Walt Disney World Resort
| Walt Disney World Resort | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Spaceship Earth in Epcot |
||||
| place | Orange County (Florida) , Osceola County (Florida) | |||
| opening | 1st October 1971 | |||
| Visitors | approx. 59 million ( total number of visitors to all parks) (2019) |
|||
| surface | 15,000 hectares | |||
| building-costs | 400 million dollars (opening) | |||
| staff | approximately 74,000 | |||
| Website | disneyworld.disney.go.com | |||
|
||||
_location_map.svg)
Coordinates: 28 ° 22 ′ 20 ″ N , 81 ° 32 ′ 58 ″ W.
The Walt Disney World Resort is a complex of several theme parks near Orlando , Florida . The resort is part of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company and comprises four different theme parks, two water parks and 23 hotels, making it not a single, self-contained amusement park. Together, the parks plus additional facilities such as roads, utility buildings and unused open spaces result in a gross area of around 15,000 hectares, which makes the Walt Disney World Resort the largest leisure complex in the world in terms of area (the actual net area that is distributed among the individual parks and based on which the Size of a leisure complex is measured is much smaller).
Geographical location
Contrary to what is often perceived by the public, the amusement parks are not located within the city of Orlando, but about 21 miles southwest of downtown Orlando, mostly within Orange County , with a smaller part in adjacent Osceola County . The towns of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake , which are part of the Reedy Creek Improvement District , are located on the property .
Disney World is accessible via two highways, which have several exits to the parks. The parking spaces can therefore be reached without any crossings. The theme parks are networked with each other with roads, bus and boat lines as well as a monorail and cable car system.
opening
.jpg)
The complex was opened on October 1, 1971, costing up to its completion, 400 million US dollars .
concept
The basic idea for Disney World was the idea of Walt Disney to build an even bigger Disneyland and to be able to expand it continuously, regardless of the space requirement; In the Disneyland Resort , due to the great success of Disneyland, all the surrounding properties were quickly bought up by other investors , so that additional space was no longer an option. Therefore, in the early 1960s, Disney secretly bought land in the Orlando area through various front companies and other investors. The tactic also worked, as it was only after most of the space for Disney World was acquired that rumors surfaced that Disney was planning a new park in Orlando. Disney World was also planned as a kind of Disneyland for the future.
The project should also include a study group with which Disney could test its urban planning ideas . Disney called this project the Experimental Prototype Community (or City) of Tomorrow ( EPCOT for short ). Disney had been very interested in future social developments during its lifetime and wanted to have a creative impact on them. In fact, a theme park called Epcot later opened at Walt Disney World Resort, but not entirely in the form Disney had envisioned. The Epcot project, for which Disney planned and worked a lot, he was never able to see a reality because he died in 1966. However, near the Epcot theme park, a city was built based on Disney's ideas. Celebration , as Disney City is called, was founded in 1996 by the Walt Disney Company.
The resort should actually be called Disney World . Before the opening of the park was, however, in honor of Walt Disney from his brother Roy Oliver Disney in Walt Disney World renamed.
The Walt Disney World as well as the Disneyland had its own currency: the Disney dollars . This currency can be converted one to one with the US dollar. The currency therefore has more voucher status. In 2016 it was announced that production had ceased. Existing Disney Dollars can still be used for payment.
Theme parks
Walt Disney World has four large theme parks, each with its own main attraction, which each park symbolizes.
- Magic Kingdom (Cinderella Castle)
- Epcot (Spaceship Earth, the gigantic geodesic dome )
- Disney's Hollywood Studios (Mickey's magic hat from "Fantasia", water tower)
- Disney's Animal Kingdom (Tree of Life)
Discovery Island, located on Riles Island in Bay Lake, was closed again in April 1999, 25 years after it opened under the name Treasure Island. The animals resident there, which could be discovered and formed the theme of the park, were transferred to the Animal Kingdom. The name is reused in the Animal Kingdom.
The resort also has two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach .
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 as the first theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. It was built on the model of Disneyland in California. It is divided into six themed countries: “Main Street, USA”, “Fantasyland”, “Adventureland”, the Westernland “Frontierland”, the visionary “Tomorrowland” and “Liberty Square”. The area of the former "Mickey's Toontown Fair" became the "Storybook Circus". The landmark of the Magic Kingdom is the “Cinderella Castle” (Cinderella Castle; 28 ° 25 ′ 10 ″ N , 81 ° 34 ′ 52 ″ W ).
