the “old” photo:
However, if this was the intent, there are some differences.
But I would bet that this photo was meant to be the same break room from Atlas9 and the A.I. generated image (assumption) just got some details wrong.
Of course, there is the chance that this is a genuine old photo and it just happened to be taken in a break room similar to the one they built. There are endless libraries of stock photos.
Either way, it does seem like an intentional detail. These addition details add to the history and backstory of the Atlas9 theater.
My speculation could be completely wrong, of course, but I bet there is a story to that photo — and the others in the room. This place appears to have been designed with very intentional details.
Got thoughts? Comment away…
Welcome to a new series (maybe) here on the blog: the Crazy Atlas9 Theory (C.A.T.)
As I have said in the past, it is much more fun to read the book than peek at the ending (or ask someone who has read it how it ends). Of course I could just ask someone at Atlas9 about, but where’s the fun in that?
Let’s being our journey down the rabbit hole. Warning: there be speculation and spoilers ahead! (Oh, that would be a better name for this series, wouldn’t it? Atlas9 Speculation and Spoilers!)
The Atlas9 attraction in Kansas City has eleven (11) telephones in attraction. One of them does not work, but it is supposed to, and used to work.
You can also find phone numbers on notes, business cards, signs, etc.
Above, that photo shows a notepad next to one of the phones. On it, three phone numbers are listed. These are the phone numbers that ring to three other phones. Right off the bat, we have numbers for three of the eleven telephones:
Dialing those numbers from other phones inside Atlas9 should ring the listed phone. As I previously discussed, it appears the prefix 314 is used but “Internal Atlas9 Numbers,” as stated on the payphone:
Until recently, those three numbers where the only ones that I had personally “confirmed.” However, two posters on the REDDIT r/Atlas9 group (u/Pridef-cked and u/Notlok) told me that one of the numbers found in this drawer is the number for the wall phone in the Speakereasy:
You will see the other two numbers go to phones in the first list, with 55-1943 being a new one. It would make sense that all three of these numbers are to telephones, much like the three numbers found elsewhere go to telephones.
I have not been able to verify that number myself, because this phone is broken:
With apologies to the Close Encounters of the Third Kind parody, Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind, the digits in these numbers might mean something. They could be an intentional way to get folks started in figuring out the missing ones.
We will define our terms as follows:
First, we “know” that the prefix of 314 means an Atlas9 number, as opposed to 030 which is an “outside” number (like a cleaning service or parts supplier).
If we ignore the Speakereasy 55 number, we do see a potential pattern in the others. The first digit of the line number could indicate the zone the phone is in:
…and at one point, you get a new number with a 4.
That 4 number rings to someone who is part of Atlas9, but not in the building when they answer. (A recording, not a physical phone.)
The second digit may or may not be relevant:
When you put first and second digits in the mix, a pattern becomes clearer:
Everything could fit, other than 55-1943 for the Speakereasy. A second 55 number, 55-xxxx, is a movie hotline. Maybe there is some link between Speakereasy and the Movie Line I do not see.
By my count, there are seven (7) phones on the first floor:
And there are four (4) phones on the second floor:
(On a recent trip I learned that the Splice Bros. Wall phone line number begins with 3. This may be the only line number that starts uses 3xx.)
For the first floor, we know of only one phone that is on the “outside” of the movie theater building – the payphone attached to the wall of the theater. That may be the only one that has a line number ending in 10x.
Once inside the movie theater, on the first floor we only know one number:
I would want to dial 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 and 119 to see if any of those ring to the other three phones found on floor one of the theater:
On the second floor, there are four phones, and we know the number for one of them:
Isn’t it interesting that the numbers they gave us are 112 (first floor) and 212 (second floor)? Coincidence? Maybe.
I would want to dial 210, 211, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218 and 219 to see if any of those ring to the other two phones found on floor one of the theater (ignoring the Speakereasy, because we supposedly have that number and it does not follow this pattern):
The phone inside the RV (VERA) in the Containment Zone may be completely different. It is not an Atlas9 telephone, or an outside vendor. VERA belongs to FACADE. We know that FACADE “secure lines” start with 710, so perhaps that is the prefix for the phone inside VERA. The secure lines I have in my list include:
When I tried to call 710-009, I got no answer – and I let it ring for almost a minute. That is also what happens when I call the Speakereasy number, or other “known” phone numbers if no one answers them.
This does make me suspect 710-009 is going to one of the phones… Perhaps that phone in VERA?
Humans like to see patterns. Look up Pareidolia for examples (I’m lookin’ at you, face on Mars).
This could be nothing.
But I’m sure gonna be dialin’ some numbers my next visit to Atlas9…
Often, I experience something, and enjoy it. If I enjoy it enough, I might try to experience it again later. For some things, the experience gets better and better each time. For others, it is “well, I already did this” and less interesting.
Atlas9, the immersive walk-through experience in Kansas City, KS, has so many layers. The more I peel away, the more impressed I get with the designers. For example, their internal phone system.
Throughout the attraction there are currently 11 telephones. One of them does not work, but I am told that is it supposed to. Here are photos:
Phone numbers are found throughout the attraction. Perhaps there is a business card on a desk, or pinned to a wall…
…or on some sign…
…or written on notes found on (or in) a desk…
Only the designers really know how many phone numbers can be found in the attraction (if they even know!), but there are quite a bit. I have tried to take photos of all the numbers I found, and maintain them in a spreadsheet because dumb hobby:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W0x_m8ABVb-IfTel8dGI7gjqJztgXDxvO-RBjTyVCqw/edit?usp=sharing
On my very first visit to Atlas9, I saw a payphone on a wall in the “Containment Zone” area where the ticket booth is. I wondered if it was a real one, and went to check it out. At first, it really did look like a functional payphone (I’ve seen only a few of those in recent years). But … something was not quite right when I read the details.
It claimed to make free local calls, but look at the yellow and see how the sign glitches out. Also, the directory it gives — using 2 and 3 digit numbers — reminded me of the internal V.O.C.S. phone system used by Meow Wolf locations we have visited.
Indeed, Atlas9 has its own similar phone system. But they told us much more about it, right up front, and I did not realize this until today, four months later…
Most internal phone numbers are six digits long, and use the format of XXX-XXX. Many will have words (like 030-MOP for the janitorial service, or 030-PIG for a barbecue place). Two numbers have been found that break this format, starting with 55-XXXX (55-FILM for a movie hotline, and another 55 number that I haven’t figured out yet).
But there on the payphone was the explanation…
There are a handful of numbers we have found that use other prefixes, but it looks like they had some “method to the madness” when choosing which numbers to assign to Rusty’s Junkyard or lawyer Hugh Manrat.
The more I learn about this place, the more I love it. This is fun stuff.
Anyway, yeah. They have a cool phone system. And I have this:
https://parkhopping.com/atlas9/
If you go there, you will find a robot-written Telephone Simulator. You can try some of the numbers from my spreadsheet and hear recordings of what it plays inside the attraction. But, I only have a few so far… and these should be considered huge spoilers if you plan to visit yourself.
So never mind. Don’t go there.
We’ll talk more on this later…
