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Having Fun at the Magic Kingdom

Following the success of Disneyland, which opened in 1955, entertainment pioneer Walt Disney (1901-66) set his sights on what he called his company’s “most exciting and challenging assignment” — the creation of a vast vacation paradise known today as Walt Disney World Resort.

Walt’s dream was realized when Magic Kingdom, the first of four theme parks at the sprawling Florida site, opened Oct. 1, 1971. Walt’s older brother and lifelong business partner, Roy O. Disney, inaugurated the park with a heartfelt dedication that remains today on a bronze plaque in Main Street, U.S.A.:

WALT DISNEY WORLD is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney

… and to the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney’s dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place … a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn — together.

The Park

Magic Kingdom sits on 142 acres with the towering Cinderella Castle at its center. Similar to Disneyland in California, the park is divided into seven themed lands — Main Street, U.S.A.; Adventureland; Frontierland; Liberty Square; Fantasyland; Mickey’s Toontown Fair; and Tomorrowland.

Popular attractions include Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Stitch’s Great Escape!, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, “Mickey’s PhilharMagic,” Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it’s a small world, Jungle Cruise, Hall of Presidents, Mad Tea Party, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer Island, Peter Pan’s Flight and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

Cinderella Castle, the park’s icon, stands 189 feet tall and includes 18 towers. Inside its main hall, five glittering mosaics created under the direction of Dorothea Redmond and Hanns-Joachim Scharff tell the story of Cinderella in 500 brilliant hues of glass.

Entertainment

In addition to dozens of Disney characters found at locations throughout the park, Magic Kingdom presents a rich variety of entertainment each day, from colorful parades to visiting marching bands. Major productions include:

“Dream Along with Mickey” — Mickey Mouse and friends show Donald Duck that dreams really do come true in this musical stage show.

“Celebrate a Dream Come True” — Mickey Mouse leads a daily parade celebrating the history of Disney animation.

“SpectroMagic” — Presented on select nights, this energetic parade of Disney characters features floats dotted with millions of twinkling lights.

“Wishes” — Jiminy Cricket narrates the biggest, boldest fireworks show ever presented at Magic Kingdom, a heart-tugging “story in the sky” about making a wish come true, presented most nights.

Main Enterance Topiary a Few Years Back

19th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
The largest number of front-entrance topiaries ever, 1,000 brilliantly hued butterflies, 240 floating mini-gardens and 30 million blooms paint a landscape masterpiece at the 19th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 7-May 20 at Walt Disney World Resort.

Among this year’s fun festival facts:

• 30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.
• The festival’s front-entrance Fantasia topiary scene comprises 28 topiaries – more than have been used in any front-entrance display. The 28 include Sorcerer Mickey, three ostriches, two hippos, two alligators, two elephants, nine stars, a spiral and eight mushrooms.
•22,615 plant plugs of 15 plant varieties make up the Fantasia front-entrance topiary. They include reindeer moss for Sorcerer Mickey’s face and red begonias for his hat; creeping fig for Mickey, hippos and gators; Sweet Ayssum, and three shades of Lobelia simulate water spilling over a large topiary rock made up of Black Scallop Ajuga upon which the Sorcerer stands.
•4,000 Blushing Bride air plants from Guatemala color the two hippos’ tutus and 300 Cotton Candy air plants from Peru feather the wings and tails of the three ostrich topiaries. Smaller air plants are used as ostrich slippers.
•1,250 feet of quarter-inch irrigation tubing is woven into the Fantasia front-entrance topiaries.
•Dozens of additional Disney character topiaries represent the largest collection of Disney character topiary in the world and include classic film stars like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella and Tinker Bell.
•At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define features of additional festival topiaries. More color has been added to the topiaries than in any previous topiary presentation.
•1,000 native butterflies represent up to 10 species at the expansive Bambi’s Butterfly House. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are Cape Royal plumbago, passion flower, coral honeysuckle, blazing star, butterfly bush, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.
•More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.
•Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.
•150 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented.
•Thirty “flower towers” of impatiens line Innoventions Plaza.
•240 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.
•700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.
•400 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.
•It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.
•The festival’s weekend Flower Power concert series includes 11 artists and groups known for more than 100 Top 40 hits. This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s and ’70s include Jose Feliciano, Starship starring Mickey Thomas, The Guess Who, The Spinners, Chubby Checker & The Wildcats, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, Chuck Negron formerly of Three Dog Night (NEW!), The Orchestra starring former members of ELO (NEW!), Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone and Davy Jones.

