animal kingdom | mgm studios | epcot center | magic kingdom | disneyquest

Disney's Animal Kingdom / 407-824-4321
Disney's Animal Kingdom is the newest WDW major theme park in Orlando and is situated on over 500 lush acres, five times larger than the ever-popular Magic Kingdom. The main focus is on animals with more than 1,000 living creatures, many roaming freely in large natural habitats.

The park is divided into sections as are the other Disney parks, the entrance begins in The Oasis & Safari Village. It is here that one finds the signature centerpiece for Animal Kingdom, the Tree of Life, a fourteen story icon filled with animal carvings that rivals the size of Spaceship Earth in Epcot. Inside the Tree of Life is a 430 seat theater that features the 3-D Pixar attraction entitled "It's Tough To Be A Bug." Take an excursion out of Safari Village on The Discovery River, which flows around several areas of the park, expect a few surprises as well as spectacular views.

Next enter Dinoland, U.S.A. and prepare yourself for Dinosaur (aka Countdown to Extinction), the park's fantastic and awesome thrill ride! The Boneyard Playground is a great place for kids to explore including bone slides, bone maze, bone xylophones and a fossil dig. A walking trail and Theatre in the Wild are some of the other features in Dinoland, U.S.A.

Next stop, Africa! This is the largest section of the park which includes the 25-minute Kilimanjaro Safari ride. It starts out leisurely but it may not end up that way! Get close-up and personal with your favorite animals at Affection Station, one of the many activities at Conservation Station. Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, a bird show and back stage tour of the animal care facilities are also part of the Africa experience.

Asia is the next area which offers a homage to India, Nepal, Indonesia and Thai architecture, forests and ruins as well as Asian Elephants, Tigers, gibbons, giant bats and even Komodo dragons. Kali River Rapids is a refreshing "wet ride" through jungles, temple ruins and sensitive environmental zones. On The Maharajah Jungle Trek, guests will come face to face with Asian exotics such as tapirs and bats (behind glass) in natural surroundings and then walk-through an aviary filled with the sights and sounds of India.

The park is still under construction in some areas. Some attractions have gone through several name and design changes as Disney works to perfect their creation. Look for more rides and habitats over the next couple of years.

Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios
9 am - 7 pm with extended hours during summer and holidays / 407-824-4321
Built as a real studio as well as a theme park in 1989, Disney's MGM Studios was the third major phase of Walt Disney World. When entering the park, guests will begin with a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard into the land of movie magic! At the end of the street is Mann's Chinese Theater and The Great Movie Ride - a drive through museum of great movie film clips, sets, memorabilia and special effects. Take a turn on Sunset Boulevard and check-in to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for the elevator ride of your life, not once but twice - you are guaranteed to see your hair stand on end if you keep your eyes open! Other favorite MGM attractions, which are based on movie making include the Backlot Tour, The Making of "Armageddon", Star Tours (based on Star Wars), Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, The Magic of Disney Animation and The ABC Sound Studio.

Live shows fill the bill along with some great dining experiences (plan to make lunch and dinner reservations two days in advance). Shows include The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show & Fun House and The Hunchback of Notre Dame Stage Show. A playground based on The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set puts the whole family ant-sized into the backyard. Hopefully Muppet*Vision 3-D will remain, contracts are under discussion. If you get a chance at seeing this hilarious presentation, take note the surroundings before and after the show, it's amazing what a few 3-D Muppets can do to a theater.

The architecture of the main street buildings is simply wonderful, from Retro to Art Deco to Turn of the Century. Details are precise, down to even the "Singing in the Rain" umbrella. It's definitely Hollywood brought east and a great addition to the Disney Complex.

Walt Disney World's Epcot
Walt Disney World Resort / Hours vary, usually open from 9 am to 9 pm / 407-824-4321
Walt Disney envisioned Epcot as a prototype community of the future, displaying the innovations of American know-how in a planned live-in "city". It didn’t quite live up to that definition, which is a fortunate consequence for most visitors. However, the future is definitely here and is changing all the time. Epcot is reminiscent of a World’s Fair, with Pavilions sponsored by companies and countries. Epcot is divided into two sections, Future World and World Showcase.

The Future World section is dominated by Spaceship Earth, the huge geodesic sphere and ride that towers over the whole scene at Epcot. Nine encircling pavilions present different topics from the seas to the land, to energy, communication, transportation, health and fitness. National companies sponsor many of the pavilions in Future World such as AT&T Global Neighborhood, GM Test Track and Met Life's Wonders of Life.

