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Theme Parks in Walt Disney World


Theme Parks in Walt Disney World

The four theme parks are Walt Disney World's bread and butter. These are not traditional amusement parks, where age is a hindrance to full enjoyment. The Disney parks have rides, sure, but many of them are quite sedate and can be enjoyed by everyone, not just those with a high tolerance for thrills. And even beyond the rides, there are stage shows to watch, shops to browse, characters to meet, and atmosphere to soak in. Most importantly, though, none of these rides, shows, and stores just "sits there". Each one tells a story, in much the same way that Disney's animated films do, and each is crafted with the utmost care and attention to detail. There are also the bigger stories to be found in each themed land, and in the park as a whole. When you enter the Magic Kingdom, and the entrance tunnels give way to the vista of Main Street, with Cinderella Castle at the far end, you're raising the curtain on a new production?and you're the featured player. You won't find dirt or peeling paint or run-down mechanics at a Disney Park, not even at the oldest attractions. Disney takes quality very seriously, and if anything intrudes on your perception of the "show", it gets fixed quickly. It's all about suspension of disbelief: total immersion into worlds of imagination, art, and history. The sheer number of attractions?including rides, stage shows, parades, and fireworks displays?at Walt Disney World's four theme parks can be intimidating to guests. It's usually best to have a plan going in. Check the guide map for the park you plan to visit and decide which attractions will be your highest priorities before you leave for the park. Keep in mind that parades and some shows occur only at specific times, and plan your route to put you nearby in time to get a seat. Be flexible, though?once you've hit your priority attractions, you can go back and pick up more if you have time remaining. The traditional amusement park advice of arriving early and heading to the back of the park first tends to work well, although more and more guests are starting to catch on, so the benefit may be reduced. Be aware that during the busiest times of year, lines can be up to two hours long for the most popular attractions. One option for avoiding these lines is the free service known as FastPass, available only at select attractions. Simply insert your park ticket into the machine, and you'll get a FastPass ticket with a time interval stamped on it. At any time during that interval, you may enter the attraction using a separate, shorter queue. You can only have one FastPass at a time, so you won't avoid every line, but it can still be a great time-saver. Note that the FastPass queues may bypass some or all of the scenery and theming found in the longer lines, which for some guests is a significant part of the Disney experience. Consider what you may be missing if you choose to get a FastPass.

The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Walt Disney World

It's a small world, after all

Walt Disney World and Verizon Wireless have teamed up to introduce a number of amenities for cell phone users.

For Verizon customers with Android phones, Disney's Mobile Magic is an interactive theme park map application complete with features such as games, messages from Disney characters, and finding wait times for rides. The application may be acquired at the Verizon Media Store , or by texting "MAGIC" to 2777 from a Verizon phone. A version for Verizon iPhones is in development.

For non-Verizon phones, a text-message interface is available; ride wait times, character appearances, park hours, and exclusive offers can all be sent directly to your phone. Just register your phone at the website and you can get started; normal text-messaging rates apply.

Finally, the official Walt Disney World mobile website may be accessed through a cell phone browser. However, this site will only contain basic park information like park hours and entertainment schedules, and will only provide limited information about wait times and FastPass return times.


Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Walt Disney World - updated Mar 2024

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Walt Disney World Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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