Richard Petty Experience

The Exotics Course at Walt Disney World® Speedway will be new home to “supercars”
(November 9, 2011) Combine some of the world’s finest automobiles with a track specifically designed for drivers to safely experience their awe-inspiring acceleration, speed and handling and you have “Exotic Driving Experience”, the latest offering from Petty Holdings.

Best known as owner and operator of Richard Petty Driving Experience, the worldwide leader in the stock car ride and drive business, Petty Holdings has applied its expertise in delivering safe, accessible, exciting automotive entertainment to develop an experience allowing anyone with a driver’s license the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a “supercar” – a rarified class of automobile.

Exotic Driving Experience will feature supercars by Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, and Porsche. Future plans include the addition of other exotic models, as well.

It will officially begin on January 16, 2012.

“This exotics business is the most significant new offering from our company since the creation of Richard Petty Driving Experience in 1994″ said Brian Flynn, Petty Holdings Chief Executive Officer. “This was a strategic decision intended to expand our customer base by diversifying our experiential offerings.”

Plans call for Exotic Driving Experience to operate approximately 150 days annually on The Exotics Course at Walt Disney World Speedway, a new track configuration (see below) at the motorsports complex located on the grounds of the world-famous theme park.

Be Petty Disney

Driving Experiences will start at $189 for six laps around the circuit. Thrill Rides with a professional driver at the wheel will be available for $99.

The Exotics Course at Walt Disney World Speedway®
Built in 1994, the one-mile oval at Walt Disney World Speedway® has been home to Indy Racing League (IRL), NASCAR Truck series and United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned races. Since 2000, it has been operated year-round exclusively by Richard Petty Driving Experience, which has seen more than 250,000 people drive or ride in one of its NASCAR race cars.

Petty Holdings recently completed an interior road course-style section at the track, specifically for Exotic Driving Experience, which features a series of quick, challenging right and left-hand turns, known as “switch backs.” Complete with barriers and rumble strips, this section replaces the frontstretch of the oval when the supercars are on track and, together with the backstretch, comprises another one-mile layout which has been named The Exotics Course at Walt Disney World Speedway®.

“We needed a circuit that would allow customers to really get a sense of what these incredible cars are capable of” said Rick Fedrizzi, President and Chief Operating Officer, who designed the new interior section. “Drivers can rapidly accelerate to high speeds on the backstretch of the oval and, when they come into the interior section, feel the incredible braking and handling characteristics of whichever exotic they’ve selected.”

“It is an absolute blast to drive this course in any one of these cars,” Fedrizzi said.

About Petty Holdings:

Petty Holdings, LLC owns Richard Petty Driving Experience, the worldwide leader in NASCAR-style stock car drive and ride entertainment, which operated at 25 race tracks in the United States and Canada in 2011. It markets other Petty and Richard Petty branded and licensed ventures including Petty Safe Driving and Richard Petty’s Fantasy Racing Camp. It also provides motorsports support services to the commercial and film industries, mobile marketing event services and designs and executes ride and drive events for automobile manufacturers

Headquartered in Concord, NC, Petty Holdings is a portfolio company of BV Investment Partners, a leading middle-market private equity firm, investing in the information and business services, communications, and media sectors.

