Orlando in the state of Florida was a peaceful quiet little town endowed with lush farmlands and many orange groves. Orlando's quiet facade was permanently disrupted with the arrival of Orlando Disney World in 1971 with much fanfare. Suddenly the whole world took notice of Orlando which was a relatively unknown town to people outside America. Since then almost 50 million people travel to Orlando every year to have a taste of Disney's magic and to sample Disney's world famous thrill rides.

Here are just some of the many thrill rides in Orlando Disney World that are attracting so many tourists.

In the fantasy Magic Kingdom, go for an outdoor, narrated river boat cruise into the jungle where you get to meet audio-animatronic hippopotamus, elephants & lions. You will cruise the rivers of 4 continents and will encounter exotic animals in jungle and ancient ruins settings.

While still feeling adventurous, make a beeline to the Pirates of the Caribbean theme park touted to be one of the most popular thrill rides for tourists in Orlando Disney World. The Pirates of the Caribbean has entertained millions of visitors on a thrilling adventure through dark, mysterious caverns and caves where 'dead men tell no tales'. Or do they? Go find out for yourself at the Pirates of the Caribbean.

The approximately nine minute thrill ride, starring a cast of rascals, scoundrels and villains send visitors on a rollicking boat ride to a Caribbean port under siege by a swashbuckling band of pirates.

After your escape from the pirates, you may want to soar into the sky with the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Aladdin was a much loved and popular movie that inspires this thrill ride. Set in a world of flying carpets, genies and magic lamps of the Arabian knights, visitors will be sent flying on an Arabian themed adventure with a young Aladdin.

We get down to earth or rather into earth next at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride in Frontierland. Take this thrilling roller-coaster ride through the gorges and caverns of a deserted gold mine, on a runaway mine train. Swoop through the 179-foot-high red stone mountain and on to Tumbleweed, a flooded mining town of the wild wild west.

Right next to the Big Thunder Railroad ride is the Slash Mountain ride. This ride features special effects that give the show its animated quality a heart-stopping finale.

Splash Mountain stars a cast of 68 Audio-Animatronics characters, one of the largest groups of animated figures ever assembled in a Walt Disney World attraction. To begin the 11-minute adventure ride, visitors will have to climb on board an eight-person flume log to traverse the canals of a flooded mountain.

The adventure is loaded with twists, turns and splashes of thrilling excitement. It culminates when visitors, tucked into their flume logs, plunge over the top of a steep spillway, whizzing from the mountaintop to a briar-covered pond five stories below. You will certainly get very wet with the 50 feet plunge. Well, this is a Splash ride as its name suggested after all. You have been warned.

There are many more rides in Orlando Disney World and to describe them in words will be doing injustices to the rides of which the magic can only be experienced when you take the rides on your Disneyland vacation.