The Magical World of Disney

Are you ready to ride on the magic carpet of Historical Disney World?

By Kelly De Palma

Introduction

• Imagine you are in the Florida lands of Disney World. You wonder the background of the magical world of fun. Go behind the scenes of Splish Splash and Thunder Mountain and find out the historical information behind Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

• A group of four is required for this task and is directed to middle school children in the range of fourth to eighth graders.

• When your group has pulled together the historical information of Disney World, all of you will proceed in the makings of a handmade Historical Disney Map.

• Each member will have a specific job in creating this map.

Member 1- Mickey Mouse

• Your mission entails who, when, and how Disney World came about.

• You have to find information about the motives and thought process behind this amusement park that is famous worldwide.

• In the end, you can be the historical provider for the Disney map you and your teammates will create.

Member 2- Minnie Mouse

• Your mission entails the historical backgroud behind the amusement rides in Disney World.

• You can input your knowledge of the history by using this information to put in each place of the rides.

• You will have pictures of the rides but instead there will be more of a historical purpose than a regular entertainment purpose for visitors.

Member 3 – Donald Duck

• Your mission entails that you provide the tiny captions surrounding the map.

• These captions will be a title of each historical point on the map for people to know what they are learning about.

• You will also provide historical pit stops on the map that could be food or souvenirs pertaining to the history of that certain section in the park.

Member 4- Goofy

• Your mission is to be the format, layout, and picture person.

• You will form and layout the map just as a regular Disney Map but instead you will input the information your other group members have found.

• You will provide the pictures and color aspect of the map.

• Note: Don’t be too goofy in creating the map.

Sources

For Task 1 - http://fuv.hivolda.no/prosjekt/gunnargrodal/bio.htm

- http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1833-walt-disney-biography

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World

For Task 2- http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/archive/other/history/htm

- http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-World-Trivia-Book/dp/1887140492

- http://www.wdwhistory.com/FindFile.Ashx?/Magic_Kingdom

Sources (cont.)

For Task 3

- http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/propertymap.htm - http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/maps.html

For Task 4

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartography#Map_design

- http://www.wdwinfo.com/pictures.htm

Conclusion

• Disney World is a place where everyone becomes a kid no matter what age he or she is. Disney World sparks the imagination and creates exciting memories that are encased in photo albums. However, this webquest allows you to go beyond the entertainment aspects of Disney and to find out the historical background on which Disney World was founded on by it’s creater Walt Disney. In the end, Disney World is a place where dreams really do come true from both a historical and an entertainment perspective.