Education in the Magic Kingdom

snakeislandboy

New Member
Original Poster
I am working on taking some middle school students on an educational field trip to Disney World. Since I am a federal program, themepark just for kicks field trips are out of the question. There are tons of educational opportunities in Disney World. Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and even MGM have many educational opportunites, but I'm scratching my head about the Magic Kingdom. If you have any educational suggestions for any parks, especially the Magic Kingdom, please post them.
Thanks
 

darthjohnny

Active Member
Take them to the Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom and American Adventure in Epcot! That covers American History. Everything in Epcot can be taken as an educational opportunity, like communcations with Space Ship Earth and transportation with Test Track. Also examine the architecture of Liberty Square to look at colonial life. The Liberty Belle (if it is open :) ) is a recreation of an old River Boat. You can experience an 19th Century Steam Train with the Walt Disney World Railroad in the Magic Kingdom too! Hope that helps.

P.S. I would have loved my teachers took a field trip to Disney. :) But that will never happen. :(
 

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
I am working on taking some middle school students on an educational field trip to Disney World. Since I am a federal program, themepark just for kicks field trips are out of the question. There are tons of educational opportunities in Disney World. Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and even MGM have many educational opportunites, but I'm scratching my head about the Magic Kingdom. If you have any educational suggestions for any parks, especially the Magic Kingdom, please post them.
Thanks

While not quite as true anymore, there are HUGE educational opportunities about design through the Magic Kingdom. The brickless construction of Cinderella Castle, the manufactured rockwork, etc. You might try an avenue like that. GOod luck! :wave:
 

FatBoy976

New Member
It might be a bit of a stretch, but you could make an arguement for the "old west" in Frontierland and for space travel in Tomorrowland. Why not just go to one of the more educational parks that you mentioned?
 

cloudboy

Well-Known Member
You didn't say what subjects you were looking for, but I would suggest focusing on angles such as storyline - have them compare the story line from an attraction like Pirates to Peter Pan. Perhaps you can dicuss things such as the different lands and how close - or far - they might eb from reality (for instance Fronteir land). At Middle School age you can probably start dealing with things such as how Song of the South influenced - but also was toned down to make Splash. Or simply go for the angle of haivng them writing storylines, and turening them into a dark ride. This is something you could probably continue throuhgout the school year.

There is of course the physics aspect of the rides, but you may want to also cover things such as the artistic design of the rides, or perhaps the operations side of the rides. Check out Alcorn.com, particularly their downloads and support area, and lookat some of the control software. That will not only teach them about the engineering aspects but also practical usage.

You could also deal with design. The Magic Kingdom is fantastically laid out. Have them study how the different londs are laid out and how you go from one area to the next. Look at how different attractions and buildings draw the visitor through. And how the different attractions lead you to different retail stores (marketing).
 

Horizons1

Well-Known Member
Well, you could also try about how the Magic Kingdom has become such an American icon.

How the MK (as do the other parks) uses mind tricks like forced perspective to make things look bigger than they actually are (Cinderella Castle to name one), how darker colors are used to keep you cooled down, how Main Street actually slopes downward going back towards the entrance to make guests exit at night easier.

Fronteirland is home to Tom Sawyer Island, it brings to life one of America's most beloved and well written books from one of America's most prestigous and well known writers, Samuel Leghorn Clemens, A.K.A. Mark Twain.

Also about how WDW and MK really changed Florida's economy and such, for there had never been anything remotely like WDW in Florida before. It made many more people come to Florida giving its tourism industry a major kick in the butt, not to mention people started moving here in droves. And then, everything else started to move to Florida (new buisnesses, other theme parks) and everything really grew up eventually leading to Florida being the theme park and tourism capitol of the world. Florida's largest industry is tourism.

You could also talk about the many new elements used for the MK, such as ride and transportation systems (TTA and Monorail for example), new special effects developed especially for the MK, the Utilidors (almost like an entire community living and working under the MK!), and things that had never been done anywhere else before (EPCOT Building Code allowed use of new materials and innovative construction ways never used before).

Another thing is the whole covert operation to buy all the land for the MK and WDW, otherwise known as Project X. All the false companies created by WED (Latin American Development Corp, Tomahawk Properties, Reedy Creek) to purchase all the land they wanted for a cheap price. How this all went down perfectly until the Orlando Sentinel (or whatever the paper was that did it) realized it was Disney doing this, put a front page headline in screaming "WE SAY ITS DISNEY" and how land prices skyrocketed over night!

Hope that helps some.:wave:
 

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
It would be great for English/writing, as you could take them to a show (like wishes), and take a look at the inciting actions, climax, and resolution. Fantasmic is probally the best example of that. Hall of Presidents is definately an educational avenue. Design is probally the best. Point out the utilidors, hidden backstage areas etc.

You could also do a project on how the Magic Kingdom is a literally a movie you can walk into. Discuss the different story lines, and how the "credits" for the "movie" are at the beginning and end of the day (on Main Street!)

I would also talk transportation, and how the TTA uses some ingenious methods to get people around, and how that idea later created the thrilling 0-60 mph coaster that kids love!

Go on Carousel of Progress, pure History right there!

If it's a drama/theatre class, the possiblites are endless!

From a business standpoint you could read the book "inside the magic Kingdom" before leaving. Talk about logistics and planning of a day at the Magic Kingdom.

You can also use just about anything as a look into authentisity. Even though the Pirates on Pirates of the carribean are cartoon-ish, the entire set and charactors are all in period clothing, sets are incredibly life-like, and the dialouge is authentic.

There's all sorts of ways to go about it!
 

snakeislandboy

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all your great suggestions. All of the parks with the exception of MK have a wealth of educational opportunities. Since not everyone in this world is a Disney nut like myself, I'm going to explain it all as one expirence and not actually divide the world up into parks. That way eventhough there might not be much at MK it wont matter because it will all be one thing.
 

KHockett

New Member
I am also doing a trip for a class - I teach high school - there is a book by a Pinsky (Sp?) with a subtitle - faith trust and a little pixie dust - it looks at every Disney movie (not to ruin them) but it examines issues/worldview concepts that are in the movie - it might work for you to take some of the concepts and then have kids look for them while they are in the MK.:)
 

AEfx

Well-Known Member
Pick up a copy of "The Imagineer's Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom", and get the one for Epcot while you are at it.

As someone pointed out above, things like the construction of Cinderella Castle (not a single brick in it, all fiberglass), the Utilidoors (the underground tunnels under the MK where all the service areas and employee-only stuff is), and shows like Carousel of Progress and Hall of Presidents can offer a wealth of opportunies if you are creative.

The book is only $10, and I think you could find quite a few starting points for lessons in there from art to architecture and engineering. You might also want to check out the Modern Marvels 2-hour WDW special. It's available on DVD, but also re-runs on the History Channel every few months if you've got time to wait for it. It focuses on a lot of the how and why of WDW, and specificly the Magic Kingdom, and again, should provide many starting points you could reenforce with your own materials.

Good luck!

AEfx
 

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