Stu
26 Mar 07, 11:04 PM
Magic Kingdom
author unknown!
History:
The history of Walt Disney World has, in some ways, been the history of Central Florida, and even Florida itself. Impacting almost every part of the local economy, Disney has left an indelible mark on its landscape, both literally and figuratively.
In the early 1960s, a mysterious company started buying up land in Central Florida. Rumors abounded as to the what's, where's, when's and -- most importantly -- the who's for about a year, until Oct. 1965 when the Orlando Sentinel-Star published a huge expose entitled "Is Our Mystery Industry Disney?" One week later then-governor Hayden Burns was forced to announce, a bit prematurely, that Walt Disney Productions had purchased more than 27,000 acres of Central Florida land. Plans for the land would be announced formally in Nov. 1965.
On Nov. 15, 1965, Walt Disney came to Orlando announce the project, but was very vague on specifics. Over the next six years, rumors and speculation spread like wildfire as bits and pieces of the Walt Disney World plan sprinkled out. The final plan was unveiled in its entirety in 1969.
Walt's original vision of Walt Disney World was an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (nicknamed EPCOT), a kind of future world where new ideas and concepts for both the personal and public technology could be explored. The cost of building such a community being daunting even for wealth of Disney's stature, Disney settled on building a theme park akin to Disneyland to finance his dream, with the community to come later.
Oct. 1, 1971, Opening Day, got off to a shaky start. Tomorrowland was completely closed off, with only some of the rides in the other "lands." Attendance was recorded at 10,000 (well-below projected estimates), and Wall Street went into a panic. But it only took a few days to regain the market's (and the nation's) confidence. Visitors started pouring into the park by the hundreds of thousands that first year, and the numbers have grown ever since.
Attractions:
The Magic Kingdom has changed very much in the 25 years since its opening. Patterned after the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, the Walt Disney World premiere attraction is broken into seven basic areas. Guests enter Main Street, a early-20th century shopping plaza, with City Hall, At the end of main street is the magical view of Cinderella Castle. For Disney's 25th anniversary Disney dressed the Castle up in a candy-covered helium balloon covering.
The park is laid out like a wheel with spokes. Starting east from Cinderella Castle and moving clockwise, visitors encounter Tomorrowland (showcasing future technologies), Fantasyland (featuring Disney's most beloved animated charters), Frontierland and Liberty Square (celebrating colonial life) and Adventureland (jungle adventure from Africa, Asia and South America). In 1995, the Magic Kingdom opened a new-and-improved Tomorrowland and the next year opened Mickey's Toontown Fair, a private look at the master mouse's domicile.
In addition to the park, the Magic Kingdom complex also houses the 450-acre Bay Lake, Disney's Grand Floridian, Grand Polynesian and Contemporary Hotel Resorts. Across the Bay Lake from the resorts and park area is Fort Wilderness complex, which incorporates a complete camping facility Discovery Island nature park, River Country water park.
Getting there: WDW visitors access the main entrance to the Magic Kingdom by taking Interstate 4 to exit 25B (State Road 192.) Less than a mile north on 192, is the main entrance to not only the Magic Kingdom, but a gateway to Disney MGM Studios, Epcot, water parks and other Disney Resorts. Huge, brightly-colored signs point the way to the Kingdom's parking entrance.
As guests enter the Kingdom, they are directed to a parking lot where the lanes are designated by characters names. Rule No. 1 of theme park parking is: Write down what section and lane number you are in. Even if you are a Mensa member, after a day of continuous Mickeys, Donalds, Goofys, Chips and Dales, the names can start to run together. Parking attendants are there to assist lost travelers; but writing it down saves a lot of time and heartache.
Once parked, guests take a tram to the initial entrance to the park. From there, you can choose to take a ferry across Bay Lake or an electric monorail to the main entrance of the park. The monorail is sometimes faster (you can occasionally spend 10-15 minutes waiting if there's a clog up with the monorail ahead of you); but the ferry offers a breathtaking view for those who are patient.
Amenities: As with most of the theme parks, Disney defines the phrase "full-service organization." A myriad of food and drink choices abound, for every price range. Covered walk ways and lots of benches are scattered throughout the park to help guests beat the pounding Florida heat.
In addition to the food and drink sources, Disney offers wheelchair/stroller rental, telephones (including TDD for the hearing impaired), ATM machines, translation devices for foreign visitors, 2-hour film developing, audio amplification devices for the hearing impaired, postal supplies and mail drops, locker rentals, first aid centers and baby services.
