By Charly SHELTON

I have been to Disneyland more times than I can count. From infancy all the way until now, at nearly 30, I’ve made it a point to hit the park once or twice a year just for fun, in addition to the stories I cover of new rides opening and festivals like Food and Wine. For a time I worked at the park as a Jungle Cruise skipper and went to the park much more frequently because admission was free. After that, I was an annual passholder for several years and would head down at least once a week. Suffice it to say, I love Disneyland and the magic it creates. But I have been so many times that I know all the secrets and, though the magic is not dead, nothing surprises me anymore. I know every ride by heart. I can recite all the safety spiels. I can always tell where in the parks a picture was taken, even if it’s a close-up of a trashcan or handrail. But I had never been to Walt Disney World – until recently.

Disney World is like a country unto itself. The real world stops existing at the airport when the Disney motorcoach picks you up and you’re told it’s time for your vacation to officially begin. From then on, even though cars and streets can be seen throughout the resort when traveling the many miles between parks, resorts and shopping districts, they are all Disney cars and Disney streets. The Magic Kingdom really is magical. You see it in the eyes of kids and first-time-visitor adults. And, like infectious laughter, the magic and wonder become contagious.

I know that Disney World is basically the same idea as Disneyland, but when you’ve never seen it before it seems like real magic. On our first day in the parks, we hit the castle to find, just after a brief Florida monsoon storm, that there was a double rainbow arcing over the castle from front to back, looking like a more majestic version of the Disney Pictures logo. This may not have been the Gods of Disney putting on a show just for me, but it sure felt like it was.

Let me offer a brief overview of the Walt Disney World Resort for those unfamiliar: the Magic Kingdom is like a half-remembered dream of Disneyland – everything is just slightly off, the scale of how big things are is slightly bloated, and the layout is a bit different. It’s close enough to be familiar but new enough to keep me guessing. Epcot, on the other hand, is entirely new. A Future World with a keystone attraction that is based on the past. A World Showcase that takes guests through different cultures from around the world through shopping, dining and the occasional informative film. This was unlike anything from home, and I was enthralled the whole time. And then there’s Disney’s Animal Kingdom – a park that I’ve been trying to get to since it opened 20 years ago. Essentially a zoo with a few rides, this park is all about conservation and loving the world we have. And it also includes, now, another world – Pandora, the World of Avatar.

Set a few years after the “Avatar” film, this land faithfully recreates the floating mountains of the Mo’ara Valley and banshee rides of the Na’vi people’s Flight of Passage. And Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which used to take guests behind the scenes and into great movies, now takes guests past construction walls as they build new experiences around the park. Toy Story Land just opened, and it is a very cute land with a great new Slinky Dog coaster that will hold guests over until Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens next summer, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway coaster opens sometime next year.

There’s a lot more to see and talk about over the coming weeks, so check back with CV Weekly to read more the Walt Disney Resort and its parks.

  Charly Shelton