One of the most exciting Disney opportunities for Orlando educational tours isn’t exactly a place. It’s a program and one every teacher should consider when planning student travel. 

The Disney Y.E.S. program stands for Youth Education Series. And few educational programs are quite so exciting as this. Walt Disney was passionate about creativity, invention, and technological innovation. He loved to inspire through entertainment. But he also loved to educate through inspiration – to open the eyes of his viewers and visitors to a world of possibility. The Disney parks and studios celebrate this spirit every day as they bring science and imagination together in every film, attraction, and entertainment experience.

The Disney Y.E.S. program takes this vision another step, having created an educational series focused on popular subjects and infused with Disney magic. The program connects student groups to a specially trained Disney facilitator for a behind-the-scenes Disney experience that highlights exactly how learning and education have been put to use to create Walt Disney’s dream.

These amazing educational experiences can be focused on one of four areas of interest: Humanities, Life Management, Natural Sciences, and Physical Sciences. This has to be the most exciting way to study any one of these subjects. This is one learning experience to which every one of your students will gladly say yes. 

Photo Credit: CCRcreations on Flickr

Our company has been sending students all over the country for over a decade now, and Philadelphia educational tours are still very popular, especially with an emphasis in history. In fact, as mentioned a while back, Forbes Traveler found Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia to be one of the top 25 visited attractions in the nation. Which brings us to the beautiful fountain we’re featuring today, surrounded by some of Philadelphia’s most popular attractions and rich with tradition: The Swann Memorial Fountain.

Dr. Wilson Carey Swann was the founder of the Philadelphia Fountain Society, and this beautiful centerpiece was designed in his honor, complete with sculptured swans – a play on his name. Large native American figures also grace this landmark and are symbols of the three major rivers in the area.

Swann Memorial Fountain is located in Logan Circle. It stands as the midpoint for Ben Franklin Parkway where both City Hall and the Philadelphia Museum of Art tower nearby. This fountain is therefore bound to figure into your Philadelphia tour whether you plan for it or not. In the past, it has been popular for swimming in the summer, which was eventually banned – by security and everything. But there are still traditions in the city – which make the local news – that include celebrations by emersion in this popular city landmark, including annual end-of-the-school-year jubilees.

This is a beautiful centerpiece to any Philadelphia tour – and yet another gorgeous fountain in our week of celebrating those refreshing, traditional city landmarks we cannot help but love.

Photo Credit: michaelwm25 on Flickr

Yosemite was one of the first wilderness areas to become a national park, and it is a beautiful choice for student travel destinations. The waterfalls are perhaps the most famous natural wonder in this area and reason enough to walk, hike, or bike the famous paths. But there is more to Yosemite than the falls.

For a comprehensive look at all it has to offer, bus tours might be the way to go – at least the first day. Students can get an overview of the many different aspects of this amazing area – the falls, the meadows, the deep valleys and giant, ancient sequoias. These are the reasons Yosemite will take your breath away.

To make the most of the educational opportunities in the park, choose a ranger-guided tour, rich with information about Yosemite and its history. “A shrine to human foresight,” the National Park Services declares, and the “strength of granite,” and “the persistence of life.” Yosemite can teach students all kinds of valuable, life-changing lessons. 

For an even richer experience, after a day of exploring, consider a few hours of volunteering. You won’t find a more wonderful work environment nor a place that more fully inspires the preservation of our beautiful earth.

Photo Credit: Rob Inh00d on Flickr

There is one thing all national parks have in common: They have been preserved because someone at some point recognized their amazing beauty and stood up for them, realizing they must be treasured, that they must remain as places of ultimate inspiration. For some, they are reminders of what nature provides us all on its own and our responsibility to it. For some, they point to a deliberate Creator. For almost everyone, they are a wake-up call to our own small place in a vast and beautiful universe. 

National Parks, like this one – the amazing and incomparable Grand Canyon – are therefore the perfect environment for educational tours. They are learning centers all on their own without any human hand. And yet, they are usually rich with guides who can steer the inspiration toward an interest in nature, conservation, and history. 

The Grand Canyon has made it to world wonder lists for a reason. It’s simply breathtaking – a play of light and color and deep caverns that cannot be properly reproduced on film. Standing above this amazing footprint of nature is something so moving you simply have to experience it for yourself. There are all kinds of accommodations just minutes from this amazing US attraction, making it both possible and a must-see. It’s just one more gorgeous landscape carefully preserved and honored by the National Park Services. But you have to admit once you’ve seen it, this park kind of stands alone.

Photo Credit: mandj98 on Flickr

As long as we’re talking about national parks – for that matter, if you’re considering making a tour of them or adding even one to your list of must see US attractions – then you’ve got to consider Yellowstone. Besides its expanse and beauty – this is the first National Park established in our country and certainly deserves a nod just for that.

