We have left St.Louis on 24th of May and reached Houston along with our Granddaughter Kithika who is having her summer holidays. Our son has planned to go to Orlando in Florida for a three day visit.
On 28th morning we left by a flight to Orlando. We checked in Hotel Buena vista Palace a luxury hotel near Disney world.We have hired a car from Airport and after checking in the Hotel had some food and then proceeded to Tampa where Vamsi my wife’s sister’s son is working. Usha, Vamsi’s sister who is on site at New York also came to Tampa for Disney visit. We went to Petersburg Clear Water Beach which is near to Tampa in Florida.The beach was having white soft sand and shallow water. We have played till sunset and returned to hotel by night 12 AM.
Morning we got up and went to Magic World in Disney World resort. Some information gathered about Orlando and Disney world will be opt to mention.
Orlando is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan region. It is Florida's third largest metropolitan area and it's fifth largest city by population
Originally the center of a
citrus growing region, Orlando is a city now heavily urbanized with various industries. The area is a major tourist destination and is the home of Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando. Lake Buena Vista, Florida, located 21 miles southwest of downtown Orlando, is the home of Walt Disney World. These attractions form the backbone of Orlando's tourism industry, making the city the third most visited American city
The Walt Disney World Resort is the world's largest and most visited recreational resort, covering a 25,000-acre area encompassing four theme parks, two water parks, 24 on-site themed resort hotels and other recreational venues and entertainment. It opened on October 1, Kingdom theme park and has since added Epcot(October 1, 1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (May 1, 1989) and Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park (April 22, 1998).
This world famous resort was inspired by the dreams of Walt Disney and his creation of Disneyland in California. Its original theme park, IMagic Kingdom, is designed similarly to Disneyland. Walt Disney created "Disney World" in order to have a vacation resort that was much different from Disneyland's one-day visit; this includes a much wider variety of sports, recreation, uniquely-themed resort hotels and entertainment.
Magic Kingdom is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The first park built at the resort, it opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering), the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In 2009, the park saw an estimated 17.2 million visitors, making it the most visited theme park in the world
Instead of being a replica of a small mid-western American town, Main Street at Magic Kingdom features some stylistic influences from around the country, such as New England and Missouri. This is most noticeable in the "four corners" area in the middle of Main Street where each of the four corner buildings represents a different architectural style. There is also no Opera House as there is at Disneyland; instead there is the Exposition Hall. Main Street is lined with shops selling merchandise and food. The decor is early-20th century small-town America, inspired by Walt Disney's childhood and the film Lady and the Tramp. City Hall contains the Guest Relations lobby, where cast members provide information and assistance. A working barber shop gives haircuts for a fee. The Emporium carries a wide variety of Disney souvenirs such as plush toys, collectible pins and Mickey-ear hats. Tony’s Town Square and the Plaza Restaurant are sit-down restaurants. Casey's Corner is at the end of Main Street and sells traditional American ballpark fare including hot dogs and fries. The Main Street Confectionary sells sweets priced by their weight, such as candied apples, crisped rice treats, chocolates, cookies and fudge.Most windows on Main Street bear the name of people who were influential at Walt Disney World or other Disney parks. An example of a classic Main Street, U.S.A. attraction is the Walt Disney World Railroad, which transports guest throughout the park, making stops at Frontierland and Mickey's Toon town Fair.
Cinderella Castle at night
A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams is the largest fireworks show ever presented at the Magic Kingdom
In the distance beyond the end of Main Street stands Cinderella Castle. Though only 189 feet (55m) tall, it benefits from a technique known as forced perspective. The (fake) second stories of all the buildings along Main Street are shorter than the first stories, and the third stories are even shorter than the second, and the top windows of the castle are much smaller than they appear. The resulting visual effect is that the buildings appear to be larger and taller than they really are.
Symbolically, Main Street, U.S.A. represents the park's "opening credits". Guests pass under the train station (the opening curtain), then view the names of key personnel along the windows of the buildings' upper floors. Many windows bear the name of a fictional business, such as "Seven Summits Expeditions, Frank G. Wells President", with each representing a tribute to significant people connected to the Disney company and the development of Walt Disney World Resort.
The park contains two additional tributes: the Partners statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle and the Sharing the Magic statue of Roy O. Disney sitting with Minnie Mouse in the Town Square section of Main Street, U.S.A. Both were sculpted by veteran Imagineer Blaine Gibson.
Adventure land
Adventure land represents the mystery of exploring foreign lands. It is themed to resemble the remote jungles in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America and the South Pacific, with an extension resembling a Caribbean town square. It contains classic rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise.
