Tuesday, April 27, 2010

“Home” School at Walt Disney World

We are huge Disney fans. We are fortunate to live a day’s drive from WDW and have made a dozen or more trips there as our children have grown up. One thing that I love about Walt Disney World is that there is so much educational content there. We are always able to count part of our trip as “school time.” One trip, many years ago, back in the days of  “World of Motion” and “Horizons,” I even made a worksheet for my 6 year old to fill out with questions like “Name 4 types of transportation” and “Name 3 sources of energy.”  Usually, though, we just have fun and learn a lot anyway!

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Destination Disney is a blog hop featured my my TOS Crew friends Heidi and Becky. Their question of the week is:

What is your favorite educational experience at Disney World?

It is hard to pick just one—both Animal Kingdom and Epcot are full of educational attractions. The attraction that first came to mind, though, is Ellen’s Energy Adventure. My kids (currently 9 to 22) WILL NOT go to WDW and miss this ride/attraction! And better yet, it never has a line! From the realistic dinosaurs to Bill Nye (whose PBS show the older kids grew up with) to Ellen (who is hysterically funny in this feature even if you don’t like her lifestyle), every one of the four has grown up thrilled to spend 45 minutes learning about energy!  Actually, it kind of surprises me that this is a favorite.

I will caution though that it contains evolutionary content that many families may not be comfortable with. We don’t avoid exposure to evolutionary content in our household—our kids know that just because many experts believe in it, that doesn’t make it true.

Oh! And one my other favorites---One that I think many visitors miss! Conservation Station at Animal Kingdom. You have to take a train there. I have never seen it crowded. It is a hands-on area with a petting zoo and educational exhibits about animals and conservation. The workers bring out various small animals or even insects, giving little talks and allowing visitors to see them close up.

From learning science at Epcot Future World, to  animals at Animal Kingdom and Living Seas, to visiting countries around the “world” at Epcot, education at WDW is hands on and fun. And I am more than ready for my next trip!

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1 comment:

  1. Debbie~ thanks so much for participating in Destination Disney this week. I hope you'll continue to be a part of this fun meme! If you have ideas for any fun topics, please e-mail me. :)

    Also, I need to make a post about Super Star Speech. I don't normally do Crew reviews unless something really stands out to me. The "r" book seems to really be helping Gracie - at least it's making her more aware of the problem(s). Thanks!

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