"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."~Edgar Allan Poe, "Eleonora"

Disney’s Magic Kingdom is truly the happiest kingdom of them all. The park is divided into sections named Main Street, Adventureland, Fronteirland, Mickey’s Toontown Fair, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.

Main Street is a quaint street with many shops. Main Street also has a candy store, a jewelry store, a crystal shop, and the Emporium, one of the best places for souvenir shopping. You’ll find everything and anything from mugs, photo frames, figurines, costumes, dolls, t-shirts, and stuffed animals.

Adventureland is full of adventure from climbing a tree like the Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse, to walking inside Cinderella’s Castle. This section of the park also has the ride Pirates of the Caribbean, the Enchanted Tiki Room, a show with singing birds, and a Jungle Cruise. If you’re in the mood for tacos and tacos salads, check out El Pirata y El Perrico (The Pirate and the Parrot), a Spanish restaurant that has really good food. I especially love the Spanish courtyard.

Fronteirland is notorious for Tom Sawyer’s Island with its underground caverns, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Train. For Tom’s Island, the lines can be really long so you might want to get to the park early.

Mickey’s Toontown Fair is a town where you can meet Disney characters in a small town setting. The best time to visit is late in the afternoon or evening.

Liberty Square is like being transported to colonial times. They have a Christmas shop, other shops with ye olde things, and Haunted Mansion. Haunted Mansion has received a makeover inside and out. Madame Leota is no longer seated.

Fantasyland has one of Magic Kingdom’s biggest attractions: Cinderella’s Castle. Two famous rides in this land include the tea cups and It’s A Small World. It’s A Small World was closed down for some time for reconstruction. Another must-see is Ariel’s Grotto.

Tomorrowland is a futuristic land with many spinning objects and planets and stars. Space Mountain is the best in the dark roller coaster. The lines can be very long for Space Mountain, but it is worth the wait. While you’re waiting to ride, you can see the roller coasters above you as well as comets and shooting stars. Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor has all the loveable monsters where you can text jokes for them to say. Last but not least is the favorite blue alien Stitch in Stitch’s Great Escape.

"Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language."--Walt Disney

Disney’s MGM Studios has gotten a make-over. Now called Hollywood Studios, the park is home to many movies from Indiana Jones, the Muppets, Toy Story, Star Wars, and even Tower of Terror. The main street is a long avenue with old-time billboards, shops, and a large sorcerer’s cap with mouse ears. Some popular attractions on Sunset Boulevard is the Tower of Terror and Areosmith’s Rock N’ Roller Coaster.

The Tower of Terror, a creepy 199-foot building, has an eerie story behind it. On Halloween night in 1939, lightning struck the building where a few guests were traveling in an elevator and disappeared. The line wraps around an interior garden with herbs, then through a lobby with cobwebs, dead roses in a vase on a breakfast cart, and old newspapers that give the room a scary feeling. You first enter the library where you see the Twilight Zone episode of the hotel (and the last opportunity to change your mind about riding). You then proceed to a boiler room that puts you in the elevator, and starts the show when you venture through a hall and another dimension with special effects before dropping four floors (not the thirteen floors I had thought). You’ll find a gift shop after you get off the ride where you’ll find a bell that you can tap and say "Hollywood Tower Hotel" on them. Areosmith’s Rock N’Roller Coaster, a roller coaster in the dark that makes sure you arrive on time to an Areosmith concert, is one of the best indoor coasters because of the neon signs and other special effects.

Other interesting rides are the Backlot Tour, which shows you places that movies were filmed (a popular sight is the Golden Girls’ Miami home), the Great Movie Ride that brings you through many movies (small children may be scared of the Alien movie section), and the Muppet 3D Vision Ride, a show featuring Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

Three interesting shops on Sunset Boulevard are Villains in Vogue, Sweet Spells, and Mouse About Town. Villains in Vogue has a large accessory of villains, Pirates of the Caribbean items, and even The Nightmare Before Christmas stuff. You can actually buy Sally’s Deadly Nightshade jar. Sweet Shops, however, has the wicked witch off of Snow White dumping her apple into the cauldron from a street window. The sweet shop has candy apples, fudge, candy, drinks, and other tasty items. Across the street, you’ll find Mouse About Town where you’ll find other Disney souvenirs, such as Ariel and Cinderella trinket boxes.

Disney's MGM Studios is my favorite of the Disney World parks. I love the atmosphere of it, the exciting shows, and the fact that my two favorite rides, Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster, are there. The park isn't nearly as big as Animal Kingdom or Epcot, so the walking isn't overwhelming. There are several indoor attractions at the park, so you're not constantly battling the heat as you are at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.

