The Walt Disney World Resort (also known as Walt Disney World or Disney World) is an entertainment resort complex located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly 25,000 acres (39 sq mi; 101 km2), of which half has been developed.[4] Walt Disney World contains numerous recreational facilities designed to attract visitors for an extended stay, including four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, conference centers, a competitive sports complex and a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex. Additionally, there are 19 Disney-owned resort hotels and one camping resort on the property, and many other non-Disney-operated resorts on and near the property.
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TravelTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to the channel.
00:10Before I jump into this video, I hope you consider liking and subscribing to this content.
00:14It really helps out the channel and improves our results in the algorithm.
00:20Today I'm going to be taking you on a full walking tour of the Magic Kingdom theme park,
00:23which is located in Orlando, Florida.
00:25It's the original of the four theme parks.
00:28There's three other sister parks here in Orlando.
00:31They are Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios.
00:35The Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite all-time theme parks, so I'm really excited to be bringing
00:40you this content today.
00:42Now this particular theme park is older than me.
00:44It opened in 1971, so I wasn't quite around yet for that one.
00:49But I did experience it in the 70s.
00:51My first time here was Christmas 1979, so I go almost as far back as this park.
00:57So as you can see, as I started out walking into the park, the very first thing you experience
01:02is the train station located in Main Street.
01:06Now Main Street is like the very first themed area that's in the front of the park.
01:11It's actually built to resemble the town of Marceline, Missouri, which was the childhood
01:17hometown of Walt Disney, the guy who envisioned this entire park.
01:22It's obvious from this video that I was here during the Christmas season, because they
01:26do deck out Walt Disney World with a lot of Christmas decorations, and it is beautiful.
01:32I was lucky here that I was in mid-December when I was filming this video, so the crowds
01:36weren't too bad.
01:38They do pick up later in the video, like when I'm walking around the castle.
01:42But right now, the crowds are actually pretty good.
01:46Now the one thing that you're going to notice quickly about Main Street is the lack of attractions.
01:51Actually the only ride that is here is basically just the train station for the classic steam
01:58train that basically takes you on a full perimeter ride on the park.
02:03There's no real attractions here in Main Street.
02:06It's almost all restaurants and shopping.
02:08There is a character meet and greet, and there is like a little small theater that plays
02:13like a loop of classic cartoons, but the land itself is pretty unremarkable in my opinion.
02:21You'll notice that most people who are annual pass holders that come back to Disney all
02:26the time, they usually blow right through Main Street unless they're here to buy something
02:29in one of the large stores here.
02:32Speaking of the stores, the Emporium that's come up here on the left hand side is probably
02:39the best store, at least if you're trying to get a souvenir from the park.
02:43They've got a lot of t-shirts and clothing and all kinds of little toys for the kids,
02:48so that's usually the best bet if you're trying to find something that's kind of mainstream
02:53or maybe for gift giving in the holiday season.
02:55One of the cool quirks about these Main Street stores is almost all of them are interconnected
03:01with each other even though they look like different storefronts on the outside.
03:06So if the traffic outside is really bad like on the street, a lot of times it'll get all
03:14clogged up with tourists taking photos of the castle.
03:18You can often bypass the crowd by just kind of taking a shortcut through these stores.
03:23It's easier on the left hand side.
03:25Most of those stores are connected.
03:27You noticed here that there was a restaurant kind of blocking my path from getting to Tomorrowland
03:32behind the building.
03:34Now there are a couple restaurants here in Main Street.
03:37The one that I usually go to is Tony's Town Square Restaurant.
03:41Walt Disney World has a hierarchy of restaurants.
03:45I stick to mostly what are known as the quick service restaurants, which are basically you
03:49just order your food at the counter and you grab it and you go.
03:52That way you don't burn a lot of time in the parks dealing with waitresses and waiting
03:56for food to get cooked and delivered.
03:58You just basically pick it up and go.
04:02They're also the least expensive restaurants here at the park.
04:06Don't get me wrong, there are some nice table service restaurants here and they will fall
04:10under two tiers usually.
04:12They'll be like the mid-price options and then the very expensive options.
04:17Now right now you can see I'm walking towards the castle, which is kind of like the center
04:22of the park.
04:23Each of the Disney parks has a different type of castle.
04:27For example, when I'm in Magic Kingdom today in Florida, I'm looking at Cinderella's Castle.
04:33If I was in Disneyland in California, then I'd be looking at Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
04:39One of the things that you'll quickly notice about my videos is I tend to veer to the right
04:44because I'm right-handed like 90% of the world.
04:48So if you're left-handed, my bad.
04:49I apologize if you're not happy with the way I film.
04:53One of the things that you're going to notice in this video is there's a lot of live performances
04:57that are ongoing as I'm spontaneously walking around the park.
05:01They do hire a lot of musicians and singers and dancers that perform at random locations
05:09throughout and there's a reason why this is the most popular theme park in the entire
05:16world and Disney does kind of go the extra mile at least on that front.
05:22When you're walking up to Cinderella's Castle, there is this great place to take photos and
05:28you can see a lot of people are doing it.
05:30There's this, I think it's a bronze statue of Walt Disney, you know, standing with Mickey
05:35Mouse and as you can see, it's very popular.
05:39People love to take their families and get their photos taken in front of that statue
05:44and I get it.
