We Can’t Wait to Smell This on Our Next Walt Disney World Trip!

There’s no sense that can evoke memories more powerfully than our sense of smell.  

It can recall a long-forgotten visit to a grandparent’s home, remind us of vacations past, and even make us feel like children again. So it’s no surprise that smell plays a big role in creating magical memories at Walt Disney World!

There are so many smells that we associate with WDW that we could never list them all here. Some of them are pleasant, others just bizarre – but all are inextricably linked with Disney.  

Here are some fragrances we can’t wait to smell on our next trip to Walt Disney World!

Lobby Scents

If you’ve ever stayed at a Disney Value, Moderate, or Deluxe Resort Hotel, you may have noticed a subtle but distinctive smell in the Resort lobby. Was it just your imagination?

No! Disney does actually employ a special system that pipes smells through the public areas of Resorts.  

Our personal favorite Resort scent is the green aloe and clover fragrance you’ll smell at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort. We can’t wait to enjoy it again!  

You can find a variety of Disney lobby scents available in candles and sprays if you want to enjoy these aromas in your own home.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Have you ever noticed that the water Guests ride through on Pirates of the Caribbean has its own distinctive scent?  

We’re told it comes from the bromine Disney uses instead of chlorine. We’re big fans of this weirdly appealing damp, mildewy smell because it tells us we’ve made it to Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park!

Disney Toiletries

Disney toiletries have garnered their own well-deserved cult following, and Guests who have stayed at a Disney Resort Hotel know why!  

There’s something invigorating about the fresh, salty, spa-like aroma of the Sea Salt and Marine fragrance in the Disney H20+ product line, and we can’t wait to get our fill once more.  

Most Disney Resort Hotels have switched to dispensers, so the days of collecting unused bottles of Disney toiletries to bring back home are (mostly) gone. Luckily, Guests can now purchase toiletries from this collection to bring a bit of Disney to bath time at home.

Cinnamon-Glazed Nuts

You’ll smell the Cinnamon-Glazed Nuts in Walt Disney World theme parks before you see them. That sweet, intoxicating aroma is utterly irresistible, and we admittedly turn into bloodhounds as soon as we smell it (“It’s THIS WAY, come on!!!”).  

Freshly roasted Cinnamon-Glazed Nuts are one of the best snacks on Disney property, and they can be found at snack carts throughout the parks.  

Bonus – they travel well, so you can pick up extras to enjoy in your Disney Resort Hotel, or even take them back home with you.

Sulfur

This smell is definitely not a pleasant one, but it’s one that we nonetheless associate with Walt Disney World. Turn on a tap in Orlando, and you’ll likely be treated to a whiff of sulfur (it’s that unmistakeable rotten egg smell, and once you’ve noticed it, you’ll wonder how you didn’t before).  

Tap water in WDW is safe to drink, but it’s not the most appealing, so you may want to drink bottled water during your vacation if it bothers you.  

Still, smelling that unique sulfur smell when we turn on a tap is one of the olfactory cues that we’re back in Walt Disney World, and we can’t wait to smell it again!

Soarin’ Scents

Part of the joy of EPCOT’s Soarin’ Around the World attraction is the scents Disney uses to bring to life the scenes Guest “soar” above during the ride.  

Whether it’s the smell of grass and dirt, a tropical floral aroma, or the smell of fresh, sea air, what you smell will help convince you that you’re actually flying around the world.  

We can’t wait to take our noses globetrotting again!

Karamel-Kuche

This is a scent we never tire of. Stand in line at Karamel-Kuche in the Germany Pavilion at the World Showcase in Disney’s EPCOT theme park, and you’ll be treated to the most amazing caramel smell of your life. It almost makes us want to go back and line up again, even after we’ve bought our rich, caramelly treats!

This is another scent that you can find in candle form if you want to bring the smell of delicious caramel to your own home. Fair warning, though – it’s addictive!

Library of Alexandria Burning

Disclaimer – we do NOT condone book-burning.  

But we DO condone the fabulous scent that permeates Spaceship Earth during the burning of the Library of Alexandria scene. There’s just something oddly comforting and nostalgic about this iconic burning smell – maybe it brings to mind campfires from days of yore? (But, to reiterate – burning books: bad, campfires: good.)

Haunted Mansion

The fragrance of decay at Disney’s Haunted Mansion attraction is another example of a scent that you might not be eager to smell if you were anywhere but Walt Disney World.  

But this musty, moldy, mildewy aroma is synonymous with this delightfully creepy ride (who knew there was a scent that defined “decrepit old haunted house”?), and we can’t wait to smell it again!  

Bottom Line

When you think of Walt Disney World, what scent comes to mind?  

Maybe it’s a scent that embodies a favorite attraction in one of the Parks or the tantalizing aroma of a favorite dish or snack, or perhaps even the freshness of the warm, humid air in Orlando (which can be positively intoxicating if you’re coming from snowy winter climes).  

Whatever it is, we bet that you have your own list of smells you can’t wait to experience again on your next WDW trip.