Magic Kingdom Attractions & Tips

Magic Kingdom is probably everyone's favorite of the 4 DW parks. It is home to 6 lands:

Adventureland -
--Rides
           Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Flying Carpets of Aladdin,
-- shows/walkthroughs
           Swiss Family Treehouse, Enchanted Tiki Room

Frontierland -
--Rides
        Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain,
-- Shows/Walkthroughs
        Country Bear Jamboree, Shootin' Arcade, Tom Sawyer Island,

Liberty Square -
-- Rides
        Haunted Mansion,
-- Shows/walkthroughs
       Hall of Presidents,

New Fantasyland -
-- Rides
        Dumbo, Barnstormer, Journey of the Little Mermaid, It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party,
--Shows/Walkthroughs
        Mickey's Philharmagic,  Enchanted Tales with Belle, Storybook Circus

Tomorrowland -
--Rides
       Buzz Lightyear Ranger's Spin, Transit Authority, Space Mountain, Stich's Great Escape, Speedway, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress,
--Shows/walkthroughs
       Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor,

Main Street, USA - shops, fire station, train station, bakeries

My list of MUST DO (which is in BLUE) and why:

Pirates of the Caribbean - Boat ride through the movie. Starts with a medium fall (you might get a tad wet in the beginning). See if you can spot where Captain Jack Sparrow is hiding! Nice and cool, the Left side is a little shorter!

I didn't choose the Flying Carpets or Dumbo because, they are basically the same ride! Now that Dumba has 2 and you have the alert system to let you know when it is your turn to ride, it might be better to choose that over the carpets.

Big Thunder Mountain RR - Roller Coaster that has several ups, downs, twists, and turns. Some say it is a little jerky. I don't think it has ever made anyone terribly sick. My brother can't ride Space mountain, but he can handle Thunder Mountain - and he gets car sick bad! Our plan for this ride is to get up early, be at MK right before it opens. As you enter the park, you'll walk under the Train station, turn to walk up the stairs to it. Hop on the next train and get off the first stop which is Frontierland! Run to Big Thunder Mountain RR and ride it up to 7 times without standing in line! Most people choose to walk on to Cinderellas castle and then choose what ride they will go to first. By catching the train, youll beat everyone! If you want to ride it later, grab a Fast Pass because the line will be super long!

Splash Mountain - This is a nice little boat ride through the story about the fox and bear chasing the rabbit to the briar patch. You'll hear "zip a dee doo da" along the way. Towards the end there is a 50 foot plummet and you might get wet! My experience is the first row doesn't get wet! The middle is the most likely place to get wet. You can wear a poncho. You will need a fast pass to ride this in the afternoon when it is warmer. The water is cold!

Haunted Mansion is a cool and slow ride through the mansion! You first walk into this room that has no doors or windows! The only way out is to continue through the mansion to the ride! Oh and don't forget to look UP after the room stretches. If you have kids, they will be scared of this, so hold them. The ride isn't very scary, but a lot of objects will pop out at you!

Journey of the Little Mermaid - a slow ride through the movie! It will have a long line because it is new. You will need to ride it early in the morning or grab a fast pass for the afternoon. You could probably plan to eat at the Be Our Guest restaurant before or after the ride!

It's a Small World is a long boat ride through several different countries. There is usually a very short line, so wait until you are tired in the afternoon to ride this. It's convenient because it is by the Peter Pan's flight and Mickey's Philharmagic!

Peter Pan's Flight is always a favorite. So you will definitely need a Fast Pass! You take a ride on a flying pirate ship through the movie!

Winnie the Pooh is a great ride! Hop in a honey pot and bounce through the pages with Winnie, Pooh, and Tigger! I would ride this in the morning. The line gets longer as the day goes on and you don't want to waste you fast passes on this.

Mad Tea Party - this is the spinning tea cups. You can control how fast you spin so you won't get very sick! Alice is usually around there for pictures and autographs! The line is usually long so keep that in mind!

Mickey's Philharmagic is a magical, sit down 3D show! You'll see your favorite Disney character and follow Donald as he tries to get Mickey's magician hat! It is one of my very favorite! I try to go see this when we are tired and ready for some cool and relaxing time. Line is always short and it runs continuously throughout the day!

Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin is a slow ride. You are given a "laser gun" to shoot at the "Z" for Zerg targets. I always get an incredibly high score because I aim for the targets no one sees. There are always some way far off and moving - they are worth a lot more than the ones up close that everyone else is shooting at! Sometimes you can catch the line when it is under 30 minutes, but usually it is much longer - so you will need a Fast Pass! We usually ride this in the evening.