05:45It is a cool place to do it and it's obviously a lot easier to take a photo of a statue than
05:50to try to fit your entire family in front of the giant castle, although people do that
05:55as well.
05:56Now the castle as the main hub of the park, that's where they mostly launch the fireworks
06:01shows at night, so if you want to see the fireworks from at the base of the castle,
06:09you probably have to line up at least 45 minutes early for a good vantage point.
06:16If you are kind of a person that doesn't like to wait, there are some pretty good vantage
06:21points in Tomorrowland where you can look up and see the fireworks really well.
06:26So if you're a straggler that doesn't want to stand around for 45 minutes waiting for
06:30the fireworks, you can kind of slack and just look up in Tomorrowland and you'll be able
06:36to see most of the fireworks really well from, you know, just on the other side of this water
06:41area.
06:42So when Disneyland was built in the 1950s, they kind of established this layout of what's
06:48known as the Spokes and Hub.
06:50It's pretty much the gold standard of theme parks, and as I took a left turn at the hub
06:57of the park, you're now watching me walk into Tomorrowland.
07:02Tomorrowland is definitely one of my favorite themed areas of this theme park.
07:07I really am a big fan of Space Mountain, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, as well as
07:12Tron, so it's probably my favorite land in the entire park.
07:18I will acknowledge that Tomorrowland has kind of a mixed reputation because there's
07:23this situation known as the Tomorrowland Problem, which is technology is rapidly advancing so
07:30quickly in, you know, I guess consumerism and everything, that when they try to come
07:35up with these amazing technology ideas to display in Tomorrowland, you know, consumers
07:42usually get products that mimic that within five, ten years.
07:46So it's kind of hard to be futuristic when just standard consumer devices catch up so
07:53quickly with it.
07:55So coming up on my right side right now is the Monsters, Inc.
07:58Laugh Floor.
07:59This is a fun little live show that features some pretty neat technology where it will
08:06actually interact with the audience and, you know, it's basically like a comedy routine
08:12with, you know, a combination of animatronics and projection, but it's a fun little, you
08:21know, show and there's not usually too much of a weight on that one.
08:24The next one coming up on the right is Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers.
08:29That's a fun dark ride where you actually have this little light gun and you can score
08:35points by shooting at the different space aliens that are trying to invade.
08:41Just a fair warning on that one is you might try to do a genie plus or something on that
08:46because during peak seasons, you know, the weight on that one gets ludicrous.
08:51Sometimes 120 minutes, 180 minutes, and that's only like a three minute ride.
08:56It's not an e-ticket ride, so I don't see the point in waiting three hours for that
09:01particular one, even though I love it.
09:04So now in front of me is the Carousel of Progress on the right hand side.
09:09That is a animatronic stage show where the theater actually revolves around the stage
09:16and that debuted, I believe, in the 1963 World's Fair and has been running continuously ever
09:23since in various locations.
09:25Right now I'm walking towards the Galactic Gateway stage.
09:30That's where a lot of different concerts and everything take place.
09:34It's off screen right now, but off to my left side is the tower, which actually features
09:40the StarJets, the Lunching Pad, which is a quick service restaurant, as well as the Tomorrowland
09:48Transit Authority, one of my favorite attractions.
09:50You'll see I'm kind of passing under one of the long corridors of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.
09:56For those of you who have never been on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, it's this
10:00wonderful self-propelled vehicle system that takes you on a scenic tour around all of Tomorrowland.
10:08It's just like an absolute fan favorite.
10:11Everyone always talks about the People Mover at Disneyland.
10:15That's where it originated from.
10:17They actually removed the one at Disneyland, so the only one that's still in operation
10:21is the one here in Florida.
10:23It's just a great attraction.
10:25It really is.
10:27You get to see just absolutely beautiful vantage points of the castle, Space Mountain.
10:32It actually goes inside the Space Mountain attraction, and you can actually see certain
10:37parts of the roller coaster from inside.
10:41It's just incredible.
10:42There's also a model that's on display of the EPCOT prototype.
10:48There was this old model display that they had created for Walt's original idea of the
10:54Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and I believe that's the model he used for
11:00his TV special about the idea.
11:02So I'm in the vicinity of Space Mountain.
11:04That's on my right-hand side, and I'm actually making a quick little shortcut through this
11:09building to get to the newest attraction here at Walt Disney World, which is Tron.
11:16Now I do love this Tron roller coaster.
11:18I grew up with the original movie from the 80s, and I definitely appreciated the rebooted
11:23film.
11:24I think that came out in 2010.
11:25Tron is one of the fastest rides in the Walt Disney World Resort, although I believe Test
11:32Track is still faster than this one.
11:34This one is wild because you're sitting on a cycle.
11:38It really does pull you.
11:40The first time I rode it, it really was exhilarating because I didn't expect that type of ride
11:44system, and you're barely hanging on like a real motorcycle.
11:48There are some grips that kind of grab your leg to hold you in place, but it's definitely
11:53wild to accelerate from zero to almost 60 miles an hour in like three seconds.
11:59I mean, it's a really good ride.
12:02The visuals are incredible.
12:03I do feel like that ride could be longer.
12:06I was a little disappointed because it just feels like a short ride, but part of that
12:10is you're moving so fast.
12:12It does go by really quickly.
12:14I think the whole ride is two minutes long, and that includes the 30 seconds of loading
12:19and 30 seconds of unloading, basically pulling out, because the ride itself, once you launch,
12:25is only about 60 seconds long, so it could be longer.
