Page 113 - HMS 2020

The Magic Kingdom
We took an early morning monorail to the Magic Kingdom and saw the sun rise over the iconic Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Here we heard about how light, waves and motion are used to create magic. We found out about current and how it
is controlled and how light can be manipulated to create amazing visual effects on rides and in shows.
We were lucky enough to be given backstage access to see how all the things we had learnt about were used on the Haunted Mansion ride. It was great to see how science is used for fun.
Of course we had to apply our new-found knowledge by testing out some of the biggest and most amazing rollercoasters and rides! The Pandora ride in the Animal Kingdom was incredible; using movement and light to create a new world that you are completely immersed in! The Mount Everest ride simply
relied on gravity to pull the carriage around the track after the initial pull to the top.
SeaWorld
We visited SeaWorld to
gain an understanding of rescue and rehabilitation programmes both in
local regions, such as the everglades, and further away such as the Atlantic Ocean. It was interesting to hear how SeaWorld use the resident manatees to teach baby manatees how to behave in the wild. We also were able to meet and
feed the rays who were in a holding tank waiting to be released back into the wild.
The Everglades
At Boggy Creek we saw some amazing wildlife including a nest of alligators which ranged from some very tiny ones to their mother who was over 9 feet long! We also saw some incredible birds and some giant butter snails that have no predators so they grow as big as a small plate and eat any plants they can get hold of!
Review by
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Meeting an Astronaut
On our second visit to the Kennedy Space Centre we had lunch with a real astronaut, Dan Tani, who told us about his life and how he started out as an engineer. Unusually he did not come from a military background unlike most of the other astronauts. Dan has completed 4 space missions and was part of the team to do the 100th space walk on the International Space Station. He was really interesting and took time to come and speak to us at our table.