The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, or simply abbreviated WDW, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly 25,000 acres, of which half has been used. The resort comprises four theme parks, two water parks, 31 themed resort hotels, nine non-Disney hotels, several golf courses, a camping resort, and other entertainment venues, including the outdoor shopping center Disney Springs.
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels, and a shopping, dining, and entertainment district known as Downtown Disney.
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Bright, and Michael Eisner, the park opened on May 1, 1989, as the Disney–MGM Studios (Theme) Park, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), the park is dedicated to the imagined worlds from film, television, music, and theatre, drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's three major business segments and a division of that company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, just outside of Orlando.
The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 3-foot narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction located within the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, in the United States. Its route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length and encircles most of the park, with train stations in three different park areas. The rail line, constructed by WED Enterprises, operates with four historic steam locomotives originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's main line loop. On a typical day, the railroad has two trains in operation; on busy days, it has three trains.
Jumpin' Jellyfish is a Paratower, a parachute jump–style ride at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California in the US and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan.
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party also known as “MVMCP”, is an event hosted at Disney's Magic Kingdom on select nights throughout November and December leading up to Christmas. MVMCP features holiday entertainment such as: a parade, dance parties, character meet-and-greets, and complimentary treat stations. The event runs from 7:00 pm to midnight, but party guests may enter beginning at 4:00 pm. To enter Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, you will be required to purchase a separate ticket from the general admission ticket counter.
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is a resort hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort that opened on August 1, 1997. The resort is located in the Animal Kingdom Resort Area. Its theme is American colonial Spanish and southwestern American. This hotel is categorized as a 'moderate' resort. This was Walt Disney World's first attempt at a 'moderate' resort with a convention center. It is the only moderate level Disney resort with suites, a cafeteria-style restaurant, a formal dinner restaurant, a gift shop, an arcade, one large pool, three quiet pools, a salon, fitness center, and a dance club. The resort is owned and operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
The Morocco Pavilion is a Moroccan-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. It was the first expansion pavilion to be added to World Showcase, opening on September 7, 1984.
Ariel's Grotto is a meet-and-greet area at several Disney parks, as well as a former restaurant in Disney California Adventure based on Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid.
Swiss Family Treehouse is a walk-through attraction featured at several Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, located at Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park in Disneyland Paris. The walk-through attraction is centered on a giant treehouse where everyone can hear and see various scenes based on the 1960 Disney film Swiss Family Robinson.
Disney PhotoPass is a professional photography service that began on December 4, 2004 that is offered at theme parks, water parks, and resorts of the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort. The service includes digital photo downloads, print services, private photography sessions and offers custom-ordered products, such as photo albums, mugs and phone covers, through a third-party company.
The Tahitian Terrace was a Polynesian themed restaurant at Disneyland. The restaurant opened in June 1962, located just inside the Adventureland gates. It was Disneyland's first dinner theater, with entertainment provided by the Polynesian Revue, a music-and-dance show featuring dance troupe the Royal Tahitians, hula dancers and a fire walker. The restaurant was originally sponsored by Stouffer's frozen food; in the 1980s, Kikkoman was the sponsor.
The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant is a theme restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios, one of the four main theme parks at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. Established in May 1991, the restaurant is modeled after a 1950s drive-in theater. Walt Disney Imagineering designed the booths to resemble convertibles of the period, and some servers act as carhops while wearing roller skates. While eating, guests watch a large projection screen displaying clips of 1950s and 1960s films as Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano is an Italian-American restaurant in the Grand Avenue area at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Located near Muppet*Vision 3D and Star Tours, the restaurant specializes in Italian cuisine, serving such dishes as ossobuco, wood-fired flatbread pizza, and grilled salmon and sausage grinders. A Fantasmic! dinner package is available that grants restaurant guests quicker access to this show. This package is also offered at two other restaurants in the park: the Hollywood Brown Derby and Hollywood & Vine. Ron Douglas included the recipe for Mama Melrose's cappuccino crème brûlée in his cookbook America's Most Wanted Recipes: Just Desserts.
The 50's Prime Time Café is a restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios, one of the four main theme parks at Walt Disney World. The restaurant replicates the kitsch of a 1950s diner. The waitresses dress similarly to Leave It to Beaver character June Cleaver, and each acts as though she is the mother of the guests she is serving, to the point of scolding and giving (mild) discipline to the patrons if they are "misbehaving". While eating, guests watch 1950s television shows such as Leave It to Beaver and Topper on black-and-white televisions.
The Disney Dining Plan is a prepaid meal package that guests staying at Walt Disney World hotels can purchase to receive discounts of up to 30% on food in the complex. It was first introduced in 2005 and has developed in complexity over time, so there are now many different plan forms. The Disney Dining Plan allows guests to eat at park restaurants without needing to have cash on their persons. The plan does now include alcoholic beverages but not gratuities. More than 100 Walt Disney World restaurants accept the plan. The plan is particularly cost-effective for families who intend to eat many meals at sit-down restaurants or character dining restaurants. However, to get the most value when using the plan, families must be mindful when using their Dining Plan Credits otherwise they may risk spending more than if they ordered the same food but paid out of pocket.
Hollywood & Vine is a restaurant located next to the 50's Prime Time Café in Disney's Hollywood Studios, one of the four main theme parks at Walt Disney World. This restaurant is one of only five restaurants in park that recommend or require advance reservations, the others being the Hollywood Brown Derby, Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano, the 50's Prime Time Café, and the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. Both beer and wine are served at Hollywood & Vine. Hollywood & Vine is one of three restaurants in the park that offer early entry into the show Fantasmic! Prior to 1998, the restaurant was called Hollywood & Vine Cafeteria; "of the Stars" was added to the name that year in recognition of the restaurant's newly instituted star-themed character meals. In 2003, there were twenty character meals offered at Walt Disney World, during which actors portraying various Disney characters would interact with guests while they ate at the parks' restaurants, and Disney was in the process of increasing the presence of costumed characters in the parks at the time. Nonetheless, Minnie Mouse character meals held at Hollywood & Vine were discontinued that year, and Robert Johnson of the Orlando Sentinel partially attributed this cancellation to competition from the Sci-Fi Dine-In, which he said "almost always has a line of customers waiting." Hollywood & Vine had resumed its Minnie Mouse character meals by 2005. By 2012, the character meals had been changed to be Playhouse Disney-themed. By 2015, the Playhouse Disney characters had been switched out for Disney Junior characters. During Star Wars Weekends, the restaurant offers Jedi Mickey's Star Wars Dine, a character meal with Star Wars-themed decorations, music, and food.
The Coral Reef Restaurant is a themed seafood restaurant in The Seas Pavilion on the western side of Future World at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, that opened with the pavilion on January 15, 1986. One entire wall of the restaurant consists of a glass window that is eight inches thick and that provides a view into an aquarium. While they eat, restaurant guests are able to watch tarpons, sharks, sea turtles, stingrays, groupers, and sometimes scuba divers in the six-million-gallon aquarium. Artist Kim Minichiello painted the underwater scene that appears on the restaurant's menu covers. Ron Douglas's cookbook America's Most Wanted Recipes: Just Desserts includes two dishes from the Coral Reef Restaurant: the Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse and the Chocolate Wave Cake.
Space 220 Restaurant is a theme restaurant at Epcot, one of the four main parks at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. Run by the Patina Restaurant Group, it was established on September 20, 2021, as a space-themed restaurant. It is modeled after a space station and has simulated daytime and nighttime views of the Earth inside the dining area. Guests are brought into the dining area through a simulated journey 220 miles up to Centauri Space Station using a space elevator known as the Stellarvator.