12:29So I've kind of double-backed, and now I'm heading towards the center of Tomorrowland
12:33again.
12:34Tomorrowland really is my favorite land in Magic Kingdom, mostly because they have arguably
12:40the two best roller coasters in the park.
12:42I do really love Space Mountain and Tron, although Thunder Mountain is definitely in
12:49my top three rides here at the park, too.
12:51I'm a roller coaster guy, after all.
12:54So now I'm basically walking towards that tower again.
12:57I misspoke earlier.
12:58I called the ride by its original name, Star Jets.
13:02Now it's technically known as Astro Orbiter.
13:05It's an old habit.
13:06You know, I grew up here at the park.
13:08Like I said, I've been coming here since the 70s, and sometimes I revert back to the original
13:13name, so I apologize for that.
13:15So it's actually Astro Orbiter.
13:18And up on my right-hand side right now, I am walking towards the Tomorrowland Speedway.
13:22This was an opening day attraction, and unfortunately, it really shows its age.
13:27I really think this one needs to be updated, removed, you know, upgraded, whatever they
13:33need to do.
13:34But need to do something, because, you know, gas-powered go-karts is just so, you know,
13:40I don't know.
13:41It's outdated.
13:43I really wish they would do something, you know, that actually fit the Tomorrowland name.
13:48It's probably, I mean, I know little kids really love the Tomorrowland Speedway, but
13:52I do think it is just so outdated and primitive that it doesn't belong here anymore.
13:59So coming up on my left-hand side is another quick-service restaurant, so I've eaten there
14:05quite a bit.
14:06It's known as Cosmic Race Starlight Cafe, and you can get a pretty good hamburger there.
14:11And, you know, they got chicken fingers, those type of things.
14:14What's interesting about that particular restaurant is, even though it's quick-service, there
14:18is an animatronic that actually performs, like, stage shows.
14:23And it's kind of a throwback.
14:24It's like going back to the days of Chuck E. Cheese arcades, because it's the same kind
14:30of animatronic show that you would expect for those, and the animatronic performs various
14:35numbers.
14:36And, you know, I kind of like it because it's got that retro 80s vibe going on.
14:40So right now I'm actually leaving the Tomorrowland area, and I'm now entering Fantasyland.
14:46The very first attraction that's coming up is the teacups ride.
14:51And this is, you know, a fun, spinning, flat ride, nothing to really call home about.
14:56Some people really enjoy it, and, you know, it's kind of a rite of passage.
14:59Almost everybody gets on the teacups and spins around on that one.
15:04You'll see that the Tomorrowland Speedway is still on my right-hand side.
15:08You know, that is a really big ride.
15:10It takes up so much space here at Magic Kingdom.
15:12Like I said, I kind of wish that that was replaced with something newer and more modern
15:17and up-to-date.
15:19Up here on my left-hand side is the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
15:22That's a fun little swinging coaster.
15:24It's very similar to Thunder Mountain, in my opinion, only the difference is you're
15:29on these mine cars that actually kind of swing with the turns.
15:32So it's kind of fun, and it's great for small children.
15:35It's a pretty mild coaster.
15:37It was only recently added.
15:39It was part of the new Fantasyland expansion that also included the Under the Sea ride,
15:44which is based on The Little Mermaid.
15:46So there's a lot of great attractions that Magic Kingdom picked up with that expansion.
15:50Now, the area that I'm entering right now was originally built as Mickey's Birthday
15:56Land, and that opened way back in 1988.
15:59What's funny about this area was it was only supposed to be just this temporary attraction
16:03to celebrate one of Mickey's birthdays.
16:06I don't remember exactly what 1988 was for Mickey Mouse, but it was just supposed to
16:11be like a temporary exhibit and everything.
16:14But this area just became so popular with tourists, and it was a great way to distribute
16:20the crowds better in Magic Kingdom.
16:23It became like a permanent staple of the park, and it's evolved a couple times.
16:27It's been called Toontown, and now it's kind of, if you look at the park map, it kind of
16:34falls under the Fantasyland section, at least when it comes to how it's designated on the map.
16:40Now this section of the park does have some popular attractions.
16:43It has the Dumble ride, which is like two spinning flat rides, and a lot of people also
16:50love Goofy's Barnstormer.
16:53And that's like a really kiddie coaster.
16:56It's a perfect way to introduce your kids to a roller coaster.
16:59And even though it's like a small roller skater type roller coaster, I absolutely love it.
17:04I just think it's just fun.
17:07It's a perfect way to introduce young children to roller coasters because it's not very intense.
17:13Also towards the back of this land is the train station for Fantasyland.
17:18Now the steam train has three locations where you can get in and get off the train, and
17:24those stations would be located in Main Street, Frontierland, and here at Fantasyland.
17:30That's one aspect that Magic Kingdom has as an advantage over pretty much all the other
17:35themed parks in Orlando.
17:37Say you've got young children and they're just absolutely exhausted, and you're in the
17:41back of the park either by Frontierland or Fantasyland, well, you can just hop on the
17:47train and get back to the front of the park nice and easy.
17:50That is one heck of an advantage that Magic Kingdom has over the other themed park rivals
17:56here in Orlando.
17:57An interesting piece of trivia about the steam trains that operate here at Walt Disney World
18:01is the locomotives here do not have any braking mechanism.
