The Walt Disney World Resort is probably the most famous attraction in Orlando, in Florida, and attracts millions of visitors each year. In this, the first of a series of posts about the resort, we will give you a brief overview of the attractions there and some tips to help you to plan your holiday.
The Walt Disney World Resort covers a huge area and consists of four theme parks, two water parks and a number of other attractions. It’s located in Lake Buena Vista, which is about 30 minutes’ drive from Orlando International Airport and about an hour’s drive from Orlando Sanford International Airport.
The resort’s theme parks are as follows:
- The Magic Kingdom – the home of the iconic Cinderella Castle, this park offers many attractions for young children, including rides such as Peter Pan’s Flight and the Mad Tea Party.
- Epcot – this theme park is set around a large lake and can be divided into two sections: the science-based area, which includes rides such as Mission: Space, and the pavillions, where you can get a taste of different parts of the world.
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios – this theme park is packed with attractions based on the silver screen and world of television. It has thrill rides, such as the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and live shows, such as the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park – part zoo, part theme park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom includes attractions such as the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and the Expedition Everest thrill ride.
The Walt Disney World Resort’s water parks are as follows:
- Disney’s Blizzard Beach – this water park has a ski resort theme and rides include the Summit Plummet freefall body slide, the Runoff Rapids and a chairlift.
- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon – attractions in this water park include the Mayday Falls, Castaway Creek and the Crush ‘n’ Gusher water coaster.
The resort also includes two shopping and entertainment areas:
- Downtown Disney – this section of the resort contains a wide range of shops and restaurants, as well as being home to entertainment venues such as the House of Blues and Cirque du Soleil’s Orlando show.
- Disney’s BoardWalk -this waterside shopping and entertainment area is the perfect place for a stroll during the day or evening, and there are also a number of restaurants here.
Other attractions within the Walt Disney World Resort include Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and a number of golf courses. There are also many hotels within the resort.
A number of airlines operate flights between the U.K. and Orlando. Once in Orlando, car hire is a must. Although many of the hotels provide free shuttle bus services to the parks, these can be extremely busy and usually travel by a relatively indirect route, so the journey can be frustrating after a long day in the parks.
Luckily, many car hire operators, including easyCar, provide cheap Orlando car hire deals, and you can book your hire car online before you fly and pick it up at the airport.
It’s also a good idea to buy your Disney theme park tickets in advance. You can often get good deals online and buy tickets which are valid for a set number of days and allow you to visit all of the parks as and when you choose. This means that you can visit more than one park in a day or choose to spend an extra day in a particular park if you don’t manage to see everything that you want to in one day.
In future posts in this series, we’ll be looking at each of the parks and shopping areas in more detail, providing you with information about some of the hotels within the Walt Disney World Resort, and providing you with some hints and tips to help you to make the most of your trip to Orlando.
Image: The GreatGlobetrotter
Tags: Disney's Animal Kingdom Park, Disney's Blizzard Beach, Disney's BoardWalk, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, Downtown Disney, Epcot, florida, Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, Orlando car hire, Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport, The Magic Kingdom, USA, Walt Disney World Resort
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[...] Walt Disney World Resort Overview – this post provides you with an overview of the resort and its main attractions. [...]