The main attractions are the "Festival of Fantasy Parade", during which Disney characters move through the park every day at 3:00 pm, the evening "Wishes" fireworks display over the "Cinderella Castle", the "Space Mountain" roller coaster (Tomorrowland), the 3-D cinema “ Mickey's PhilharMagic ” (Fantasyland), the white water raft “Splash Mountain” (Frontierland), in which the passengers fall five stories deep into a river in a tree trunk and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Frontierland), a rapid journey through a mine.
In 2019 the park had more than 21 million visitors, making it the most visited amusement park in the world.
Epcot
An amusement park called EPCOT Center was opened on October 1, 1982, based on Walt Disney's idea of a model city called EPCOT " Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow " . The park is divided into the subject areas “Future World” and “World Showcase” and deals with the technological progress of mankind and the different cultures of the world. The park has been called Epcot (lower case) since 1996 and officially distances itself from Disney's vision of a model society.
The main attractions of the “Future World” are “Spaceship Earth”, a journey through the history of communication, “Test Track”, a car test track where visitors design their own car and send it to the real test track, and “Mission: SPACE “, A very realistic Mars mission that works with centrifugal force so that the visitor gets the illusion of a rocket trip. Visitors experience the attraction in groups of four, in which each individual has to fill a certain role (captain, technician, navigator, pilot). The attraction made headlines because of two deaths; For example, a four-year-old American boy died in the hospital in the summer of 2005 after he passed out during the "flight". In April 2006, a 49-year-old German tourist also died in hospital, complaining of nausea and dizziness after the journey. Both sufferers had previously undiagnosed heart defects.
Since May 2, 2006, visitors to “Mission: SPACE” have been able to choose between the original journey, the 'Orange Team' and a more moderate version (without rotating the centrifuge), the 'Green Team'.
From autumn 2006 "Soarin '" became the most popular ride in the park. This is a film simulator ride in which flight scenes are projected onto an IMAX dome screen, with the guests floating in their rows of seats in the air and experiencing the depicted flight movements over the cities and landscapes of California. The attraction closed in January 2016 and reopened as “Soarin 'Around the World” in the summer of the same year, redesigned and technically modernized.
The “World Showcase” theme area is made up of eleven themed countries that simulate eleven different countries: Mexico , Norway , China , Germany , Italy , USA , Japan , Morocco , France , Great Britain and Canada . The so-called "Drinking around the World" is also popular among visitors, with a lap through the World Showcase and one drink (mainly alcohol) being drunk in each country.
In addition to the country-typical design and architecture of the themed countries, goods and meals typical for the respective countries are offered there, and some pavilions contain attractions. In the US pavilion there is an audio animation show The American Adventure with a lifelike representation from the early days of the United States. A ride based on the Disney film Frozen - Totally Cheeky opened in Norway in 2016 ; France, Canada and China each promote the beauties of their countries with a film. Every evening, the “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth” light and fireworks show takes place on the “World Showcase Lagoon”, a large artificial lake in the middle. Epcot's landmark is the "Spaceship Earth" ( 28 ° 22 ′ 31 ″ N , 81 ° 32 ′ 58 ″ W ), which can be recognized from a great distance as a huge sphere .
Every year different events are held in Epcot, in spring the "Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival" and in autumn the "Epcot International Food & Wine Festival". In winter, the themed countries celebrate their holidays as part of the “Holidays Around the World” event and present them to park visitors.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park that opened in 1989 and is dedicated to film and television . The park was renamed on January 7, 2008 and was previously called Disney-MGM Studios. The main attractions are the "Indiana Jones" stunt show, "Jim Henson's Muppet Vision" in 3D , the Broadway- like show "The Beauty and the Beast", the roller coaster "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith", and the evening show "Fantasmic", a live show with actors, light, fireworks and laser effects, in which Mickey Mouse competes against the Disney villains.