Space Mountain is a high-speed roller coaster in the sky. It is enclosed and dark inside. You can't see where you're going, but you get a wonderful view of the stars and planets! It does not go upside down but it does take sharp turns and drops! You'll need a Fast Pass to skip the long line!

Indy Speedway - if you have kids that are not old enough to drive, they will love this! They get to take the wheel of a car and you are stuck in the passenger seat! They have complete control of the car, except there is a track that it can't get off of. So they can't hit another car until the end when they are coming to a stop, and usually there isn't anyone in the car in front of you. If might be a tad jerky if they have no experience driving! Height Requirement is 32 inches tall!

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a great ride if you are tired. It is kind of long so you get a nice rest. It takes you back to the past and shows you how technology has come along, then it takes you to the future! There is NEVER a line!

Rides/Shows that are good to see/ride if you have time to spare:

Swiss Family Treehouse - walk through a tree house that covers several trees! Kids will enjoy climbing the stairs and walking over the bridges. Adults will enjoy the scenery and looking inside each room!

Enchanted Tiki Room - Zazu (Lion King) and Iago (Aladdin) find themselves among the Tiki birds, and they disturb the Tiki gods. You come in this cool dark room and sit down on benches while the birds sing and dance all around you!

Tom Sawyer island - take a ferry across to the island and let the kids run around and play! The adults sit and watch. There are caves, taverns, tunnels, forts, and playground equipment for kids to keep busy. I suggest only going here if you have time to kill and need a rest, but your child wants to keep going!

Barnstormer is a child roller coaster. Must be 35 inches tall!

Tomorrowland's Transit Authority People Mover - a nice, cool, slow ride that lets you feel the breeze and see all of tomorrowland as well as Cinderella's Castle! We ride this in the afternoon or evening. It never has a long line! And if you are really tired, they will let you stay on it instead of getting off!

Don't Ride/ Watch:

Stich's Great Escape - all you do is sit in seats and watch him escape from his tube and then look around the room to find him (while you stay seated). I rode this only once the first year it opened. Not impressed at all and the wait was long.

Astro Orbiter in tomorrowland - it is just like Dumbo and the Flying Carpets except it is higher. The wait is super long and then you have to ride an elevator to get up there and wait even longer! Nothing special about it. I guess it would be good to ride it at night to watch the Wishes Fire work show, but I wouldn't even do it then.

Parades and fireworks:

Dream Along with Mickey - is a show in the daytime on the stage in front of the Cinderella Castle. I've never watched the whole show because we have always been to busy running to our next ride! Mickey and his friends, some princesses, and some villains discover the power of dreams and wishes as you help Mickey!

Electrical night parade - This used to be Spectromagic. Floats at night are covered in lights and parade from Frontierland all the way to the castle to Main Street, USA! Youll need to be seated before dark, and stay there for Wishes!

Wishes is a firework show following the Electrical parade. It is the best firework show! Be sure to grab a seat in front of the castle. My favorite place to sit is on the Walt Disney and Mickey statue area!

More Information:

Fast Passes are free but are not for every ride or show, even though the majority do have Fast passes. You can get a Fast pass by going to the ride you want to ride, there will be a sign "Fast Pass Distribution". You put your theme park ticket in, and it will spit out your ticket and a Fast Pass. At the top of the Fast pass will have the name of the ride. It will also have the times you can come back to ride the ride. Before you get one, look at the times the Fast Pass is distributing. Example: It is 11 AM and you are at Peter Pan's Flight to get a Fast Pass. They are Distributing 5:30-6:30 PM Fast Passes. So if you get a fast pass, you can ride Peter Pan's Flight between 5:30 and 6:30 PM that day. Also on the ticket it will say when you can get another fast pass. So for this example, it will probably tell you 12:15 PM is when you can get another. Be sure to get a Fast Pass for everyone who wants to ride it. One fast pass per Park ticket.

Fast Pass + is new! Make a Disney Experience account and link your tickets to it. Then you can choose the rides, shows, and parades you want to reserve Fast passes. You can do this 60 days in advance! You can also make last minute changes, or wait until you enter the parks to choose your fast pass + attractions!

Children under 3 Years old get free admission into each park, so they wont have a ticket. They can ride any ride that doesn't have a height requirement or if they are at the requirement. If you get a fastpass, they wont have a ticket to get one. So if it like in the example above, they will not have ticket. They will be able to join your party anyway. Castmembers know to let the little children ride.

Don't forget to take you children to meet their favorite characters! If you don't have the free Disney Experience app, you can always look on the park map to see where they will be! Buzz is always by Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland. Alice is always be the tea cups! Winnie, Tigger, and Piglet are at Pooh's Corner by the Winnie the Pooh ride! Ariel is always in her grotto. Peter Pan is by his ride Peter Pan's Flight!