18:06The brakes that stop and start the trains are exclusively handled by the coaches that
18:11follow the locomotive.
18:13Back when they were building the Tron roller coaster, they actually had to pull up the
18:17tracks and basically remove the steam trains from operation for a while, like a couple
18:23years.
18:24You'll notice that when they were doing the testing for operating the locomotives, the
18:31trains had to pull at least one car because the coaches handle all the stopping and starting.
18:37It's kind of noticeable when the trains first start up and stop.
18:42They definitely kind of buck and move a little more radically than most trains.
18:48Most trains stop and start a lot more smoothly, mostly because the engines do have a braking
18:54mechanism that the ones here at Magic Kingdom lack.
18:58So once again, I've double backed and I'm now heading west back into the heart of Fantasyland.
19:05Now Fantasyland has a lot of decent shopping.
19:09You'll see there's signs for the Storybook Circus, which is off to my right hand side.
19:16I'm now cruising up towards the entrance of the Little Mermaid Under the Sea ride.
19:23And that was a, you know, I obviously am not a big fan of that particular dark ride.
19:29That's because it's a recent addition and I definitely prefer the classics like Haunted
19:32Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.
19:35But you know, for little kids who are into the Little Mermaid, I'm sure it's like nothing
19:39else.
19:40I also realized that the Fantasyland area is just not made for me.
19:46This Fantasyland expansion was specifically built to appeal to little girls.
19:51A lot of the Disney Imagineers felt like a Walt Disney World was only built to appeal
19:57to little boys, you know, with lands like Frontierland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland.
20:03Even when I was a kid, I really never appreciated Fantasyland.
20:06I don't know.
20:07It's just, you know, the original attractions like It's a Small World and Peter Pan.
20:13Just I don't know.
20:14They didn't do anything for me.
20:15Ironically, my two favorite rides here at Fantasyland when I was a kid were Mr. Toad's
20:20Wild Ride and Snow White's Scary Adventure.
20:24And they removed both of them because they were too intense for kids.
20:26So I guess that tells you a lot about my personality.
20:29The rides that they deemed were unacceptable for children nowadays were my favorite dark
20:34rides at the original Fantasyland.
20:37Right now I'm walking through one of the newer sections of Fantasyland.
20:41On my right hand side, this area is first themed to The Little Mermaid and then later
20:46on based on the Beauty and the Beast film.
20:49That little building on the right is Belle's Cottage.
20:53And then that larger building is the Beast's Castle.
20:57There's a pretty good restaurant inside the Beast's Castle.
20:59A lot of people rave about it.
21:01I've never been because it's a little on the expensive side.
21:05As I mentioned earlier, I mostly stick to the quick service restaurants because I try
21:09to maximize how much time I'm on the rides and minimize how much time I'm in restaurants.
21:15But if you want to kind of slow down the pace and enjoy the full experience and get immersed
21:22into Fantasyland, then you might take the time to do some of these table service restaurants
21:28and just kind of enjoy the ambience of the whole place.
21:33So once again on my left hand side, I'm walking up towards the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
21:39This really is a fun ride.
21:41There's a couple dark ride elements of this ride that are kind of neat too.
21:46The roller coaster does kind of slow down to visit with the Seven Dwarfs and Snow White
21:50and everything.
21:52It's not a roller coaster 100% of the time.
21:55It is kind of fun.
21:56I do love when you get these hybrid ride experiences where it's partially a thrill ride and partially
22:05a dark ride.
22:08The defunct Splash Mountain ride that was here at Magic Kingdom was just like that too.
22:13Sure there were the thrilling drops, but there was a lot of dark ride scenes throughout the
22:19ride and you would see steamboats and all kinds of impressive animatronics.
22:24I think there were over 50 animatronics in that particular ride.
22:28Disney really doesn't build rides like that anymore.
22:30Most of the rides that are built, they'll have one or two animatronics and everything
22:34else is static.
22:35I kind of miss the old process when it came to Disney Imagineering.
22:40So as you can see on my left hand side is the entrance for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
22:46It's currently showing an 80 minute wait, which is actually kind of low for this ride.
22:50A lot of times it will be 120 minutes, 150 minutes.
22:54So 80 minutes is actually a decent wait time for this particular ride at the moment.
23:00This is one of the most popular rides in Magic Kingdom when it comes to rides that people
23:05kind of sprint to at Rope Drop, which is when the park first opens.
23:09This is one of the ones that they seem to aim for just because in the middle of the
23:13day at peak times, this ride is always a long wait for standby.
23:19So now coming up on my right hand side is the Winnie the Pooh ride.
23:24This is, you know, an average dark ride.
23:26I never really thought it was very good.
23:30Of course, I also am not a fan of Winnie the Pooh, so I think that's part of it.
23:35This was a rather late addition to the park.
23:39Winnie the Pooh actually replaced a vastly superior ride in my opinion, Mr. Toad's Wild
23:44Ride.
23:45Mr. Toad's is one of the older rides at Disneyland and I hope they never remove it because it's
23:51fun and clever and, you know, I realize there's some overtones of the death and going to hell
23:58and the devil and everything, but it's just fun and clever and Winnie the Pooh is just
24:05so watered down and uninspired that it's just boring.
24:09It's just ridiculously boring.
24:11I don't know why modern audiences have the need to sanitize everything.
