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THE
MAGIC OF WALT DISNEY WORLD
Visit
the land where all your dreams can come true-Disney World.
Not just for kids, this magical land will bring joy to the
most cynical of people. Jennifer Robson goes in search of
fairy dust and man sized mice…
 FLORIDA,
home of NASA, the Everglades, Ernest Hemingway and, of course,
the most culturally enriching experience of them all-Walt
Disney World.
Welcome to a land of magical wonder, fantastic fun and, best
of all, mad hair-raising rides. Unless you're an exceptionally
cynical and grumpy old git, Disney World really will fire
up the inner child lurking beneath, inducing you to complete
and utter fun.
Arriving at Orlando, with a numb bum after the seven hour
flight, I hit instant holiday mode and felt the stresses and
strains drain away when I felt the hot sun beating down on
my back coupled with the sight of palm trees lining the roads.
After a couple of days exploring the area in general, including
the local shopping malls where I spent a small fortune on
designer gear, and the restaurants where we got suitably piised,
we decided to visit the great resort named after the legendary
Walt Disney.
Getting
there
Taking
the advice of all the brochures we had scoured, my partner
and I arrived early to beat the queues. Unfortunately, everyone
else must have read the same book, and we ended up hanging
around for a good half hour.
There is two ways to reach Magic Kingdom, either by monorail
or ferry. Both are fun, but the monorail gets you there faster.
As soon as we entered Magic Kingdom, we found ourselves on
Main Street USA, a perfect vision of Ye Olde America. The
storybook fantasy certainly meets reality here.
Filled with shops, and not much else, the street takes you
straight to Cinderella's Castle. The sweet smell of cotton
candy, popcorn, roasting pecan nuts and pretzels fill the
air. Balloons and flags wave around and I honestly expected
to see fairy dust sparkling in the breeze.
Cinderella's
Castle
Eventually,
we reach Cinderella's Castle where live shows featuring all
the Disney cast are frequently performed outside. I was rather
disappointed to discover the Castle's only attraction was
a small, and very expensive shop offering T-Shirts, soft toys
and other souvenirs. The venue, however, does boast a private
function room for wedding parties and other occasions. We
toyed with the idea of tying the knot, but the call of Tomorrow
Land was just too great.
The castle stands central to Magic Kingdom and it's from here
that the Kingdom is divided into different lands-Tomorrow,
Fantasy, Adventure and Frontier. In addition, there's Mickey's
Toon Town and Liberty Square.
 Our
first port of call is Tomorrow Land, and it's just as the
name suggests. There's a fantastic ride called Space Mountain
which is basically a speedy rollercoaster in space. Opposite
this is the impressive Extra-Terrestrial Alien Encounter,
which was created by George Lucas. It's a terrifying experience
where an experiment goes dangerously wrong when an alien is
teleported into the room. Great stuff, and it's so easy to
think it's real!
We visit all the rides and carry on to Fantasy Land, by-passing
Toon Town until later.
Click
to go to Page 2 for details on Liberty Square, Splash Mountain
and Parks MGM and EPCOT!
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