Kissimmee Travel
Universal Studios Florida
Like its competitor Disney-MGM, Universal is a working studio, filling more than four hundred acres with the latest in TV and movie production technology. Unlike MGM, there's more emphasis on movie-related rides than backstage shows. Universal's top rides are Back to the Future , a bone-shaking flight-simulator trip from 2015 to the Ice Age (not for claustrophobes); the breathtaking Terminator 2: 3D , a dark, dizzying combination of high-speed live action, superb robotics and 3D morphing effects (for maximum enjoyment, sit in the middle of the auditorium, five or six rows from the front), and the flabbergasting Twister , where you're pitted against a tornado. Men in Black: The Ride will allow you, with others, to control the fate of each ride.
Of the other rides, Jaws , a boat trip through shark-infested waters, plays wickedly with audience suspense; Kongfrontation has you scooped up and shaken by the angry six-ton brute; and Earthquake takes you on a subway ride through chaos, flooding and collisions. ET is gentler, a superb, undulating bike ride to save ET's home planet be sure to listen when the little tyke says goodbye. Elsewhere, there are attempts to demystify production techniques, the most successful being Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies , with surprising insights into Hitch's famed visual trickery. The two-man Gory, Gruesome and Grotesque Horror Makeup Show , played for laughs, is as notable for its tour-de-force performances as for its educational content.
Orlando
ORLANDO , a quiet farming town in 1970, now has more visitors than any other place in the state. The reason, of course, is Walt Disney World , which, along with Universal Studios, Sea World and a host of themed attractions, pulls more than 25 million people a year to a previously featureless plot of scrubland. Few people head to Orlando proper, choosing instead one of the countless motels along Hwy-192 , fifteen miles south, or International Drive , five miles southwest. Despite enormous expansion over the last decade, the town itself remains free of the commercialism that surrounds it.
Universal Studios CityWalk
Not to be outdone by Downtown Disney and Church Street Station, the Universal Studios CityWalk looks to cash in on those lucrative evening dollars with thirty acres of restaurants, live music, dance clubs, theaters and shops. CityWalk is free to enter but many bars and clubs will have a cover as the night progresses ( www.citywalkorlando.com ). Try the featured drink at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville . Choose among the cuisines of twenty-one Latin American nations. Jazz lovers should take pleasure in CityJazz , a compound created in part by members of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Or, you can visit Bob Marley A Tribute to Freedom , a re-creation of the Jamaican musician's home.
Discovery Cove
Discovery Cove , the second of Sea World's theme parks, is a much more exclusive venture, limiting visitors to those with reservations (and who can afford the high admission prices that start at $109; tel 1-877/4DISCOVERY, www.discoverycove.com ). This will entitle you to swim and play with dolphins, snorkel up to sharks and barracudas behind a clear partition and feed tropical birds in a resort-like setting.
Orlando's waterparks
Of the three Disney-owned waterparks, Blizzard Beach , on World Drive north of the All-Star Resorts , is the most creative, based on the fantasy that a hapless entrepreneur has opened a ski resort in Florida and the entire thing has started to melt. Star of the show is Summit Plummet , which shoots you down a 120ft vertical drop at more than fifty miles per hour. Gentler rides include toboggan-style slalom courses and covered raft rides. As well as the slides, Typhoon Lagoon , at Lake Buena Vista (one-day pass, one-park $28.57/$22.79), features geysers and a rainforest, a huge surfing pool and a shark reef, where you can snorkel among tropical fish. River Country is older, smaller and quieter (one-day pass $16.91/$13.25)
Wet 'n' Wild , 6200 International Drive (hours vary, tel 1-800/992-9453, www.wetnwild.com ; $29.95/$23.95, parking $4), defends itself admirably in the face of the Disney competition, with a range of excellent slides including the challenging seven-story Bomb Bay and the almost vertical Der Stuka. Lines are shorter, too.
Walt Disney World
As significant as air conditioning in making the state what it is today, WALT DISNEY WORLD turned a wedge of Florida cow fields into one of the world's most lucrative vacation venues. The immense and astutely planned empire also pushed the state's media profile through the roof: from being a down-at-the-heel mixture of cheap motels, retirement homes and tacky alligator zoos, Florida suddenly became a showcase of modern international tourism.
Walt Disney World is the pacesetter among theme parks: it goes way beyond Disneyland, which opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955 delivering escapism at its most technologically advanced and psychologically brilliant across an area twice the size of Manhattan. Its four main theme parks are quite separate entities and, ideally, you should allow a full day for each. The Magic Kingdom is the Disney park of popular imagination, where Mickey mingles with the crowds very much the park for kids, though at its high-tech best capable of thrilling even the most jaded of adults. Known for its giant, golfball-like geosphere, EPCOT Center is Disney's celebration of science and technology; this sprawling area involves a lot of walking, and may bore young children. Disney-MGM Studios suits almost everyone: its special effects are enjoyable even if you've never seen the movies they're based on. The newest of the four, Disney's Animal Kingdom , brings all manner of African and Asian wildlife to the theme park setting, perhaps the lone entry that can be explored fairly quickly.
