Walt Disney World is one of the top destinations in the world to visit! But planning a trip can bring up lots of questions. Let’s take a deep dive into the top 10 frequently asked questions about Disney World that will inform and astonish you!
How Many Parks Does Disney World Have?
Walt Disney World is made up of six parks, four theme parks and two water parks.
The four theme parks are Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.
The two water parks are Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.
What Park Is The Best?
Which park is the best will often come down to personal taste but Magic Kingdom is seen to be a classic Disney Park with the most magical feeling, making it many people’s favorite.
For thrill-seekers or fans of Star Wars and Toy Story, Hollywood Studios is the best as you can visit attractions such as Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster plus lands such as Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
EPCOT is fantastic for foodies with the huge number of restaurants in the park, to visit for one of the EPCOT festivals throughout the year and for people interested in exploring world cultures.
Animal Kingdom is the best park for animal lovers and people interested in the environment and conservation.
When Did Walt Disney World First Open?
Disney World first opened its door on 1st October 1971. Magic Kingdom was the first Disney World Park to open, with EPCOT opening on 1st October 1982, exactly 11 years later.
Some opening day attractions still exist and you can ride them today! These include:
- Dumbo The Flying Elephant
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Haunted Mansion
- it’s a small world
- Jungle Cruise
- Prince Charming’s Carousel
- The Hall of Presidents
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Mad Tea Party
- Enchanted Tiki Room
How Old Is Walt Disney World?
Disney World celebrated its 50th Anniversary on 1st October 2021! 50 years of making magic and memories for people from all around the world!
The 50th Anniversary Celebrations at Disney World run for 18 months and can be enjoyed into the beginning of 2023 so there is plenty of time to visit and enjoy the festivities!
What City is Walt Disney World In?
Walt Disney World is located in Orlando, Florida. Disney World is part of Orange County in an area of Orlando called Lake Buena Vista.
How Far Is It From Orlando International Airport (MCO)?
Disney World is just 17 miles away from Orlando MCO airport and can take as little as 20 minutes to get between the two!
You can get from MCO airport to Walt Disney World Resort in a number of ways. You can hire a car to collect from the airport, you can get a taxi, Uber or Lyft or use the Mears shuttle bus which takes you from MCO to the Disney World hotels.
How Far Is Disney World From Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB)?
This airport also contains Orlando in the name, so heads up if your flight takes you here. It’s about 43 miles away from Disney World, and can take 45-60 minutes to get to your resort. However, it’s a smaller airport, so some like the less chaotic busy feeling of this airport.
How Big Is Walt Disney World?
Walt Disney World sits on 110 square kilometers of land. Clocking in at over 40 square miles Walt Disney World Resort is the same size as the city of San Francisco!
The biggest of the parks is Animal Kingdom, as it has a large backstage area for animal care and enclosures. The smallest of the parks in size is Hollywood Studios, which is about three times smaller than Animal Kingdom.
On Walt Disney World property you also have a large number of resorts, sporting activities, entertainment and dining at Disney Springs and Disney’s BoardWalk and all the facilities to help run Disney World. There is so much that guests don’t usually get to see, which makes Disney World so much larger than imagined!
How Many Rides Are There In Walt Disney World? Per Park?
The Disney Parks are made up of a mix of rides and attractions. Rides move in some capacity whereas attractions are more of a show or experience such as It’s Tough To Be A Bug, Enchanted Tales with Belle or The Animation Experience at Conservation Station.
There are a total of 72 rides and attractions across the four Disney World Park!
- Magic Kingdom has the most with 20 rides and 9 attractions.
- EPCOT has 11 rides and attractions 8 including an aquarium.
- Hollywood Studios has 9 rides and 4 attractions.
- Animal Kingdom has 6 rides and 5 attractions including numerous animal trails.
No matter what types of rides you enjoy you will be able to be wowed and entertained! Disney World had a large range of rides, from rollercoasters to water rides, state-of-the-art trackless systems to classic dark rides. No matter what your level of thrill is you will find rides and attractions you love.
The Disney World Parks also offer play areas, exhibitions, parades, shows, nighttime spectaculars and character meet and greets giving you so much to experience outside of the rides and attractions.
