Your Guide to Disney

by Chris S

The smell of popcorn fills your nose while you hear the sounds of children screaming on
rollercoaster rides. In front of you, a huge castle looms high above. Where are you?

Walt Disney World, of course! In Disney, there are 6 mainlands: Main Street U.S.A, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, and Fantasyland. In this essay, you will learn about each of these lands. You will also learn about the service tunnels and the Cinderella suite. So let’s hop on down to Disney!

Welcome to Main Street USA


Be transported back to the days of yesteryear where more innocent and happy moods prevailed. This area is the main part of the whole entire park. Apparently, Walt Disney got the idea from his boyhood home of Marceline, Missouri. A stroll along this nice little street concludes with many shops, all freshly painted with flowers. If you look closely at the lining of the ice cream shop, you might notice that Walt Disney’s name is mentioned. On the other side of the street, there is the "Main Street Confectionary," where all of the sweets are made before your watering eyes. As you take a quick walk along a bridge you may hear the sounds of beating drums, parrots squawking, and the occasional cannon boom. Paces quicken, and the wonders that are soon to be encountered will not disappoint.

Welcome to Adventureland!

This here land is home to ye swashbuckling pirates and Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki birds, along with some animal friends on the Amazon, Congo, and the Nile rivers with the Jungle Cruise. You can also join Aladdin on “The Magic Carpets of Aladdin,” then go on a “never-ending” walk up the
"Swiss Family Treehouse." This section is mostly exotic, especially with the greenery everywhere you look. The smell here is also a very big change from Main Street U.S.A: from hot dogs and cotton
candy, to a lush Caribbean smell with exotic flowers and palm trees.

Welcome to Tomorrowland!

This place was originally going to be a town that was attempting a real look at the future. As the future continues to become the present, Imagineers had to get creative, so they made Tomorrowland into a more 1920/1930’s look in the minds of movie makers and fictional writers. As you walk through this space age town, you may notice that it’s made with glistening meta and sky-piercing beacons. (Note that attractions are listed as in the order they are encountered upon entering the land from the hub, heading away from the castle.) In this vibrant place, you can hang out with Stitch on “Stitch’s Great Escape,” and then defeat Zurg on “Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.” After that, laugh your head off with Mike Wazowski in “Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor,” then take a cruise on the “Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover” and “Astro Orbiter.” Then rev up your engines on the “Tomorrowland Speedway.” Next, zoom through space on “Space Mountain,” and then look through the life of a family in the 20th century and onward on “Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.” As you can see, Tomorrowland, Main Street U.S.A, and Adventureland are all very distinct and charming, but each has its own nice little taste to it.

Mickeys include:


Main Street U.S.A
Emporium Windows: On the piano above the keys is a very creative hidden Mickey made out of what looks like a pipe organ emblem



Tomorrowland
PeopleMover: On the belt buckle of the lady who is getting a haircut is a familiar character.



Adventureland
Pirates of the Caribbean: In the second to last scene where the prisoners are trying to lure the dog to give them the keys take a quick look at the lock on the cell door, where a famous silhouette resides.

Welcome to Frontierland, folks!

In this foot-stomping land, you can shoot Hawkins .54-caliber buffalo rifles at the "Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade," sing yourself silly with the "Country Bear Jamboree," and hike "Tom Sawyer Island." Then you can find your “laughin’ place” on "Splash Mountain," and hold onto “your hats
and glasses ‘cause this here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness” on "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad."

Now stroll over to the colonial aged Liberty Square where the glass is wavy, and there are flower boxes in the shop windows. At "The Hall of Presidents," which was one of the parks original attractions, the 44 presidents are presented, and the seven commanders-in-chief are presented. Note that you only see 43, and no, Disney did not misplace a president. Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president. The 25-minute celebration of US leaders starts with a film which shows the triumphs and struggles of the Revolutionary War to the present day. In the pre-show, there are displays that help you gaze into a bit of Americana, from first ladies' dresses to eggs from a White House Easter egg hunt. Now take a float on the Liberty Belle Riverboat! Built-in dry dock at WDW, it’s a genuine steamboat that has a boiler that turns water into steam, which is then piped to the engine, which drives the paddle, which makes the boat go. Except, that's not entirely true. What really makes the boat go is that it’s powered by a small electric, waterproof engine which powers it along with a ⅛ inch cable wire underneath the water. On this pleasant ride, enjoy the narration read by a Mark Twain impersonator. En route, props create a Wild West feel with moose, deer, and a burning cabin.