The park really is great and I would recommend spending a full day there. Get there early so when the park opens you can hit the major attractions. Dash to Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster first. Luckily, they are right next to each other. I believe Tower of Terror has five different ride possibilities, so if you ride it multiple times you will undoubtedly get a unique ride experience each time. Ride Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster several times in the morning. If you want to visit Voyage of the Little Mermaid go early because lines for this get surprisingly long. Hit Star Tours and Muppet Vision early too.

Once you've got the major rides done, visit the shows. Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is great and I highly recommend it. Get in line a good bit before the show starts because often crowds are so large that guests in the back of the line do not make it in. The Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show is very entertaining. The theater that houses this show is huge so guests usually have no trouble getting in. The problem with this show, however, is that it is only put on a couple of times a day, so you have to check out the show times in advance and plan which showing you will attend.

Part of what makes MGM so exciting is its movie magic. The Great Movie Ride, housed in a replica of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, is a trip through many of your favorite classic films. The length of the line fluctuates greatly and fastpass is not offered at this attraction. In my experience, I have found that late afternoon and early evening is a good time to ride. Also, to see more movie magic ride the Backlot Tour and check out the Magic of Disney Animation.

When it comes to eating in MGM, there aren't as many choices as there's in Epcot or even in Magic Kingdom. However, all the restaurants I have visited in this park have been great. 50's Prime Time Cafe has a great atmosphere. Waitresses pretend to be your mother and the menu boasts classic comfort foods. Sci-Fi-Dine-In Theater allows you to eat while watching old movie clips in a drive-in setting. For a less relaxed, more upscale atmosphere, try Hollywood Brown Derby.

Disney’s MGM Studios explored the world of showbiz, everything from the Muppets to Star Wars. The rides at this theme park were mostly 3D or thrill rides. The MGM Studio’s had several live performances with puppets and people singing. I did see The Little Mermaid show and I thought it was a pretty good show, and of course all of the kids who were there loved it. My favorite ride at this theme park was the Star Wars thrill ride. We boarded into a simulator and there was a large screen in the front of the room that turned on when everyone was seated and fastened in. The screen showed dark images of space. The whole simulator moved and the screen moved with the same motion as the simulator and it gave a feeling as if we were flying in space. This ride had a lot of near misses with debris and comets in space, it was really a fun ride narrated by an imbecile who was supposedly flying our aircraft.

The Tower of Terror was a new experience for me. I love rides but I wasn’t sure if I could handle this one. This ride plunges down 13 stories and goes back up part way and straight back down again. Somehow I convinced myself to go on it though. On this ride you go up a mysterious elevator to get to it. Then when you finally get to where you board the elevator for the scare, the theme song to the twilight zone was playing. I saw several people turn around at this point and leave before boarding the ride. Finally the elevator door opens and the ride had seats that secured everybody in with seat belts. Of course all I could hear were the screams from the other elevators. Then the ride finally started and instead of the other people screaming it was our turn now. I know now that will be my only ride on the Tower of Terror. The sensation of dropping that many stories made my body feel like it was turning inside out. When we finally got off the ride they were selling pictures of the groups that had just gone on the ride, of course we had to look.

One of my other favorite things at the MGM Studios was the Muppet 3D show. It was one of the only times I got to sit and relax in the air-conditioning during my day. The show was really cute and it had a few special effects that made the audience feel like they were part of this film alongside the Muppets.

Overall Disney’s MGM was different than most theme parks, it had slower rides (although the Tower of Terror was quite a thriller) and exhibits to play on. I thought the MGM had something for everyone from the Indiana Jones show to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play land. I would recommend this park for all ages to come and explore.

There were only three attractions I wanted to see at MGM, and we did them all in about 2 hours. Neither my Dad nor I are movie watchers, so I was unfamiliar with most of what was in the park. First we did The Great Movie Ride – an okay attraction made GREAT by the air-conditioning and sitting down!! The little skit, however, was so lame, although the cast members were genuinely trying. The only movie I’d seen in the attraction was The Wizard of Oz. Next was the Muppet Vision 3-D, which I LOVED!! Afterwards we stopped in the gift shop and I bought a Kermit and a couple of magnets. I love my Muppets! Then it was off to the Backlot Tour. The little pre-show was okay, and the earthquake part was interesting, but that was about it. There really wasn’t anything to see or anything particularly memorable about it. We used two Snack Credits for ice cream (Mickey Sandwich and Nestle Crunch Bar). Being in MGM was interesting, though; in all my research, I had in my "mind" what restaurants and attractions would look like – but was pleasantly surprised at how EVERYTHING (from ice-cream carts to signage) was movie-themed.