The actual main attraction is the so-called "Tower of Terror", which transports visitors to the "Twilight Zone". With a total height of 60 meters, it is one of the two highest attractions in the Disney World Resort. The attraction opens in the Walt Disney Studios of Disneyland Resort Paris at the beginning of 2008 and is only basically the same as the original. The Paris version of the tower is based on a different architecture. Furthermore, there are three drop shafts in Paris instead of only two and a special feature of the Florida version has been completely omitted. This is what is known as the “5th Dimension Room”. Thus, the European version largely corresponds to the "Tower of Terror" in California's "California Adventure", the second park in the original Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Some of the attractions, including the simulator "Star Tours" and the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith" are largely identical to the attractions of the same name at Disneyland Resort Paris, the latter attraction in Paris having a completely different design The course of the roller coaster can be experienced. While in Florida with Aerosmith in limousine trains through a city to the concert, the interior of the Paris version was designed more as a large concert hall, so that you can see numerous trusses, light effects and artificial fog during the journey.
Every year in May / June the Star Wars Weekends take place there on four weekends, during which the most famous Star Wars characters are available for a meet & greet (i.e. for a joint photo and autograph). During this time, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald also wear special Star Wars uniforms at the Meet & Greet and Mickey is accompanied by R2-MK, the Disney variant of the little robot R2-D2. In addition, the park is divided into the light and dark side of the force on the weekends, there is a special Star Wars parade with the participation of some original Star Wars actors or voice actors. In addition, a special show with Star Wars characters will be offered at the opening in the morning at the entrance and in the evening at the Jedi Academy in addition to Star Tours with the Hyperspace Hoopla, a dance competition for several Star Wars characters will be held.
From 2017, Disney's Hollywood Studios went through a major renovation phase. As a result of this, the new area " Toy Story Land" opened on June 30, 2018 with the new attractions "Slinky Dog Dash" (family roller coaster) and "Alien Swirling Saucers" (amusement ride with rotating "UFOs"), as well as the existing attraction "Toy Story Mania! " (interactive 4-D themed trip). On August 29, 2019, the new area " Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge " opened, an area based on Star Wars , in which visitors can enter the planet Batuu and immerse themselves in it in interactive shops and restaurants. The main attractions are "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run" (interactive space flight simulator) and "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance" (multi-part themed ride). On March 4, 2020, the "Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway" attraction finally opened. It is the first ride in which Mickey Mouse is the focus. It replaces one of the previous main attractions "The Great Movie Ride", which was closed at the end of 2017.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
.jpg)
Opened in 1998 , Disney's Animal Kingdom is neither an amusement park nor a zoo, but is officially described as "a whole new kind of theme park". It is the newest and with 250 hectares also the largest theme park in the Disney World complex. The park is divided into the theme countries "Africa", "Asia", "DinoLand USA", "Rafiki's Planet Watch" and "Discovery Island". One of the main attractions is the "Kilimanjaro Safari" in which the visitors in an open safari - truck through the African (Savannah modeled landscape with real animals hippos , lions , giraffes drives, etc.). The Everest expedition has been attracting visitors to the Asian part since April 2006 . It is one of the most expensive roller coasters (100 million US dollars) in the world with forwards and backwards travel in a replica of the Himalayan Mountains with a total height of 60 meters. This makes it one of the highest mountains in Florida , albeit fake . Other attractions in the park include a. the dark ride “Dinosaur” and the rafting track “Kali River Rapids”. The landmark of the “Animal Kingdom” is an oversized, artificial tree, the “ Tree of Life ” ( 28 ° 21 ′ 28 ″ N , 81 ° 35 ′ 26 ″ W ), which houses a 3D cinema .
The "Camp Minnie-Mickey" theme area was closed on January 5, 2014 to make room for the new Avatar theme area. The opening of the area based on the feature film took place on May 27, 2017.
Water parks
.jpg)
There are two water parks at Walt Disney World Resort.
- Blizzard Beach opened in 1995 and is modeled on a ski area.
- Typhoon Lagoon opened in 1989 and has the largest outdoor wave pool in the world.
The third water park, River Country, closed in late 2001.
Disney Springs
Disney Springs, formerly known as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village (1975), Walt Disney World Village (1977), Disney Village Marketplace (1989) and Downtown Disney (1997), is home to a large number of shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues. It is divided into the West Side, The Landing, Town Center and Marketplace areas. In the West Side area there was a permanent show by the Cirque du Soleil ( La Nouba ), which was closed on December 31, 2017, after 19 years.
