Eyewitness Travel Family Guide Florida Page 14
Key Sights
1. Magic Kingdom® Splash down a 52-ft (16-m) mountain, learn the ways of a pirate, or wander through Cinderella Castle at the best known of the Disney parks.
2. Epcot® This park is divided into two sections: the modernistic Future World, with the iconic Spaceship Earth ride, and the World Showcase, which features the attractions, shops, and cuisines of 11 countries.
3. Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Besides thrill rides, musical shows and parades, and animals from Africa and Asia in re-creations of their natural habitats, this unique zoo also has dizzying roller coasters zipping through mountains.
4. Disney’s Hollywood Studios® High-speed rides, thrilling stunt and stage shows, and film extravaganzas – from The Muppets to Beauty and the Beast – lure visitors of all ages to this theme park.
5. Water Parks Cool off aboard one of the world’s tallest waterslides at Blizzard Beach, a snow-covered ski resort. The tropical Typhoon Lagoon has water-soaked attractions to suit all ages, including a surf pool with 6-ft (2-m) waves.
6. Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground This resort has some of the best kid-centered dining options. Mickey’s Backyard BBQ offers a chance to dance with Mickey Mouse.
7. Disney Springs® Live music at the House of Blues, the thrilling Cirque du Soleil®-La Nouba™ show, and video games at the DisneyQuest® Indoor Interactive Theme Park are some of the highlights of this entertainment and shopping complex.
8. Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course™ Play putt-putt in two Santa Claus-themed courses: the sunny Sand Course or the wintry Snow Course.
Left Cooling off at a water park Middle Stunt show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Right Toy Story ride at Magic Kingdom
>>Practical Information
>>More Things to Do
>>Eat and Drink
>>Kids' Corner
Kids’ Corner
Disney parks trivia
Which hotel does the Walt Disney World® monorail system go through, where you can see people having lunch?
What occupied the piece of land before Walt Disney World® Resort was built on it?
Which is the fastest roller coaster in Disney World?
>> Answers
Shoot for the sky!
At 200 ft (654 m), the Expedition Everest® roller coaster in Disney’s Animal Kingdom®, is Disney’s highest ride. It is even taller than the 185-ft (56-m) Spaceship Earth® “golf ball.”
Happy Birthday mickey!
Mickey Mouse’s birthday is officially November 18, 1928, even though he first appeared in a cartoon in May 1928. He was originally voiced by Walt Disney himself.
Riding the monorail
There are 12 trains in the Walt Disney World® Monorail System, riding on almost 215 miles (346 km) of tracks high above the Seven Seas Lagoon™ and Epcot®. The loop around the lagoon stops at three Disney hotels; ride the complete circle and see if you can name them all.
>> Answers
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< Orlando and the Parks
Magic Kingdom®
Let the enchantment begin!
Balloon vendor at Main Street, USA®
A world full of the romance of princesses and magicians, and the frights of haunted houses – with a few nerve-testing roller coasters thrown in – Magic Kingdom® is the most popular Disney park. Divided into six areas, it is filled with rides and attractions that show off Walt Disney’s best-loved characters, and a Disney-style cartoon version of the future.
Key Features
1. Main Street, USA® Shop, dine, and see dazzling parades on Main Street, USA®. Visitors can board a steam train or a horse-drawn trolley from here for a relaxing trip around the park.
2. Adventureland® A mix of tropical jungles and Colonial buildings, this area features the ever popular Pirates of the Caribbean® and the Magic Carpets of Aladdin carousel.
3. Fantasyland® Attractions in this delightful area include the Storybook Circus, with the Great Goofini Coaster.
4. Frontierland® Ride a runaway mining car through the Wild West, then board a wooden raft to look for hidden treasure on Tom Sawyer Island.
5. Splash Mountain® This log flume ride runs through swamps and caves before plummeting 52 ft (16 m) down into a pond.
6. Liberty Square Themed around the Colonial era, this area features the thrilling Haunted Mansion® and the educative Hall of Presidents.
7. Cinderella Castle This most-photographed Disney attraction houses glass murals depicting the fairy tale. At night, spectacular shows illuminate the stunning castle in a riot of colors.
8. Tomorrowland® From the sharp turns and steep drops of Space Mountain® to the humor of Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, this area is filled with attractions for all ages.
Left Teacups ride in Fantasyland Middle Cinderella Castle Right Magic Carpets of Aladdin carousel in Adventureland
Top 10 Attractions
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin® Shoot a laser cannon at aliens from a spinning XP-37 Space Cruiser on this ride in Tomorrowland®.
Splash Mountain® A theme park in itself, this water-soaked ride in Frontierland® has a track running through swamps, caves, and bayous.
