There are 4 parks, (and there are water parks too for some extra money). Each of the park has a central icon building and there are different play "lands" extended from it.
- The Magic Kingdom is where all the cartoon characters come to life. The icon building is of course the Cinderella castle.
- Epcot is shaped like the letter 8, 2 circles, one with future world theme and one with current world theme. The icon building is the giant golf ball structure known as "Space Earth" at the entrance.
- Animal Kingdom as the name imply, is a zoo. But now it is not poor animals locked in cages, they can roam free. I am thankful but can't explain why the rhinos don't attack humans, probably seen too many of us. The icon is a big tree.
- Hollywood Studios has stunt shows and performances, and the theme is movies. The icon building is the huge Mickey magic hat.
There is also a shopping area known as Downtown Disney.. It takes at least an entire day from park open (8am or 9am) to close (around 11pm to midnight) to tour around to see shows and rides.
Disney area is so huge!
A rental car is a must if you don't live in the Disney resort which has a fairly hefty price tag. I thought I rented a hotel room close to the park, but it still takes 10+ miles to get there from the hotel, and the roads are not so easy to follow. I am so glad I chose Hertz, which comes with a GPS device. I wouldn't know my way around without it! Oh if you drive to Disney, there is a $12 all day parking.
Even when we arrive at the welcoming gate it is still miles to drive to the parking lot. I have a minor complain, the parking lot doesn't have very clear visible signs of where you are (unlike some shopping malls). The row number markers are on the ground. Then one may take the tram to get to the entrance. Whoa, at the entrance we are still not there yet! It takes a monorail to get to the real entrance of Magic Kingdom. Plan to spend a lot of time waiting in line on busy day such as Christmas...
Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom entrance leads to the Main Street, which is a street of shops modeled after early US streets. I am impressed with the re-creation of these long lost neighborhoods. I am impressed throughout at the buildings. The Liberty Square looks just like the real buildings I saw in Philadelphia. Other areas are modeled after the Old West, also a great cartoon town and the future themed TomorrowLand.
Ok, just how long does it take to take a picture with your favorite Disney characters? 20 seconds? But if there are many people getting in line to do just that it adds up to about lining up for 1 HOUR to take one picture... But I think it is worthwhile to take at least one of these. And taking pictures is not the only thing those costumed characters do. They also sign autographs! Disney made extra money by selling those autograph books. I feel sorry for those who wear thick costumes in a hot day... but can I take a picture with you? Not all are in costumes, though. The (beautiful!) princesses aren't.
Besides cool buildings there are magicial rides... be prepared to be entertained by huge area of moving robots and great background music and other effects such as holograms. Only for kids? Well I enjoy those too, appreciating the amount of work needed to make all this happen.
I am totally impressed with the lighting of the Cinderella castle at night and the impressive fireworks.
Epcot
It is really an educational park. Two circles: one with future world theme and one with current world theme. The future world theme focus on environmental protection, space travel, etc. The World ShowCase contains sample buildings from many countries and I am totally impressed with the buildings. You can probably fool people you visited (Japan,China,Morroco, etc) by taking a picture there. A few years ago I play a lot of First-Person-Shooting games, and the experience is just like that (only I don't have to shoot villians). Ok, this may be a bit disappointing for kids if they aren't interested in learning about the world. There is also very impressive firework at end of day.
Animal Kingdom
If Animal Kingdom is the only place for Disney, I probably won't come... because I can't imagine myself being impressed by caged lions and elephants which I have seen in typical a zoo. But the Animal Kingdom is NOT. You can ride a safari from a very nicely constructed train station that looks like something you may find in Africa and see them roaming around. The Asia (meaning Nepal or India, not China or Japan) section and Africa village is so impressively made... It seems to not have as much magic of Magic Kingdom but I still wasn't so disappointed. No firework there, but I am sure the animals don't mind peace and quiet at night.
Hollywood Studios
The park is layout a bit more complex than others, there are additional areas not attached to the central Mickey Magic hat icon. The most impressive part about it is the Christmas lighting at the Street of America. Whoa! The Toy Story ride is too much fun, besides riding, you get a virtual cannon to shoot things in virtual gallery that you compete with your partner. I also saw an impressive car stunt show there. I saw the power rangers! They want me (silly) pose like them. I avoided the free-fall elevator drop and the roller coaster... The ending show is the Fantasmic! show featuring Mickey vs all the Disney villians. Whoa you need to line up as soon as the previous show is over (for 90+ minutes) or you can't get into that stadium that can fit 10000 people!
Yikes, even I am scared. The evil villians become a dragon! (hmm, Disney stealing from the the book of Revelations). Mickey has a magic sword! They use water as a screen to project cartoons. The show ends with all the good guys and beautiful princesses waving at you on a boat.
EndNote
In the Disney week I am bombarded with visual stimulus. So many shows and impressive buildings and rides and also walked a lot and waited a lot in line.
Although pictures tell a thousand words but it is not enough to capture Disney... Bring a video camera if you have one.
I've seen so many musicals! Each of these, such as Lion King, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast can be a full feature show in Chicago that could attract thousands... but these must be cut short to about 40 minutes to let the visitors go to rides and other shows. Disney really IS a fun place even for adults. But yikes that hot dog was $4.50... Ok, at least the dog is longer than the bun. That's ok, expect to spend just a little extra money on vacation.
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