Magicians are known for making things, and sometimes even people disappear, but at the BoardWalk Inn, a group of magicians themselves disappeared. And haven't been seen since.

The AbracadaBar at the Boardwalk Resort opened in July 2016 serving enchanting elixirs and curious concoctions in the location previously occupied by SeaShore Sweets.

According to Disney publicity:

This little lounge was a former stomping ground for the famous magicians, boardwalk illusionists, and lovely magician’s assistants of the Golden Age. After a show, prestidigitators would gather to “conjure” up new cocktails, swap magic tips and tricks, and stay up all night attempting to “out-charm” each other with their extraordinary illusions.

According to BoardWalk lore, it was on just such an evening that every single magician in the lounge vanished into thin air, and were never seen again.…

Now, after sitting vacant for nearly seventy-six years, it is back in operation for the general public.

It was on a Friday the 13th in September 1940 that the mysterious disappearance occurred, but since this private sophisticated social club was left exactly as it was decades ago, the magic still remains strongly intact, and can be seen, heard, and savored in the bar’s signature cocktails including Elixir 13, a mixture of Lucid Absinthe and water that may have helped cause the magicians’ disappearance.

The rich and ornate area is decorated with enchanted ever-changing magic show posters, mystifying mirrors, and vintage props and tricks left behind decades ago, including displays of locks and keys, cards, linking rings, and magic wands.

Even the wall paper has hidden images of interlocking rings, doves, rabbits, card suits, handcuffs, and other magical artifacts.

On one wall is a framed copy of The Boardwalk Bugle newspaper from Wednesday, November 13, 1940, telling the official back story:

The shocking revelations of a secret magicians’ lounge could point to new clues concerning the group of beloved illusionists who mysteriously vanished from our boardwalk weeks ago. Though, truth be told, we may be more perplexed than before.

A custodian working at BoardWalk’s magic club made the surprising discovery late yesterday evening when he rested his mop against a false door leading into the secret room. By the look of the room’s peculiar décor—including magical accoutrements and shelves lined with curious elixirs—this is no doubt the clandestine hideout of our missing master magicians.

But there’s just one dilemma … there are still no magicians in sight!

After investigating the magicians’ hideout this morning, The Boardwalk Bugle noticed something extra out of the ordinary about this already peculiar lounge. Glasses filled with odd elixirs still sat on the countertops.

Magic props and playing cards were scattered all about. And, stranger yet, all of the clocks in the room were set to thirteen past the hour—almost as if time froze and every magician disappeared on the spot.

When we questioned the club owner about her knowledge of the hidden room and the possible whereabouts of the missing magicians, she repeated the same unhelpful news we’ve been reporting for weeks now: “A good magician never reveals her secrets!”

According to multiple witnesses, the missing conjurers in question were last seen entering the loading area behind BoardWalk’s magic club on September 13th. All wore ostentatious costumes, and were accompanied by assistants, stagehands and crates filled with small animals—including doves, rabbits and the like.

Suspicions only arose when the touring magician Laslow the Lucky failed to appear for his much-anticipated matinee performance the following day. In addition to M. Laslow, it would appear that his assistant, multiplying rabbits and every illusionist on the Boardwalk vanished along with him.

Whether a good illusion or a simple misunderstanding, The Boardwalk Bugle will be certain to keep our dear readers informed about the whereabouts of our beloved magicians.

Continued in "OTHER Secret Stories of Walt Disney World"!

One of the iconic food treats at Walt Disney World is the infamous, enormous turkey legs that made their debut in Frontierland in the late 1980s. Originally, they were sold at only one food cart location, but the demand grew so large that they expanded to other Disney parks, including Disneyland.

Weighing roughly one-and-one-half pounds each, the legs have a taste that vaguely resembles ham thanks to being cured in a similar salt and sugar solution. The legs cost up to twelve dollars each.

Each leg is roughly 730–1,136 calories with a minimum of 36–54 grams of fat, according to the size of the leg. Orginally, Disney sold legs that were 22 ounces, but today the “jumbo” leg is closer to 34 ounces.

The turkey legs are not unique to Disney and are sold at carnivals, state fairs and other amusement venues around the United States.

A persisent urban myth was that the legs were so huge that they couldn’t possibily be from an actual turkey and must be from another bird like an emu or an ostrich.

Keith M. Williams, a vice president at the National Turkey Federation, an industry trade group, said:

People are accustomed to Thanksgiving turkeys, which are female birds, or hens which are traditionally much smaller; the males, called toms, are bigger—up to fity pounds apiece—and their legs are the ones that Disney serves.

Federal law prohibits the use of steroids to make turkeys and their legs meatier. However, farmers are raising larger turkeys because of demand and so the legs are larger as well.

Turkey legs are a favorite food of Andrew Zimmern, host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods, who stated during an episode about Walt Disney World:

With the turkey, I can walk, I can gnaw, I can pull pieces off, I can put it down. And I just love salty, smoky, meaty. … It’s an American classic. It’s Americana.

I can put everyone’s mind at rest. It can’t be emu. I’ve eaten emu. It’s too big, And the meat would be a little more beefy. Emu has the consistency of turkey leg but the flavor of roasted veal. It’s got mild beefiness to it and a little more metallic.

In general, an emu leg would be about eight times the size of a turkey leg.

Marc Summers of Food Network’s Unwrapped: Walt Disney World stated:

Many guests aren’t familiar with smoked poultry, so they pick up on the salty flavor. Disney injects their legs with a salt--water cure for moisture, then smoke them. Turkey legs have pink meat because of the six-hour smoking process. It flavors the legs and keeps the inside meat pink and moist.

The food treat became so popular that in 2010, Disney created a line of merchandise souvenirs including hats, pins, magnets, t-shirts, and even air fresheners featuring an image of the turkey leg and the slogan “Nice & Juicy!” Disney bakeries even produce Rice Krispie Treat versions with chocolate icing as the skin.

By 2013, it was estimated that in Disney’s North American theme parks over two million of the jumbo turkey legs were sold and consumed each year. Turkey legs are no longer available at Disney’s Animal Kingdom since March 1, 2016.

Disney has stated that the legs are meant to be shared and that the average park visitor walks about seven miles during a visit or enough to burn most of the calories from eating the leg. They state that the popularity of the food item is due to its novelty and its “comfort food” factor.

Continued in "OTHER Secret Stories of Walt Disney World"!