Pirates of the Caribbean® Find Captain Jack Sparrow aboard a boat cruise in Adventureland®, meet pirates, and see blazing cannons before plunging down a 14-ft (4-m) waterfall.
Haunted Mansion® Ride through dark and dusty rooms looking for – or trying to avoid – 999 ghosts, ghouls, and goblins in Liberty Square.
Stitch’s Great Escape!™ This slightly scary audio and video extravaganza in Tomorrowland® recruits riders as Galactic Federation Security Agents to guard an alien called Stitch.
Tomorrowland® Speedway Drive mini gas-powered sports cars around a 2,000-ft- (609-m-) long track on this exciting ride.
Enchanted Tiki Room™ Hundreds of singing Animatronic® birds – from crooning parrots to Aladdin’s wisecracking Iago and The Lion King’s Zazu – delight the audience at this musical show in Adventureland®.
Space Mountain® Climb into a rocket ship to blast into outer space and spiral through a black hole on this intense ride in Tomorrowland®.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad® Zip through an abandoned Wild West-themed mine, with extreme twists and steep drops, on board this dizzying roller coaster in Frontierland®.
Magic Carpets of Aladdin Work the controls of a flying carpet to ride high or low around a giant genie bottle in Adventureland®. Watch out for the spitting camels!
>>Practical Information
>>Eat and Drink
>>Kids' Corner
Kids’ Corner
Can you find the following in Magic Kingdom®:
Walt Disney’s brother Roy sitting next to Minnie Mouse.
An alien piano player.
A singing parrot.
>> Answers
Cast a spell
Go to the Fire Station on Main Street, USA® and sign up for the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom® game, which travels around the park with Merlin the magician to battle villains, find magic portals, and collect spell cards.
Welcome to the show!
Get up early to see the Magic Kingdom Welcome Show, held in front of Main Street Station 15 minutes before the park opens. Mickey and Pluto open the park, with lots of dancing and singing!
Good guys and bad guys
The Magic Kingdom® parking lots are named after heroes and villains. Can you match them with the movies they are from: Rapunzel (a) Toy Story
Simba (b) Tangled
Hook (c) Lion King
Zurg (d) Peter Pan
>> Answers
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< Orlando and the Parks
Epcot®
Back to the future
Visitors enjoying the Test Track ride
The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (Epcot®) was Walt Disney’s neighborhood of the future, designed to connect people with technology. Enjoy exploring the history of science and technology in this complex of tw
o different, but connected, parks. Future World takes visitors from the bottom of the sea to the outer reaches of space, while World Showcase introduces the cultures of 11 countries through their food, architecture, and music.
Key Features
1. The Seas with Nemo & Friends In this tribute to the world’s oceans, the eponymous ride leads to the majestic Caribbean Coral Reef, a 5.7 million gallon (22 million liter) saltwater aquarium home to 6,000 underwater inhabitants.
2. The Land Parasail over Californian landscapes in the Soarin’™ flying simulator, and take the Living with the Land boat tour through a simulated rain forest to experimental working greenhouses.
3. Imagination! Make a dragon sing just by moving, operate the world’s largest digital camera, and watch Figment create mischief in Journey into Imagination.
4. Innoventions Learn how science affects daily life in this interactive museum of the technology of the past and future. Design a roller coaster and then “ride” it at The Sum of All Thrills™ in Innoventions East.
5. World Showcase These country-specific pavilions have architectural models and replicas from Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. They house a variety of ethnic restaurants and shops.
6. Universe of Energy Ellen’s Energy Adventure, starring Ellen DeGeneres, is a 45-minute journey by film – featuring animatronic dinosaurs and theater seats that move – of the history of energy production and the search for new energy resources.
7. Mission: SPACE® This motion-simulation thrill ride blasts off on a realistic training mission for space travel, which leads to the Advanced Training Lab for testing of skills in space-related games, and culminates in a landing on Mars.
Left Saltwater aquarium in the Seas with Nemo and Friends experience Middle Replica terracotta warriors in the China section of the World Showcase Right Mission: SPACE simulation thrill ride
Top 10 Attractions
Spaceship Earth This ride travels through the 40,000-year history of communications, from hieroglyphs to computers, while Project Tomorrow, an interactive play area, lets guests play virtual reality games.
Test Track On this Future World ride, kids go through rigorous crash tests before riding a self-designed car along a three-story high track at 65 mph (105 km/h).
Mission: Space® Dodge meteors, feel the force of twice the Earth’s gravity, and train for a Mars landing on this motion simulation ride.