Walt Disney's Love of Trains

What makes a blissful, breezy ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad such a magical—and authentic—experience? And what was the deal with Walt Disney and trains, anyway? Did he really have a whole railroad in his backyard? Let Disney historian Jim Korkis, author of The Vault of Walt, be your guide for a fact filled journey ‘round the Magic Kingdom Park and into the heart of what brought joy to the man who brought so much joy to others.

Navigating the theme parks without stress

Many people plan years in advance for their Orlando vacation and many only see a few mentionable things. Their biggest mistake people make is to try and cram as much into their days as possible and then wonder why they need a vacation from their vacation at the end of their trip. Many even go as far as to say that they didn’t have a good time on their much needed getaway. My advice is to research as much as possible and make the right choice for you and your family. Think about who is in your party and what special needs they may require. What I mean is, do you have little ones or is it just adults coming. If you have children, then think about nap times and dragging them all around the theme parks. This is the biggest cause of stress to the traveling parents that I have witnessed in my years in the theme park business. Read more »

Florida scares up spooktacular — and early — Halloween festivities

Whether you like your Halloween festivities to be super-spooky or perhaps not so scary, chances are very good that Florida has you covered with all manner of both ghostly — and ghastly — fun. And what is more: in Florida many of the Halloween happenings start weeks ahead of Oct. 31. Here are some events, arranged chronologically by beginning date, to get your Halloween revelry off to a good start this year. Some Halloween happenings are family-friendly; some may not be suitable for young children: some the organizers themselves say are not recommended for youngsters. Read more »

Orlando, FL. ~ So you want to take the kids out trick or treating and you don’t want to scare them so bad that they will be sleeping with you for years to come. Well there’s good news for you! Every year over at Walt Disney World’s, Magic Kingdom park, Mickey put on a very special Halloween party geared for the smaller trick or treat-er in the family. The great thing about this party is that the Magic Kingdom lets you dress up as your favorite Halloween character and grab goodies along with your little ones. This is also a very special time to enjoy the park as they put on a special parade and fireworks show to celebrate Halloween Disney style. During select dates, the Magic Kingdom will close down its park to the daily visitors and then reopen to the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party ticket holders. I have been there and it is like having the park to yourself. On average the Magic Kingdom holds 85 thousand people, but on these Halloween party nights, there might be only 10 thousand guests or even less. Now that’s my kind of visit. With this small of a crowd, lines to all of the rides are nothing and candy is plenty. Don’t forget to stay and watch the Headless Horseman ride down Main Street USA and afterwards, the very special and spooky Cinderella Castle firework shoot. This party is a must do if your are going to be visiting during this celebration. If you plan to go and need Mickey’s Halloween Party tickets, please call our office toll free at 1-877-406-4836 for pricing and information.

If you want to order now and see the prices, click here http://www.officialticketcenter.com/Mickeys-Not-So-Scary-Halloween-Party-Tickets.aspx

Copyright: Patrick S. Pulliam

Fantasyland Under Construction

Magic Kingdom, Orlando, FL. ~ I went to the Magic Kingdom the other day with my daughter as we do often and the park was abuzz with travelers from around the world. Many had their traditional Mickey hats on, some with their Goofy hats and the occasional newlyweds with their Mickey and Minnie wedding hats showing all that they are there to celebrate their new union at the Walt Disney World Resort. Read more »

Fast Pass To See Mickey Mouse This Spring

Magic Kingdom ~ How about this: For the first time at Disney Parks, you’ll have the opportunity to nail down a time for a face-to-face meeting with Mickey Mouse at the Walt Disney World Resort. Beginning this spring, Disney will be offering FASTPASS for Mickey at his new permanent home, Town Square Theater, located inside the current Exposition Hall area at the entrance of Magic Kingdom park. Read more »

Future visitors to Walt Disney World will be able to reserve ride times from their home computers and bypass hotel check-in desks once they arrive at the resort, the head of the Walt Disney Co.’s global theme-park division said during an investors conference Thursday. Read more »