Tour of the Magic Kingdom - Part 8 (Round Up)

Hi Disney friends,

I hope you have found the quick tour around the Magic Kingdom informative and entertaining. I just wanted to leave you with a few quick thoughts/insights.

I know I mentioned this earlier, but the imagineers used forced perspective in many areas of the park. Forced perspective is an optical illusion in which areas near the top of a piece of artwork/building are made intentionally smaller. This makes the object appear taller. This technique is found on Main Street USA, Cinderalla's castle, and Beast's Castle at the Be Our Guest Restaurant.

Beast's Castle

One of the things that Walt Disney found annoying when Disneyland was built was seeing characters from one land in another land. He felt it undermined the theming of the particular part of the park guests were in. Therefore, 2 things were incorporated in the design of Walt Disney World.

First, it is very difficult to see any of the lands from other lands. The areas between the different lands tend to be tall. Also, to keep from seeing cast members dressed inappropriately for the themed area, Walt Disney World is actually on a "raised" area. Under the Magic Kingdom is a series of utilidors (utility corridors) where cast members can move from one part of the park to another without being seen. These utilidors also allow for the movement of items around the park also.

Some of the more popular rides (hard to get fastpasses or long wait times) are Space Mountain, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. That does not mean other rides will not have long wait times, but these rides just seem to be the most sought after rides.

In terms of dining options, Cinderella's Royal Table, Be Our Guest, and Crystal Palace are definitely locations that you should take advantage of Advanced Dining Reservations very close to the 180 day mark.

Lastly, you do need to take in Happily Ever After--the nighttime fireworks show. People start lining up about 1 hour before the show, but it is well worth it. The technique of using Cinderella's Castle as a "screen" where some of the most iconic characters from Disney animated films appear (along with fireworks) is truly and incredible experience.

Cinderella's Castle at Night

If you need any help booking a Disney vacation, please let me know by emailing me at brian.herndon@mousemadesimple.com.