Disney World opened in 1971. Walt Disney died from complications of lung cancer on Dec. 15, 1966, before ground was broken on the construction of Disney World. Before there was Disney World, there was Disneyland in Anaheim, California which opened in 1955. It is the only theme park designed and built under the supervision of Walt Disney. Disneyland is also in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Disney World
Disney World in Florida has 4 theme parks; Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Disney World resort is about the size of San Francisco, and only about 35 percent of its more than 27,000 acres has been developed. Disney World is basically its own self-governing city. Disney World employs more than 62,000 as part of its “cast,” making it the largest single-site employer in the United States.
Approximately 48 million people visit Walt Disney World Resort (including Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Downtown Disney Area) annually.
Magic Kingdom
Cinderella’s Castle is made out of fiberglass, and it stands 189 feet tall. It seems so much larger on TV.
The estimated annual attendance at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park is 17.5 million. There are peaceful areas to sit and get away from the crowds.
It encompasses approximately 107 acres and is larger than Disneyland, which only covers 80 acres in Anaheim, California. Main Street, USA was inspired by the town located in Marceline, Missouri, which is where Walt grew up. Most trash cans are no more than 30 steps apart. Walt came up with this calculation when first designing Disneyland. He observed guests in other parks and averaged out how many steps a person would take with trash in their hand before dropping it. Splash Mountain in Adventureland is a five-story, free-fall plunge at a 45-degree angle into a pool traveling at 40 miles per hour. We got soaked but it was worth it. Thunder Mountain at Magic Kingdom is based on Monument Valley, AZ, while the ride at Disneyland is based on Bryce Canyon, Utah. Devices called Smellitizers are strategically placed throughout the park to emit certain scents, such as on Main Street USA, the smell of cookies and vanilla is emitted.
Epcot
The outer skin of Spaceship Earth is made up of 11,324 aluminum and plastic-alloy triangles. Looks like a Titleist Pro V1 golf ball to me. We were fortunate enough to visit during the Flower Festival. Topiaries and flowers everywhere.
Epcot sprawls across a massive 300 acres, making it almost three times as large as the Magic Kingdom. The estimated annual attendance is 11 million.
More than 30 tons of fruits and vegetables grown at Epcot are served in Walt Disney World restaurants. A tomato tree holds a Guiness World Record for a one-year yield of an amazing 32,000 tomatoes, with a total weight of 1,151 pounds.
The walk around the entire World Showcase lagoon, from Mexico to Canada, covered a distance of 1.25 miles. Food at the restaurants was very good and the walk helped to burn off a few of the calories…but still gained weight. Sandy loved the grapefruit flavored beer in Germany.
Animal Kingdom
Disney World’s biggest theme park, Animal Kingdom, encompasses 403 acres with an annual attendance of 9.9 million. Animal Kingdom features more than 3,000 species and 4 million trees and plants.
The first tree planted at Animal Kingdom in December 1995 was an authentic Acacia xanthophlosa, grown from a seed that Disney acquired in Africa.
The Tree of Life is 145 feet tall, and the trunk is 50 feet wide. Its an artificial tree with 325 carvings adorning the truck.
There are climate-controlled rocks on the safari, to encourage the lions to sit in view of the safari vehicles. We did see a lion, but at over 90 degrees, it was lying in the shade. It was very nice to be in an open air vehicle driving around the animals. It reminded us of our African safari.
We watched the Festival of the Lion King show.
There are many shows and performers providing innumerable photo ops in the streets. Sandy’s weak ankle was acting up, hence the hiking boots. So stylish!
A bug posing.
Sandy posing.
Monkeys are always entertaining.
A very unusual and rare capture of a rainbow, without any special effects by Disney.
Hollywood Studios
The estimated annual attendance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is 9.9 million. It felt like all 9.9 million were there on the day we visited.
Starwars was a very popular theme.
It was fun walking around, enjoying the exhibits, rides, and shows. The Rock n Roll rollercoaster scared the crap out of us.
More than 200 pairs of sunglasses are turned in to lost and found at Disney World each day. Every year, the park finds an average of 6,000 cellphones, 3,500 digital cameras and 18,000 hats. Fortunately, we did not lose anything.
We had a very good time despite the temperatures and humidity being in the 90’s. Its easy to see why so many people visit Disney World.