Now welcome foolish mortals to the Haunted Mansion!
The Haunted Mansion can be found in Liberty Square













This eerie eight-minute experience, which is one of WDW’s best, was built in New York’s Hudson Valley in the eighteenth century. It is not exactly “scary” but also not exactly “happy go lucky,” and a good spirited voice๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜‰ keeps the mood light. This Haunted Mansion, which has tricks and treats for the eyes, includes staircases to nowhere, bats' eyes on the wallpaper, a suit of armor that comes alive, a terrified cemetery watchman and his mangy mutt, and the image of a creepy lady in a floating crystal ball (A.K.A Madame Leota). One of the biggest jobs for the maintenance crew is not cleaning up but keeping things dirty. The mansion has assorted items such as trunks, chairs, dress forms, harps, rugs, and other assorted knickknacks, which all acquire a lot of dust. Cobwebs are bought in liquid form and strung up by a secret process. While leaving take time to look at the funny memos on the catacombs.

Now welcome to Fantasyland!


Walt Disney called this place “a timeless land of enchantment” and his successors deemed it “the happiest land of all.” As you will see they worded it exactly right. The main attraction in this land is the Cinderella Castle, which is made of steel and fiberglass, unlike real European castles. In lieu of dungeons, it has service tunnels. At 189 feet tall (And spotting 27 turrets) it is the tallest item in Walt Disney World (and yes that includes the spikes on Space Mountain). The beautifully-carved Mosaic murals in the castle and archways tell the story of the little cinder girl in a million pieces of glass in some 500 different colors, plus real silver and 14-karat gold! Now as you look out under the shadow of the castle is the Prince Charming Regal Carousel. This carousel was found at the now defunct Olympic park in Maplewood, New Jersey. It was built back in 1917 (making it the oldest attraction in the park) at the end of the golden century of carousel building which lasted from 1825 to 1925. During the Disney makeover, all 90 horses were replaced with fiberglass horses and out of all of
these only 1 is cinderella's horse which is the one with the bow in its tail. At Mickey’s Philharmagic this is the place to be when Donald Duck, Simba, Ariel, and pals strut their musical stuff in this amalgam of music, effects, and animation. Well, “Come on, everybody, here we go!” so says Peter Pan so, “Here we go!” to Peter Pan’s flight! On this ride, you will ride pirate ships around the building which recreates the story of Peter Pan. Hola! Guten Tag! Hello! No matter who you are we all have something in common with at least one of the dolls in It's A Small World. A showcase of diversity and friendship this ride reminds us that it’s a small world after all. Now as you aimlessly stroll around looking for a pretzel or a souvenir you might pass by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This whimsical 3 ½ minute journey through the hundred acre woods is quite fun. Except, the weather is quite blustery. When a big flood threatens to sweep trigger, piglet, and the rest of the gang away, pooh saves the day and everybody is invited to the party. Under the sea, at the Journey of The Little Mermaid, Ariel's story is told in musical points. On the seven dwarfs mine train, the dwarfs show you through there mine where a million diamonds shine and over the hills.

Now, welcome to the secrets of Disney!


In this magical place of Disney world everything is nice, splendid, and a little crowded! To minimize
the characters in costumes from getting tossed around like beanbags in the hustle and bustle, the builders of Disney world built service tunnels so the characters could get from one place to another much quicker. They also did this so the sanitation crew could dispose of the trash more easily. As you walk up from the ticket booths to the hub you might not notice this, but the ground slowly inclines up. The builders did this because if they had dug the tunnels into the ground, it would have flooded, since Florida is at sea level. Disney world offers tours of the underground tunnels.



In the Cinderella castle, there is a room called the Cinderella suite. This room is the greatest room someone could've ever imagined. You could be in the living room area and staring into the mirror, and suddenly the mirror rises up and turns into a TV! In the master bedroom, you could be looking at the beautifully painted picture of Cinderella and suddenly it rises up to reveal a TV too! An elevator from the ground floor leads straight up to the foyer, which is decorated with a replica of fairy godmothers wand, the famous glass slipper, and the pumpkin. On the floor of the foyer is an image of the beautiful pumpkin carriage. The master bathroom is one of the most beautiful bathrooms someone could’ve ever designed. The sink is made from hand-cut marble and has gold flakes in it. The bath in the bathroom has marble spires in it, making you think you are in a place straight out of Greece. There are LED lights in the bathtub, which light the interior of the bath. There is a raffle for Disney members to win a night in this suite, or it could also be reserved for VIP’s.



As you can see, Disney World is a diverse place of fantasy and imagination to light the sparks of
creativity in even the most stubborn minds. In the first paragraph, we learned about Main Street U.S.A, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland. In the second paragraph, we learned about Frontierland,
Liberty Square, and Fantasyland. In the third paragraph, we learned about the service tunnels and
the Cinderella suite. If you ever go to Disney, take this with you. You’re holding one of the best
guides to the Magic Kingdom!

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