Disney World Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 May 2007 20:45:00 +0000

Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort, often referred to as simply Walt Disney World or Disney World, is a major recreational resort containing four theme parks. Owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts segment of The Walt Disney Company, it is located in Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Florida, outside the city limits of Orlando.

Construction began in 1967, less than a year after Walt Disney's death. It opened on October 1, 1971, as the Magic Kingdom, and since has added Epcot on October 1, 1982, Disney-MGM Studios on May 1, 1989, and Disney's Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998 as new theme parks.

In addition to the four main theme parks, the resort contains two water parks, six golf courses, a sports complex, an auto race track, twenty resort hotels and numerous shopping, dining, and entertainment offerings.

It even has its own fire department. The 20,000-plus acre property is the largest theme park resort in the world, although over the past decade significant acreage has been sold off for housing and other developments, including land now occupied by the Disney-built (but not owned) community of Celebration.

It is accessible from Central Florida's Interstate 4 via Exits 62B (World Drive), 64B (US 192 West), 65B (Osceola Parkway West), 67B (SR 536 West), and 68 (SR 535 North). In addition, in 2006 a new western entrance opened from Exit 8 on State Road 429 (Florida), the Western Expressway.

Meg Crofton was named president of the resort in August 2006, replacing Al Weiss, who had overseen the site since 1994.

Features

Walt Disney World Resort features four theme parks, each represented by an iconic structure:

* The Magic Kingdom (Cinderella Castle)
* Epcot (Spaceship Earth, the geosphere.)
* Disney-MGM Studios (The Sorcerer's Hat; formerly the Earful Tower)
* Disney's Animal Kingdom (The Tree of Life)

Other Attractions include:

* Typhoon Lagoon
* Blizzard Beach
* Disney's Wide World of Sports
* Disney Western Way Development (Planned)
* Downtown Disney
* DisneyQuest

Downtown Disney consists of three sections (Marketplace, Pleasure Island, and West Side), contains many shopping, dining, and entertainment venues. This includes DisneyQuest, the House of Blues, a Planet Hollywood and a permanent Cirque du Soleil show (La Nouba).

A third water park (River Country) was operated from 1976 to 2001.

Walt Disney World Resort once covered a total of 47 square miles (122 square kilometers) or 30,000 acres, about the size of San Francisco or twice the size of Manhattan.

Hotels

On-site Disney hotels

Another notable aspect is the large number of hotel resort complexes on the Walt Disney World property. The non-themed hotels are owned by private, non-Disney hospitality companies such as Starwood (Westin and Sheraton), Holiday Inn, Best Western, and Hilton. The themed resorts include:

* Disney's All-Star Movies Resort
* Disney's All-Star Music Resort
* Disney's All-Star Sports Resort
* Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
* Disney's Beach Club Resort
* Disney's BoardWalk Inn
* Disney's BoardWalk Villas
* Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
* Disney's Contemporary Resort
* Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
* Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
* Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (formerly known as Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort)
* Disney's Polynesian Resort
* Disney's Pop Century Resort
* Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside (formerly known as Disney's Dixie Landings Resort)
* Disney's Port Orleans Resort French Quarter (formerly known as Disney's Port Orleans Resort)
* Disney's Wilderness Lodge
* Disney's Yacht Club Resort

Guests arriving at the Orlando International Airport check into their Disney resort (or Vacation Club resort) at the airport using Disney's Magical Express program through a contract with BAGS Incorporated. Guests board custom motor coaches, watch a video about the Walt Disney World Resort, and their luggage is later delivered directly to their rooms while guests are off enjoying their vacation.

On-site Disney Vacation Club hotels

* Disney's Beach Club Villas
* Disney's BoardWalk Villas
* Disney's Old Key West Resort (originally called Disney Vacation Club Resort)
* Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa (built on the site of the former Disney Institute)
* The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
* Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas:

According to a Disney Vacation Club,"The project's first phase will include 134 remodeled accommodations on the fifth and sixth floors of the existing Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge building, and subsequent phases will include the construction of 324 Vacation Homes in a new building on the resort property, for a total of 458 Vacation Homes." The project will be developed in phases with an anticipated opening starting in late 2007, with completion scheduled for spring 2009.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia and Youtube