Disney World Pictures ~ Vacation in Florida, USA at the Magic Kingdom

This hub will address only the portion spent on our Florida vacation to Disney World in the Magic Kingdom.

My mother, niece and I spent a total of five days there back in 1990 and did not even begin to see all that is available. Believe me, we tried our best to take in as many sites as we could and left exhausted, but happy.

Purposely breaking up this Walt Disney World experience into at least three hubs, it will not become too long or burdensome to read, hopefully.

Our lodging was at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort which offered free transportation to and from the Disney parks. We took great advantage of this perk which was one reason why we chose to stay in one of their resorts in the first place. This negated having to try and find & also pay for parking each day.

We spent several days exploring the Magic Kingdom and the photos that follow do not tell the complete story of what we got to see and enjoy but might give some example of the scenery to be seen.

The main entrance to the Magic Kingdom leads one to Main Street USA and because we went through that area more than once, many of my photos are of this first part of the park. Once one walks through Main Street USA the rest of the Magic Kingdom from the center is split into parts like the spokes of a wheel.

Going clockwise starting to the left of Main Street USA is Adventure Land followed by the following in order...

Frontier Land

Liberty Square

Fantasy Land

Mickey'sBirthday Land

and finally...Tomorrow Land.

You are cordially invited to join us on this trip down memory lane.

(c) Peggy Woods - All Rights Reserved

MAIN STREET USA

While in Main Street USA one can board the Walt Disney World Railroad which is an old fashioned steam driven train that encircles the entire Magic Kingdom. We utilized this to get an overview of the park as well as using it for transportation to parts of the park that we later wished to see.

Wear the most comfortable shoes you own if you visit here. Believe me, your feet will be thanking you!

There are a number of Main Street Vehicles that one can utilize if desired like horse drawn trolleys...even a red fire engine among others.

A Penny Arcade that spits out prophesies for the price of a penny on up to a quarter offers a room full of old time fun. I spent a penny to find out what "Grandmother" had to say. She mentioned pretty flattering things and I could have learned more had I dropped another coin in the slot. Ha!

In the Main Street Cinema old silent movies are run continuously. We watched several for a few moments and moved on to other sites. My husband's grandfather actually played a piano in one of those silent movie theatres many years ago!

The Walt Disney Story is told in another spot. Fascinating fellow!

Depending upon the time of the day, there is singing and dancing in the streets. On corners are barbershop trios of men singing close harmony.

We did stop in Tony's Town Square Cafe one day to grab a bite to eat. A statue of "Lady and the Tramp" was a focal point and the rest of the decor matched that theme.

The main reason for the existence of Main Street USA is to give one a glimpse back into the past of what towns used to look like all across America. The normal operating businesses like City Hall, barber shops, ice cream parlors, five and dime stores selling sundry items and many more are open and operating for all to enjoy.

CINDERELLA'S CASTLE IN FANTASY LAND

Cinderella's Castle forms the striking entrance into Fantasy Land. One walks through a passageway which is a portion of the castle that is embellished with the most beautiful tile mosaics telling the story of Cinderella.

For those who might not remember this classic tale there is an abbreviated version of it in the you-tube video here for your perusal.

This is the ultimate living "happily ever after" tale.

Other experiences we enjoyed while in Fantasy Land...

On Mr. Toad's Wild Ride we sat in vehicles that took us on a fun and slightly crazy joyride through what was supposed to represent Old London. Many smiling faces were seen (ours included) in exiting this playful site.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea took us to the "Lost Continent of Atlantis" among other sites on this submarine voyage aboard the "Nautilus" captained by Captain Nemo himself. The submarine looked like a steel plated prehistoric undersea creature as you can see from my pictures.

Not photographed due to lighting or other factors are some of the other things in which we were able to participate in Fantasy Land. These included the following:

Peter Pan's Flight where we were flying over London on a moonlit night to Never-Never-Land.

And the one that can still get me humming is the cruise we took through It's A Small World. As we sailed through this large cave-like structure on board water crafts, literally hundreds of dolls with costumes from countries all around the world perform singing and dancing scenarios with that tune of "It's a small world" consistently running as a unifying theme.

In our five days, we had to pick and choose among many choices and these were the things we decided to spend a little more time enjoying while in Fantasy Land.

SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON TREEHOUSE IN ADVENTURE LAND

Swiss Family Treehouse in Adventure Land

The Swiss Family Treehouse is where we climbed winding stairways through a re-creation of a giant banyan tree in which the shipwrecked Swiss Family Robinson built their home.

It was fun imagining how this fictional family lived and survived using native plants and supplies in building this structure high up from the ground for protection from predatory animals and weather.

Who doesn't like the idea of living in a tree-house?

Jungle Cruise in Adventure Land...

The Jungle Cruise took us down tropical rivers of the world filled with wild animals and dangers like giant snakes draped overhead on tree branches.

Our fearless captain (a most entertaining college student) led us through these equitorial waters. Scenic waterfalls and playful elephants taking advantage of the cascading water added to the enjoyment of this journey.

In Frontier Land we saw typical old west scenery in mock towns.

We enjoyed the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which was in actuality a mild roller coaster ride through mountain and desert scenery. It was supposed to emulate a runaway mine train during the old Gold Rush days.

Hilarious musical instrument playing and western dressed bears performed in an old fashioned hoe-down in the Country Bear Jamboree. We really enjoyed this cute part of the Frontier Land park and the performance definitely had us tapping our toes to some of the music and laughing at the outrageous costumed bears.  As with the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this is no longer a part of what visitors will now find at Frontier Land.

There is more to visit and do in Frontier Land but we wanted a flavor of each section so we would choose a few things to see and then move on to the next portion of Disney World.

Tomorrow Land

My mother, niece and I spent quite a bit of time at Tomorrow Land. Some of the things we enjoyed were the following:

Tomorrow Land Theatre - Disney characters did song and dance routines. Especially nice for young children...we enjoyed it as well. Guess we are just kids at heart!

Mission to Mars was an area in which one visited a symbolic Mission Control room and a rocket ship would blast off to the planet Mars.

Dreamflight presented the opportunity to learn about the history of aviation and where one could also experience the feeling of supersonic flight. Amazing what these Disney folks have done! The room shook and it thundered as though we were truly inside a spaceship blasting off.

In the "American Journeys" theatre we watched moving pictures being displayed on the 360 degree screen encircling the room. We stood in this theatre and had a bar to hold onto if my memory is accurate. It was quite an experience! Lots of twisting and turning of heads occurred as one tried to take in all of those magnificent images swirling around the room. Of course there was audio to accompany the show.

The Carousel of Progress was a fascinating look at what life used to be like during the past century with regard to modern conveniences. It was fun for my mother and I to look back at what kitchens used to look like with the latest and greatest gadgets in the different decades. Remember the early little box television sets? Everything relating to the earliest of inventions as electricity literally changed the way most people lived is in this building for people to see.

OK...now to the experience that has long legs as far as my memory is concerned...

Space Mountain - Having enjoyed the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride, we thought that we would go ahead (primarily because of my niece's desires) to take another roller coaster ride. The lines were long and as we inched our way closer to the front of the line we kept reading about the health restrictions and other warnings. We also heard an inordinate amount of screaming coming from inside. In the end, my mother decided to bypass this ride. I truly wish I had done the same! But I felt obligated that someone should be on the ride with my niece.

The roller coaster ride is designed to simulate a wild race through space. Most of it is all in darkness with twinkling lights symbolizing stars or other objects in outer space.

Suffice it to say that with the violent twists and turns and feeling of dropping straight down at times and not really being able to see much of anything so as to anticipate what was to come next...I have never been more frightened in my life. My palms were so sweaty as I was clinging to the bar holding me in to the seat, that I thought at any moment I might be catapulted right out into the air. I finally quit screaming and just tried my best to hunker down and get through that experience alive. The ride (torture chamber to me) seemed interminable!

Now I fully understand the medical warnings against taking this ride for people with health problems.

We finally exited and what do you suppose my niece wanted to do? She wanted to take the Space Mountain ride again!!!

She was soundly overruled. I made a vow to myself that IF I came out alive, I would NEVER AGAIN take another roller coaster ride.

For any of you dare-devils out there...Space Mountain is one heck of a ride!

These pictures will give you an idea of what there is to do and see in Florida's Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. There are many more choices! Some of the attractions end and new offerings are there to keep it interesting for those who wish to return again and again.