Magic Kingdom

So I haven't posted in a while (big surprise there) but with our Disney trip only 27(!!) days away I thought I would start sharing the activities/lesson plans/unit studies/whatever you want to call them that I have come up with to make this both a fun and educational trip.  My daughters are only 5 and 2 so I won't be using all these ideas but I thought they might be useful to others.  I plan to use some before our trip, others during, and some after to reinforce what we did and saw.  That's one of the great things about homeschooling--anything can be an educational experience!

Today I am going to start with the Magic Kingdom. I will be back periodically with the other Disney World parks as well as Sea World and Legoland.  The month of October will be spent preparing the girls (and the hubby and me) for our trip.  I plan to concentrate on exploring a different park with them each week.  I can't possibly cover all the rides and attractions at each park but I will do my best to cover the most popular. I will also do a post on resources (books, websites) that I found helpful while planning our trip and coming up with ideas for educational activities. 

To help prepare my girls for our trip and for all the characters that they might see, we have been having weekly Disney movie nights.  Usually I'm not a big fan of characters/princesses in books and movies but I don't want them to be scared when they see all of the costumed characters, most of whom they have never heard of until I showed them the appropriate movie.  So the past couple of months we have seen (rented from the library) all the princess movies as well as all the movies based on rides/attractions in Disney World.  This way they will recognize the characters and understand the themes/story lines they will encounter. 

Partial list of movies:
Tangled (my 5 year old's current favorite)
Sleeping Beauty
Cinderella
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Little Mermaid
Aladdin
Peter Pan
Bug's Life
Toy Story
Alice in Wonderland
Mary Poppins (UK at Epcot)
Mulan (China at Epcot)
Dumbo
and probably some more that I'm forgetting

I also plan to have Emma, with my help of course, keep a journal of our vacation.  What we did each day, her favorite ride, what the weather was like, what she would like to learn more about when we get home, any special memories she wants to remember, etc.  We'll see how well that goes, as writing is not her favorite thing to do at all.



And now on to the Magic Kingdom...

Hall of Presidents
This one is pretty obvious.  Discuss the presidents before or after your trip, learn a fun fact about each one, etc.  Make history come alive!  You can find directions on Pinterest to make Lincoln's hat or Washington's wig.  While at Disney you can even buy a copy of the Declaration of Independence or other famous document to study about when you get back home.  Who delivered the Gettysburg Address? What is the significance of the number above the door when you enter the Hall of Presidents? 
Answer--the year the constitution was ratified (1787).
Since the Hall of Presidents is located in Liberty Square, you can also learn about Paul Revere (what was his message to warn how the British were coming), the 13 original colonies, etc.

Haunted Mansion
See if you can count all 999 ghosts as you ride.  The interactive queue has a murder mystery you can try to solve.  I'll report back on this once we've done it.  Write or tell your own ghost story.


Swiss Family Treehouse
If your kids are old enough, read the book before your trip.  Compare it to the treehouse while you walk through it.  Would you like to live in a treehouse?  Why or why not?  What's the name of the Robinsons' ship?  Study trees.  ID some trees in your neighborhood.  Compare bark, leaves, flowers, etc. of different trees.

Tom Sawyer Island
Read the book before you go.  Talk about the author and the time period.  Write or narrate a story based on your own life.  Build a raft from sticks.

Liberty Square Riverboat
Take a ride on this authentic steamboat.  Read about steamboats before or after your trip.  Locate the Mississippi river on a map.

Carousel of Progress
Talk about inventions and innovations, how technology has changed.  What would you invent?  How has technology helped us?  Has it hurt us in any way?  Pick a time period from the ride to do a unit study on.  This might also be a good time to learn about Walt Disney himself.

Any of the rides in Frontierland
Learn about the Wild West and pioneers.  Who were famous people then?  Horses, the Pony Express, mines, or the Gold Rush may be good related topics to explore.  Make a model of a covered wagon (look on pinterest for ideas).

Walt Disney World Railroad
Research when railroads first started, how they were powered, how they made life easier, etc..  Build a model train.

Pirates of the Caribbean
Locate the Caribbean on a map or globe.  What are pirates?  Who were some famous pirates?  Learn the parts of a ship (crow's nest, mast, starboard, etc.).  Dress up like a pirate.  Dig for buried treasure (fake gold coins) in a sand box.  You could practice reading a map by drawing a treasure map and having your child follow it to find the treasure.

Jungle Cruise
Locate the Nile and Amazon rivers on a map.  What continents are they on? What animals live near each river?  Why are rivers so important?   What is the longest river in the world?

Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Learn about the Middle East.  Watch the movie, Aladdin.  If magic carpets were real where would you fly to and why?  If genie's were real what 3 wishes would you ask for?  Have kids write, draw, or narrate the answers to these discussion questions or come up with your own.  Learn about camels.  What are one hump and two hump camels called?  Why do camels spit?  What do they store in their humps?

Cinderella's Castle
Watch the movie.  Read Cinderella books from other countries.  How are they the same and different?  Look up famous real castles.  Find where they are on a map.  Who lived in them?  Write, draw, or narrate your own fairy tale.

Mickey's Philharmagic
Listen to, read about, or go to a real philharmonic orchestra.  If you have access to one, play an instrument that's found in an orchestra. 

it's a small world
Learn a few words in a different language (hello, goodbye, please, and thank you are good ones).  Study the clothing of other countries.  Find the countries on a map or globe.  What 6 continents and 5 languages are represented on the ride?

Peter Pan's Flight
This ride is unfortunately scheduled to be closed when we're there.  But here are some possible ideas anyway.  Pirates (if you didn't already do that for Pirates of the Caribbean), crocodiles, London (famous landmarks like Big Ben), volcanoes.  Read the book Peter Pan.

Space Mountain
Do a unit study on space--planets, galaxies, asteroids, meteors, space stations, etc.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Continue your space study.  Add in some math.  Add up your points as you go along.  Who had the highest score?  If you ride twice, figure out your average or the difference between your two scores.  Look for the higher numbers to score more points.  Count by 10's to reach your score.  Place values.


For many of the rides in the Magic Kingdom (and other Disney parks) you could study gravity, centrifugal force, animatronics, and a host of other science related topics.