Journey into Imagination, an innovative production showing how the imagination works also offers the 3-D movie Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which is one of the best attractions of it’s kind! One of the most popular pavilions in Future World is The Land which explores global need for improvements in agriculture. From boat tours through greenhouses, automatronic robot concerts from the likes of Chubby Cheddar and a movie fable with Simba, Pumbaa and Timon on the Circle of Life, The Land is an amazing teaching tool, make plans to dine there. The Seas is modeled after a concept underwater sea base and contains the largest salt water tank in the world. Corals, manatees and all kinds of fish are housed in this amazing "undersea" pavilion.

World Showcase is as its name implies, is a vehicle to display the customs, cultures and products of the participating countries. It's a long walk around the lake, many prefer to take the boat over from Future World to The American Adventure pavilion, a Colonial-style structure that houses a patriotic animatronic show. Disney and Hollywood in general has been known to take liberties with history and things are a bit skewed here as well, otherwise it's a great show!

All of the countries are represented by street scenes and structures that look like they would in the country of origin. Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco and the United Kingdom offer ambience and home-grown entertainment as well as quaint shops and traditional foods in their restaurants. Several pavilions offer rides or attractions as well as exotic dining and shopping. The China and Canadian pavilions both have 360-degree motion picture theaters which provide audiences an unobstructed view of some amazing faraway landscapes. Norway offers a great viking boat ride which tours an animated land of trolls as well as views of north sea oil derricks, the Norwegian Stave Church structure houses an interesting mini-museum. Mexico is housed in a colorful Aztec-style pyramidal structure. Inside visitors find themselves facing an evening sky in a lively outdoor square, queuing up for a ride on The River of Time, a boat trip through a festive landscape accented with volcanos and fireworks.

Expect to spend a full day in Epcot and take advantage of the many indoor structures during the heat of the day. The park is on the monorail system which connects with the Magic Kingdom and several of the Disney hotels.

Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
Walt Disney World Resort / Hours vary, usually open from 9 am to 9 pm / 407-824-4321
Opened in 1971, this was Walt Disney's first vision for the Florida park. Built in a similar "site plan" as the original Disneyland in Anahiem, Magic Kingdom is on a much larger scale. The MK centerpiece, Cinderella's Castle towers to 180 feet compared to Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle at 100 feet. The walks between "lands" is a bit of a stretch compared to Anahiem as well, so wear comfortable shoes and put little ones in strollers!

Visitors enter the park on Main Street, USA which begins in a square and proceeds towards the castle and the "hub" of the park. The hub spokes lead to all the "lands", left spokes lead towards Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square; right spokes toward Tomorrowland and Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Straight ahead leads towards the Castle and Fantasyland which lies just beyond. For transportation around the park, there is Walt Disney World Railroad which encircles MK.

Adventureland hosts a Jungle Cruise down a crocodile-infested river filled with animatronic beasts and the Pirates of the Caribbean, another boat cruise of note that has been a proverbial favorite for years...yo ho ho!

Liberty Square is noted for two main attractions, The Hall of Presidents and The Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion is the only Disney attraction that's found in all the world-wide Magic Kingdom theme parks. Each haunted house is styled a bit differently because it appears in a different "land" in each park, and is a great Disney showpiece! After a visit with the American Presidents and a speech by Lincoln, take a trip on the Liberty Square Showboat.

Next stop is Frontierland where things get a bit wilder with a crazy Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah trip to the Briar Patch at Splash Mountain and the out-of-control mine train at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! Wind down a bit at The Country Bear Jamboree, the Diamond Horseshoe Revue or take a walk around Tom Sawyer's Island.

A pinch of Tinkerbell's magic dust and it's on to Fantasyland. Visit Never Never Land in Peter Pan’s Flight or take a boat ride through It's a Small World from the 1964 World's Fair. Other shows and adventures include The Legend of the Lion King, Snow White's Adventures and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride from The Wind in the Willows. Other rides include Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Cinderella's Golden Carousel and the Mad Tea Party.

Mickey's Toontown Fair is another fantasy feature all on it's own and a great place for the little ones. See Mickey's House sitting along side the home of Miss Minnie Mouse. Check out the garden out back or the henhouse at Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster. Donald Duck has moored his tugboat for some wet play on a hot day.

The scariest and most grown-up attractions are in Tomorrowland including The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter and Space Mountain. One of the favorite attractions is The Timekeeper, a 360 degree film with special effects that takes you back in time. Other Tomorrowland features includes Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland Speedway, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, the Astro Orbiter and Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, another World’s Fair attraction. There are lots of shops, restaurants and interesting visual displays throughout the park, the Magic Kingdom is still one of the best entertainment venues in the world!

DisneyQuest - An interactive indoor theme park that offers the best of Disney Imagineering and technologies that appear to be from the beyond! There are 5 floors of interactive attractions, virtual adventures, rides and games combining Disney characters fueled with technologies that are mind blowing. It's a days worth of adventures in one relatively compact location. / Downtown Disney (west side) / 10:30 am - Midnight, daily / 407-828-4600

Reserve Early ...while your preferred accommodations are still available.