The Walt Disney World Resort, or simply Disney World, is an entertainment complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, opened on October 1, 1971. The property covers 16,997 ha, in which it houses 24 themed resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, and numerous additional recreational and entertainment venues. Magic Kingdom was the first and original theme park to open in the complex followed by Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened later throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Epcot (an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), the second of theme parks, spans 120 ha, more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom park. Dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely technological innovation and international culture, is often referred to as a "Permanent World's Fair."
Epcot is divided into two main themed areas, Future World and World Showcase. Future World consists of a variety of pavilions that explore innovative aspects and applications including technology and science. Future World also serves as the park's main entrance and features the park's iconic landmark, Spaceship Earth, a large geodesic sphere structure with 18 story, which houses a themed attraction inside. An Omnimover system takes guests on a time machine-themed experience. Passengers journey back in time to witness the origins of prehistoric man, then travel forward in time to witness important breakthroughs in communication throughout history. At the conclusion of the ride, passengers have the chance to design their own future using touch screens that are embedded into the ride cars. The structure is similar in texture to the United States pavilion from Expo 67 in Montreal, but unlike that structure, Spaceship Earth is a complete sphere, supported by three pairs of legs. The structural designs of both Expo 67 and Spaceship Earth were completed by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts.
The Disney World currently operates twelve Mark VI monorail trains on three lines of service. The system is one of the most heavily used monorail systems in the world with around 157,000 riders per day on average. The three services on two distinct routes on the Walt Disney World Monorail are the Express and Resort services on the dual-beam Magic Kingdom route, and the single beam Epcot route. The monorail beams are made of concrete with a special polystyrene core to lighten their weight. The trains that have been in use since 1989 are each 62.03 m long (consisting of six cars) and can carry 360 passengers. Maximum speed during normal operations is 64 km/h. These speed limits are strictly enforced by the train's computer and cannot be overridden without the operator engaging a special lockout. Train spacing is maintained by a system which establishes a number of "holdpoints" throughout the system. At any given time, there must be at least two holdpoints between a given train and the train ahead of it. Each train is identified by a colored stripe, and given a name according to that color. The newest monorail, Peach (in the postcard), debuted on approximately October 16, 2011.
About stamps
The first stamp, dedicated to Johnny Cash, are part of the series Music Icons, about which I wrote here. The second stamp, depicting the Dallas Museum of Art’s iconic 1924 Razor painting by Gerald Murphy, is one of twelve works of art featured in the Modern Art in America: 1913-1931 Forever® stamp collection issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS) on March 7, 2013. The following two stamps, depicting Silver Coffeepot (3c / 2005) and American Toleware (5c / 2004), are part of the definitives series American Design (2002-2007), about which I wrote here. About the last stamp, featuring a portrait of George Washington, I wrote here.
References
Spaceship Earth (Epcot) - Wikipedia
Walt Disney World Monorail System - Wikipedia
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 17.06.2014
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