Magic Kingdom
| Magic Kingdom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cinderella Castle |
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| place | Walt Disney World Resort , Bay Lake ( Florida ), United States | |||
| opening | 1st October 1971 | |||
| Visitors | 20.96 million (2019) | |||
| surface | 57 hectares | |||
| Website | Magic Kingdom homepage | |||
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Coordinates: 28 ° 25 ′ 9 ″ N , 81 ° 34 ′ 52 ″ W.
Magic Kingdom is an amusement park in the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista in the US state of Florida , about 30 kilometers southwest of Orlando . The owner and operator is the Walt Disney Company or its division, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts . The park was opened on October 1st, 1971. It was designed and built by WED Enterprises (which is now called "Walt Disney Imagineering"). The park and attractions are based on those of Disneyland in Anaheim , California , which opened in 1955. With almost 20.96 million visitors, the park was the most visited amusement park worldwide in 2019.
history
construction
The Walt Disney Company began building the Magic Kingdom concurrently with the construction of the Walt Disney World Resort in 1967 after Walt Disney's death . The park was designed on the model of Disneyland in California, but differs in its larger area. At Magic Kingdom, the design of Disneyland was slightly modified again. The reason for the modifications was that Walt Disney saw a Frontierland cowboy walking through Tomorrowland in Disneyland and therefore wanted to prevent such illusion-destroying encounters in the Magic Kingdom. To make this possible, so-called "utilidors" were built in the Magic Kingdom. With these tunnels, it was now possible for employees to walk through and out of the park unseen. Due to the high water level in Florida, these tunnels were not built underground, but on existing ground. The area around it was filled with rubble that came from the excavation of the "Seven Seas Lagoon". No new tunnels were created when the park was later expanded. The concept of these tunnels was implemented in all of the Walt Disney World parks built later.
opening
The Magic Kingdom Park was opened on October 1, 1971 as the first sub-project of the Florida project Walt Disney World Resort . The park opened at the same time as the two hotels Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort . When the park opened, it had 23 attractions, including three unique at the time for the park and twenty copies from Disneyland. The Walt Disney Company promised to continuously increase the number of attractions.
Visitors
The Magic Kingdom had around 20.96 million visitors in 2019. This made the park the most popular theme park in the world. Between 2006 and 2014 the average number of visitors was 17.5 million visitors per year.
Development of visitor numbers
Areas of the Magic Kingdom
The parking card now lists 48 attractions in seven different thematic areas.
A park railroad , the Walt Disney World Railroad , runs in a circle around the park on historic steam locomotives and stops at Main Street, USA , Frontierland and Fantasyland .
Main Street, USA
Not only the style of a small Midwestern city can be found on Main Street , but also the style of other regions of the United States, such as New England and Missouri . This is most obvious in the middle of Main Street, the so-called "Four Corners". Each building there represents a different architectural style. “Four Corners” differs from Disneyland Anaheim: Instead of an opera house, there is an exhibition hall in the Magic Kingdom.
On Main Street there are many souvenir and food shops as well as a real barber shop. The decoration corresponds to the middle class America of the 20th century. The decoration was modeled on the style of Walt Disney's hometown Marceline and the film Lady and the Tramp . The City Hall housed in the lobby, a tourist information desk. In Emporium various Disney souvenirs such. B. Plush toys , pins or baseball caps can be bought.
At the end of Main Street is the famous Cinderella Castle , which serves as a landmark for Magic Kingdom . The castle is only 55 meters high, but looks a lot bigger because of the forced perspective . This technique was also used in the houses on Main Street : the first floor is less high than the ground floor and the second is in turn less high than the first. This effect makes the buildings appear larger than they really are.
Adventureland
The Adventureland represents the theme of adventure in foreign countries . The area is intended to be reminiscent of the jungles in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America and the South Pacific. It was later expanded to include a Caribbean marketplace. In Adventureland there are classic Disney attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean or the Jungle Cruise .
Frontierland
In Frontierland you can experience the Wild West with cowboys and Indians as well as its landscapes and rivers. The main attractions are Splash Mountain , Big Thunder Mountain Railroad , Tom Sawyer Island and the audio- animatronic show Country Bear Jamboree . On June 25, 2020, it was announced that the Splash Mountain flume would be redesigned alongside the Disney film Kiss the Frog .
Liberty Square
This area was modeled after a village from the time of the American Revolution . The central attraction is the Liberty Belle River boat across the Magic Kingdom's Rivers . Liberty Square is home to the Haunted Mansion and The Hall of Presidents .
Fantasyland
In Fantasyland , the thematic design is based on the stories of classic and newer Disney films. The rides are especially suitable for smaller children: it's a small world , Peter Pan's Flight , Dumbo , The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh and The Mad Tea Party .
As part of a large-scale expansion, the Fantasyland area has been extensively expanded since 2011. The key novelties were a big new restaurant called Be our Guest based on Beauty and the Beast , an indoor attraction called Under the Sea with an Ariel theme and a new family roller coaster called Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with a Snow White theme . The opening took place in stages from 2012 to 2014. In this context, the attraction Snow White's Scary Adventures closed on May 31, 2012. A new Meet & Greet for the Disney Princesses was created there.
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is devoted to futuristic themes. There you will find attractions such as the Space Mountain indoor roller coaster or the Tomorrowland Speedway .
Storybook Circus, formerly Mickey's Toontown Fair
Mickey's Birthdayland and Mickey's Starland were found in the old Mickey's Toontown Fair area . In Starland, visitors will find Mickey's Country House , Minnie's Country House , Goofy's Barnstormer and Donald's Boat .
In February 2011 this part of the Magic Kingdom was temporarily closed. Since March 2012, the area has been partially reopened as part of the Fantasyland expansion, initially with a revised Fantasyland Railroad Station , the Dumbo carousel relocated to this area , to which a twin carousel is being built right next door due to the great demand, and the " The Great Goofini “re-themed children's roller coaster.
Walk around the World Bricks
In the 1990s, visitors to the Magic Kingdom could buy individual paving stones ( bricks ), which were personalized and used as a paving floor in front of the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. The price was $ 100 excluding tax. Buyers were guaranteed to remain in the pavement for ten years. With the introduction of the follow-up project Leave A Legacy in Epcot , the sale of stones was discontinued and has therefore remained unfinished.
Web links
- Walt Disney World Resort - Magic Kingdom - Official website of the Magic Kingdom
- themeparkreview.com - Photos and Videos on Theme Park Review
Remarks
- ↑ In the period 2006-2014 (Source: Global Attractions Attendance Reports)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c TEA / AECOM 2019 Theme Index and Museum Index. (PDF) TEA / AECOM, July 19, 2020, accessed on July 24, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Fact Book 2010. (PDF) The Walt Disney Company, accessed June 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Fun Facts of Magic Kingdom's Underground Complex . In: www.hiddenmickeys.org . 1995. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
- ↑ 2006 ( Memento of April 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), Global Attractions Attendance Report 2007. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2008. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2009. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2010. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2011. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2012. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2013. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2014. (PDF) TEA, accessed on January 16, 2016 (English).
- ^ New Adventures with Princess Tiana Coming to Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park. Retrieved June 26, 2020 (American English).