The World, Designed by Disney
by Renee Wright
[originally published in Square Dancing Today]
With
the purchase of the enormous Orange County tract in Florida, Disney
had room to spread out on a piece of land twice the size of Manhattan.
Here Disney created its own world
based on the expansive vision of founder Walt. The Magic Kingdom,
Disney-MGM, Epcot, and the often-overlooked, but quite magnificent
Animal Kingdom, form the heart of the Disney World Resort.
Tigers in the Animal Kingdom. Photo © 2004, Renee Wright
In addition to the four major
theme parks, the Resort includes:
- two waterparks,
- the Disney Institute,
- sports facilities for everything
from golf to stockcar racing,
- plus a variety of other activities
and entertainment.
Accommodations at Disney
World, each with its own theme, reached a total of 22 with the
opening of the new Pop Century Resort late in 2003.
And don't forget Downtown Disney,
a combination of shopping emporiums, restaurants, and nightclubs
that makes a fascinating destination in itself. This is where
you'll find Cirque de Soleil and DisneyQuest, five
stories of indoor interactive fun.
Also new, and so far nearly undiscovered,
Disney's Boardwalk offers dining and entertainment, as
well, often with no cover.
The whole is tied together by
the Disney transportation system, a thing of wonder and beauty
in itself.
You can travel by bus,
anywhere in Disney World, take a launch across one of the
many lakes, or ride the monorail from the Magic Kingdom
to Epcot.
Although a visit to any of the
Disney properties is not inexpensive, you can see where your money
is going. Everything is safe, clean, conveniently organized, smoothly
managed, imaginatively designed.
continued...
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What's New in 2005
Stitch's Great Escape!
Set
in a timeframe before the events of Walt Disney Pictures' animated
comedy "Lilo & Stitch," this Magic Kingdom attraction
in Tomorrowland features the film's alien star in a new
sci-fi adventure featuring the pandemonium caused by the mischievous
"Experiment 626" -- a.k.a. Stitch. (Photo: Kent Phillips/Disney©
2004. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY)
"FINDING NEMO" FUN AT EPCOT
Guests can pose for pictures
with Nemo and the new Coral Stiltwalkers several
times daily in Nemo's Garden, an area of eight larger-than-life
characters from the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of the
Pixar Animation Studios film "Finding Nemo." The
movie won an Oscar© for Best Animated Feature Film. (Photo:
Garth Vaughan/Disney© 2004. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY)
PEEK
INTO THE PAST
Disney's Pop Century Resort, the newest value-category
hotel at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.,
pays tribute to the popular toys, dances, catch phrases and
fads through the decades. (Permission is hereby granted to intended
addressee magazine and newspaper to reproduce this picture for
addressee's editorial news use only. Copyright 2003, THE WALT
DISNEY COMPANY.)
Three
Little Pigs
Three
red river hogs are the newest animals to populate the savannah
at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge in Lake Buena Vista,
Fla. The hotel's 33-acre savannah is home to more than 200 African
animals and can be viewed by guests 24 hours a day. (Photo:
Gene Duncan/Disney © 2004.
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY)
A lifetime of vacations could
not take you to every corner of the World of the Mouse.
Browse the Disney websites, accessed through Disney
Online, for a virtual tour of the possibilities.
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