24:17Some things should remain edgy.
24:19So coming up on my left hand side is the Princess Fairytale Hall.
24:23That's just a character meet and greet.
24:25I never really understood why so many people found that meeting people in costumes were
24:32like an attraction, but Disney has discovered that and, you know, it's the weirdest thing
24:38to me to see Disney adults waiting in line to meet like Peter Pan or Pocahontas or something
24:44in line.
24:45I never understood why would you wait like 45 minutes to talk to a cast member wearing
24:50a costume, but that's just me.
24:53So once again I'm near the center of the park.
24:55This time I'm on the other side of Cinderella's Castle.
24:58I'm also walking around the Prince Charming Regal Carousel.
25:01Now the carousel is something that, eh, you know, it's one of those things where the ride
25:06experience isn't that great, but I get nostalgic for it because I have so many wonderful memories
25:13riding the carousel with various family members, you know, whether it's my grandfather or my
25:18uncles or whatever and, you know, growing up it was always a place for photo ops usually,
25:24you know, taken where you're actually riding the horses.
25:27So there's a lot of sentimentality to riding the carousel, but at the end of the day it's
25:32just a merry-go-round or a carousel and once you've ridden one of them you've kind of ridden
25:36them all.
25:37They all have the same type of experience.
25:39So right now I'm headed west and I just passed the Mickey's PhilharMagic Attraction.
25:44That's a pretty fun attraction.
25:46So Mickey Mouse is kind of like running an orchestra and it's a 4D film and there's like
25:51lots of smells and special effects and it's one of those attractions where I wouldn't
25:57go out of your way to experience it, but on a really hot day it's a great place to
26:02get some air conditioning.
26:03Now coming up on my left hand side is Peter Pan's Flight.
26:07This is a charming little classic dark ride.
26:11What makes it really unique is the ride vehicles are actually suspended from the ceiling when,
26:16you know, most Disney dark rides are riding on a track that's basically below you.
26:21I absolutely love this ride, but it's a very low capacity ride.
26:25The ride vehicles only have one row to seat passengers and the wait times on this one
26:31are usually ridiculous for standby.
26:34You can usually expect two to three hours waiting in that standby line.
26:38So if you're planning to ride Peter Pan during your trip, your best bet is probably to either
26:42use the Disney Genie Plus or come here immediately at rope drop.
26:48Across from Peter Pan's Flight is It's a Small World.
26:52It's a Small World is a boat ride.
26:54You know, I realize I make fun of it from time to time, but it's a cool little attraction
27:00and it's kind of like a rite of passage for people who come to Disney all the time.
27:04I don't really care for it, but I realize there's a lot of history in the ride.
27:09I believe it debuted at the 1963 World's Fair like a lot of Disney attractions.
27:14The biggest knock for that ride is they just play one continuous song for the entire attraction
27:20and that's It.
27:21You just listen to It's a Small World song.
27:25Listening to the same song for like a 10 minute boat ride can become really tedious.
27:30I just think it's fun because a lot of the Disney fanatics that I hang out with, a lot
27:34of them will call this ride nightmare fuel.
27:37And I won't go that far.
27:38I do think it's funny how it can drive certain people nuts.
27:42Coming up on my right hand side is a restroom area.
27:45People probably scratch their head and wonder why there's so much pavement and room over
27:49there.
27:50It's because there used to be a ride located there.
27:52In the 70s and 80s there was a Skyway ride which was a cable car system that used to
27:58take people on a sky bucket tour from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland.
28:04And ironically now both stations of the former Skyway ride are now functioning strictly as
28:09bathrooms.
28:10Right now I'm standing at the entrance of the Haunted Mansion.
28:13And I mean what more can you say about the Haunted Mansion?
28:16This is one of those classic Disney dark rides that Walt Disney World is renowned for.
28:21Each Disney guest will ride in a doom buggy and will basically go through this huge haunted
28:28house.
28:29It's an incredible ride considering it was built in the 1970s.
28:32All the optical special effects still hold up and look really great.
28:36This is one of those timeless attractions.
28:39I never get bored riding this thing and I've probably been on it a hundred times.
28:42What's crazy to me is there's a lot of modern Disney rides that have been built like Ratatouille
28:47and Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind where I'll ride them and I'll be one and done
28:51and never bother riding them again because I just don't like them at all.
28:55But a lot of these classic rides that were built in the 70s and 80s they're just so much
29:01more engaging and they have a magic that the newer stuff just lacks.
29:05I think part of it too is Universal Studios has recruited all the best Disney Imagineers
29:10to work over at Epic Universe and Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
29:15So the really talented people no longer work for Disney and it kind of shows.
29:20Most of the newer attractions are underwhelming or just flat out don't work at all, always
29:24breaking down.
29:26So on my right hand side I just passed the Liberty Bell Steamboat ride.
29:30That's a fun little ride that takes you around Tom Sawyer's island and you get to see some
29:37pretty good vantage points of Thunder Mountain and the former Splash Mountain.
29:42The section of the park that I'm walking around right now is known as Liberty Square.
29:46There's a couple restaurants here and the main attraction is the Hall of Presidents.
29:50When I was a kid I used to hate that attraction but as an adult I've kind of grown to appreciate
29:57it.
29:58It's nice and boring and it's a great place to catch a nap and you know get some air conditioning
30:04on a hot day.
