The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 103

An Sunday, May 5, 1996 SfltiW teluhiikit in II (it i aiuiA MJkt 4 if 1 1 i Disney Introduces An Exciting New Resort Page 4 Disney water parks provide waves of fun. Page 5 Advertising Supplement to The Tampa Tribune Wy Disneyfald May Is a Special Time For Florida Visitors Disney's New Institute Is Hands-On Fun By Pamela S. Weiers (Author ofBirnbaum's "Walt Disney World Without Kids" and Senior Editor ofBirnbaum's Official Guide to Walt Disney World Having just returned from a whirlwind weekend at the new Disney Institute, I am afraid mere words won't do the place justice. As an editor LA 1 of Birnbaum Official Guides to Walt Disney World, I'd often been asked Epcot Flower Festival -30 million blooms this Spring. 1 to describe the institute when it was still in its formative stages.

"It Pamela S. Weiers iJ, will be a vacation resort devoted entirely to I'd explained, place where guests 'i will be given free rein to try their hand ft- -Ami -'it' fit at anything from animation to rock climbing, creating topiaries, even producing a television news show. It's a place where celebrated talents in entertainment will come not merely to perform but also to converse, mingle, and do some dabbling of their own." And that it is. What's a bit tougher to i'll" 1 bmA quantify to someone who has yet to experience the Disney Institute is the resort's ability to mesmerize, to inspire, 11 hit I and to downright invigorate. Disney Resorts create excitement Disney's Polynesian Resort Magical World Cinderella Castle is the heart of Disney imagination and fun.

In an enticing reversal of the theme park norm, at the Institute, you essen tially make your own magic. At first, this seems a daunting proposition. Isn't Disney supposed to produce the magic? But then you take stock of your sur roundings. 4 May is preview month for Florida fun-seekers to discover newest Walt Disney World attractions, more entertainment, more outdoor recreation and more Disney resort accommodations in every price category than ever before. Heading the list of new features is a spectacular double-dropper heart-stopper ride in "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" with two 13-story plunges instead of one and a new fairground home for Disney characters in Mickey's Toontown Fair.

Nearby, New Tomorrowland introduces the spectacular "ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter." Now is also the ideal time to enjoy "Blizzard Beach" the world's coolest water park with "ski runs" down the snow-white slopes of Mt. Gushmore. Floridians can be among the first to experience the stimulating programs at the Disney Institute which opened in March for lis and tropical enchantment of the Polynesian Resort. Each of the resorts has outstanding accommodations, shopping and dining, swimming pools, beaches and water play areas befitting individual themes from Caribbean islands to old New Orleans, from Old South to New England. More Magic at Night There are new adventures in dining this summer at the already open California Grill atop Disney's Contemporary Resort and the soon to open waterfront nightspots on Disney's BoardWalk.

Already tops in nighttime popularity, Pleasure Island nightclubs feature jazz, comedy, favorite 60's music, 70's disco and a pyrotechnic New Year's celebration every night. Nearby Planet Hollywood adds its own brand of celebrity dining. This summer introduces two more Disney Village dining adventures: Fulton's Crab House, now open for dockside dining for 700 guests aboard a romantic, triple-deck riverboat; and Rainforest Cafe, presenting a unique combination of dining and shopping, popular snacks and dining treats along with environmentally significant souvenirs. There is also an active volcano at the front door (opening in July). Kingdom, Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios.

The Studios is also preparing a spectacular new surprise musical adventure for the Backlot Theater. At Epcot, there are exciting new ways to discover the world's latest technologies at INNOVENTIONS, where visitors can test-drive Virtual Reality, personal communicators and other products for home, work and play. When it comes to introducing new inventions, no one does it with more screams of laughter for the audience than Professor Wayne Szalinski and his incredible shrinking machine in Future World's hit 3-D spectacular, "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." For flower lovers, the biggest show comes this month (through June 2) in the Epcot International Flower Garden Festival. Covering more than 700 flower beds in World Showcase and Future World, the show features Disney character topiaries from Fantasia to Pocahontas plus tours and talks by leading gardening experts. The Walt Disney World resorts and hotels have their own special appeal that feels like finding a new home in another place and time from the Victorian elegance of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort to the Rocky Mountain splendor of Disney's Wilderness Lodge Disney's best value One Day Park-Hopper can be used in a wide variety of combinations.

