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ORLANDO ATTRACTIONS |
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The centrepiece of Walt Disney World is the Magic Kingdom. Consisting of seven "lands" - Main Street USA, Liberty Square, Adventureland, Frontierland, Mickey's Toontown Fair, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. More than any of the other Disney Parks, this is geared for children. Enter on Main St., USA to capture the essence of early 20th-century America. Late in the afternoon, catch the parade down Main St. which showcases all of the Disney Characters. In 1966, Walt Disney dreamed up an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" which would evolve constantly to incorporate new ideas from U.S. technology-eventually becoming a self-sufficient futuristic utopia. At present, Epcot splits into Future World, where you can explore new technologies as well as find adventure at sites like Test Track, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and World Showcase allowing you to sample culture, architecture and dining from throughout the world. Disney-MGM Studios set out to create a "living movie set". Many familiar Disney characters stroll through the park, as do a host of characters dressed as directors, starlets, gossip columnists, and fans. Stunt shows and mini-theatricals take place continually such as Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, the Backstage Studio Tour and Star Tours to name but a few. Disney relative ABC-TV maintains a high profile and films programs there. Don't forget to ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! Disney's newest theme park is the perfect addition to your vacation. Attraction areas include Africa, Asia, Camp Minnie Mickey, Conservation Station, Dinoland USA and the Safari Village. Tons of live animals spot the park for everyone to enjoy. Cruise the Kilimanjaro safari and encounter zebras, tigers, lions and elephants to start. Also walk the Pangani Exploration Trail to see live gorillas and hippos and more. For extra excitement take the Countdown to Extinction thrill ride in the Dinoland USA area or view life as the bugs do at It's Tough to Be a Bug! Despite an earlier closing time than other parks (7pm), the dinner crowd leaves around 5pm, taking long lines with them. The Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex provides an exhilarating and educational experience of the space program. Whether touring the Rocket Garden, or boarding a full-scale replica of the Space Shuttle Explorer, visitors are guaranteed to gain a new perspective on the incredible feats accomplished by the space program. For those old enough to remember it will be a chance to reminisce, for the young ones will be a breathtaking experience to see a single men put his foot onto the moon's surface at the Apollo/Saturn V Centre. The only back-to-back twin IMAX® theatres in the world are located at the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex, showcasing three exciting motion pictures on screens 5-1/2 stories tall! These enormous screens and state of the art sound system allow you to explore into the weightless environment of a space station, take a peek at the future in 3-D and experience the thrilling sensation of space flight. Sea World is an interactive adventure park that combines education, research, and conservation while providing guests with more than 20 shows, attractions, rides, and entertainment exhibits. The Journey to Atlantis water-coaster ride will plunge through unexpected adventures ending on a steep and fast fall. Come face-to-face with the incredible killer whale at the Shamu Adventure. See a Rae breed and join in preservation efforts as you meet one of the most gentle creatures at Manatees: The Last Generation?. The new Cirque de la Mer (Circus of the Sea) a non-traditional circus that blends acrobatics, modern dance, music and comedy will be a rare experience for the visitor. However, make sure you check show times at your arrival and plan you day, or it will be a continuous frustrating experience as you miss show after show. Come to see a working TV and movie production studio. Experience movie-themed rides such as The Mummy, Back to the Future The Ride and Terminator 2: 3-D. View the behind the scenes making of films with such attractions as Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show and Hercules & Zena: Wizards of the Screen. Kids will enjoy The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, E.T Adventure, and Barney's stage show. Opened Summer of 1999. Five themed islands with high tech thrill rides and attractions with favourite cartoon characters. Start at the Port of Entry and venture into Marvel SuperHero Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, The Lost Continent and Suess Landing. Gatorland is one of Florida's smaller attractions, but it is still well worth a visit. It will take around five hours to see all of the park, but of you visit the children's splash park, called Lilly's Pad, and the and Picnic Area, then you could easily spend a full day there. Entry is less costly than the major theme parks, with an adult ticket costing about $20. Keep an eye out for the coupon books that are all around the area in restaurants etc, and you will probably be able to save $2 each on the entry price. Once inside, you can spend your day viewing a good variety of animal enclosures with snakes, birds and of course alligators. Throughout the day there are a series of shows which are repeated almost continuously so there is usually