The Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom is a theme park at Walt Disney World in Florida. Opened on October 1, 1971, it is the most famous of the Florida theme parks. It covers 107 acres. Its layout and attractions are generally similar to those of Disneyland in California.
In addition to the bronze "Partners Statue" of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle, there is also a bronze statue of Roy O. Disney sitting with Minnie Mouse near the park's entrance.
The Magic Kingdom park is constructed above a series of tunnels called utilidors, short for "utility corridors," used by park employees ("cast members") to reach areas inside and outside the park without being seen by park guests. This means that cast members in Tomorrowland outfits never have to be seen in Frontierland, for example. The utilidors were built at ground level (due to Florida's high water table) and the area around them was filled in with dirt from the "Seven Seas Lagoon" which was being dug in front of the park, and the Magic Kingdom itself was built on top. This means that, technically, ground level inside the Magic Kingdom is actually on the second story.
Attractions
The park contained twenty-three attractions on the day it opened, twenty of them copies of attractions at Disneyland. Today the park map lists forty-eight attractions (though several of these, like the Guest Information Board, probably shouldn't be included in the number) in seven themed "lands." Major attractions are listed below.
The Walt Disney World Railroad runs along the perimeter of the park and makes stops at Main Street, Frontierland, and Mickey's Toontown Fair.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Main Street is lined with shops selling Disney merchandise and park food.
Adventureland
- Swiss Family Treehouse, a large tree with steps and walkways leading high up around it
- The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management, with Audio-Animatronic birds that sing (the old attraction has been updated to include The Lion King's Zazu and Aladdin's Iago)
- Jungle Cruise, a boat ride with a skipper who tells bad jokes
- Pirates of the Caribbean, a dark ride through pirate scenes
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, a Dumbo ride on flying carpets
Frontierland
- Splash Mountain, a log flume
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a fairly tame steel roller coaster
- Tom Sawyer Island, reachable by raft, on which are caves and a fort for kids to explore
- Country Bear Jamboree, a show with Audio-Animatronic singing bears
Liberty Square
Fantasyland
- it's a small world is a dark ride through colorful stylized representations of many countries (the attraction is currently being renovated and will reopen in May 2005)
- Peter Pan's Flight, a dark ride in a pirate ship flying over London
- Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 3-D movie experience
- Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, the oldest ride in the park, a carousel built in 1917
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the prototypical Dumbo ride
- Snow White's Scary Adventures, a dark ride through scenes from the movie (only scary for young children)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a dark ride through scenes from the Winnie the Pooh stories
- Mad Tea Party, a ride in spinning teacups
Mickey's Toontown Fair
This area is the location of Mickey's and Minnie's houses, Donald's tugboat, and a county fair tent.
- The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, a small steel roller coaster
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, a 'racetrack' with small gas-powered racecars
- Space Mountain, an indoor steel roller coaster in the dark
- Astro Orbiter, a Dumbo ride in rocketships
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority (also known as the WEDway PeopleMover), a gentle ride over Tomorrowland
- Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, an Audio-Animatronic show which debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, a dark ride with "laser guns" to shoot targets and score points
- The Timekeeper, a CircleVision 360 film starring Robin Williams, Rhea Perlman, and Jeremy Irons
Trivia
In Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Cinderella's own horse is the only one which has a golden bow on its tail. It's in the second rank in from the outside, in the line immediately before the Indian chieftan horse.
"The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" is built in the former location of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," based on the 1949 Disney animated film The Wind in the Willows. Fans of the Mr. Toad ride organized a petition in an attempt to prevent it from being replaced, but were unsuccessful. However, the ride contains a picture of Mr. Toad presenting the Toad Hall deed to Owl (look to the left behind the car immediately after the ride begins), and one Mr. Toad car is on display inside the Exposition Hall on Main Street.
Other noteworthy Magic Kingdom attractions which have been removed include "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (based on the film of the same name) and the "Skyway," for which stations can still be seen in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The "20,000 Leagues" lagoon has was left visible for years after the attraction closed, but has recently been barricaded and drained and will be filled with dirt to make room for a new attraction.
"The Magic Kingdom" is also a nickname for the Disneyland theme park itself. This usage predates the Florida theme park, but Disneyland never officially bore this name. While Disneyland's official nickname is "The Happiest Place On Earth," the official nickname of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is "The Most Magical Place On Earth."