The One Day Park-Hopper provides unlimited use of attractions in all three Disney theme parks during any one day for just $28 per person. That gives guests the flexibility to enjoy favorite attractions within the Magic Kingdom8, Epcot and the Disney-MGM Studios all in the same day. So that Florida residents can take advantage of lighter, pre-summer travel, the ticket is available for use now until June 9. Special value rates for Florida residents also are available in Walt Disney World Resort hotels during May. Wonders Continue In Summer For Mickey Mouse fans the Magic Kingdom is adding Mickey's Toontown Fair where guests will meet Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale and Pluto in new farmer costumes as judges of the fair's agriculture, talent and craft competitions.

For the first time, Minnie Mouse will have her own cozy cottage next to Mickey's House. The new area (replacing Mickey's Starland) previews in late June. The summer season also brings spectacular fireworks shows every night in all three Disney parks the Magic 4 i resort residents and day visitors. Soon, Floridians will enjoy a summer-long preview of the great new 910-room enter tainment resort, Disney's BoardWalk Inn and Villas (opening in July). Exclusive For Floridians Walt Disney World is now offering their best Florida resident ticket to date, combining a special price with park-hopping privileges.

Exciting Challenges Disney Institute guests climb challenging rock face. You aren't exactly shut in a room with a box of magic markers and a pile of popsicle sticks. You have a choice of Tower Drops With Twice The Fright The Disney-MGM Studios takes you to another dimension by making Walt Disney World's highest adventure twice as terrifying by adding an all-new double-dropping heart-stopping plunge to "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror." dozens of hands-on programs specially designed to jump-start a stalled imagination. You have full run of a tranquil lakeside resort complete with cinema, performing arts theater, and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment you've never had a chance to lay eyes on let alone play with. You have access to professional chefs, animators, naturalists, interior designers, photographers, genealogists, fitness trainers, massage therapists, you name it.

And your odds for celebrity encounters have probably never been better. There is a continuum of temptations built into every day. Given the chance, the Disney Institute easily supplies ten times the Recommended Daily Allowance of stimulation. I know this because my friends and I like wide-eyed kids in a candy shop couldn't muster a shred of self-control. We squeezed in as many programs as we could, exchanged schedules, and vowed to meet for meals.

My first day began with an aerobics class taught by an artist-in-residence -Karen Voight one of the few prominent Continued on page 3 Two 13-Story Faster-Than-Gravity Plunges The setting is Halloween, 1939, and guests have been mysteriously disappearing from the Hollywood Tower Hotel. The hair-raising journey begins when visitors board a decrepit "freight elevator" that rises past haunted passageways. First, the elevator enters a pitch-black shaft and takes a gut-wrenching plunge in total darkness. Then a jet-speed ascent past open doorways leaves guests teetering above Sunset Boulevard as the vehicle lurches to a frightening stop. Riders are left to wonder what's next as they hang on the brink of disaster.

Tension mounts, and the wait seems unbearable, then the vehicle takes its passengers on a horrifying, faster-than-free-fall plunge 13 stories straight down to the depths of the hotel. Suddenly, just as guests think they've safely reached the end Plan your Vacation Now. Call Walt Disney World (407)939-7731 of their journey, the elevator rockets back to the top of the shaft, only to once again careen back down to earth in a frightful finale. The all-new "The Twilight Zone Tower of urn inn inn- ii.NMiiiii'i.'tiitiiiTiiiiiir.Mjiil,...ii M-ii. jitt.rd.ii.ii.ijiiii wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Disney-MGM Studios' newest thrills come when guests plunge thirteen stories, zoom back to the top, and plummet down into the pitch-black shaft for a second shower of screams.

Or your Travel Agent drop is set to debut in early May..