Disney World in Orlando, Florida: Too Big and Too Expensive

Disney World in Florida, also known as Walt Disney World Resort, is the sibling resort to Disneyland in California and stands today as the biggest and most frequently visited recreational park and resort in the entire world. Situated a few miles southwest of Orlando, Florida, Disney World contains 30,080 acres of property which houses two water parks, 23 themed resort hotels, and four theme parks. Neighboring Disney World in Orlando, Florida is Universal Studios which is one of their competitors, both have their advantages and disadvantages which will be discussed later on.

You might be asking yourself what's the difference between Disney World and Disneyland? Aside, from the fact that they're located on opposite sides of the United States, Disneyland is ideal for a one day visit while Disney World was designed as a vacation resort, offering far more variety in entertainment, sports, and unique resort hotels to name a few. Let's examine the hotels first and foremost. There's plenty to choose from and they're all broken up into different categories which range from Deluxe, Moderate, Value, Disney Vacation Club, Disney Deluxe Villa, and the Cabins/Campgrounds to name some. All of these resorts provide top of the line service and offer quite an enjoyable stay for the most part. If you're on a tight budget though, you'll most likely find yourself staying at the Value Resorts. These resorts, like the rest of them, are uniquely-themed (i.e. All-Star Music, All-Star Movies, and All-Star Sports).

Then there's the theme parks and water parks. There's four theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is center piece of the entire Disney World property, being that it is there where they house the big fireworks show and the infamous castle. There's some great rides to be enjoyed in Disney World's theme parks. But the problem is that everything is so spaced out, being that Disney World is such a huge piece of land. Let's go over some rides that are of interest, not just for little kids but for everybody (let's face it, if all Disney World had were rides for little kids, there would be a mass suicide among many parents).

Magic Kingdom has the infamous Cinderella Castle which you can't even go inside, unless you have a reservation for their expensive restaurant on the ground floor. Other than that, the Cinderella Castle is just for show. Their fireworks show is quite a spectacular sight to see, I can guarantee you that. Attractions like The Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight, and Pirates of the Caribbean offer plenty in terms of thrills and eye candy. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain make for huge sources of crowds. Especially Space Mountain, which you'll probably be paying repeat visits to. Meanwhile, lackluster attractions like Tomorrowland Speedway and Astro Orbiter leave more to be desired.

Animal Kingdom is pretty much only good for two jaw-dropping rides: DINOSAUR and Expedition Everest. Both of which are not for the faint-hearted. Other than that, Kali River Rapids and Primeval Whirl are two additional sources for wild thrills. Epcot is the technological centerpiece of Disney World and is home to quite a few worthwhile attractions like Mission: SPACE, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, and Soarin'. Beware, the latter two are so huge that sometimes your Express Pass can't even help you unless you get there very early. Last but not least, there's Hollywood Studios which houses the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, The Great Movie Ride, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror; Studio Backlot Tour could have made the list if it wasn't all talk and little action.

The first water park, Blizzard Beach, has a pretty cool theme to it (i.e. a Ski Resort with water) but at the same time, it's a huge disadvantage. This is because you must ride a ski lift to the northern/top section of the park in order to board most of the attractions, this can be quite annoying because of the repetitiveness. Other than that, you may find their wave pool quite enjoyable. However, you may find most of your time being spent at the second water park, Typhoon Lagoon. Now this park doesn't have the annoying ski lifts and pretty much every ride is in walking distance. Their water roller coaster, the Crush 'n' Gusher, and their gigantic wave pool are Typhoon Lagoon's main centerpieces. Especially their wave pool, which is home to some of the largest waves on Earth (we're talking some big scary six foot waves here).

Disney World in Orlando, Florida is quite an extraordinary source of entertainment but it is held back by its extreme distances between all the good stuff. Yes, there are transportation buses which run every 5-10 minutes that will take you from your hotel to whichever park you would like to go to, but that's beside the point. As you may have noticed in my overview of each theme and water park above, most of the good rides are pretty much spread out over all of the land. Even in the Value Resorts, you need to do some on-foot traveling unless you're lucky enough to get a room that's close to the hotel's main building. Last but not least, there's the prices. Paying for a weekly $2000 vacation stay at Disney World is one thing, but surviving on their expensive food is another. When it comes to drinks, buy the 2 liters and the big juice cartons from their drug store as opposed to their fountain sodas. Tricks like this will go a long way for you. Bottom line, Universal Studios is still the better of the two parks due to its distance between attractions as well as the hotels.