something you can go and watch. The main ones are the Jumperoo in which alligators will jump up out of the water to grab whole chickens held out for them (on poles). The alligator wrestling is also well worth watching and apart from being educational, the staff make a real effort to be entertaining. For a small extra charge you can even get your photo taken sitting on the back of an alligator holding its jaws. The swamp walk is a great area which is probably as close as you'll ever get to the real Florida. Although only a few hundred yards from civilization, this is like the land that time forgot and really makes you realise what a visionary Walt Disney must have been to ever think you could develop on such land. Round off the day with a train round the park on their miniature railway, and visit the petting zoo where the kids can happily stroke and feed the ever curious animals which will run over to greet them. Before Disney opened animal Kingdom, Busch Gardens had the unique selling point that it had animals. Advertised as "From Wildlife to Wild Rides", Busch Gardens is a combination of Theme Park and Safari Zoo. The park has some world class thrill rides for those who seek an adrenalin rush, but there is also plenty to satisfy those with more sedate tastes. Many of the rides at Busch Gardens are similar to the ones Disney and Universal, and it will take a very full day to see everything once you get there. Everything is themed around an African Adventure although some of the theming only stretches as far as the name they've given to the roller coaster! Tanganyika Tidal Wave is a peaceful jungle journey aboard a 20-passenger boat which all climaxes with a sudden plunge down a 55 foot drop! You will get wet on this ride, but it soon dries in the Florida heat. (Similar to Jurassic at Universal). Stanley Falls - This is a log flume ride (similar to Splash Mountain at Disney). Kumba - is a typical high adrenalin roller coaster with plunges turns and twists that will leave you wishing you hadn't had that extra muffin for lunch. Gwazi -is a traditional wooden roller coaster, although it has also been described as a bobsled with 7,000 feet of track! Montu - A roller coaster where your legs hang free (like Duelling Dragons at Universal). Vertical loops and speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour are certainly thrilling. If white knuckle rides don't do it for you, there is still plenty to see and do. The Serengeti Railway travels around the park, and as it makes several stops you can either use it as a sight seeing trip to view the free-roaming herds of African Animals, or purely as a transport system to get around the park, whilst Skyride allows you to get a bird's-eye view of everything. If you fancy getting closer to the animals, Rhino Rally is an off road adventure safari that will bring you into contact with some of the African Animals living here, whilst Edge of Africa is a more traditional safari trip, and probably as realistic as it gets unless you actually travel to Africa. Is one of two water parks operated by Disney. Try and arrive as early as possible, as the park does fill up and can even shut once they have reached their quota of visitors. The sun beds are free and plentiful, and you can usually find one which offers both sun and shade. The car parks are free (unlike the other Disney parks), and you can hire towels and lockers which are well worth it as it means the whole family can go on the rides together without worrying about leaving valuables. It's worth wearing "beach shoes" (which are on sale everywhere) as the ground gets scorchingly hot, and if you burn your feet it isn't going to be fun walking round the major theme parks. At the entrance you'll see staff selling drinks cups for around $10. These are definitely worth getting. You'll only need one per family and it gives you free drinks from the numerous vending machines dotted around the park for the whole day. All you do is wave the bar code on the cup in front of the machine and select your choice of drink which is delivered ice cold and fresh. You have even got the cup to take home as a souvenir. If you return another day, you can bring you cup and pay $5 for a sticker to put on the cup which will allow you free drinks all day. If you want to take in your own food, that's fine, but no alcohol or drinks in glass bottles. The centre of the park is a huge lagoon with an awesome wave machine which will pick you up and throw you 20' so be careful if you aren't a strong swimmer, and do stand near unaccompanied children as they fly like bullets when the wave hits. In the background is a ship perched on top of a mountain (the Disney story is that it was swept there by a Typhoon). Tell the kids to watch the ship on the hour! Another highlight is the snorkel area where you can take a trip across a bay filled with all types of fish, and sharks. Even young kids take to this and if you take one of those disposable waterproof cameras I guarantee you'll get some amazing pictures. If you really don't fancy it, you can go into the upturned shipwreck and look through the port holes at all the fish and the people floating past. They have all the usual water slides, some on inner tubes, but probably two of the best are the family raft ride which seats about four and is a good fun ride for all the family to do together. The queues do get quite long, but as 4 people are going on each ride it moves fairly quickly. The other "chill out" ride is the lazy river where you sit in an inner tube and gently float right around