Swiss Family RobinsonTreehouse
Frontierland
Frontierland is where guests can relive the Wild West – from cowboys and Indians, to exploring the mysteries of the Rivers of America. Frontierland contains classic attractions such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tom Sawyer Island, Splash Mountain, and the Country Bear Jamboree.
Liberty Square
This area of the park is based on an American Revolutionary town. The Magic Kingdom's Rivers of America hosts the Liberty Belle riverboat. Liberty Square is home to the Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents.
Fantasyland
In the words of Walt Disney: "Fantasyland is dedicated to the young at heart and to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." Fantasyland is themed in a medieval-faire/carnival style. The section will undergo an expansion over the coming years, with completion scheduled for 2013. Phase one of this project will be finished around 2011, and phase two in 2013. It will feature a ride featuring Ariel, which will also be at Disney's California Adventure Park, the Beasts Castle, Aurora's cottage, and much more. One of the main changes will be the Dumbo ride will have a circus themed waiting area filled with circus games to play while you wait. Toon Town Fair will close because it will be replaced with Pixie Hollow.
Attractions include "it's a small world", Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, and Mad Tea Party.
Tomorrowland
In the words of Walt Disney: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."
Tomorrowland is themed to be an intergalactic city. Classic attractions include Space Mountain and the Tomorrowland Speedway.
Mickey's Toontown Fair
An expansion of the land created as Mickey's Birthdayland, and later Mickey's Starland, this area is home to attractions such as Mickey's Country House, Minnie's Country House, Goofy's Barnstormer, and Donald's Boat. This area will soon be demolished to make way for the Fantasyland Expansion to be completed in 2013.
We could see most of the places till night 9 O’clock and sat near the castle where procession of all walt Disney characters marched with illuminated costumes which lasted for 40 minutes. Then the illuminated castle with so many colours was a wonderful scene we can never forget. Then the fireworks started behind the castle and we were enthralled by seeing them for another one hour. Fully tired we reached hotel.
The next day we have taken tickets for Disney's Hollywood Studios which is another important theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. The third park built at the resort, it opened on May 1, 1989 as Disney-MGM Studios.
The park is represented by The Sorcerer's Hat, a stylized version of the magical hat from Fantasia. It replaced the Earful Tower as the park's icon in 2001.
The park consists of six themed areas. Unlike the other Walt Disney World parks, Disney's Hollywood Studios does not have a defined layout; it is more a mass of streets and buildings that blend into each other, much like a real motion picture studio would. The layo
ut of the park, however, did have an interesting design characteristic. The plaza at the end of Hollywood Boulevard featured a large Hidden Mickey, which was visible in aerial photographs of the park and on the park's early guide maps. However, construction and other changes to the park have eliminated much of this image.
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard serves as the park's main entrance and is lined with venues selling Disney merchandise. Parades such as the Pixar Block Party Bash travel down Hollywood Boulevard on their route through the park, and live street entertainment can be found here throughout the day. Michael Eisner, who had a major part in the park's creation ever since the earliest development, demanded the opening land operate on the same principle as Main Street, U.S.A. but in a style more fitting to the Studios.
At the far end of Hollywood Boulevard stands the Sorcerer's Hat, the icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios. Behind it, inside a replica of Grauman's Chinese Theater, is The Great Movie Ride, a dark ride paying homage to several classic films, including Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Echo Lake
Echo Lake is the park's small oval-shaped lagoon, which was designed to form one of the ears in the enormous Hidden Mickey from the park's original layout. Surrounding it are numerous attractions and services, some in structures designed to mimic the "California Crazy" form of architecture from Hollywood's Golden Age.
At The American Idol Experience, park guests can audition and sing for live audiences, and potentially win a special front-of-the-line pass for the popular TV series' real tryouts. Next door, Sounds Dangerous! features a 3-D audio presentation starring comedian Drew Carey. In between them is the A.T.A.S. Hall of Fame Plaza, a display of busts of past and present icons of the television era, such as Oprah Winfreyand Walt Disney.
Echo Lake includes three attractions based on characters and movies produced by George Lucas' Lucasfilm studio. Star Tours is a motion simulator ride set in the Star Wars universe, and is a duplicate of the original attraction at Disneyland. Jedi Training Academy, a live-action stage show, invites children to become "padawan learners" and receive "light saber training" from a Jedi master. Lastly, the live-action Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! re-enacts various scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark while illustrating how movie stunts are performed.