Soarin’™ Hang-glide over California in this ultra-realistic simulator ride in the Land Pavilion, suspended in a giant panoramic movie theater filled with the sights, sounds, and feeling of flying.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends Join Dory and Marlin in their search for Nemo on the sea floor aboard a “clamobile,” among live fish and colorful coral reefs in this massive saltwater tank in the Seas Pavilion.
Ellen’s Energy Adventure Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, travel through time, exploring the history of energy and taking visitors from the Big Bang to laser views of outer space.
Journey Into Imagination with figment A flying dragon explores and plays with sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste in this whimsical tour of the senses, in the Imagination! Pavilion.
Frozen Ever After Climb onto the ancient Norwegian ship of Arendelle and sail through the sparkling, wintery land of Frozen.
Turtle Talk with Crush Interact with Crush, Finding Nemo’s surfing turtle, about the wonders of the ocean at this live 3-D show at the Seas Pavilion.
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth This nightly sound and light show uses spectacular fireworks and lasers to tell the history of the world.
>>Practical Information
>>Eat and Drink
>>Kids' Corner
Kids’ Corner
Find the chatterboxes!
There are three talking water fountains in Epcot®. See if you can find them.
>> Answer
Thirsty?
Club Cool in Innoventions West is the coolest place in Epcot®, offering free samples of soda from all over the world. Try lemon soda from Israel and a Japanese bubbly vegetable drink.
Peek-a-boo!
A surprise treat awaits at the Germany Pavilion. Stand in the middle of the square to see hidden cuckoo clocks emerge from almost every building to strike the hour.
Go around the world
Be sure to get a World Showcase Passport, which you can have stamped at each “country” you visit.
Make your way through the hedge maze in the hidden park behind the United Kingdom Pavilion.
Don’t miss the acrobat show in front of the China Pavilion, the juggling waiters of Serveur Amusant™ outside the France Pavilion, and the drummers of Japan.
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< Orlando and the Parks
Disney’s Animal Kingdom®
Explore the world’s jungles
Primeval Whirl® in DinoLand U.S.A.
Disney invented the term “notazoo” to describe Animal Kingdom®, and it is certainly different from a traditional zoo. Families can see Asian tigers padding through ruins, daintily swimming hippos, and majestic mountain gorillas, all of whom live here happily. In addition, there are thrilling rides for the adventurous, and lots more to entertain everyone.
Key Features
1. Pandora – The World of AVATAR Experience the world of Pandora, with its floating mountains and glowing plants, as you ride down the mystical Na’vi River.
2. Discovery Island® Wooden bridges and cave-like tunnels lead to giant tortoises, lemurs, kangaroos, and other exotic creatures. There is also a glass-paneled viewing area where playful otters can be seen.
3. The Tree of Life This 145-ft- (44-m-) tall structure is decorated with around 325 super realistic animal carvings. It also houses the It’s Tough to be a Bug® show.
4. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge This majestic lodge, located close to the park, has a six-story lobby with a view of the surrounding savannas, and some of the best African cuisine around.
5. Rafiki’s Planet Watch Pet the goats, sheep, and llamas in the Affection Section, then head to Habitat Habit! to meet frisky South American cotton-top tamarins.
6. Asia The Asia section of the park thrills with the Expedition Everest® roller coaster, and is the setting for tigers, Komodo dragons, and a bird show.
7. DinoLand, U.S.A. Travel under the sea with Finding Nemo – The Musical, and into the prehistoric past on the TriceraTop Spin carousel and Primeval Whirl® – two facing coasters with spinning cars.
8. Africa Explore the African savanna in the Kilimanjaro Safaris® Expedition, walk along the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail® to the gorilla habitat, and then take the steam-powered Wildlife Express Train.
Left Flamingos at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Middle DinoLand, U.S.A. Right Asia section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Top 10 Attractions
Festival of the Lion King This elaborate 30-minute musical show in the Harambe Theatre, in the Africa zone, features puppets, dance, and music, and occasionally invites children from the audience to dance along.
Pangani Forest EXPLORATION TrAIl® Walk this self-guided trail in Africa to see massive silverback gorillas, exotic birds, meerkats, and hippos.
Kali River Rapids® Enter a lush rain forest, in a ride that leads through steaming geysers and misty waterfalls, on the churning Chakranadi River in the Asia section, before dropping down a 30-ft (9-m) waterfall for a soaking good time.
The Affection Section This petting zoo is the only place in Animal Kingdom® where kids can touch and feed a variety of friendly, domesticated animals, such as goats, chickens, and sheep.
Finding Nemo – The Musical Performers dressed as colorful fish bring the much-loved animation to life with music, puppets, and Elton John tunes, in this live 30-minute show at DinoLand, U.S.A.