According to Jennifer Baker (2011), the social media manager for Walt Disney World, Walt Disney began buying property in the swamp lands of central Florida in the 1960s, finally revealing his plan for Walt Disney World in 1965. Walt Disney World opened in October 25, 1971, featuring the Magic Kingdom and a few classic attractions, like the Tea Cups and the Haunted Mansion. (Jacques, Kepos, 2013). The Magic Kingdom was/is a picture perfect vision of Disneyland in California with a few changes, such as the castle being larger. Just eleven years later after the opening of the Magic Kingdom, a new theme park opened, Epcot. Epcot is the acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Epcot was created by Walt before his death in 1966. His brother, Roy Disney, made it his own personal goal to see Epcot was built just the way Walt wanted it. Epcot created a futuristic world that not only excited guest, but also educated them. Another thing Walt believed was important was educating people about other countries and cultural. Therefore, the other half of Epcot, the world showcase lagoon, features the most well-known countries of today. This includes Germany, Mexico, Italy, Japan, China, Canada, England, France, Morocco, and Norway with the middle, and most grand looking country, being the United States of America. Some people like Carl Hiaasen(1998) consider the countries as "fake and just picture perfect copies" (page 61). and Seven years after Epcot opened, MGM Studios, now Hollywood Studios, opened in 1989. With having a theme park about fantasy and futuristic possibilities, the company believed it was time to feature another park, this one focusing on movie productions. MGM Studios (company) created a partnership with Walt Disney World to create a theme park that featured some of the most well-known movies and movie actors/actresses of today (Walt Disney Company, 2014). Lastly, in 1995, Walt Disney World created their last theme park giving guest a sense of adventure. This park was the Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom was/is the largest theme park out of the four parks Walt Disney World has. The size of Animal Kingdom is said to hold all three other theme parks within the perimeters of the park. Each theme park offers attractions for all ages. Throughout the theme parks, Walt Disney World cares about the safety of their guests. Not only does Walt Disney World provide appropriate ride heights for children, they also provide safety guidelines in English and Spanish to educate their guest on how to behave on the rides and what possible health issues can harm a guest while riding on a ride.
Technology
The First Animatronic
Created in the 1960s by Walt Disney himself, this animatronic Abraham Lincoln was the first animatronic to be created. Marcio Moreira, a blogger on YouTube, found a video of Walt Disney talking about his invention. The video, uploaded in 2011, features Walt stating, "(he) had a personal admiration for Abraham Lincoln... (they) wanted to bring to the people today the inspiring words of the man who held this nation together during its moment of crisis, the Civil War" (Moreira). Walt debuted his animatronic Abe Lincoln at the 1964/1965 New York World's fair. With the success of his first animatronic, Walt decided to make several hundreds more, thus creating classic attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight, and several other attractions in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. (Image 23)
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
With the advancements in technology Walt Disney World has made, animatronics appear almost life-like. The most recent attraction created by Walt Disney World is the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The ride consists of the seven beloved dwarfs from the classic film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The dwarf animatronic figures look identical to how they appear in the movie, not to mention they almost appear life-like. These are the first animatronics created with computer screen heads, allowing them to blink, sneeze, sing, smile, and laugh. Also for this attraction, Walt Disney World created the first roller coaster cars that can rock side to side. They created the rocking coaster cars to offer a new riding experience and to stimulate the rocking of a mine car. (Image 24)
Magic BandsWalt Disney World's largest technology project came down to designing a microchip that could fit into a watch/ wrist band. The microchip is part of, as Boren states, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) (2012). The RFID system was created by Walt Disney World to allow an easier time for guest. The magic band allows guests to access Walt Disney World hotel rooms, theme parks, and fastpass+ passes. Fastpass+ allows guests to book a fastpass for any attraction ahead of time. A fastpass is a way to control crowds at the popular attractions. Paul Schultz (2014), a writer for the New York Daily Times, calls the magic bands extremely convenient have greatly improved the experience had at the theme parks (Schultz). Anthony Murphy (2013) had a different experience with the magic bands. He reported numerous problems with the fastpass+ system such as everyone in his party not have the same fastpass. However, he also calls the magic bands highly convenient and says they have lots of potential (Murphy).
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