Streets of America
Finale at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
Originally the New York Street backlot set that was part of the park's original Backlot Studio Tour, the section was later opened to pedestrian traffic. More recently, additional architectural treatments were added to create street sets resembling San Francisco and New York. The current version of the Studio Backlot Tour features the American Film Institute Showcase, a rotating exhibit of movie props and memorabilia, and a tram ride through the backlot areas and through Catastrophe Canyon, an effects-laden "movie set." Kids can play amongst oversized plants and toys at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, based on the 1989 Disney film. Added in 2005, the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is a behind-the-scenes look at how vehicle action sequences are created for films, and was adapted from a similar show at Walt Disney Studios Park.
Animation Courtyard
This section of the park originally was the starting point for the tours of the park's active production studios. Its entrance is marked by a square "studio arch," much like a real Hollywood studio lot entrance might be marked. The Animation Courtyard is home to a number of attractions based on Disney characters of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Magic of Disney Animation is an attraction that examines the development process of an animated character. It also includes interactive games and exhibits, along with meet-and-greet areas for Disney and Pixar characters.
Mickey Avenue, a sub-section of Animation Courtyard, has two walk-through exhibits. Walt Disney: One Man's Dream explores the life and legacy of Walt Disney through photos, models, rare artifacts and a short biographical film narrated by Julie Andrews. At "Journey into Narnia," guests can see props and set pieces from Disney's "Chronicles of Narnia" movie series, as well as meet the namesake of the series' second film, Prince Caspian.
The Courtyard section also hosts two live shows. Playhouse Disney Live on Stage! entertains guests with puppet characters from the Playhouse Disney block of programming on The Disney Channel, including Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Little Einsteins. Across the plaza, Voyage of the Little Mermaid uses glow-in-the-dark puppets, lasers, music, projectors, human actors and water effects to re-create favorite scenes and songs from the animated Little Mermaid film.
Pixar Place
The park's newest section includes many of the original soundstages used when the park hosted actual production facilities. Today, Pixar Place resembles the Emeryville, Californiacampus of Pixar Animation Studios. Its sole attraction is Toy Story Midway Mania!, an interactive 3D attraction inspired by classic carnival midway games, each hosted by charactersfrom the Toy Story film series.[3] Pixar Place is also the home of Luxo Jr., a six-foot-tall audio-animatronics version of Pixar's desk-lamp mascot.[4] The moving character performs periodic shows throughout the day and evening across from Toy Story Midway Mania.
Sunset Boulevard
Fantasmic! Poster
Sunset Boulevard was the first expansion to Disney's Hollywood Studios, opening in July 1994. The visual focal point of Sunset Boulevard isThe Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a thrill ride based on the classic television series. Located nearby is Rock 'n' Roller Coaster StarringAerosmith, an indoor roller coaster in the dark with three inversions and a high-speed launch.
Sunset Boulevard has two outdoor amphitheaters for live stage shows. The covered Theater of the Stars hosts Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, a stage show featuring highlights of the film. The open-air Hollywood Hills Amphitheater is the home of Fantasmic!, a nighttime show featuring Mickey Mouse and many other Disney characters in a story filled with fireworks, lasers and water effects.
Live entertainment
Disney's Hollywood Studios has featured numerous forms of in-park entertainment throughout its history. During its early years, the park featured the "Star Today" program, with a daily celebrity guest. The celebrity would often be featured in a motorcade along Hollywood Boulevard, or would take part in a handprint ceremony at the Great Movie Ride's entrance, or even participate in an interview session.
At other times, Disney has imported characters that were not part of its own library of films and television shows. Some of these characters have included the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ace Ventura, Pet Detective and characters from the Goosebumps series by author R. L. Stine. The Mighty Morphine Power Rangers made appearances in the park during the first seasons of the television series, but then vanished. Disney had ownership of the Power Rangers franchise through its purchase of Saban Entertainment until May 2010 when Saban Entertainment purchased the franchise back, and were regular members of the park's cast of characters through that time.
Many of the park's costumed entertainers are not related to any particular film or TV show. Instead, they are live-action caricatures of figures from Hollywood's history. Originally dubbed "streetmosphere" by Disney and now called the "Citizens of Hollywood", they appear at regular intervals on Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards. Some of these characters include directors, talent agents, starlets or hopefuls, and will often take part in streetside shows that will include audience participation.
In the night, on the lake a spectacular Micky mouse show with the help of lasers and light and sound which can never be forgotten in our life. We reached our hotel and the next day we flown back to Houston.
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