30:05A highlight for me of this section of the park is mostly the restaurants.
30:08There's several restaurants that I really do like eating at.
30:12One of them is the Columbia Harbor House and as the name implies it's mostly a seafood
30:18restaurant.
30:19They really do have a lot of great items on the menu.
30:21I mean their grilled shrimp skewer is pretty good.
30:24I like their grilled salmon.
30:25They also have this trio platter that has fried shrimp, chicken strips, and battered
30:29fish and that's probably my all time favorite on the menu.
30:34Another unique aspect of that restaurant is a lot of people don't realize there's a
30:37dining room on the second floor.
30:39So it's kind of like there's this somewhat hidden stairwell that most people assume is
30:44just employee access only.
30:46So you go up there and if you want to find a table there's almost always an available
30:50table up there because so many people don't realize that dining room is there.
30:55And it's almost like a secret lounge for Disney regulars.
31:00Which is a good thing because the first floor dining room is always just incredibly crowded
31:04and almost always standing room only.
31:06Another restaurant that's nearby to where I'm walking is the Liberty Treat Tavern.
31:11That's coming up on my left hand side and they specialize in New England style food.
31:18They've got menu items such as the Patriots platter and pot roast.
31:22And they also do like a full spread like Thanksgiving dinner with the turkey and the stuffing and
31:28that kind of stuff.
31:30If you're looking for a lot of carbs and starchy foods then this is a great place to eat.
31:35If you're watching your calories it's probably not a great place to go because it's mostly
31:39an all you can eat kind of setup where you pay the flat fee at the front door and then
31:43you just eat and eat and eat until you pass out and fall asleep.
31:48I do think that the quality of the food is pretty good here at the Liberty Tree but like
31:53I said I do mostly stick to the quick service restaurants most of the time.
31:58The next major attraction coming up on my left hand side is the Country Bear Jamboree.
32:03This is an animatronic show that obviously stars a bunch of bears that do various like
32:09country western music numbers.
32:11It was actually an opening day attraction here at Magic Kingdom in 1971 and it does
32:17show its age.
32:18A lot of the songs aren't exactly politically correct.
32:22There's one song in particular known as Blood on the Saddle that's a song about women having
32:28their period so yeah there's a lot of dirty jokes in the content and I know Disney is
32:34kind of updating the songs right now on that attraction because they're getting a lot of
32:39pushback among modern audiences.
32:43Let's face it this ride was built in the same era that Archie Bunker was on TV so we definitely
32:49had different sensibilities back then.
32:52Now you can see off to the distance on my right hand side is Tom Sawyer Island.
32:57Tom Sawyer Island is like a big giant playground for kids.
33:01I absolutely love it.
33:02I hope they don't ever take this out of the park.
33:05It is one of the original attractions here at Magic Kingdom.
33:09So in a nutshell the attraction is basically this island playground for kids and there's
33:16all these different types of tunnels to explore that are underneath like the forts and in
33:22the forts there are like these little air rifles that kids can shoot and there's some
33:27animatronic animals and obviously you know conventional playgrounds like slides and everything
33:33and there's a water wheel that you can see how it functions and it's a fun little attraction.
33:40There are like kind of obstacle courses with barrel bridges and all types of you know challenges
33:46for kids and it's not a popular attraction either so if you were looking for some peace
33:51and quiet you just get on the barge and it'll take you over to the island and it is very
33:56tranquil over there just because it's such an old attraction that a lot of people just
34:00don't bother with it anymore.
34:02I was always really impressed with the theming here in Frontierland.
34:06It's just a very scenic atmosphere and I realize it's all artificial and fake but there's
34:11something just very serene and tranquil about being in these old west frontier style towns.
34:18The next area of interest that I'm going to talk about is coming up on my left hand side.
34:22That's the Pecos Bill restaurant.
34:25If you're in the mood for some Tex-Mex style food or barbecue pork this is a good choice.
34:32Something that I'll also point out is you can actually get a hamburger here and because
34:36they have condiments for like you know building tacos for the Tex-Mex stuff.
34:40The burger bar is actually pretty good here and here's kind of an insider tip.
34:44The Walt Disney World app actually lets you order food and not only that but there's a
34:49lot of menu items that will be in the app that don't actually appear on the menu inside
34:54the physical restaurant.
34:56A great example is inside of Pecos Bills they only show a bacon cheeseburger as the only
35:02burger option but inside the app there was a cheaper burger that didn't have the bacon
35:07and cheese and I just wanted a regular burger.
35:09I wasn't in the mood for a bacon cheeseburger that particular day so I saved about two bucks
35:14and got the hamburgers exactly the way I wanted.
35:17So coming up on my left hand side you can see the scaffolding around the former Splash
35:21Mountain attraction.
35:23Disney is busy renovating that attraction to a dark ride based on the Princess and Frog
35:28animated film and obviously it makes a lot of sense to adapt a mountain ride into a film
35:34set in New Orleans because New Orleans is known for all those vast mountain ranges and
35:39white water rafting.
35:40As I walk to the back of the Frontierland section of the park you're going to notice
35:45that the entrance ramp for the barges that take you over to Tom Sawyer Island are currently
35:50on my right hand side and just past this future attraction that's going to be known
35:54as Tiana's Bayou Adventure you'll see a staircase and that's going to lead you up to the train
36:00station located here in Frontierland and I know I've talked about this already but I
36:05can't emphasize this enough the steam train is kind of like a rite of passage if you come
36:09to Magic Kingdom and doing the full loop really is a great experience and there's some great
36:14narration and some scenery in certain sections.
