Tag Archives: amusement parks

Walt Disney World: Things to Know and Places to Visit

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In May of 1965, Walt Disney Productions purchased almost 28,000 acres of land in an area southwest of Orlando using multiple dummy corporations. On October 15, Disney decided to announce its creation by asking the Governor of Florida to confirm the rumors of a new location, calling it “the greatest attraction in the history of Florida.” This resort, opened officially on October 1st, 1971, is what we now know as the Walt Disney World Resort. It includes 4 different parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. The now 50,000-acre property also includes various other locations, including water parks, a sports complex, and various golf courses.

Some things to know

  • Stay hydrated. The Florida weather, especially during summer, can be pretty extreme, due to high humidity and heat, and staying hydrated can help visitors withstand the conditions.
  • Stay cool. Find air conditioning, or even use a portable fan to avoid the weather and reduce the risk of heat stroke.
  • Plan ahead. On average, around 160,000 people visit the resort, so making reservations and knowing where to go can make visiting easier and faster.

In addition to these 3 tips, guests should also know that Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios both have a thing called virtual queues. Enter the queue online with the My Disney Experience app, which will provide a group number and an estimated time for getting in line. When the provided number is displayed on the screen above the ride’s entrance, visitors can scan their tickets and step in line. This system was implemented in 1999 to reduce the chances of overwhelming wait times.

Places to visit

Disney World is a place filled with many different and unique experiences, but some stand out among the rest. Some rides, for instance, are quit exhilarating and are worth riding such as TRON Lightcycle / Run. TRON is a unique ride located in Tomorrowland, strapping in riders as if riding a motorcycle, and hitting a top speed of 60 mph. Riding TRON at night is even more of a spectacle, as more of the lights illuminate to increase the thrill. Also an equally thrilling ride, the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Featuring Aerosmith accelerates to a top speed of 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, catapulting straight into multiple twists, turns, and loops.

In addition to those two rides, Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, located in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is also very exciting. The ride is portrayed in a Tibetan village, where riders board a train and travel up and into Mount Everest. The ride features many loops and turns, but the fun starts when the train stops and plunges into the depths of the mountain at 50 miles per hour.

In addition to rides, Disney World features a very wide variety of restaurants. Epcot has 11 pavilions representing different countries around the world, allowing visitors a large pallet of places to enjoy. One example is Shiki-Sai, located in japan. Shiki-Sai offers some of the most delicious sushi one could ever taste. In addition to Japanese cuisine, Italian dining at Epcot is equally superb. Via Napoli features delicious lasagna, pasta, and their specialty Neapolitan pizza.

In all, Walt Disney World is a very exciting place, with many different opportunities and experiences for visitors to enjoy.

Books about Disney World are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Knott’s Berry Farm Review

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Recently, me and my family went to Knott’s Berry Farm over the spring break. I had a very good experience visiting there, so here are a few tips and ride suggestions for anyone planning to visit there.

There were many rides and attractions throughout the park, and many rides are roller coasters but there were still a variety of types of rides as well, including rapids and a train ride. Here are some of my personal favorite rides to go on at the park.

Calico River Rapids: One of my favorite rides at Knott’s is Calico River Rapids. This ride uses inner tubes which go down a long stream of rapids. This ride is fairly mild but is still very fun and is one of my favorite rides at the park. This ride also can get you wet as well so it is great for the hottest part of the day.

Ghostrider: Another one of my personal favorite rides at Knott’s Berry Farm is Ghostrider. This ride first goes up a large hill giving you a good view of the entire park, and it then goes down several drops and through many turns, so even though it has no loops, it was still a very thrilling and exciting ride. It is also a longer ride at over 3 minutes long, so despite the usually long wait times, it is still one of the best rides to go on at Knott’s Berry Farm.

Jaguar: Another great ride to go on is Jaguar. This ride is a longer ride compared to many other of the other roller coasters there, as it is over 2 minutes. It also is good for people of all experiences and ages as it was very fun but not too intense as it did not have very steep drops or inversions but still remained very thrilling.

Overall, I had a great time visiting Knott’s Berry Farm, but I also learned many new things about the park when I visited, so here are some tips for anyone visiting there for the first time.

