Disney World in a Day: An Easy Travel Guide to All Four Parks and More

By Jake LeuVoy

For decades, Disney World has treated people from all over the world to the adventures of a lifetime. Now those same experiences can be yours in the pages of this guide and the best part is, it is short enough that you can read it on the go. Descriptions of attractions, shopping, places to dine and much more are all yours in this short yet informal guide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483523057

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Part 1: Theme Parks and Attractions

Magic Kingdom

Open 7 days a week from 9am to 10pm. Hours subject to change.

Walt Disney believed that both adults and children; could have fun together in the same place under the right conditions and atmosphere. His vision was realized with the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California on July 17th, 1955. With a similar idea in mind for the Florida Project as Walt called it, but on a much larger scale than Disneyland, was to be the Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Florida. Walt passed away before he could see his dream come true. As Walt would have wanted, the project moved forward and in October of 1971, Magic Kingdom opened its gates to guests around the world in an inauguration ceremony by Walt's older brother, Roy Disney. Roy described the Magic Kingdom as a place where the young at heart of all ages can laugh, play and learn together.

That speech still rings true to this day with around 17 million people visiting this park annually. That's many of your fellow travelers that you have to contend with (depending on the time of year you go). In this section, as well as the other sections of Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom theme parks, I will not only give you descriptions of each attraction, show and parade but I will also give you an estimated wait time for each attraction. As I mentioned during the peak seasons (Christmas and Spring Break being the busiest), wait times for rides will be very long, with many of the popular ones exceeding two hours. However the lines during the non-peak seasons are far more manageable and compare more closely with the attraction wait time estimates given in this guide.

Make sure you always view the guidelines for each attraction.

Each attraction will have height requirements which are used for safety concerns found near the entrance, as well as conditions that people may have such as motion sickness that may be upset by riding certain rides. If you have children that do not match up to the height measurement at the entrance, make sure you save that attraction for a Disney World trip later on down the road.

Ticket and Transportation Center

With most theme parks, guests buy their tickets right at the entrance and walk right in from there. Magic Kingdom is certainly not your average theme park. Guests park at the Ticket and Transportation Center parking lot (which is actually larger than all of Disneyland in California). There are different sections of the parking lots which have recently been divided into two halves: Disney Heroes and Villains. The Heroes half includes sections such as Simba (Lion King), Peter Pan and Aladdin, while the Villains section consists of characters like Zurg (Toy Story 2), Jafar (Aladdin) and Captain Hook. There will be attendants out in the parking lot all day to show you where to park your vehicle. An easy way to remember where you are parked is to look at the signs in your section with the section's character drawn on it. At the end of each parking row there will be a number painted on the ground.

Make note of which character section, as well as which row you are in and type it into your mobile phone if you have one, write it on a piece of paper or take a picture of it with your camera as a reminder. All four Disney World parks have tram systems, designed to transport guests to and from the parking lot to the main entrance. Unless you are parked at the front section, you will need to use the tram at Magic Kingdom, as the parking lot is quite large as mentioned earlier. Once you board the tram, it will take you to the Ticket and Transportation Center where you purchase your tickets. However you are not at the park yet, as the actual park entrance is still a mile and a half away. There are two ways to get there, either to ride the monorail or catch a ferry. If you wish to enjoy a slower, relaxing ride to the Magic Kingdom gate, than hopping onto one of the Staten Island type ferries is the best way to get across the Seven Seas lagoon which separates the T & T Center from the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. However, most find that the best way to reach the gate is by taking the Highway in the Sky monorail. For those who have never been to a Disney theme park, the monorail is a sort of train that runs above the ground on an elevated electrical system. Most are always in a hurry to reach the gate and the monorail is the faster of the two options, usually because the ferries take longer to dock and load the passengers. Guests use it to transport themselves, not just between the gates of the Magic Kingdom and the Ticket/Transportation Center, but also to the Epcot theme park in a matter of minutes, without having to drive their cars back and forth.

Main Street USA

Once you enter the MK gates and pass underneath the Town Square train station, you are immediately swept up in to the hustle and bustle of Main Street USA. Inspired by the architecture of New England towns and the style of the Midwest where Disney grew up, Main Street USA is the first of six lands of which the Magic Kingdom is made of.

While it is perfectly normal to want to visit the first thing your party sees when you enter a theme park, it is wiser to save this area till the end of the day as you have much to do and there are not any attractions in this immediate area. There are however a few places of interest for when you and your family would like to take a break from the rides and do a little shopping or maybe see a familiar face.