Hotels
Disney's All-Star Movies Resort
The hotel has 1,920 rooms in 10 buildings. There is also a main building with a lobby, check-in, self-service restaurant, a shop and an arcade. The hotel opened on January 15, 1994 and is located near the Animal Kingdom Park. The rooms are divided into 5 themed areas of 2 buildings each: 101 Dalmatians, Toy Story, Fantasia, The Mighty Ducks and Herbie: The Love Bug. 2 swimming pools are also part of the complex.
Disney's All-Star Music Resort
When the hotel opened in 1920, it had rooms spread across 10 buildings. There is also a main building with a lobby, check-in, self-service restaurant, a shop and an arcade. The hotel opened on November 22, 1994 and is located near the Animal Kingdom Park. The rooms are divided into 5 themed areas of 2 buildings each: Calypso, Jazz Inn, Rock Inn, Country Fair and Broadway. 2 swimming pools are also part of the complex.
In 2006 work began on converting rooms into suites. At the start, 52 suites were built in the Jazz Inn area. In the final stage, 192 suites are planned for an occupancy of up to 6 people and a small child.
Disney's All-Star Sports Resort
The hotel has 1,920 rooms in 10 buildings. There is also a main building with a lobby, check-in, self-service restaurant, a shop and an arcade. The hotel opened on April 24, 1994 and is located near the Animal Kingdom Park. The rooms are divided into 5 themed areas of 2 buildings each: Touchdown !, Center Court, Homerun Hotel, Surfs Up! and hoops. 2 swimming pools are also part of the complex.
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
The 2,112 room hotel opened on October 1st, 1988 and is divided into 5 Caribbean villages. The villages are named after the Caribbean islands of Trinidad , Aruba , Martinique , Barbados , Tobago and Jamaica and each has a small pool. In addition, the 18 charges hectares large lake to relax, sailing and pedal boating. Two restaurants serve for catering : “Shutter's at Old Port Royale” and the “Old Port Royale Food Court ”.
Disney's Pop Century Resort
The hotel is close to Disney Wide World of Sports , the EPCOT Center and Disney's Hollywood Studios . In the 2,880 rooms large resort is about the pop history of the 20th century . The areas originally intended as the first phase were opened on December 14, 2003. The second phase, marketed as "Legendary Years", was never completed after the slump in the tourism industry after September 11, 2011.
Disney's Port Orleans Resort
The hotel complex consists of two individual hotels, the Port Orleans Riverside (formerly Dixie Landings, opening February 2, 1992) and the Port Orleans French Quarter (formerly only Port Orleans, opening May 17, 1991). "Riverside" has around 2000 rooms, the "French Quarter" a little over 1000 rooms. Both are divided into several individual buildings, each of which does not have more than a maximum of three floors. Both are built in the Mississippi and Alabama southern style. The hotel complex is located north of Downtown Disney and can be reached from there by boat (Disney water taxi). Both hotels have several pools, some of them large (in the Riverside there are 7 pools alone distributed over the hotel grounds) as well as several restaurants and souvenir shops.
Disney's Wilderness Lodge
The hotel is located on Bay Lake near Magic Kingdom Park. It was designed by the Urban Design Group . It was opened on May 28, 1994 and has 729 rooms including some suites. The hotel is modeled on old national park hotels in the style of z. B. the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park . In addition to a swimming pool, the complex also has hot springs and an hourly active geyser (all artificially created). In addition to 2 restaurants with table service (“Artist Point” and “Whispering Canyon Café”) there is also a pool bar, a lounge (Territory Lounge) and a fast food restaurant (“Roaring Fork”), which was open from midnight to midnight in earlier years was open, but now only offers food and drink from 6 a.m. to midnight due to the falling number of visitors. The gift shop in almost every Disney hotel is called "Wilderness Lodge Mercantile" and offers a wide range of clothing in "Wilderness Style" in addition to the usual offers such as snacks, drinks, cigarettes and postcards.