the park. If you don't fancy taking a picnic, food is fairly reasonably priced (about $8 for hot dog & chips) but firmly of the fast food variety. It's easy to spend a full day here, but if you have a park hopper ticket you could easily do one of the main parks in the morning, and come on here after lunch to relax when the water parks tend to quieten down a bit. Is the other Disney themed water parks. This time the story is that it was built as a ski resort after a freak snow storm, but the Florida sun caused all the snow to melt. There is an alpine style chair lift which takes you to the top of Summet Plummet. If you plan to do this ride, do it early before the queues become horrendous and your nerve gives out. The ride is basically a vertical drop during which you reach speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. The ride its self is over so quickly that you need to do it twice just to remember it, and the hardest part is at the top where you have to step out over a hundred foot vertical drop. It's worth wearing "beach shoes" (which are on sale everywhere) as the ground gets scorchingly hot, and if you burn your feet it isn't going to be fun walking round the major theme parks At the entrance you'll see staff selling drinks cups for around $10. These are definitely worth getting. You'll only need one per family and it gives you free drinks from the numerous vending machines dotted around the park for the whole day. All you do is wave the bar code on the cup in front of the machine and select your choice of drink which is delivered ice cold and fresh. You've even got the cup to take home as a souvenir!. On subsequent visits you can bring you cup and pay $5 for a sticker to put on the cup which will allow you free drinks all day. If you want to take in your own food, that's fine, but no alcohol or drinks in glass bottles. All the other rides have a similar Alpine theme. There are rides on inner tube, and rides in flumes, but something a bit different is Toboggan Racer, an 8 lane water slide on a mat. By lining up with your friends you can race each other to the bottom. Teamboat Springs is a raft ride which can seat up to 5, so the whole family can ride together. It's a bit more fierce than the one at Typhoon Lagoon, but all but the most timid will enjoy it. The kids play area has an obstacle course and zip wire, and smaller slides to keep young children happy for hours. There are dedicated lifeguards in the area, and it's close enough to the sun beds to allow mum and dad to relax while the kids play. Finally there is Cross Country Creek another of the lazy river rides right around the park. Watch for the part where you go through the mountain, it isn't too dark or scary, but you do have to pass through a curtain of ice cold water as you carry on round back towards the entrance when the river split keep to the left or you might get sneezed on If you don't fancy taking a picnic, food is fairly reasonably priced (about $8 for hot dog & chips) but firmly of the fast food variety. It's easy to spend a full day here, but if you have a park hopper ticket you could easily do one of the main parks in the morning, and come on here after lunch to relax when the water parks tend to quieten down a bit. Is famous for its thrilling water rides, so it appeals to teenagers and thrill seekers looking for an adrenalin rush. The names they give to these rides often don't do them justice, and you really need to see the ride and watch the people coming off it before you can decide if it's really for you. Expect to spend a full day here, and in peak season it's worth doing the major rides early in the day as when the park fills up the queues can become long. Hydra Fighter - We've never seen anything like this before. You sit back-to-back with another rider and each control the pressure of a water cannon. The greater the pressure, the further you'll swing. Der Stuka - A fast vertical drop which gradually levels out into a 100 foot water slide which will bring you to a screaming stop. Blue Niagara - is a high dive which twists and turns from a height way above the park, ending in a huge plunge pool. Mach 5 - Three different flumes, The one on the left is fastest, but the one on the right has more turns so is probably more fun. The Bomb Bay - very scary if you can imagine being dropped 70 feet from a bomb bay (the floor opens up on you), you'll understand this ride. Everyone should try it once (but only once) The Storm - This is described as a swirling body coaster, and if you've ever watched a leaf being flushed down a drain, that's pretty much what happens to you. Bubba Tub - A 4 seater raft ride down a water slide. Although there are a couple of quick drops, this one shouldn't scare too many people, a grear family ride. The Black Hole - A twisting, turning water slide which is enclosed so you get to do it all in the dark Although the ride only takes 30 seconds, this probably isn't one for claustrophobics The Wave Pool - The waves in this pool are bigger and stronger than you might be used to from your local swimming baths. Take care with children as even adults can be lifted off their feet by the current. Lazy River - Grab a tyre and enjoy a great relaxing ride down a mile long winding river. If you do the full course you'll be on for a while so top up the sunblock first. There is also Kid's Park - The rides here are similar to the ones in the main park (after all there is only so many things you can do with a tube and some water) but they are scaled down and less scary for younger children. |