Written by Chelsea Gonzales.
Disney World is a magical--full of fun, wonder, and memories. It is also a great place to enhance your homeschooler’s education. In this "Disneyschooling" series, we've been looking at many of the learning opportunities found in the Disney World parks.
In the fourth and final addition to this series, we'll cover Hollywood Studios. While this park is currently under construction and is therefore much smaller than the other three at the moment, it still has so much learning potential. Let’s begin, shall we?
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Hollywood Studios
Toy Story Mania
This ride is basically a series of immersive 3D carnival games. While games might not sound very educational, they actually are, especially if you can play them more than once by taking the ride more than once. You see, these are games of strategy as much as they are games of skill, encouraging kids to think about the most strategic ways to earn more points. Clearly, this boosts problem-solving skills, something that is a great addition to any homeschool curriculum.Star Tours
Want to introduce your kiddo to the wonders of outer space and space travel? A ride on the Star Tours virtual reality ride might be just the ticket. While this ride is based entirely on the fictional Star Wars universe, it does contain bits of reality, and is a great starting point for a space unit study.One interesting question to bring up: Does the ride’s representation of jumping to lightspeed match what would happen if we actually had the technology?
Indiana Jones
Do your kids like movies? If so, they will appreciate those movies even more when they see the incredible amount of work and science behind each one of them. The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show is a great way to introduce kids to the magic of the movies and all the science used to ensure the safety of cast and crew members.One Man’s Dream
Squeezing in a history lesson during your Hollywood Studios day is easy enough; simply pay a visit to One Man’s Dream. This mini museum follows the life of Walt Disney himself. It includes tons of information on Walt's success and failures, as well as some interesting bits about the history of moviemaking in general. After your visit, be sure to read Who Was Walt Disney? to continue the discussion.Disney Junior Live
If you are taking a preschooler to Hollywood Studios, make time to see Disney Junior Live On Stage. This show is written to engage young children and make them think in order to help solve the problems of the characters in the show. It’s a great way to get your little one’s gears turning while also entertaining them with favorite Disney characters.
Beauty and the Beast
Art appreciation is an important thing to instill in children. Unfortunately, very young kids—or those who have trouble sitting still—might find it difficult to attend a full-scale Broadway-style production. The Beauty and the Beast Musical at Hollywood Studios helps solve this problem. The show is a mere half-hour long and includes quality dancing, singing, costuming, and more. This means you can introduce your students to the magic of theater without making them sit still for hours. 50’s Prime Time Cafe
Flashback in time by visiting the 50's Prime Time Cafe, a 1950s-themed eatery. The decor includes tons of authentic vintage furniture, wall hangings, televisions, and knick-knacks. Shows from the 50s are playing on all of the TVs in the restaurant. Additionally, the waitstaff is trained to play the part of a mother, grandmother, uncle, or father of the 1950s, enforcing such rules as “elbows off the table” and “eat your veggies”. This is an awesome immersive experience that can really give people the gist of what home meals may have been like in the 1950s.Sci-Fi Dine In Theater
This eatery feels exactly like a drive-in theater from the 1960s. Guests are seated in “cars” and served burgers, fries, and shakes. The “sky” is filled with stars, and the big screen shows old advertisements and clips from 1960s sci-fi movies. It’s all quite silly, but a great way to introduce kids to the time period.Fantasmic!
The nighttime show “Fantasmic!” is a must-see during your visit. Be sure to read the true story of Pocahontas before your visit and watch the Disney movie to compare and contrast the two. During “Fantasmic!”, see if your kids can pick out John Smith, Pocahontas, and other key characters found in the show.More Disneyschooling ideas
This concludes our Disney World Disneyschooling series. From here on out, I encourage you to keep looking and find even more ways to take full advantage of the educational possibilities on your Disney World trip. For instance, you might require your children to earn and budget their own souvenir money to work on math skills, or maybe you could find some educational podcasts to listen to on the trip there.If you missed any of the fun along the way, be sure to check out
Disneyschooling at the Magic Kingdom
No matter how you go about it, have fun and relax while you take a break from formal schooling. Remember, your kids are always learning new things, even when you aren’t actively teaching them!
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