The Wandering Disciple

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Larger then life musical instruments adorn this resort on the Walt Disney World Resort. Like the other value resorts in the Disney chain, the All-Star Music Resort features brightly colored buildings and large icons that represent many genres of musical history. Opened in 1994, the resort is part of the Disney’s value class of resorts. It has the smallest rooms in the chain at 260 square feet. They maintain 1,604 rooms on the property and are very basic in décor. Most rooms have two double beds, table and chairs, TV and single bathroom. Recently several of the rooms have been renovated into family suites in which they are able to accommodate six people with a kitchenette and sitting area. The rooms are arranged into ten buildings themed Broadway Show Tunes, Calypso, Country, Jazz and Rock N Roll. The amenities of the resorts are basic but sufficient. The main building is Melody Hall which contains the check-in, Intermission Food Court, arcade and Ma...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Part of Walt Disney World resort in Central Florida, Epcot is one of the four main Disney theme parks. The park is unlike any of the other theme parks as its main function is to educate its visitors through rides and attractions. Here you can travel around the world without ever leaving the sunshine state or explore the depths of the oceans without getting wet thanks to the many pavilions that comprise the park. The park was inspired by Walt Disney’s vision of the future, his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow or Epcot for short. He vision a community that was unlike no other but the dream never came to life and the ideas were packaged into the creation of the theme park. Construction began on the 300 acre theme park that would come to be know the Epcot Center. It took three years and $1.4 billion dollars to bring the park to life. The park opened to the public on October 1, 1982. Epcot was designed to be like a permanent World’s Fair. Laid ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: As you pass through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, Main Street USA welcomes you. The sweeping boulevard lined with shops your passageway to the adventures that wait within the park. Main Street is built to resemble an old Midwestern town. The buildings are designed to make it feel like a true American city, despite being just movie props. They even pump scents onto the streets to entice visitors to visit the many restaurants and candy stores along the way. Although there are no thrill rides on Main Street, you can board the Walt Disney Railroad from the Main Street Station near the entrance to the park. There is also a steady stream of Main Street vehicles, vintage vehicles and horse drawn carriages that can transport you the length of the boulevard if you wish to give your feet a break. Many of the parks shopping attraction can be found along Main Street. They have the Emporium, which is a shop that contains everything Disney. The Main Street Fire D...

Tampa, Florida: Every guest that visits Busch Gardens Tampa visits Morocco as it is the first themed land as you enter the park. Here you will find guest relations and most of the support staff of the park. This is also where most of the shops of Busch Gardens are located. Morocco is also home to the Moroccan Palace Theater. The theater currently houses the Broadway style show “Katonga”. Katonga is a musical in which the actors performs songs of the animals and the animals come to life. Debuting in 2004, Katonga has been a popular stop for young and old. The American Alligator exhibit is also located in Morocco, just outside the Moroccan Palace Theater. Here the alligator lay in the Florida sun waiting for their next meal. Several times a day you can meet a zookeeper here and learn about the alligators and watch them being fed. Shopping is the main attraction of Morocco. Here you will find the following shops: *Casablanca Outfitter; clothing. *Label Stable; Budweiser signature...

Orlando, Florida: Part marine life habitat and part theme park, Sea World Orlando is a world class zoological park that combines thrills with education to make a world class venue. The park is home to many species of marine life including their trademark resident, Shamu the Killer Whale. Opened in 1973, Sea World Orlando has grown into one the most visited theme parks in the country. Last year the park the park entertained over 5.8 million guests, making it the seventh most visited park in the country. The designers of the park do a great job of getting the most out of the 200 acres that the park sits on. They manage to combine ten thrilling amusement rides within the world class animal habitats that Sea World has been known for. The most popular attraction of the park is the parks icon, Shamu. Daily shows take place in the massive Shamu Stadium. Here guests can watch the current show, Believe. During the evening, the show is replaced with Shamu Rocks, a mix of Shamu acrobatics with R...

Tampa, Florida: Busch Gardens Tampa is a 335 acre theme park where wild rides meets wildlife. The African themed park has four roller coasters featured on Amusement Today’s Top 50 Coaster list; Montu (3), Kumba (7), SheiKra (13) and Gwazi (38). It is also home to a wide variety of Africa wildlife. Opened in 1959, Busch Gardens was started as an admission free park to compliment the hospitality house for the Anheuser-Busch brewery. The park featured the Bird Gardens, a walk through aviary where guests come in contact with exotic birds species. In 1965 the park expanded to include the Serengeti Plain. The plain was a free roaming home to African wildlife including Zebra, Giraffes and more. The plain quickly became the largest free-roaming habitat outside of Africa. A monorail and railway was added to give guests a closer look at the animals. Then in 1974, the Skyride was added, giving riders a bird’s eye view of the Serengeti Plain. Busch Gardens introduced thrill rides to the pa...

Tierra Verde, Florida: At the mouth of the Tampa Bay lies a barrier island known as Mullet Key. Mullet Key has been a prominent site of Tampa Bay history and is the current home of Fort DeSoto Park, a 1,136 acre park built around the site of the historic fort. Like much of Florida, the first inhabitant to the island were Native Americans. The Tocobaga Indians resided on the island from 1000 to 1500. The location at the mouth of the bay was ideal to the Tocobaga lifestyle. The waters provided an abundance of shellfish and fish provided plenty of food for the tribe as well as a means to trade with other tribes and eventually the Spanish conquistadors. The first Spanish explorer to reach the island was Panfilo de Narvaez in April 1528. Narvaez landed in the region and began searching for riches. As the confrontation with the local tribes became more violent, Narvaez and his group of explorers headed further north. The next major explorer to reach the region was possibly the most p...