There are two main guest relations points at the Magic Kingdom: one located to the immediate right of the ticketing gate and one inside at the beginning of Main Street. Information booths are scattered throughout the Magic Kingdom, and guests should feel free to stop any Disney employee (called cast members) for directions or help at any point in the park. Many of them are bilingual, and all of them can help you located help no matter what language you speak. You can recognize them by the brightly-colored costumes, perfectly matched name tags and permanent smiles. Visitors can also use the phones to dial a Disney help line should it be necessary.
Analysis: Disney wrote the book on idealistic view of society, with the Magic Kingdom as its second chapter, Disneyland in California being its first. The park's attention to detail, cleanliness, cheerful outlook and total concerted push to become "the happiest place on earth" have been models for theme parks and attractions around the globe.
Millions of visitors each year still consider Disney the first name in family fun. Locals have been raised on the Kingdom. Most 20- and 30-year-old natives still remember how old they were when they first road the Space Mountain and the Tea Cups. Tourists come to Florida from around the country with one thing in mind, visiting Mickey. A large portion of the local population has worked for the Mouse at one time or another, and the entire complex employees over 40,000 full- and part-time workers.
Internationally, Walt Disney World, most notably The Magic Kingdom, is almost synonymous with Florida. Tell someone in Europe you are from Florida and they will ask you how close you live to Disney. Cinderella Castle is arguably the most globally-recognized landmark in the state, and international visitors still make a sizable portion of the Magic Kingdom's customers.
The Magic Kingdom wears its folksy charm well. Even the innovations of Tomorrowland speak of a different era when visions of the future were filled with idealism and not Blade Runner-style degradation. Kids still love visiting Mickey, even more now with the permanent addition of his digs in the Kingdom. Adults will also feel comfortable in a park that has enough action and rides to keep short attention spans occupied and enough sit-down attractions to find a cool place when the Florida heat flares up.
Some of the older attractions have worn a bit, but that hasn't gone unnoticed by management. Disney has worked on the Magic Kingdom's image in recent years. Along with the Tomorrowland renovation, they have added attractions featuring The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, and are in the process of redoing some of its other attractions, like Swiss Family Treehouse.
While most of the jazziest and newest rides and attractions lie at other parks, visiting Central Florida without seeing the Magic Kingdom is almost sacrilegious.
author unknown!
History:
The history of Walt Disney World has, in some ways, been the history of Central Florida, and even Florida itself. Impacting almost every part of the local economy, Disney has left an indelible mark on its landscape, both literally and figuratively.
In the early 1960s, a mysterious company started buying up land in Central Florida. Rumors abounded as to the what's, where's, when's and -- most importantly -- the who's for about a year, until Oct. 1965 when the Orlando Sentinel-Star published a huge expose entitled "Is Our Mystery Industry Disney?" One week later then-governor Hayden Burns was forced to announce, a bit prematurely, that Walt Disney Productions had purchased more than 27,000 acres of Central Florida land. Plans for the land would be announced formally in Nov. 1965.
On Nov. 15, 1965, Walt Disney came to Orlando announce the project, but was very vague on specifics. Over the next six years, rumors and speculation spread like wildfire as bits and pieces of the Walt Disney World plan sprinkled out. The final plan was unveiled in its entirety in 1969.
Walt's original vision of Walt Disney World was an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (nicknamed EPCOT), a kind of future world where new ideas and concepts for both the personal and public technology could be explored. The cost of building such a community being daunting even for wealth of Disney's stature, Disney settled on building a theme park akin to Disneyland to finance his dream, with the community to come later.
Oct. 1, 1971, Opening Day, got off to a shaky start. Tomorrowland was completely closed off, with only some of the rides in the other "lands." Attendance was recorded at 10,000 (well-below projected estimates), and Wall Street went into a panic. But it only took a few days to regain the market's (and the nation's) confidence. Visitors started pouring into the park by the hundreds of thousands that first year, and the numbers have grown ever since.
Attractions:
The Magic Kingdom has changed very much in the 25 years since its opening. Patterned after the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, the Walt Disney World premiere attraction is broken into seven basic areas. Guests enter Main Street, a early-20th century shopping plaza, with City Hall, At the end of main street is the magical view of Cinderella Castle. For Disney's 25th anniversary Disney dressed the Castle up in a candy-covered helium balloon covering.
