Magic Kingdom
- This article is about the theme park Magic Kingdom. For the band Magic Kingdom, see Magic Kingdom (band).
The Magic Kingdom is a theme park covering 107 acres (433,000 m²) at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Opened on October 1, 1971, it is the most famous of the Florida theme parks. Its layout and attractions are generally similar to those of Disneyland in California, and the park was designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering.
In addition to the bronze "Partners Statue" of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle, there is also a bronze statue of Roy O. Disney sitting with Minnie Mouse near the park's entrance.
The Magic Kingdom park is constructed above a series of tunnels called utilidors, short for "utility corridors," used by park employees ("Cast Members") to reach areas inside and outside the park without being seen by park Guests. This means that Cast Members in Adventureland outfits never have to be seen in Main Street, USA, for example - this comes from an occasion in Disneyland when Walt Disney spotted a Frontierland cowboy strolling through Tomorrowland. The utilidors were built at ground level (due to Florida's high water table) and the area around them was filled in with dirt from the "Seven Seas Lagoon" which was being dug in front of the park, and the Magic Kingdom itself was built on top. This means that, technically, ground level inside the Magic Kingdom is actually on the second story. The utilidors were originally planned to be used for every park, but due to financial constraints they were not used in any of the other Walt Disney World theme parks. Epcot, however, does have tunnels in its Future World area.
Attractions
The park contained twenty-three attractions on the day it opened, twenty of them copies of attractions at Disneyland. Today the park map lists forty-eight attractions (though several of these, like the Guest Information Board, probably shouldn't be included in the number) in seven themed "lands." Major attractions are listed below.
The Walt Disney World Railroad runs along the perimeter of the park and makes stops at Main Street, Frontierland, and Mickey's Toontown Fair.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Main Street is lined with shops selling merchandise and food. The decor is early-20th century small-town America, inspired by Walt Disney's childhood. City Hall contains the Guest Relations lobby where cast members provide information and assistance. A real working barber shop gives haircuts for a fee. The Emporium carries a wide variety of Disney souvenirs such as plush toys, collectible pins, and Mickey-ear hats. Tony’s Town Square and the Plaza Restaurant are sit-down restaurants.
In the distance beyond the end of Main Street stands Cinderella Castle. Though only 180 feet (55m) tall, it benefits from a technique known as forced perspective. The (fake) second stories of all the buildings along Main Street are shorter than the first stories, and the third stories are even shorter than the second, and the top windows of the castle are much smaller than they appear. The resulting visual effect is that the buildings appear to be larger and taller than they really are.
Adventureland
- Swiss Family Treehouse, a large tree with steps and walkways leading high up around it, patterned after the house in the movie, The Swiss Family Robinson.
- The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), a musical show featuring singing Audio-Animatronic birds. This older attraction has been updated to include The Lion King's Zazu and Aladdin's Iago)
- Jungle Cruise, a boat ride through jungle areas of the world, such as those found near the Amazon River or Asia, featuring Audio-Animatronic animals.
- Pirates of the Caribbean, a dark ride on a boat through pirate scenes
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, a ride similar to Fantasyland's Dumbo ride, but using flying carpets instead of elephants.
Frontierland
- Splash Mountain, a log flume, based on the stories of Brer Rabbit and other characters from the Disney movie Song of the South, ending with a steep drop into the briar patch.
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a steel roller coaster, designed to look like a runaway mining train.
- Tom Sawyer Island, a small island, reachable by raft, on which there are caves and a fort to explore.
- Country Bear Jamboree, a stage show with Audio-Animatronic singing bears.
Liberty Square
This area of the park is based on an American Revolutionary town. The Magic Kingdom's Rivers of America hosts the Liberty Belle river boat.
- The Hall of Presidents, a show featuring an Audio-Animatronic version of every United States President
- The Haunted Mansion, a dark ride through a haunted house
Fantasyland
- "it's a small world" is a dark ride through colorful stylized representations of many countries
- Peter Pan's Flight, a dark ride in a pirate ship flying over London and through scenes from Peter Pan.
- Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 3-D movie experience
- Cinderella's Golden Carrousel (the last word is spelled with two 'r's), the oldest ride in the park, a carousel built in 1917
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the prototypical Dumbo-style ride has Dumbo shaped vehicles, which rise off of the ground, supported by a rotating structure
- Snow White's Scary Adventures, a dark ride through scenes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a dark ride through scenes from the Winnie the Pooh stories
- Mad Tea Party, a ride in spinning teacups
Mickey's Toontown Fair
An expansion of Mickey's Birthdayland and Mickey's Starland, this area is the location of Mickey's Country House, Minnie's Country House, and Donald's Boat. The county fair tent contains a large gift shop and the entrance to a character greeting area.
- The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, a small steel roller coaster, designed to look like a plane in the barnstorming era.
- Mickey's Country House, a walk-through attraction, a humorous house and garden for Mickey Mouse, with many items for children to play with.
- Minnie's Country House, a walk-through attraction, a humorous house and garden for Minnie Mouse, with many items for children to play with.
- Donald's Boat, a children's play area, shaped like a boat for Donald Duck, with many sources of water.
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, a simulated racetrack with small gas-powered racecars.
- Space Mountain, which includes 2 indoor roller coasters in the dark, themed to look like rockets traveling through space.
- Astro Orbiter, a raised Dumbo-style ride in rocketships.
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority (originally the WEDway PeopleMover), a gentle people mover ride over Tomorrowland.
- Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, an audio-animatronic stage show about changing lifestyles, shown in a rotating building, which debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, a dark ride, based on Toy Story, with "laser guns" to shoot targets and score points.
- The Timekeeper, a Circle-Vision 360° film starring Robin Williams, Rhea Perlman, and Jeremy Irons
- Stitch's Great Escape in which Stitch from Lilo & Stitch escapes from a prisoner teleportation tube and wreaks comical chaos throughout the audience.
Trivia
In Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, Cinderella's own horse is the only one that has a golden bow on its tail. It's in the second rank in from the outside, in the line immediately before the Indian chieftain horse.
"The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" is built in the former location of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," based on the 1949 Disney animated film The Wind in the Willows. Fans of the Mr. Toad ride organized a petition in an attempt to prevent it from being replaced, but were unsuccessful. However, the ride contains a picture of Mr. Toad presenting the Toad Hall deed to Owl (look to the left behind the car when you enter Owl's house), and one Mr. Toad car is on display inside the Exposition Hall on Main Street.
Other noteworthy Magic Kingdom attractions which have been removed include "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (based on the film of the same name) and the "Skyway," for which stations can still be seen in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The "20,000 Leagues" lagoon was left visible for years after the attraction closed, but has recently been drained, filled with dirt, and planted with trees in preparation for a Winnie the Pooh themed character greeting area.
"The Magic Kingdom" is also a nickname for the Disneyland theme park itself. This usage predates the Florida theme park, but Disneyland never officially bore this name. While Disneyland's official nickname is "The Happiest Place On Earth," the official nickname of the Magic Kingdom is "The Most Magical Place On Earth." This led to the common use in Disneyana literature of the term Magic Kingdom-style, to describe the classic Disney park - with the castle, Main Street etc.
2005 will see the release of a novel set inside the Magic Kingdom, The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson. The novel is authorized by Disney, and sees a group of teenagers searching for treasure in the park following clues laid by Walt Disney and his Imagineers. Another novel that takes place inside and around the Magic Kingdom is Cory Doctorow's 2003 science-fiction book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.