Located to your right is Exposition Hall. Inside you will find the character that is recognized worldwide and the one that started it all for Walt Disney: Mickey Mouse. You may also get a chance to meet with Minnie as well, as she stops by at times. Guests also get a chance to meet with a few of the Disney princesses. While it is unclear which princesses will be there on certain days, guests may get a chance to meet with perhaps Cinderella, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty or Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

What sets this character location apart from others is the fact that it provides guests with a fast pass option to see the characters. Just as many attractions of the Disney World parks provide guests with fast passes to return to the ride at a later time to get in with little to no wait time, this meet n' greet location provides guests with fast passes for the same concept. If you do not wish to wait in line, grab a fast pass and come back at a later time and you will be able to head towards the front of the line.

To the left of the entrance on Main Street, is the Guest Relations building, which every park has at its respective entrances. Here you can get answers to any questions that you may have, rent wheelchairs/strollers and if you are celebrating a special occasion, don't forget to get your commemorative buttons at the cart outside the door. Disney has buttons for just about every occasion from family reunions to birthdays.

If you or your little ones have a sweet tooth, be sure to stop by the Main Street Confectionery. Here everything from chocolate-covered marshmallows to cotton candy is sold but what makes this shop so delightfully sweet is because you also have a chance to watch as the confectionery workers of Magic Kingdom prepare these treats fresh daily. This park sells the most Disney merchandise at Disney World and the biggest store at Magic Kingdom is located on the left side of Main Street USA at the Main Street Emporium. Anything that has to do with Disney, no matter what you are looking for, this store will have it. The store is also divided into sections, which allows the shopper to more easily browse for what they are looking for.

The store extends to Casey's Corner, a quick service restaurant, behind which Disney athletic gear is sold such as golf t-shirts and the middle section of the Emporium will appeal more to the princess inside every little girl with dresses, dolls, and castle doll houses.

Before you enter Town Square, make sure you pick up a park map and a parade/show times sheet which are usually located underneath the archway that you pass through as you enter the park. You can also pick them up at Guest Relations or from an attendant. You will want to do this with every Disney World park you enter as the map will not only help you with getting around more easily, but will also give you brief descriptions of attractions and hot spots. The parade/show times sheet will tell you when each show and parade occurs so you may budget your time to have a chance to visit them all.

Tomorrowland

As you reach the end of Main Street, the icon of the Magic Kingdom, Cinderella Castle, towers in front of you. An awe inspiring sight since the park's inception in 1971, this landmark of Disney is truly something right out of our dreams and at 189 feet tall, is very hard to miss.

From here you have two directions in which you can walk. The best way to experience everything Magic Kingdom has to offer is to go from land to land in a clockwise or counterclockwise circle once you exit Main Street. To the left of the castle across a bridge is Adventureland and to the right is Tomorrowland. For the purposes of this guide we will start with the latter.

I remember the science-fiction movies of when I was growing up such as Back to the Future 2 and later with The Fifth Element. Both featured looks into the world's future with every household appliance being automatic and the introduction of flying automobiles. While it seems that we are no closer to having flying cars this far into the 21st century, Tomorrowland offers guests a look at the futuristic progress of our society, which brings me to the first featured attraction.

Carousel of Progress

No Fast Pass Option Available

Average Wait Time: 5 minutes

This is one attraction that is often overlooked. The Carousel of Progress was a favorite of Walt's as he loved the idea of progress and was an instant hit at the 1964-65 World's Fair. Placed on a rotating indoor stage and through the use of Audio-Animatronics, the progress of energy, convenient household appliances and the transformation of the American way of life throughout the 20th century, is seen through the eyes of an average blue collar family.

Although not exactly a hit with young children, most adults will find this show interesting as they look back on what was used in their childhood homes and in their parent's homes before them. You may recognize the voice of the father who is also the narrator of the attraction. It is the voice of late writer/actor Jean Shepherd

, best known as the voice of Adult Ralphie and the narrator in the holiday classic, A Christmas Story.

Space Mountain

Fast Pass Option Available

Average Wait Time: 20-30 minutes (Slow Season), 60 minutes+ (Peak Season)

As children grow up, they all remember the number one profession amongst many of them was to be an astronaut when they grew up. For all those wishing to live that dream, I recommend Space Mountain. While this attraction originally opened at Magic Kingdom in 1975, it has recently undergone refurbishments over the last couple of years, namely in the standby line and exit area. Now for those waiting patiently in the standby line, have the opportunity to keep entertained with the recently installed space-themed video games, some of which draw comparisons to the Asteroids arcade game of 1980's.

Projected on large plasma screens, these games are controlled by a simple color-coded button system located on the guard rails in front of