36:19Frontierland is definitely the best portion of the train ride there are several show scenes
36:23with animatronics and you wouldn't expect that outside but you know that's a Disney
36:27touch they definitely have some things going on on the train ride you also get an excellent
36:32like bird's eye view of Thunder Mountain from the train trestle.
36:36Speaking of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad this is one of my favorite roller coasters
36:40of all time it was the very first roller coaster I ever rode so obviously there's some nostalgia
36:46and bias showing right now but it's a great ride I still think it's one of the best executed
36:53themed roller coasters ever made even though it was developed way back in 1977 and built
36:59in 1980 it still holds up really well.
37:02A fun piece of trivia for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad too is that many doctors will actually
37:07recommend that their patients that have gall stones go for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain
37:13because it tends to shake them loose in the little bunny hop section so if you're struggling
37:18with your gallbladder Big Thunder Mountain definitely has some medicinal purposes besides
37:22enjoying a fun roller coaster.
37:24Big Thunder Mountain really did pioneer the runaway mine train roller coaster it's a great
37:29ride there's three lift hills the drops are pretty minor so like little kids won't be
37:35freaked out by it.
37:36It tops out at only 28 miles an hour but it's still a hell of a lot of fun so I highly recommend
37:40it.
37:41So I once again have double backed and now this time I'm heading south and I'm gonna
37:46take you on a tour of the last major section of Magic Kingdom which is known as Adventureland.
37:51Adventureland definitely has a lot of those signature classic Disney dark rides for example
37:56they've got the Pirates of the Caribbean, they've got the Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room
38:03all the really well known classic Disney attractions really are located in Adventureland so I always
38:09had a great time when I was a kid coming to Adventureland this was probably my favorite
38:14section of the park.
38:15The other nice part about Adventureland is its proximity to Frontierland like I said
38:20this place had Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain so Magic Kingdom was always one of
38:25my favorite theme parks just because all my favorite thrill rides and dark rides were
38:30kind of joined together in very close proximity.
38:33One of the things that I'll point out to people who have never been to Walt Disney World is
38:38Magic Kingdom can't be really seen in its entirety in a single day.
38:42There's just too many rides and shows and attractions so if you're planning to see everything
38:47you really kind of need to allot two to three days if you are going to get the full experience.
38:54So coming up here on my right hand side now is the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean.
38:59What's interesting about the Disney parks is when they first built them they were trying
39:03to make the Florida park distinct from the California park so they did not build a Pirates
39:08of the Caribbean here and there was a huge backlash because people were ticked.
39:13So Disney quickly scrambled and built a version of the Pirates of the Caribbean dark ride
39:17here at Magic Kingdom and I believe this one opened in 1974 three years after the park
39:23itself debuted and while this version isn't as good as the original in Disneyland it's
39:28still pretty good.
39:29I mean I do like the one in California a little better because it actually has two drops for
39:34the boat ride and this one only has one.
39:38It was mostly a logistical thing why the one in California has the two drops.
39:42It had to clear the railroad tracks because California was a much smaller footprint park
39:47so they had to do a lot of creative things just to squeeze all the attractions into like
39:53a 60 acre plot of land.
39:55Now for someone like me who's been to both the California and Florida Disney parks one
40:00of the things you'll notice about Magic Kingdom is it's roughly twice the size of the California
40:06version.
40:07Magic Kingdom sits on about 110 acres while Disneyland was built on roughly 65 acres.
40:13As a result when somebody grew up with the Florida parks and then goes over and sees
40:17the California Disneyland everything feels very claustrophobic and tightly packed in
40:23because it is.
40:24I mean it's roughly half the size of it although with the recent Galaxy's Edge expansion Disneyland
40:30now sits at about 80 acres so it is kind of catching up with Magic Kingdom but Magic Kingdom
40:35still remains the larger park.
40:37So this big tiki hut that I'm kind of walking to up on my left hand side that's the home
40:43of the Enchanted Tiki Room.
40:45For those of you who don't know this is an animatronic show where they actually have
40:49like birds singing and doing like a musical review and it's a fun little concert.
40:54I think the show runs about 15-20 minutes something like that and it's typical classic
41:01Disney kind of goofball but you know the music's pretty good and you know they even sold the
41:07soundtrack on records for a while.
41:09I remember seeing my folks had the Enchanted Tiki Room soundtrack on vinyl back in the
41:15day so it was pretty popular when it first opened.
41:19Now it's usually a walk-on kind of attraction so it's something I recommend because there's
41:23very rarely a wait nowadays.
41:26Now on my right hand side is the Aladdin Magic Carpet Ride.
41:30I'm not really a fan of this because it's just another one of these cloned rides that
41:35it's the exact same ride mechanism is the two Dumbo rides as well as the Astro Orbiter
41:41and we really don't need four of the exact same ride but I realize why Disney put it
41:46in here because it's cheap and it gobbles up crowds on really busy days.
41:50I just don't understand why people wait you know 45 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes for
41:54this thing because let's face it it's just a carny ride.
41:57So the next major attractions coming up is on my right hand side it's the Swiss Family
42:01Robinson Treehouse.