The park is laid out like a wheel with spokes. Starting east from Cinderella Castle and moving clockwise, visitors encounter Tomorrowland (showcasing future technologies), Fantasyland (featuring Disney's most beloved animated charters), Frontierland and Liberty Square (celebrating colonial life) and Adventureland (jungle adventure from Africa, Asia and South America). In 1995, the Magic Kingdom opened a new-and-improved Tomorrowland and the next year opened Mickey's Toontown Fair, a private look at the master mouse's domicile.
In addition to the park, the Magic Kingdom complex also houses the 450-acre Bay Lake, Disney's Grand Floridian, Grand Polynesian and Contemporary Hotel Resorts. Across the Bay Lake from the resorts and park area is Fort Wilderness complex, which incorporates a complete camping facility Discovery Island nature park, River Country water park.
Getting there: WDW visitors access the main entrance to the Magic Kingdom by taking Interstate 4 to exit 25B (State Road 192.) Less than a mile north on 192, is the main entrance to not only the Magic Kingdom, but a gateway to Disney MGM Studios, Epcot, water parks and other Disney Resorts. Huge, brightly-colored signs point the way to the Kingdom's parking entrance.
As guests enter the Kingdom, they are directed to a parking lot where the lanes are designated by characters names. Rule No. 1 of theme park parking is: Write down what section and lane number you are in. Even if you are a Mensa member, after a day of continuous Mickeys, Donalds, Goofys, Chips and Dales, the names can start to run together. Parking attendants are there to assist lost travelers; but writing it down saves a lot of time and heartache.
Once parked, guests take a tram to the initial entrance to the park. From there, you can choose to take a ferry across Bay Lake or an electric monorail to the main entrance of the park. The monorail is sometimes faster (you can occasionally spend 10-15 minutes waiting if there's a clog up with the monorail ahead of you); but the ferry offers a breathtaking view for those who are patient.
Amenities: As with most of the theme parks, Disney defines the phrase "full-service organization." A myriad of food and drink choices abound, for every price range. Covered walk ways and lots of benches are scattered throughout the park to help guests beat the pounding Florida heat.
In addition to the food and drink sources, Disney offers wheelchair/stroller rental, telephones (including TDD for the hearing impaired), ATM machines, translation devices for foreign visitors, 2-hour film developing, audio amplification devices for the hearing impaired, postal supplies and mail drops, locker rentals, first aid centers and baby services.
There are two main guest relations points at the Magic Kingdom: one located to the immediate right of the ticketing gate and one inside at the beginning of Main Street. Information booths are scattered throughout the Magic Kingdom, and guests should feel free to stop any Disney employee (called cast members) for directions or help at any point in the park. Many of them are bilingual, and all of them can help you located help no matter what language you speak. You can recognize them by the brightly-colored costumes, perfectly matched name tags and permanent smiles. Visitors can also use the phones to dial a Disney help line should it be necessary.
Analysis: Disney wrote the book on idealistic view of society, with the Magic Kingdom as its second chapter, Disneyland in California being its first. The park's attention to detail, cleanliness, cheerful outlook and total concerted push to become "the happiest place on earth" have been models for theme parks and attractions around the globe.
Millions of visitors each year still consider Disney the first name in family fun. Locals have been raised on the Kingdom. Most 20- and 30-year-old natives still remember how old they were when they first road the Space Mountain and the Tea Cups. Tourists come to Florida from around the country with one thing in mind, visiting Mickey. A large portion of the local population has worked for the Mouse at one time or another, and the entire complex employees over 40,000 full- and part-time workers.
Internationally, Walt Disney World, most notably The Magic Kingdom, is almost synonymous with Florida. Tell someone in Europe you are from Florida and they will ask you how close you live to Disney. Cinderella Castle is arguably the most globally-recognized landmark in the state, and international visitors still make a sizable portion of the Magic Kingdom's customers.
The Magic Kingdom wears its folksy charm well. Even the innovations of Tomorrowland speak of a different era when visions of the future were filled with idealism and not Blade Runner-style degradation. Kids still love visiting Mickey, even more now with the permanent addition of his digs in the Kingdom. Adults will also feel comfortable in a park that has enough action and rides to keep short attention spans occupied and enough sit-down attractions to find a cool place when the Florida heat flares up.
Some of the older attractions have worn a bit, but that hasn't gone unnoticed by management. Disney has worked on the Magic Kingdom's image in recent years. Along with the Tomorrowland renovation, they have added attractions featuring The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, and are in the process of redoing some of its other attractions, like Swiss Family Treehouse.
While most of the jazziest and newest rides and attractions lie at other parks, visiting Central Florida without seeing the Magic Kingdom is almost sacrilegious.