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
This hotel is close to Animal Kingdom Park and thematically expands it. It was designed by the same architectural group, Urban Design Group , as the Disney's Wilderness Lodge hotel . The similarities to the Wilderness Lodge are therefore very obvious to the observer. The hotel overlooks three “savannas”: Sunset savanna , Arusha savanna and Uzima savanna . The visitor can watch the animals in the savannah from the hotel balconies. There are different animals in the savannas, ostriches only exist in the Sunset Savanna, zebras only in the Arusha Savanna and kudus only in the Uzima Savanna. Only giraffes are found in every savannah. The hotel also offers three restaurants: Jiko , Boma and Mara . Boma is the restaurant for families with children and Jiko for the more sophisticated cuisine. Mara is a snack bar by the pool.
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Certainly one of the most famous Disney hotels is the luxury hotel, which is usually only called GF. It is one of the three monorail hotels (Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian), all of which are located on the monorail and whose hotel guests can easily travel to the Magic Kingdom. The finest of all Disney restaurants “Victoria and Alberts” is located there, and in the evening a piano player alternates in the entrance hall and a jazz band on the first floor, in front of a small bar called Mizners.
Walt Disney World Swan
Although this hotel is in the middle of Disneyworld, it is operated by Westin rather than the Walt Disney Company . The main building consists of 12 floors and with the two 7-storey side towers offers space for 758 rooms. Guests of the Swan can use all Disney means of transport free of charge, however the Swan's room card does not serve as a credit card in the parks, as is the case in the pure Disney hotels. On the ground floor of the Swan Hotel, there are various restaurants and the “Kimonos” sushi bar, where karaoke is sung every evening.
More hotels
- Disney's Beach Club Resort
- Disney's Boardwalk Inn
- Disney's Boardwalk Villas
- Disney's Contemporary Resort
- Disney's Coronado Springs
- Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort
- Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground
- Disney's and Campgroud
- Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney's Yacht Club Resort
- Walt Disney World Dolphin
- Walt Disney World Swan
Disney Vacation Club Hotels
- Disney's Beach Club Villas
- Disney planning
- Disney's completion
- Disney's Washington
- Disney's Boardwalk Villas
- Disney's Old Key West Resort
- Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
- Animal Kingdom Villas
- Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort (completion end of 2009)
- Disney's Tree House Villas
- Aulani a Disney Resort & Spa, Ko Olina, Hawaii " (Completion 2011)
- (500 room resort hotel is being planned for National Harbor (near Washington DC))
Tickets, FastPass + and MyMagic +
Since the end of 2013, the new ticket system based on RFID plastic cards has been used gradually throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. This means that the Fastpass system in the theme parks will also be converted to Fastpass +. Resort hotel guests can take part in the “MyMagic +” program, with an RFID plastic wristband replacing the entry tickets for the park and the room key cards in the resort hotels. The changeover in the entire Walt Disney World Resort was completed on March 31, 2014, and only the new RFID plastic cards are now used as admission tickets for all guests. Since then, fast passes can only be reserved using the “My Disney Experience” mobile phone app, the “MyMagic +” website and touchscreens in the park, and the reservation is limited to a maximum of three fast passes per day. It is possible to book additional Fastpasses after the three existing time slots have expired.
literature
- Herwig, Oliver: Dream Worlds. Architecture and Entertainment. Photographs by Florian Holzherr. Prestel, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-7913-3220-1
- Kölln, Martin: The park planner for the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida; 3rd edition, ISBN 978-3-8370-6342-4
- Norbert Loacker : What the masses like . Essay. Innsbruck, Limbus 2016. ISBN 978-3-99039-079-5
Web links
swell
- ↑ Martin Kölln: The Park Planner for the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida - 6th Edition. , 2016, ISBN 978-3739232720 , pp. 83-84.
- ↑ Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade Walt Disney World Resort website. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ↑ TEA / AECOM 2019 Theme Index and Museum Index. TEA / AECOM, July 19, 2020, accessed on July 24, 2020 .
- ↑ Martin Kölln : The Park Planner for the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida - 6th Edition. , 2016, ISBN 978-3739232720 , pp. 171-175.
- ↑ TouringPlans.com , travel guide (English), accessed May 31, 2020
- ↑ FastPass + Walt Disney World Resort website. Retrieved November 16, 2016.