Disney Magic Kingdom Map
Disney Magic Kingdom Map
See also: Magic Kingdom (disambiguation)
The Magic Kingdom is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The first park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering), the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In 2008, the park saw an estimated 17 million visitors making it the most visited theme park in the world.
Dedication
While there is no individual dedication to the Magic Kingdom Park, the dedication by Roy O. Disney for the entire Walt Disney World Resort was placed within its gates.
History
Construction
The Walt Disney Company began construction on the Magic Kingdom and the entire Resort in 1967 after the death of Walt Disney; however, Walt was very involved in planning The Florida Project in the years prior to his death. The park itself was initially built similar to the existing Disneyland in California, however the Magic Kingdom was built in a larger area. The Magic Kingdom also improved upon Disneyland's design. According to a story, Walt Disney once saw a Frontierland cowboy walking through Tomorrowland at Disneyland and wanted to eliminate ruining the illusion like this in the new park. In order to alleviate this, the Magic Kingdom was built over a series of tunnels, called Utilidors, a portmanteau of utility and corridor. With these tunnels cast members were able to move through the park away from the guests and not ruin the illusion of the show. Because of Florida's high water table, the tunnels could not be put underground, so they were built at the existing grade. This means that the park is actually built on the second story, and it gives the Magic Kingdom an elevation of 107 feet. The area around them was filled in with dirt removed from the Seven Seas Lagoon which was being constructed at the same time. The tunnels are only under areas that were built in the initial construction and were not extended with additions to the park. The tunnels are mostly found in the Magic Kingdom because of financial constraints, but they were meant to be employed in all subsequent Walt Disney World parks. Epcot's Future World and Pleasure Island each have a smaller network of utilidors.
Opening
The Magic Kingdom opened as the first part of Walt Disney's planned Florida Project on October 1, 1971. It was the only theme park on the resort at the time and opened concurrently with two hotels on the property: Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort. The park opened with twenty-three attractions, three unique to the park and twenty copies of attractions at Disneyland. The Walt Disney Company promised to increase the attractions with more attractions similar to Disneyland and other unique attractions. The attractions were split into six themed lands, five copies of those at Disneyland and the unique Liberty Square. Since opening day, the Magic Kingdom has only been closed for five incidents: Hurricane Floyd, the September 11 attacks, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Charley, & Hurricane Wilma .
Naming confusions
Because of the similarity to Disneyland, there was some confusion on the name of the park. "The Magic Kingdom" was used as an unofficial nickname for Disneyland before the Walt Disney World Resort was built; however, the official nickname of Disneyland is "The Happiest Place On Earth." The Magic Kingdom's nickname is the similar "The Most Magical Place On Earth." Despite the confusion, the park's tickets have always borne the official name of "The Magic Kingdom." In 1994, in order to differentiate it from Disneyland, the park was officially renamed to "Magic Kingdom Park."
Transportation and Ticket Center
The layout of the resort placed the Magic Kingdom more than a mile away from its parking lot, on the opposite side of the man-made Seven Seas Lagoon. Upon arriving at the park, guests are taken by the parking lot trams to the Transportation and Ticket Center. This facility, as its name implies, sells tickets to the parks and provides transportation connections throughout the resort complex. It also has a small gift shop, the Magic Kingdom's pet-boarding kennel, and the central Lost-and-Found facility for all four theme parks.
To reach the Magic Kingdom, visiting guests can choose between the monorails and the Staten Island-style ferryboats. The three ferries are clad in different trim colors and are named for past Disney executives: the General Joe Potter (blue), the Richard F. Irvine (red) and the Admiral Joe Fowler (green).
Epcot is accessible by a spur monorail line that was added upon that park's opening in 1982. Buses take guests to the other major destinations within the resort, including Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Lands of the Magic Kingdom
Main article: Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment historyThe park map lists forty-eight attractions in seven themed "lands." Designed like a wheel with the hub in front of Cinderella Castle , pathways spoke out across the 107 acres of Magic Kingdom theme park and lead to these seven lands. The Walt Disney World Railroad runs along the perimeter of the park and makes stops at Main Street, U.S.A., Frontierland, and Mickey's Toontown Fair.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Main article: Main Street, U.S.A.Instead of being a replica of a small midwestern American town, Main Street at Walt Disney World features some stylistic influences from around the country, such as New England and Missouri. This is most noticeable in the "four corners" area in the middle of Main Street where each of the four corner buildings represents a different architectural style. There is also no Opera House as there is at Disneyland; instead there is the Exposition Hall. 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 and the film Lady and the Tramp. 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. Casey's Corner is at the end of Main Street and sells traditional American ballpark fare including hot dogs and fries.Every window on Main Street has an imagineer's name on it and represents them,for example one imagineer loved to climb mountains, so his window is the tallest on Main Street representing a tall mountain. An example of a classic Main Street, U.S.A. attraction is the Walt Disney World Railroad, which can transport guest throughout the park, making stops at Frontierland and Mickey's Toontown Fair.
In the distance beyond the end of Main Street stands Cinderella Castle. Though only 189 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.
Symbolically, Main Street, U.S.A. represents the park's "opening credits". Guests pass under the train station (the opening curtain), then view the names of key personnel along the windows of the buildings' upper floors. Many windows bear the name of a fictional business, such as "Seven Summits Expeditions, Frank G. Wells President", with each representing a tribute to significant people connected to the Disney company and the development of Walt Disney World Resort.
The park contains two additional tributes: the Partners statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle and the Sharing the Magic statue of Roy O. Disney sitting with Minnie Mouse in the Town Square section of Main Street, U.S.A. Both were sculpted by veteran Imagineer Blaine Gibson.
Adventureland
Main article: AdventurelandAdventureland represents the mystery of exploring foreign lands. It is themed to resemble the remote jungles in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America and the South Pacific, with an extension resembling a Caribbean town square. It contains classic rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise.
Frontierland
Main article: FrontierlandFrontierland is where guests can relive the Wild West -- from cowboys and Indians, to exploring the mysteries of the Rivers of America. Frontierland contains classic attractions such as Big Thund
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