Rolling Symphony

We talked earlier this week about words and their power and place within the parks of Walt Disney World, but words are just as powerful no matter where they are found. Say, for instance, on a miniature golf course. While Fantasia Gardens may putt around with the theme of music and animation, it is the words here that could make or break your game and spirit.

Comprised of two 18-hole miniature courses, Fantasia Gardens has offers a challenge to every level of golfer. While the Gardens Course may play to the whimsy inherent in the feature Fantasia, the Fairways Course is composed of holes that play with the science and art of the music included in the film. However, both courses use wordplay, an element rarely used throughout Fantasia, to give players a glimpse into the future of the holes and how they should be played.The Gardens Course use the motion of words in poetry to move the game along and pass along clever hints. Just as the course’s design is more serious in nature than the Gardens Course, so too are the clues that are presented along the Fairways Course. Not surprisingly, however, both courses contain a fair amount of wit and riddles to uncover while you plot your next putt. Let’s play through and see what each hole has to offer.

Gardens Course: Hole 1 – Tocatta and Fugue
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


Gardens Course: Hole 2 – Tocatta and Fugue
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

Gardens Course: Hole 3 – Tocatta and Fugue
Before our little
fugue concludes
The music swells and
changes mood
Avoid the rests and
you will hear
Chimes a ringing
sweet and clear

Gardens Course: Hole 4 – The Nutcracker Suite
Spring is here
and just beyond
Blossoms float
upon the pond
The open bud should
be your goal
Its dainty petals
surround the hole

Gardens Course: Hole 5 – The Nutcracker Suite
These lively mushrooms
circle 'round
White one is hopping
up and down
At the feet of
little hop low
Is where you want
the ball to go

Gardens Course: Hole 6 – The Nutcracker Suite
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

Gardens Course: Hole 7 – The Nutcracker Suite
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

Gardens Course: Hole 8 – The Pastoral Symphony
Within mount olympus
the opus unfolds
And what mythological
creatures it holds!
When putting the ball
be careful to go
Straight through the pillars,
to the caverns below

Gardens Course: Hole 9 – The Pastoral Symphony
The impish faun
loves to tease
As he plays his
pipe with ease
So if you can putt
straight and true
Perhaps he'll play
a tune for you

Gardens Course: Hole 10 – The Pastoral Symphony
In all of the land there’s no
one more raucous
Than the fell 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

Gardens Course: Hole 11 – Dance of the Hours
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

Gardens Course: Hole 12 – Dances of the Hours
And here, the dance
grows even greater
Enter now:
Ben Ali Gator
With hippo high,
he strains beneath
Now simply putt
between his teeth

Gardens Course: Hole 13 – Dance of the Hours
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


Gardens Course: Hole 14 – Dance of the Hours
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

Gardens Course: Hole 15 – Dance of the Hours
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

Gardens Course: Hole 16 – The Sorcerer's Apprentice
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

Gardens Course: Hole 17 – The Sorcerer's Apprentice
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

Gardens Course: Hole 18 – The Sorcerer's Apprentice
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!

Fairways Course: Hole 1 – Rolling Symphony
Brave the ups and downs of this hold and your score will be off to a melodious start

Fairways Course: Hole 2 – Chernabog's Revenge
Carefully choose your line on this hole or you could end up with a night on one of these four Bald Mountains

Fairways Course: Hole 3 – Pastoral Simplicity
Like a Beethoven symphony, this hole looks easy but in fact is very difficult to play

Fairways Course: Hole 4 – The Nutcracker
A precise and well-aimed first shot will make this nutcracker sweet

Fairways Course: Hole 5 – Ave Maria
You'll be saying a few of these if you end up in the large sand trap to the right

Fairways Course: Hole 6 – The Legend of Yen Sid
You don't need to be a sorcerer's apprentice to ace this hole but it sure would help

Fairways Course: Hole 7 – Ballet of the Bunkers
Ben Ali Gator - You're ball will have to twist and turn like that dancing gator to avoid this trio of traps.

Fairways Course: Hole 8 – Zeus' Thunderbolt
Mere mortals will be at the mercy of this mythological predicament

Fairways Course: Hole 9 – Bacchus' Corner
The green is just a stone's throw from the tee, but this can be a very sobering hole for the careless

Fairways Course: Hole 10 – Dance of the Crown
The key to this hole is to step lightly and gracefully down the middle of the fairway

Fairways Course: Hole 11 – Skeleton Dance
This hole can be downright ghoulish if you fail to dance around that large sand trap on the right of the fairway

Fairways Course: Hole 12 – The Rite of Spring
That's exactly where you want to stay on this rambling hole of prehistoric import

Fairways Course: Hole 13 – Pegasus
You'll have to wing it on this hole to avoid those nasty bunkers on the right and left

Fairways Course: Hole 14 – Brooding Brudus
Like the centaur from the Pastoral Symphony, you'll do a slow burn if you end up all wet and lonely on this one

Fairways Course: Hole 15 – Ostrich Island
The trick here is to make like a plumed ballet dancer from Dance of the Hours and get Upanova the bridge

Fairways Course: Hole 16 – Rock'n'Roller
This hole will make you want to roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news

Fairways Course: Hole 17 – Hippo Bend
The weighty issues on this hole are avoiding the large trap on the right and staying out of the water

Fairways Course: Hole 18 – The Grand Finale
Here's your chance to finish your symphony of strokes with a flourish. Bravo! Encore, encore