| Did you know: The Walt Disney World Resort is located on a 30,000-acre site (46 square miles) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Magic Kingdom: 107 acres / Epcot: 300 acres / Disney-MGM Studios: 54 acres / Animal Kingdom: 600 acres Walt Disney World Resort Covering 122 square kilometres (47 square miles), Walt Disney World is about the size of the city of Ottawa! Of the more than 12,140 hectares (30,000 acres) total Resort size, less than one-fourth has been developed. Fully one quarter has been designated as a wilderness preserve. It takes approximately 50,000 people to create the magic here at the vacation kingdom. Not surprisingly, Walt Disney World is the largest employer in Central Florida. The money gathered throughout the year in all our fountains at Walt Disney World is awarded to local non-profit organizations. Epcot Epcot's Spaceship Earth weighs over 7 million kilograms (16 million pounds) -- equal in weight to 158 million golf balls. And it can be spotted by aircraft flying along the Eastern coast of Florida. If you're enjoying fresh vegetables at the Garden Grill, Sunshine Season Food Fair, or Coral Reef restaurants, chances are they were grown right in the Theme Park. Last year, more than 27,000 kilograms (30 tons) of fruits and veggies were harvested from The Land pavilion's greenhouses. At Rose and Crown Dining Room and Pub in World Showcase (United Kingdom), a specially designed ale warmer can heat your Guinness to 13°C (55°F), the temperature favoured by the Irish. The Canada pavilion features, among other things, a replica of the Chateau Laurier of Ottawa, as well as the famous Butchart Gardens of Victoria, British Columbia. More than 7,925 metres (26,000 feet) of lights outline the World Showcase pavilions -- a string long enough to stretch across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge more than six times. Disney-MGM Studios Fascinating facts about Fantasmic! Night-time extravaganza. To create a surface on which animation can be projected, water screens pump 9,085 litres (2,400 gallons) of water into the air every minute...and if called upon, could fill the 1,892-cubic-metres (500,000-gallon) Earffel Tower in less than 3 hours. In the grand finale of Fantasmic!, 26 Disney Characters cruise across the moat aboard a replica of the Steamboat Willie. At 24 metres (80 feet) long, it's bigger than Christopher Columbus' Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Each "limo" at Rock 'n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith launches from 0-97 km/hour (0-60 mph) in 2.8 blurring seconds -- similar to the feeling of sitting atop a supersonic F-14 Tomcat as it blasts off the deck of an aircraft carrier. At 60 metres (199 feet) tall, "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" is the highest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort. Disney's Animal Kingdom There are over 200 species of animals -- mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects -- representing 1,000 animals; and more than four million trees, plants, shrubs, vines, grasses and ferns at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Twenty-two species found throughout Disney's Animal Kingdom are part of the American Zoological Association's Species Survival Plan. In all, there are 29 endangered species found at the Park. Over 325 animals are carved on the Tree of Life and over 100,000 leaves were individually placed on the branches. Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park exhibits the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found. Disney Hotels It would take nearly 9.5 million tennis balls to fill one of the tennis ball cans at Centre Court Hotel in Disney's All-Star Sports Resort. That's enough to stretch from Walt Disney World Resort to Key West, which is the last island in the Florida Keys archipelago, a 3-hour drive from Miami. The musical staff notes that appear across the registration desk at Disney's Port Orleans Resort spell out the first verse of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Stormalong Bay, the swimming area at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, holds 2,839 cubic metres (750,000 gallons) of water, making it the largest sand-bottom pool in the world. The massive, eight storey-high stone fireplace in Disney's Wilderness Lodge was built using the same stone colourizations as the Grand Canyon. The mosaic mural in the fourth-floor lobby of Disney's Contemporary Resort was created in 1971 with 1,800 pieces of 0.09-square metre (one square-foot) tiles and took eighteen months to construct. Look closely, there's a five-legged goat facing the monorail track. The Walt Disney World Resort is located on a 30,000-acre site (46 square miles) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Magic Kingdom: 107 acres /Epcot: 300 acres / Disney-MGM Studios: 54 acres / Animal Kingdom: 600 acres · Walt Disney World Resort operates 4 theme parks with 102 attractions. · 247 food & beverage locations. · 16 Resort properties. · Approximately 48,000 Cast Member work at the Walt Disney World Resort in over 2,800 different year-round, full & part-time jobs. · As many as 13,000 additional temporary Cast Members work during peak summer months & holiday periods. · Of the three theme parks, the Magic Kingdom has the highest number of Cast Members with approximately 6,000 working year-round. History was made on Sept. 15,1999. Disney history was made due to Hurricane Floyd. The Walt Disney World theme parks were forced to close at 2 pm on Sept. 15 and remained closed thru Sept. 16. This marked the first time in it's 28 year history that the WDW parks were closed! The Magic Kingdom can hold 100,000 people. When walking from the Canada Pavilion to the Mexico Pavilion in World Showcase, you cover 1 1/2 miles! Walt Disney World's Space Mountain opened on January 15, 1975, and was the first computer-controlled thrill ride! In addition, the side-by-side tracks were one of the first computer-aided designs. Did you know that Space Mountain is more than 180 feet high, 300 feet in diameter and took more than two years to build? RCA was the first official sponsor of Space Mountain from 1975 until 1993, at which time Federal Express became the official sponsor. During the 2.5-minute ride your space rocket travels up to 28 miles per hour! Lillian Disney christened the Empress Lilly on May 1, 1977! It closed for an extensive rehab in 1995 and then reopened May 10th, 1996 as Fulton's Crab House! July 1987: Total attendance topped 250 million! The Maelstrom opened to guests on July 5, 1988. Muppet Vision 3D opened at the Disney-MGM Studios, May 16, 1991. Port Orleans Resort (now the Port Orleans French Quarter) opened May 17, 1991. July 1995: Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings Pavilion opened. Boardwalk Inn & Villas opened on June 30, 1996. July 30, 1998: Disney Cruise Line launched first ship, the Disney Magic. Covering 47 square miles, Walt Disney World is about the size of San Francisco or two Manhattan islands. Of the more than 30,000 acres, less than one-fourth has been developed with another quarter designated as a wilderness preserve. More than 46 million Cokes are consumed each year at Walt Disney World Resort. That goes with 7 million hamburgers, 5 million hot dogs, 5 million pounds of French fries and 265,000 pounds of popcorn. Walt Disney World is home to Florida's two highest "mountains!" In the Magic Kingdom, Big Thunder Mountain rises 197 feet above Frontierland. Space Mountain in Tomorrowland is 180 feet tall. The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air -- within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth. If all of the shooters were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air. Stormalong Bay, Disney's Beach Club Resort swimming area, holds 750,000 gallons of water, making it the largest sand-bottom pool in the world. |