Disney-MGM Studios
When the Disney corporation began making films and TV shows for adults most notably Who Framed Roger Rabbit they also set about devising a theme park to entertain adults as much as kids. Buying the rights to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) oeuvre of films and TV shows, Disney acquired a vast repertoire of instantly familiar images to mold into shows and rides. Opening in 1990, Disney-MGM Studios served to mute the opening of Florida's Universal Studios, and at the same time found an extra use for the real film studios based here. The people you'll see laboring over storyboards aren't there for show, they really are making films.
There are more stage shows and tours than rides as such, though thrill-seekers will be more than happy with the delightfully sadistic Twilight Zone Tower of Terror , set in a haunted, cobweb-strewn hotel, or the new Rock & Roller Coaster , which, with a 2.8 second 060 mph launch, is Disney World's wildest ride. Star Tours , a flight-simulator trip piloted by Star Wars characters R2D2 and C-3PO, is toothless in comparison, and the Great Movie Ride , with actors and robotic figures re-creating scenes from classic Hollywood movies in an ersatz Mann's Chinese Theatre, is a tad disappointing.
Don't miss the half-hour Backstage Studio Tour , climaxing with the special-effects bonanza Catastrophe Canyon : the interest level fluctuates but you won't get your money's worth if you miss it. The same applies to Magic of Disney Animation , an enlightening trip through the animation studios, and Jim Henson's Muppet Vision 3D show enormous fun, with some great surprises. Capping them off is the twice-nightly Fantasmic , a 25-minute special effects-laden show in which Mickey battles the products of his own imagination.
Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom follows the formula established by California's Disneyland, dividing into Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Adventureland (roughly in declining order of merit). Some rides are identical to their California forebears; others are greatly improved. In Tomorrowland, old favorite Space Mountain offers a gut-churning roller-coaster trip around distant galaxies on a ferocious starlit switchback. More chilling is the high-tech, adrenalin-fueled Extra TERRORestrial Alien Encounter , where you're involved in an experiment that goes horrifically wrong. In the witty, fast-paced Timekeeper , an animatronic mad professor and feisty robots take you on a dizzying trip through time, relayed convincingly on an enormous 360 cinema screen.
Rides in Frontierland are gentler, though just as much fun. On Splash Mountain , a lazy boat ride through Brer Rabbit land culminates in a shriek-inducing 50ft drop. People with weak hearts steer towards the less frenetic runaway train of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad , or, if the rides are getting too much, to the hokey Country Bear Jamboree , where you can hoedown with furry, dungareed grizzlies. In Liberty Square , between Frontierland and Fantasyland, make time for Haunted Mansion , a seriously spooky ghost ride with spectacular holograms.
Fantasyland, heralded by Cinderella 's exceptionally pink castle, is very much old-style Disney, with a lot of stuff for kids. For adults the most endearing ride is the very 1970s It's a Small World , a bizarre boat jaunt advocating brotherly love. Adventureland feels similarly quaint; Pirates of the Caribbean , a boat ride through a town invaded by debauched robotic figures, looks distinctly tame compared to the newer rides in Tomorrowland.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom was opened in 1998 as an animal-conservation theme park with Disney's patented over-the-top twist. The park is divided into five major "lands" Africa, Camp Minnie-Mickey, Dinoland USA, Safari Village and Asia though the true tribute here is to the versatility of concrete, which is colored, imprinted upon and formed into an endless variety of shapes to help create mock-authentic ambiences for each land.
Once within the park, visitors have four major stops. The best is Kilimanjaro Safaris , where "lorries" of tourists ride past giraffes, zebras, elephants, lions, gazelles and rhinos, all passing what feels like authentic African wildlands (local oak trees have been trimmed to look like African acacias). Crossing over to "Asia," visitors walk through dense vegetation and village ruins to see giant fruit bats, Asian birds and possibly tigers in the Maharajah Jungle Trek . The park's only thrill ride is in DinoLand USA: Countdown to Extinction , a roller-coaster-style vehicle that makes small drops and short stops in the dark as dinosaurs pop out of nowhere and roar.
The remainder of the park requires no more than casual exploration. The Flights of Wonder bird show exhibits parrots, hawks and other unusual birds, and classic Disney characters in appropriate attire sign autographs in Camp Minnie-Mickey , where you can also catch Festival of the Lion King , a participatory production of upbeat music with some nifty acrobatics, loosely based on its namesake film.