  1. Go to your favorite rides first.

One thing that you can do to get the most out of your day at Knott’s Berry Farm is go on your favorite rides and the ones you want to go on first. Wait times can be very long for many of the more popular rides, especially on weekends and later in the day, so if you want to go on a specific ride, be sure to go on that ride first earlier in the day, and try to go on rides with lower wait times later in the day.

2. Get to the park early.

Another useful tip for visiting Knott’s Berry Farm is to arrive early at the park. Try to arrive slightly before the park opens, as the line to enter the park and the lines for the individual rides often get longer later in the day, and I personally found this very helpful in avoiding having to wait in long lines.

3. Pack a lunch.

Another tip that I found helpful was to pack a snack or lunch to bring to the park. This allows you to wait in more lines so you can go on more rides while you are there. Lines are also often shorter during lunchtime, so you can eat lunch while waiting in line so you can make the most of your time and not wait in lines for as long as you would otherwise.

Overall, I thought that Knott’s Berry Farm was a great theme park! I would recommend this park to people of all ages since there is such a variety of activities and events to do there.

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

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“In my hefty elf sack, your nightmares now keep. Better think twice before falling asleep.”
-The Nightmare Elf

welcometothedarkhouse_lauriestolarzThis chilling, nightmare-filled story takes place when seven fans of the famous horror film director, Justin Blake, enter an online contest. They are required to write about their worst nightmare, and the winners get the chance to stay at his legendary B&B, Dark House, featured in his movies. The fans also get to meet the famous man and sneak a look at his upcoming movie. Delighted to find they have won, the horror hopefuls, Ivy, Parker, Shayla, Frankie, Garth, Natalie, and Taylor, set out to have the scare of their life. Spending a weekend in the Dark House appeals to most of them like a vacation home, filled with effects that make the house really seem haunted and mysterious. However, their fun and games take a twisted turn when they are taken to an abandoned amusement park. Embodying the spirit of Blake’s movies, the park is like his own movie set with his wildly creepy characters running around. The seven lucky winners discover they must face their worst nightmares and survive them if they want to be set free.

This book grabbed my attention right from the start. It’s description of horror and thrill left me wondering about my own nightmares. I knew I sure wouldn’t last one night in that house, not with its scare tactics and lonely halls. Stolarz uses her characters’ different perspectives to create this nail-biting world. As a big fan of horror stories, I was really anxious to see how the ending wrapped everything up. I have to say I was a little disappointed that I was left with so many unanswered questions, but overall the plot line was very intriguing.

I encourage readers who like to be scared to give this book a try. I know some horror stories are a gamble because it doesn’t end the way the readers hope. But Welcome to the Dark House is definitely one of my favorites and I would love to read it again.

-Sabrina C, 11th Grade

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Posted on by
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welcometothedarkhouse_lauriestolarz“In my hefty elf sack, your nightmares now keep. Better think twice before falling asleep.” -The Nightmare Elf

This chilling, nightmare-filled story takes place when seven fans of the famous horror film director, Justin Blake, enter an online contest. They are required to write about their worst nightmare, and the winners get the chance to stay at his legendary B and B, Dark House, featured in his movies. The fans also get to meet the famous man and sneak a look at his upcoming movie. Delighted to find they have won, the horror hopefuls Ivy, Parker, Shayla, Frankie, Garth, Natalie, and Taylor set out to have the scare of their life. Spending a weekend in the Dark House appeals to most of them like a vacation home, filled with effects that make the house really seem haunted and mysterious. However, their fun and games take a twisted turn when they are taken to an abandoned amusement park. Embodying the spirit of Blake’s movies, the park is like his own movie set with his wildly creepy characters running around. The seven lucky winners discover they must face their worst nightmares and survive them if they want to be set free.

This book grabbed my attention right from the start. It’s description of horror and thrill left me wondering about my own nightmares. I knew I sure wouldn’t last one night in that house, not with its scare tactics and lonely halls. Stolarz uses her characters’ different perspectives to create this nail-biting world. As a big fan of horror stories, I was really anxious to see how the ending wrapped everything up. I have to say I was a little disappointed that I was left with so many unanswered questions, but overall the plot line was very intriguing.

I encourage readers who like to be scared to give this book a try. I know some horror stories are a gamble because it doesn’t end the way the readers hope. But Welcome to the Dark House is definitely one of my favorites and I would love to read it again.

-Sabrina C, 11th Grade