My Former Misconceptions About Walt Disney World

Nobody is just born automatically knowing everything and anything about Walt Disney World. Are you confused about the differences between the Walt Disney World parks? Or Disneyland vs. Walt Disney World? What about which parks are skips or must dos? How big is Walt Disney World, anyway? 

I myself didn’t visit the park until adulthood. And even though I did piles of research beforehand, there was still much I learned during my first trip. Here are five misconceptions about Walt Disney World I previously had:  

1. Disneyland and Walt Disney World are the same thing
One of my earliest memories is sitting around the TV at daycare, watching morning cartoons with the other kids. Suddenly, a Disney park commercial came on. We all started excitedly yelling "I wanna go to Disneyland!" One kid brought up Disney World. "What's the difference?" we asked. One kid said with the air of authority that only a 4-year-old could have "Disneyland is inside of Disney World". And I believed this. For years. 

I was not the only one with the confusion over the difference between the two resorts. It wasn’t until I started researching Disney history myself that I really learned the distinctions between the two of the them. But basically: Disneyland is the one in California, and Walt Disney World is the one in Florida. 

2. Walt Disney World only has one park.
This misconception of mine came from those ABCFamily sitcom specials. Remember how every show had a Disney vacation episode? They would cut back and forth from scenes at Magic Kingdom to scenes at Epcot, and never really specified that they were two different parks. I spent most of my childhood believing that the “golf ball” was just on the other side of the castle. Nope. Completely different park. 

In fact, Walt Disney World Resort consists of FOUR different theme parks (and 2 waterparks, 2 mini-golf courses, 28 hotels, and 1 shopping district). The four different theme parks are Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Most people believe that Magic Kingdom is the only park at Walt Disney World, as that is the park with the iconic castle.  While working at Animal Kingdom, I encountered some guests who said they would be going to “Disney World” tomorrow. I had the pleasure of pointing out that they already were in Disney World. 

As for the general public believing this misconception, I blame Walt Disney World advertising itself. Rarely do they advertise for parks other than Magic Kingdom - and then they wonder how to increase attendance at the other parks. Anyways, this is probably the biggest misconception the general public holds, and it’s also the saddest. The other three parks are awesome and have unique experiences that millions of people miss out on because they don’t know any better. 

3. Animal Kingdom isn’t special.
Speaking of giving credit to the other three parks, Disney’s Animal Kingdom (or DAK for short) is the most underrated. I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed when I learned I was assigned to work at DAK. I wanted to work at a cool park - Epcot or Magic Kingdom. At the time, these two parks were the epitome of “Disney magic”. Animal Kingdom just didn’t seem to have Walt’s touch on it like the other ones did. But then I took the time to explore more about the park. 

Did you know that Walt always wanted animals in his park when he was first building Disneyland? He wanted to put them in the Jungle Cruise. But because that ride isn’t a practical place for real live animals, they built the animatronic ones instead. And now his dream to have animals in his park is realized with DAK. And even though DAK works to complete Walt’s dream, it goes far beyond just Disney itself. DAK is the only park that actually contributes to the world around it. For example, white rhinos are an endangered species as they are targeted by poachers in Africa, but 11 white rhinos have been born at DAK.

A common sentiment I see is that DAK is a half-day park. This isn’t true, either! And it wasn’t a half day park, even before the addition of Pandora. DAK has some of the coolest attractions on Walt Disney World property, including Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Expedition Everest. The park is also home to the Festival of The Lion King, which is the highest-rated show in all of What Disney World. Between the thrills, entertainment, animals, and paths to explore, there is so much to do at this park that it cannot be justified as a skip or half-day park.

4. The park isn’t THAT big.
Oh, how wrong I was. I was wrong on many levels. Not only are the parks themself pretty large, but they take TIME to walk though. Ever tried to walk from the entrance gates of Magic Kingdom to Be Our Guest during firework time? You think “oh, it’ll only take me like 15 minutes if I speed walk” but then you’re hit with a crowd the size of the stampede that killed Mufasa. 

Even if the parks don’t seem that daunting in size, spending all day trekking back and forth from one side to the other adds up your energy spent. The workout your calves get is no joke, no matter how in shape you think you are.

5. It doesn’t take THAT much time to travel to the parks.
Walt Disney World Resort is contained for a reason. All of the parks are in the same vicinity.  But that vicinity is greatly underestimated. Let’s say you want to go to Magic Kingdom. First, you have to drive to the Ticket and Transportation Center to find a place to park. Since the parking lot is bigger than the theme park itself, you might want to take a tram to the monorail station.  Then, you have the choice of taking either the monorail or the ferry boat.. You will have to wait in line for either form of transportation. Magic Kingdom is a mile and a half away from the parking lot. After you’ve finally arrived at the park, you will have to go through security and wait in line (again) to scan your ticket. FINALLY, you can enter the park. 

Disney’s official website says that this whole process could take up to half an hour. Just to get from the parking lot. Traveling in between parks can take just as much time. I once waited an hour to catch a bus from Hollywood Studios to Epcot - and those parks are only a mile away from each other. 

While the travel time may be a pain sometimes, it exists for a reason. The point of Walt Disney World is to transport you to an entirely different world. While standing on property, you’d never know you were in Orlando. You can’t see the outside world from the parks. This adds to the immersive experience that Disney offers. You can truly believe that you are in a fairytale village, or a Moroccan market, or in a wild jungle, or in a galaxy far, far away…

What misconceptions did you have about Walt Disney World? Comment below!