February 21, 2012
Pap
the Disney Gamer's
Highlights: A Clarification
Regarding Adventures at the
Magic Kingdom
A few weeks
ago I wrote about the
Nintendo Entertainment
System (NES) game
Adventures at the Magic
Kingdom. The short
version of it is that the
game was one of the first
attempts at bringing the
Disney theme park
attractions into the video
game world. At the end of
the article, I said the
following:
'Adventures at the Magic
Kingdom isn't a perfect
game, but it is far from the
worse game ever created. It
remains one of the most
interesting Disney games in
the huge lineup of titles,
and one of the most creative
attempts as bringing the
magic of Walt Disney World
to your gaming console.'
Recently I
recorded a podcast where the
game was featured, and I was
told the game is actually
based on Disneyland. With
that in mind, I decided to
take another look at the
game and see if the game is
based on Disneyland or Walt
Disney World.
First, let's
take a look at the game's
cover...

Clearly,
that's Cinderella's Castle,
which is located in Walt
Disney World, Florida. Yet,
upon further inspection, the
castle as depicted in the
game looks like Sleeping
Beauty Castle from
Disneyland. Now, the game
doesn't specify which castle
is featured, it just says
that the player needs to
find six silver keys in
order to open the gates to
the castle. To add even more
confusion to the situation,
both parks have a Magic
Kingdom area, and both are
presented in a similar
manner.

Here is a
map of the Magic Kingdom as
depicted by the game...

The castle
clearly resembles Sleeping
Beauty Castle in terms of
how it is designed. Still,
with the limited technology
the NES offered, it could be
interpreted that the castle
is really a generic design.
I believed this until I took
a closer look at the map and
saw that the game featured
It's a Small World (though
not as a playable level).
Walt Disney World also has
the attraction, but there is
a big difference between the
two. At Disneyland, the
attraction features an
elaborate exterior,
featuring a large display
complete with a working
clock. At Walt Disney World
the attraction lies within a
building. In the map, the
attraction is seen on the
outside, therefore it means
that Adventures at the Magic
Kingdom actually takes place
at Disneyland and not at
Walt Disney World, despite
what the box art may say.

I apologize
for the mistake. The box art
for the game made it
confusing, and considering
the Magic Kingdom is
featured at both parks, and
both parks feature the same
attractions seen in the
game, I wouldn't be
surprised if others were
confused by this.
Regardless, Adventures at
the Magic Kingdom is worth
playing once because it is
one of the most interesting
attempts at recreating the
Disney theme parks, one that
was further elaborated upon
with Kinect Disneyland
Adventures.