Sea World
Sea World , at Sea Harbor Drive, near the intersection of I-4 and the Bee Line Expressway, the cream of Florida's sizable crop of marine parks, should not be missed; allocate a day to see it all (daily 9am7pm or later; longer hours in summer; $50.83, ages 39 $41.29; tel 1-800/327-2424, www.seaworld.com ). The big event is the Shamu Adventure show beginning with a pre-show film attempting to justify the twenty minutes of tricks then performed by killer whales. The Wild Arctic complex, complete with artificial snow and ice, shows off beluga whales, walruses and a couple of claustrophobic-looking polar bears; the experience is topped off by a thrilling simulated helicopter flight through an Arctic blizzard. The park's first thrill ride, Journey to Atlantis , is part fantasy, part waterslide, part roller coaster, and has a sixty-foot drop. You will get drenched by the ride and by other tourists who pay for the privilege of spraying you. With substantially less razzmatazz, plenty of smaller tanks and displays explain more than you need to know about the undersea world. Among the highlights, the Penguin Encounter attempts to re-create Antarctica with scores of waddling birds scampering over an iceberg; the occupants of the Dolphin Pool assert their advanced intellect by flapping their fins and soaking passersby; and Terrors of the Deep includes a walk through a glass-sided tunnel, offering the closest eye-contact you're ever likely to have with a shark and live to tell the tale.
Universal Studios
For some years, it seemed that US TV and film production would move away from California to Florida, which, with its lower taxes and cheaper labor, was more amenable, and the opening of Universal Studios in 1990 appeared to confirm that trend. So far, for various reasons, Florida has not proved to be a fully realistic alternative, but that hasn't stopped the Universal enclave here, now known as Universal Studios (park opens daily at 9am, closing times vary; one-day pass $48.76, children 39 $39.22, under-3s free; two-day pass $84.75/$68.85; parking $7; tel 1-800/837-2273, www.universalstudios.com ) from becoming a major player in the Orlando theme park arena. While Disney still holds court, Universal has drawn much attention, adding the hi-tech, special effects-laden Islands of Adventure and CityWalk , an earthier lure for nightlife dollars than Downtown Disney. Universal is also aspiring to full-fledged resort status with the Portofino Bay Hotel and plans for other accommodation. For access to all areas, park in the garage half a mile north of exits 29 and 30B off I-94.
EPCOT Center
Even before the new Magic Kingdom opened, Walt Disney was developing plans for EPCOT Center , or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, conceived in 1966 as a real community experimenting with the new ideas and materials of the technologically advancing US. The idea failed to shape up as Disney had envisioned: EPCOT didn't open its gates until 1982, when global recession and ecological concerns had put a damper on the belief in the infallibility of science. One drawback of this park is simply its immense size: twice as big as the Magic Kingdom and very sapping on the feet.
Inside the unmissable 180ft geosphere (unlike a semicircular geodesic dome , the geosphere is completely round), Future World , a reminder of the park's original concept, details the history and possible advances to be made in agriculture, transportation, energy and communications. The best of the rides all corporately sponsored, so don't expect any mention of alternative power or global warming are the superb Test Track , a radical combination of simulator and switchback ride in which you test a high-speed car of the future; Body Wars , a fast-paced simulator voyage through the body's immune system; and the 4D cinematic thrill of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience . Occupying the largest area in the park is the World Showcase , with eleven different "countries" represented by street sets. The restaurants here are the best in Walt Disney World, and it's a great place to watch the spectacular nighttime sound and light show, Illuminations .
Universal Studios Islands of Adventure
As the latest entry in the Orlando game of one-upmanship, Islands of Adventure stakes its claim as the leader in state-of-the-art, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides. Though there are plenty of diversions for the less daring, this is what brings the crowds, and long lines are typical for many of the attractions, even if they thin out as the evening goes on.
The park's five "islands" Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, The Lost Continent and Seuss Landing surround a lagoon. Marvel Super Hero Island is home to three major rides. The Incredible Hulk Coaster begins with a thrust, supposedly equal to that of a US Air Force F-16 fighter jet, and continues for more than two minutes of incognizant intensity. Doctor Doom's Fearfall provides a great panoramic view of the park before dropping 200ft, but is not worth waiting the usual half-hour or so. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman is arguably the best ride in the park and should not be missed, despite a not uncommon hour's wait. In a first-ever combination of moving ride vehicles, filmed 3D action and pyrotechnic special effects, you are to help Spidey get back the Statue of Liberty from a gaggle of villains. Try going during the closing fireworks show, although as far as lines go, this one is the most enjoyable as the ride's story is presented in the queuing area.
Continuing on to Toon Lagoon, Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges are good for getting a midday drenching. From here, Jurassic Park is a takeoff on the popular film and includes the visitor center used in the movie. The Jurassic Park River Adventure is an atmospheric trip through dino-land that ends with an 85-foot plunge the steepest and fastest to date for a water ride. At The Lost Continent, one island over, the highlight is the intertwining set of inverted roller coasters, Dueling Dragons . Finally, although Seuss Landing is more directed towards kids, the playful architecture is right out of a Dr. Seuss book and the fireworks show at the end of the night is worth sticking around for.