42:02This is a fun little attraction although you kind of have to be able to handle a lot of
42:07stairs because you basically go up this treehouse and then come down the other side and it's
42:12based on a movie that almost nobody's has ever seen.
42:15I'm an old timer you know I grew up as a child of the 70s so I remember the Swiss Family
42:21Robinson movie.
42:22I think that movie came out in like 1963.
42:25Teachers had a tendency to not work a lot when I was going through school and they would
42:30often just show an entire movie instead of teaching and a lot of them were Disney films
42:34and Swiss Family Robinson was definitely part of that rotation.
42:39That's the only reason I know about the film.
42:41I don't think anybody under the age of 40 has ever heard of it so I'd imagine it'll
42:46probably be replaced in the next five or ten years.
42:49So now I'm curving around to show you the entrance of the Jungle Cruise.
42:53Now the Jungle Cruise is a great little ride.
42:55What's fun about that one is every boat has a boat captain you know a cast member and
43:02they all have different jokes so the ride does change every time you go.
43:06This was what made the old Jaws ride at Universal Studios great too is most of the boat captains
43:12come up with their own material and kind of improvise and wing it and it's just a really
43:17fun experience you know interacting with cast members who are having a hell of a lot of
43:20fun and you know the entire audience on the boat gets into it too and there's usually
43:25some fun banter between the cast members and the guests so I highly recommend the Jungle
43:31Cruise even though that one usually has a really long wait.
43:34So right now on my right hand side I'm walking up towards the actual entrance to the Swiss
43:39Family Robinson Treehouse.
43:41Now across from the treehouse on the left hand side is the Sunshine Tree Terrace restaurant.
43:48What's funny about Disney World is a lot of people talk about their desserts.
43:53Let's face it when you're on vacation it's always fun to have a great little dessert
43:56and the California Park is actually renowned for having amazing churros.
44:01And while the meals at the Sunshine Tree Terrace are pretty good almost everyone I
44:05know always talks about the citrus swirls on the dessert menu instead and I get it they
44:10are really good, very tasty.
44:13Among the Disney fanatics too they have kind of like almost a bitter rivalry between the
44:19citrus swirls and the Dole Whip because those are the two really popular dessert options
44:24here at Magic Kingdom.
44:26The nice part about Adventureland is both of those desserts are available here if you
44:30want to get the Dole Whip instead just go to Aloha Isle.
44:34As I exit Adventureland you're going to notice a very large building on my right hand side
44:40with glass atriums.
44:42That's the Crystal Palace restaurant.
44:44That's a very popular place to go with families because all the meals they have a character
44:48meet and greet so whatever time of day whether you're eating breakfast, lunch or dinner you'll
44:53be able to eat those meals with characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe.
44:58Now the food prices are pretty expensive.
45:01It's mostly set up like a buffet so it's going to be about $30 to $40 a meal per person but
45:08you're paying for that basic live entertainment having those cast members dressed up as Winnie
45:13the Pooh and Tigger so that's why it costs more.
45:17From the video you can probably tell that the crowds are starting to pick up.
45:20When I was filming this it was I think around noon 1pm something like that and that's really
45:26prime time for Magic Kingdom.
45:29You'll notice later in the video when I'm walking towards Cinderella's Castle there's
45:32a live stage show taking place.
45:35I'm honestly not a huge fan of the midday shows.
45:38They're okay.
45:39I mean if you want to see a song and a dance then I guess it's good but I usually only
45:43come to the castle for the night time shows with the fireworks.
45:47Magic Kingdom really has an amazing fireworks show.
45:50The name of the current show at the time of filming is Happily Ever After and what's great
45:55about that fireworks show is they actually project scenes from famous classic Disney
46:01movies like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid and all those types of things.
46:05They have projection onto the castle itself.
46:09So it's just a really cool well thought out show and I highly recommend it.
46:13Another tip that I'll point out right now is when the parades or these big live stage
46:18shows are taking place the wait times on the rides drop dramatically.
46:23It makes sense if you think about it.
46:25If everyone's standing out here looking at the parade then they're not standing in line
46:28for Space Mountain or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
46:31So I'll often pay attention to the schedule for the parades and for the rides that I don't
46:36have Genie for and I have to use the standby line.
46:40I'll sync those experiences up with the parade schedule.
46:43That way I can maximize how many rides I get in every day at the park.
46:46One of the things that you'll probably notice too about when the parades take place is they
46:52put up those temporary banisters and ropes and you will get kind of trapped into certain
46:58sections of the park because when the parade is actually taking place you can't cross over
47:02the street obviously because that's where the cast members and the parade floats are
47:07kind of driving past.
47:09The parade vehicles themselves enter the Magic Kingdom using a driveway near Splash Mountain.
47:14So if you're trying to access Thunder Mountain or leave Thunder Mountain the traffic patterns
47:18can be very complicated and sometimes you'll just have to wait out the parade because the
47:23crowds are just too thick.
47:25Generally if I'm not in the mood to deal with the crowds for the parades I'll hang out over
47:30in Tomorrowland because the parade doesn't come through there.
47:33If you want to see the parade then you should probably try to find a nice vantage point
47:36either in Frontierland, Liberty Square, or Main Street because that's the route the parades
47:42take.
47:43Well, this pretty much wraps up my walking tour of the Walt Disney World theme park located
47:47here in Orlando, Florida.
47:48I just want to thank you for joining me for today's video.