In 2021 Disney World introduced Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lanes as a new way to be able to skip the queue for certain rides.
Genie+ costs $15 a day per person and enables you to book a reservation to skip the queue for over 40 rides across the four Disney World parks. You can book one reservation at a time and once you have used it you can book your next one.
Some of the rides that are included in Genie+ are:
- Space Mountain
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Soarin’
- Test Track
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
- Rock N Roller Coaster
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania
- Kilimanjaro Safari
- Na’vi River Journey
- Kali River Rapids
Individual Lightning Lane passes were also introduced. The eight most popular rides at Disney World, two per park, can now be guaranteed that you can ride them and skip the queue by purchasing a Lightning Lane Pass. For these rides you have to pay per ride, with prices ranging from $7 to $15 per person, per ride. These rides are not included with Genie+ so to skip the queue you need to pay extra per ride. You can buy up to two Individual Lightning Lane Passes a day.
The attractions that have Individual Lightning Lane Passes are:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- Frozen Ever After
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Avatar: Flight of Passage
- Expedition Everest
How Many People Go To Disney World Every Day?
On average over 50,000 people visit Disney World every day!
Magic Kingdom is the most visited theme park in the world and in 2019 over 20 million people attended this park alone!
At peak times of the year, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, you can see some of the Disney World parks reach their capacity. Magic Kingdom is rumored to have a top capacity of 100,000 people!
What Is the Difference Between Disneyland and Disney World?
Disneyland is in Anaheim, California and has two theme parks and three Disney hotels. Disneyland is smaller in size but is the quintessential Disney Park.
The two parks are Disneyland Park and California Adventure. They sit opposite each other, with Downtown Disney, an entertainment, shopping and dining district in between the two. You can easily walk between the Disneyland Parks, Downtown Disney and Disney hotels which is fantastic!
One of the great things about Disneyland being in the center of Anaheim is there are lots of other hotels within walking distance to the parks and you can also explore the restaurants and shops in Anaheim easily.
Walt Disney World has 6 theme parks and 31 resorts in Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney World is absolutely massive and on another scale! Each Disney World Park is very different from the other which means there is so much to explore and enjoy!
Disney World is so big it has its own transportation system to take guests around! Unlike Disneyland you cannot walk between the Disney World Parks and hotels and will need transportation. Luckily if you stay at a Disney World Resort there are multiple ways to get around including Disney Buses, the Monorail, Disney Boats and the Skyliner.
Both Disneyland and Disney World have some similar rides but also their own unique attractions which make them both destinations to visit in their own right!
Which Came First?
Disneyland is the original Disney Park, opening on 17th July 1955. Fans love it as Disneyland is very much Walt’s park and he oversaw every element of it. Sadly, Walt Disney died before the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 so never saw his grandest vision come to life. Walt’s brother, Roy, postponed retirement, and was instrumental to opening Disney World, renaming it to “Walt Disney World” in honor of his brother the late founder. Three short months after opening Walt Disney World, Roy passed away.
How Much Did It Cost to Build Disney World?
Disney World has been built over a number of phases over the past 50 years. Magic Kingdom opened on October 1st 1971 after 18 months of construction. Magic Kingdom cost approximately $400 million to build, which is the equivalent to almost $3 billion in today’s money!
EPCOT was the next Disney World park to be built. Construction took three years and at the time it was the largest construction project on Earth! EPCOT opened on 1st October 1982 and cost between $800 million and $1.4 billion to build, making it the most expensive Disney World Park to build. In today’s money that is around $4 billion dollars!
Hollywood Studios was the third Disney World Park to open and was originally called MGM Studios. It opened on 1st May 1989 and cost $500 million, which is around $1.4 billion today.
Animal Kingdom was the last of the Disney World theme parks to open. It took three years to build at a rumored cost of $800 million or over £1.3 billion in today’s money. Animal Kingdom Park opened on April 22nd 1998 to coincide with World Earth Day, the perfect fit for this park with a focus on conservation and the environment.
Disney then has two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. These parks are rumored to have cost in excess of $20 million each.
