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A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The Verses of Fantasia Gardens



By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE EIGHTEEN HOLE VERSES OF FANTASIA GARDENS

By Jim Korkis

For those so engrossed in not exceeding the six-stroke limit per hole, or so entranced by the audio or visual treats that getting the ball in the hole might produce, that you might have missed it, here is the complete verse for each hole at the Walt Disney World Fantasia Gardens mini-golf near the Swan and Dolphin resorts, as written by Imagineer Robert Coltrin, WDI concept designer for the course.

(c) Disney

Tocatta and Fugue

1.  Our musical game has just begun/And here comes treble for everyone/Up to the top the ball must run/For any hope of a hole-in-one.

2.  The notes upon the staff you see/May seem quite lovely musically/But now as you begin to play/You’ll see they may get in your way.

3.  Before our little fugue concludes/The music swells and changes mood/Avoid the rests and you will hear/Chimes a-ringing sweet and clear.

Nutcracker Suite

4.  Spring is here and just beyond/Blossoms float upon the pond/The open bud should be your goal/Its dainty petals surround the hole.

5.  These lively mushrooms circle ‘round/While one is hopping up and down/At the feet little Hop Low/Is where you want the ball to go.

6.  As Winter arrives, the fairies create/A frost-covered pond where they can skate/Their path on the left is where it should roll/Then watch as it waltzes down to the hole.

7.  And so this musical suite we close/Amidst the flurry of winter snows/Weather the storm where snowflakes fall/Or easily putt around them all.

Pastoral Symphony

8.  Within Mount Olympus this opus unfolds/And what mythological creatures it holds!/When putting the ball, be careful to go/Straight through the pillars to the caverns below.

9.  The impish faun loves to tease/As he plays his pipes with ease/So if you putt straight and true/Perhaps he’ll play a tune for you.

10.  In all of the land there’s no one more raucous/Than this fellow here, the infamous Bacchus/He’s poured you a path that you simply putt up/Hit it just right and it spills to the cup.

Dance of the Hours

11.  You will notice in a glance/These graceful ladies love to dance/This bird ballet is lovely, but/They may distract you as you putt.

12.  And there, the dance grows even greater/Enter now: Ben Ali Gator/With hippo high, he strains beneath/Now simply putt between his teeth.

13.  After they dance their amusing duet/Hyacinth Hippo will now pirouette/Carefully watch as she spins here for you/Time it just right and the ball will go through.

14.  Twilight brings a mood of romance/The perfect time for an elephant dance/So while she strikes this beautiful pose/Aim for the path beneath her toes.

15.  Before we can finish this silly ballet/This fanciful fountain is ready to spray/So keep an eye out for each little jet/They’re hopping and hoping to get the ball wet.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice

16.  Mickey’s in trouble for casting a spell/Meant to assist him in filling the well/Now armies of brooms with a water supply/Are ready to douse anything that goes by.

17.  When Mickey is dreaming, he’s brave and he’s brash/Conducting the stars and creating a splash/From high on a cliff, he’s on top of it all/He’ll show you his stuff when you’re putting the ball.

18.  The wave has grown bigger, with magic it stirs/When up from the bottom, a whirlpool occurs/A putt to the left will spin it, and then/We hope you’ll return here again and again!

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! For more from Jim on Fantasia Gardens, see this. And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Call Me Walt, and his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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