Disney World in Florida is a place of excess and consumerism. But it's also a place to spend time with your family, and learn a few environmental lessons along the way. Having just returned from a whirlwind, four-day "vacation" to all four theme parks, I present a user's guide to greening your Disney vacation.
First off, yes, it's easy to dismiss the green at Disney as window dressing. It is, to some extent. But the experience got my kids talking about environmental issues. And they're only 6 and 9 years old. So that's not all bad. Of course, their dad is a Planet Green blogger. That also could have something to do with it.
1. Get ready to exercise
The theme parks, from Hollywood Studios to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom, require a lot of walking. We walked an estimated 150,000 miles during our trip. Slight exaggeration. The Walt Disney World Resort occupies a 47-square-mile area.
2. Get a map
Or better yet, download the app/bookmark the mobile site. This will help you find your way around, and pinpoint some of the more eco-themed attractions.
3. Ride the spaceship
Spaceship Earth is what's inside that big golf-ball shaped icon at the entrance to Epcot. The ride takes about 15 minutes. The basic story is about how human communication has advanced from writing on cave walls to this marvelous thing we call The Internet.
Near the end of the ride, you get to choose, on a screen in front of you, how youd like your future to be. My youngest daughter (who calls Epcot "The Apricot") chose a future focused on the Home, living in the Country, in a dwelling made of Natural Materials, and Car-pooling to work.
From this, the Disney people created a video using our faces, to show us living in a home that runs on green energy, in a world thats less polluted and a lot more sustainable than the one we have now.
4. Read the fine print
It's easy to be overwhelmed by all the extravagance and people, along with ongoing parades and fireworks. But at the Animal Kingdom, for instance, there's a lot to learn about threatened and endangered species and the role of wildlife refuges in protecting animals. The story of Kilimanjaro Safaris, for instance, involves seeing animals in the "wild," and chasing after poachers. There's also a Conservation Station nearby (relatively) where kids can soak up some wildlife conservation awareness. The Tree of Life is synthetic, but also pays homage to bugs.
5. Talk to your kids
It's fun to eat a sundae, but not for breakfast, lunch and dinner, for instance. To put it another way, if you're going to give your kids a Disney experience, you also should talk about how it's still important to recycle and increase our use of alternative energy sources.
Speaking of energy, after the Epcot Spaceship Earth ride, my oldest and youngest daughters played a game that required them to use various forms of electricity to power a city.
Dont use the coal! my oldest daughter yelled to her sister. Use wind and solar.
For More
Check out the Disney conservation page. Have you also been to Disney and found some green during a family vacation? You'll spend a lot of green ($$$) either way.
--- Via MrGreatLakes.com
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