We like educational tours around here.  When you put students and travel together, education is almost inevitable.  There is simply so much to learn from our earth, from travel, and about our country’s rich and amazing history. Yellowstone is full of educational treasure like this.  Ranger-led programs give students insight into ecology, geology, wildlife, weather patterns, and so much more. Plus, every American should see Old Faithful at least once – the amazingly consistent geyser. Can you imagine the history it could share? And, although the most famous, Old Faithful is not the only geyser in Yellowstone. There are hundreds of others as well as hot springs – one of the most fascinating wonders of nature.

Yellowstone is an unequaled experience.  It has its own Grand Canyon and amazing sights throughout. There are activities galore and a rich, fantastic history – all brilliant choices for student tours.

Photo Credit: Savannah Grandfather on Flickr

This week:  National Parks. Our country has hundreds of beautiful reserves and natural wonders – many of them conveniently preserved by the National Park Services, a national treasury of natural beauty.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are first up. This unique area of the country actually contains SIX national parks.  Today, with students in mind, I want to focus on one famous portion of these hills – not strictly “natural” – but easily one of the most famous historical sites in the nation and something every American should see at least once. So why not consider it for educational tours?

I’m talking about Mt. Rushmore, the 16-story presidential faces carved into the granite in the famous black hills themselves. Can you name all four? I guarantee you’ll always be able to if you see it even once. The figures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are completely recognizable in their detail. They are beautiful and almost seem animated, or lifelike, in the sunlight.

This National Memorial is more, of course, than just some landscaping and the famous sculpture. You’ll find a museum, the sculptor’s studio, walking paths, various viewing spots, and the Avenue of Flags with one for each state, commonwealth, and US territory.

This memorial is just a great choice for students, and it is smack dab in the middle of the beautiful black hills/national parks territory – making it a great choice for this week’s theme.

(photo by bcmom on Flickr).

Today’s exciting student travel attraction is NUMBER THREE on the Forbes Traveler list of most visited attractions in the nation.  But with a name like “the National Mall,” that seems only fitting.

Hopefully you know what the National Mall comprises – at least in part – or that you at least recognize this photo (by morrissey on Flickr) as the beautiful stretch of Washington D.C. flagged by the powerful Washington Monument (that tall thing in the middle), famous for monuments and memorials of great prominence, and famous as the scene for some of the most important demonstrations in history, including the famous speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

The National Mall is the name given to a space of D.C. even bigger than pictured here as some people use it to encompass Capitol Hill, the White House, and other D.C. government and historical sites.  This prominent rectangle is the gist of it though.  This picture was probably taken from somewhere on the grounds of Capitol Hill.  You can see the statue of Ulysses S. Grant in the foreground.  In front of the Washington Monument, you may be able to make out the flag poles at the beautiful World War II Memorial.  Beyond the tall pillar-like monument (did you know the shape is technically obelisk? And that due to zoning rules it will probably remain the tallest structure in the city forever?), you can see Lincoln’s prominent, famous memorial as well.  

These grounds also contain memorials to the Vietnam and Korean wars as well as the Jefferson memorial and that of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  They are all beautiful in their own right, powerful glimpses of history and of America’s amazing heritage, and you should see them illuminated at night!  This destination is a popular one for a reason.  There is so much to see here and celebrate about our amazing country, its successes, conflicts and heroes.  Plus, just beyond its pretty historic spaces rest our modern-day government facilities in all their own historic glory but with powerful prominence still today.  

The National Mall is an extremely moving experience – beautiful, powerful, and inspiring – and it should be number ONE on your list for excellent educational tours.

Off the top of your head, what US sites would you imagine on the Forbes list of most visited?  The big flashy ones with commercials about how they make your dreams come true?  The ocean?  The mountains?  Number 23 on the list is hardly flashy and doesn’t boast either of these breathtaking natural wonders.  Still, one could argue that without it, America would be far less believing when it comes to the pursuit of our dreams.  It’s Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia, and it too made the list for favorite tourist attractions in the entire country.

The park is best known for the Liberty Bell.  It’s a national symbol of our freedom, something we understand from a very young age as the foundation for almost everything else we can choose, express, and pursue in our great nation.  A lot of legend surrounds the famous bell.  A story once suggested it was rung to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Certainly it’s inscription celebrates  freedom, getting its name from the words proclaiming “liberty to all who live in this land.”  

The bell used to hang in Independence Hall, another important attraction in this national park.  Independence Hall is called the birthplace of our government.  It was the site for the signing of the Declaration of Independence – a fact that easily led to the legend about the Liberty Bell’s most important announcement – and the proceedings that led to our Constitution.  A tour of the building leads you directly into this all-important assembly room where George Washington himself presided from a seat now call the “rising sun.”

These sites are the most famous in the park and beautiful additions to Philadelphia educational tours.  But there are several more amazing historical sites in the park as well, including Franklin Court.  An abstract sculpture represents one of Franklin’s homes and signals the group of other Franklin sites showcasing his history, inventions, and pivotal contribution to Philadelphia as well as the nation as a whole.  

And still, this is just the beginning.  Independence National Historic Park is frequented by Americans every day because it’s foundational to everything we are – and that’s a claim to fame worth witnessing for yourself.

(photo by motleypixel on Flickr)