The total for the six Walt Disney World parks is around $10.5 billion in today’s money and that is just for the theme parks! Disney World also has resorts, Disney Vacation Club properties, a golf course, Disney Springs, miniature golf courses and has expanded every single one of their theme parks.
For example, Star War Galaxy’s Edge, the latest land in Hollywood Studios, is rumored to have cost $1 billion to build and that is just one new land extension in one theme park!
Can You Get Married At Disney World?
Yes you can! There are over 100 locations in Disney World where you can get married.
Wedding packages start from $3500 and increase in price depending on the time of year, the number of guests and the special elements you can add to your wedding. Custom weddings start from $12,000.
A Disney wedding coordinator, AKA your wedding fairy godmother, can arrange everything for you, from flowers to entertainment, food to transportation, fireworks to character appearances. Yes, you can even have Mickey and Minnie at your Wedding! Your Disney wedding coordinator is your one-stop shop to create your most magical wedding!
You can even visit Franck’s Bridal Studio where you can meet your coordinator in person and see every element up close to help you decide what you would like for your own special day!
The most affordable locations to get married are in one of the Disney World Resorts. Have your ceremony at one of the many beautiful locations at the Disney hotel of your choice, which all have their own unique theming.
There is also a beautiful wedding pavilion at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. With amazing views over Seven Seas Lagoon by Magic Kingdom this dedicated wedding venue is the perfect setting for a Disney wedding.
You can also get married in the Disney parks! Some of the most popular locations are the World Showcase pavilions in EPCOT. Choosing this venue is perfect for couples where a destination has a special meaning!
Getting married in EPCOT is also a great option because weddings inside Disney Parks have to take place when the parks are closed, meaning a super early ceremony or a very late one. As World Showcase doesn’t open until 11am you can have a 9am wedding here which is perfect! You can also have a dessert party and see Harmonious for your reception!
You are also able to get married at certain attractions such as the Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios and in front of the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom. Weddings at these locations happen the parks close and they are absolutely stunning when lit up at night!
You can even get married in Magic Kingdom! This is the most expensive location in Disney World to get married. Prices start from $15,000 and increase to $30,000 for a basic package. You can choose from an early morning wedding at the Main Street Train station, you can have your ceremony in the East Plaza with a great view of the castle or the ultimate option: getting married in front of Cinderella Castle when the park is closed! Having the whole of Magic Kingdom to yourself whilst you say your vows is the ultimate Disney wedding!
Disney World also offers engagement and honeymoon packages so whether you would like a photographer to capture your special proposal or to have a romantic meal to celebrate your love Disney can help arrange for you to have the most memorable of occasions!
To get an idea of what a Disney World wedding can look like you can see the TV show Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings on Disney+!
How Many Hotels Does Disney World Have?
Walt Disney World Resort has a whopping 31 different accommodations to choose from!
Whether you are looking for a luxurious hotel with a park view, a family-friendly resort with lots to do or a unique setting such as a stunning savannah filled with wild animals Disney World has the perfect property for you!
Disney World has two types of accommodation: hotels, also known as resorts at Disney World, and DVC properties. DVC stands for Disney Vacation Club and is similar to a timeshare.
The hotels are divided into three categories value, moderate and deluxe. The main differences between the categories are the amount of facilities available in your room and at the hotel and the proximity of the resort to the parks.
The hotels are Disney World are:
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
- The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
Even if you are not a DVC member you are still able to stay at DVC resorts by renting from the owners. There are a range of websites where you can rent these types of rooms. DVC properties often have extra amenities such as a washer and dryer and kitchenette in your accommodation.
The Disney Vacation Club resorts include:
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
So How Long Would It Take You To Sleep In Every Room?
With over 30,000 rooms across the whole of Walt Disney World Resort it would take you 68 years to sleep in every single room! Who is up for the challenge?
I hope you found the answers to these frequently asked questions helpful and interesting. Now when you visit Disney World you will have insider knowledge and know some fun facts to tell your friends and family! Were there any facts you didn’t know? What questions do you think we should add to our list? Leave a comment in the section below!
